Visit Canal Walk Shopping Centre for fantastic children’s holiday fun this June! From 10 June to 10 July 2010 Disney’s Jungle Book Kids will thrill, excite and entertain young audiences during the school holidays.

Disney’s Jungle Book Kids is a spectacular new stage musical based on Disney’s animated feature ‘The Jungle Book’, which was inspired by Rudyard Kipling’s renowned ‘Mowgli’ stories.

Join the ‘man-cub’ Mowgli, the evil tiger Shere Khan, Baloo the bear, jazzy King Louie and many more great characters as they embark on an adventure through the lush jungles of India.

The musical will be staged at Canal Walk from Thursday, 10 June until Saturday, 10 July, with three shows daily (except on Sundays) at 11am, 12:30 and again at 2pm.  Tickets are R50 per person and are available at Computicket.

This event is presented in association with Liqui-Fruit and there is a R10 000 Canal Walk Gift Card up for grabs. Purchase any Liqui-Fruit product at participating retailers and you could stand a chance to win R10 000. Simply attach your till slip to the competition entry form, available at all participating retailers.

For more information please contact Canal Walk PR Manager Vanessa Herbst on 021 529 9638 or e-mail vanessah@canalwalk.co.za.

Vibrations Recording Studio (VRS), in partnership with the Department of Arts and Culture of South Africa, presents the second Vibrations Continental Music Showcase on 25 June 2010 from 18h00 to 01h00 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre .

An outstanding line-up has been booked for the showcase this year and includes established artists and some dynamic new names. Audiences will have the privilege of seeing traditional singer Mpho; Senegal’s Cheikh Lo and his band; the Joburg-based Nigerian guitarist Kunle Ayo;  the Latin and Mozambiquan flavours of Tucan Tucan; Cape Town based singer Simphiwe Dana; Khayelitsha’s Nomfusi & The Lucky Charms, and marimba maestro Bongani Sotshononda. The concert will also include the debut appearance of young R‘nB vocalist Zoe, and the Pan-African percussion ensemble, Manding Kan. The Vibrations Continental Music Showcase highlights the Continent’s diverse cultures that both complement each other and create the rich colours that embody Africa. The event exposes emerging talent, celebrates Africa’s musical legends and once again brings an African flavour to the Mother City during the festive World Cup period.

Vibrations Recording Studio is run by Mohammed Fall and is the first professional black-owned studio in the heart of the city of Cape Town. Fall is the driving force behind this event that provides a platform to inspire local music development, linking ordinary people on the continent at a cross-cultural level and  building pride in indigenous music, culture and heritage.

The event will be held at Auditorium 1 at the CTICC. It runs from 18h00 till 01h00 and tickets cost R300 via Computicket with cd’s and posters of the participating artists on sale on the night. Musicians are invited to attend a workshop at the Vibrations Recording Studio in Longmarket Street from 10h00 – 12h00, that will be hosted by Cheikh Lo, Simphiwe Dana, and Mpho. For more info about the workshop and the event call 021 461 2385.
The Vibrations Continental Music Showcase is supported by the Department of Arts & Culture.

Cape Town is buzzing with activity this month! Tourists and locals alike will be spoilt for choice when it comes to events happening beyond the walls of the stadium and fan parks. Arts and cultural producers in Cape Town have particularly risen to the occasion in offering excellent soccer and other themed exhibitions and events. Here is another great exhibit in the long line of places to visit this June. For other ideas, have a look at our pickings in Best of June 2010.

This exhibition by the Iziko Social History Collections (SHC) department showcases a part of history and culture unique to Cape Town and South Africa. It focuses on how carnival participation has been passed on from generation to generation, while tracing the carnival’s roots and its transformation over the centuries. A striking case study of how social life, politics, identity, popular culture, ritual and negotiating day-to-day life all come together can be found in the celebration of carnival and in the performances of the Malay choirs, Christmas bands and klopse troupes. The significance of carnival as celebration, as well as the context of changing expressions of identity is highlighted.

The exhibition draws on Iziko SHC’s new oral history and carnival collections, which are displayed in audiovisual stations, contemporary images and text panels.

Enquiries: Katie Mooney, Tel. 021 464 1262 or email kmooney@iziko.org.za

From Africa With Laugh brings together a collection of talented stand up comics from our continent, commenting on everything from current affairs in our own country to the small matter of a little world cup-all with an African perspective.

Three talented African stand up comedians will entertain audiences nightly at the Baxter Studio Theatre throughout the World Cup, from 8 June till 3 July, with special appearances from SA’s own Lungi Pinda, best known for his role in Mike van Graan’s hilarious play, Bafana Republic.

To mark 50 years of independence in 17 African countries and the first time that the FIFA World Cup is hosted in Africa, the African Arts Institute (AFAI) will host From Africa with Laugh at the Baxter Theatre, with comedians and satirists giving their views on life, love and football on the African continent.  “The overwhelming images of Africa in western media tend to be about conflict, poverty and disease.  Even if this is true, we want to show life on the continent from another perspective, through humour and satire, rather than only as tragedy” said Mike van Graan, Executive Director of AFAI and Secretary General of Arterial Network, a continent-wide civil society network active in the creative sector and its contribution to human rights, democracy and development.

The show opens on Thursday 10 June, the day before the first matches of the FIFA World Cup.  It features Chibwe Katebe from Zambia, a finalist in Stand Up Zambia, M-NET’s comedy talent search in that country and a leading member of Natuseke Comedy Express, regarded as the hottest comedy outfit in Zambia. Other featured comics are Philip Luswata from Uganda and Edgar Langeveldt, one of Zimbabwe’s finest stand-up comics and in 2005 and a winner of the Prins Claus Fund Award in recognition of his social and political commentary through comedy.

Although the 3-week slot at the Baxter Theatre was initially booked for the final edition in the Bafana Republic franchise, it was decided to use the slot to provide artists from other parts of the continent with access to South African and international markets during the World Cup.  Part of AFAI’s vision is help artists from the rest of the continent to develop sustainable livelihoods through regional and international exposure. The show will also include some of the best sketches from Bafana Republic 3: Penalty Shootout with Lungi Pinda, directed originally by Mandla Mbothwe.

From Africa with Laugh previews on 9 June and runs till 3 July, mostly at 20:15 but at 18:00 on some evenings to take account of matches in Cape Town. Visit www.baxter.co.za for show details and all tickets are available from Computicket.

Image: The legendary Manager of Wolverhampton Wanderers FC, Stan Cullis, working out tactics on a miniature football pitch in his office, 1949.
(Wilson, J. 2009. Inverting the pyramid – the history of football tactics. London: Orion).

Blank Projects in partnership with the Goethe-Institut Südafrika & Pro Helvetia invites the public to: Inverting the Pyramid, curated by Jonathan Garnham.

Opening: Thursday 10 June 2010 at 18:00.
Exhibition closes 10 July 2010.

Artists and aficionado’s comment on the beautiful game.

From the 10th of June to the 10th of July, blank will function as a focal point for critical response and inane comments around football. Ongoing research and production will inform the exhibition and extend it out of the gallery.

A screening programme, curated by Emile Kelly (London), showing films about football, will run over the 5 weeks.

Contributors: Sanell Aggenbach, Matthew Blackman, Chimurenga magazine, Anja de Klerk, Pierre Fouché, Corlia Harmsen, Trasi Henen, Emile Kelly, Moshekwa Langa, Bettina Malcomess, Catherine Ocholla, Sean O’Toole, David Sazo, Blett Sapper, Robert Sloon, Linda Stupart, Adriaan de Villiers, Jasper Walgrave, Ed Young.

113-115 Sir Lowry road, Woodstock, Cape Town
www.blankprojects.com
Gallery opening hours: Tue-Fri: 10:00-15:00, Sat: 10:00-13:00.
Closed on Mondays & public holidays.

June and July will see South Africa and the world being exposed to the very best that football can offer. With the FIFA 2010 World Cup comes the cult of the celebrity and the mass media hype associated with the sport.

But beyond the media hysteria are many soccer players, supporters and followers who live and love the game with as much passion as the stars. Soccer Kultcha a photographic exhibition, beginning this month at The Michaelis Gallery in Orange Street, will celebrate the beautiful game and how it is played far from big stadiums.

The exhibition, curated by Paul Weinberg, Warren Nelson and Leanne Barling, in collaboration with Michaelis Art Gallery, explores the footballers and their followers beyond the main stadiums.

These are the players who will kick a ball on any field they can find, sometimes with home-made balls or goals. This exhibition is about this vibrant soccer culture.
The exhibition, will run from 11 June to 10 July and is bound to intrigue both local and international visitors.

The photographers participating in Soccer Kultcha are mainly street photographers who bring us their insights into football: off the radar and big screens but definitely on the map.

In South Africa, with its strong migrant and urban historical links, street photography has evolved into a distinct genre. Prevalent and pervasive, street photographers challenge official representations – of outsiders imaging the lives of others. This exhibition is a window on a world, highlighting how people photograph themselves and their fast changing typographies and cultures, as seen through the lens of football.

Far from official photographs, grand stadiums and headline grabbing photojournalism, the photographs of Soccer Kultcha invite us to rediscover the game of football, and the lives and passions of ordinary people who play and celebrate the game.

Soccer Kultcha is funded by the Embassy of Sweden and will be hosted by the Michaelis Art Gallery from 11 June to 10 July 2010.

Venue: Michaelis Galleries, University of Cape Town Hiddingh Campus, 31 – 37 Orange Street, Cape Town
Dates and times: 11 June to 10 July 2010, Tue- Fri 10:00 – 15:00, Sat 10:00 – 12:00
For more information contact: Nadja Deahnke at 021 4807170, 0823165272 or Nadja.daehnke@uct.ac.za

Let’s Celebrate!

Saturday 5th June from 11am – 2pm.

501 Tollgate Industrial Centre, 12 Ravenscraig Road, Woodstock, Cape Town. Tel 021 488 3203

World Cups, Plants and Identities… and a pop-up shop of all sorts of things…

The exhibition will be on show (weekdays 9-5) for the duration of the event that can’t be named…

Misael Space and The Imaginarium are pleased to present a joint exhibition of photography, combining the work of two worthy projects. Please join them for the opening of this show on Thursday 3rd June, from 6.30pm.

Play Jump Eat is a series of images shot all over Cape Town, exploring the themes of Joy, Play, Abundance, Beauty and Juxtaposition. A percentage of the proceeds will go towards Tertia Kindo Arts Project, a dance school in Ocean View, a previously disadvantaged neighbourhood in Cape Town.

In contrast to this stylised work will be the grainy images of five bright school children from Emasithandane Children’s Home in the township of Nyanga. A workshop aimed to help five bright kids at the orphanage express themselves creatively through photography, is being administered through Children of South Africa (CHOSA), a non-profit that identifies and supports community based organisations that work with orphaned and other vulnerable children in Cape Town.

RSVP: deborah@misael.co.za

Directions: In between Caveau and &Union, on the opposite side of the road, facing Heritage Square. Large green stable doors flank the entrance.