CLASSICFEEL September by Desklink Media

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JOCK OF THE BUSHVELD 9

SA R29,95 - September 2010

classicf eel

A national icon revisited

THE 20 TENORS

ARTS ALIVE

RMB Starlight Classics performance and debut CD

‘A gift to the city from the city’

cover & music features

Cover image: Jock of the Bushveld, the 3-D animated movie Credit: Image courtesy of Jock Animation (Pty) Ltd

54 The 20 Tenors and RMB’s Starlight Classics For a select group of Johannesburg music lovers, the month of September does not only mean the arrival of spring. It also means that after a year of waiting, RMB Starlight Classics is back at Country Club Johannesburg.

46 46 Jock of the Bushveld This year, South Africa’s favourite Staffordshire terrier is the subject of two separate and unrelated adaptations; one for the screen and one for the stage. We look at these revitalising new developments, both of which are landmarks of the country’s cultural output. 4

september 2010

60 34 Joburg Alive and Awake With The Arts A ‘gift to the city from the city’ Joburg’s 2010 Arts Alive International Festival 60 Mad Scenes and Milestones Soprano Bronwen Forbay speaks to CLASSICFEEL about her preparations for the title role of Lucia di Lammermoor

art culture lifestyle 70

70 Freedom Park: Envisioning the Past, Present and Future

80 The Standard Bank African Art Collection A joint venture

between Standard Bank and Wits University, dedicated to preserving and permanently displaying the university’s remarkable collection of African heritage items. We spoke to curators Fiona Rankin-Smith and Julia Charlton about the launch of the collection.

90 94 A Tasting Menu Like No Other A very special menu created by award winning Peter Tempelhoff, Executive Chef for The Collection by Liz McGrath 40 Wits 969 Festival The Wits Theatre Complex brings its annual ‘best of the fest’ offering to Joburg 42 Drama For Life An applied drama project that gives people the space to reflect on their own stories 44 Marie Human Curates Sandton Central’s Memories The SCMD launches a unique exhibition that charts the suburb’s rich history 66 South Africa’s Dance Heritage Personal, political and cultural influences, and histories ingeniously sourced by SA’s contemporary dance makers 74 Investing in Peace of Mind – Glacier Topcover Approaching life insurance differently with Patrick Sheehy at Glacier by Sanlam 76 Jockeying for Screen Rights Bowman Gilfillan Attorneys discuss the rights involved in creating screen adaptations of literary works 78 Hoarder’s gold The value of a sought-after first edition book and a host of other hidden treasures that may lie forgotten amongst our clutter 86 An Ongoing Journey Award winning ceramics studio Ardmore celebrates SA’s many visitors during the World Cup tournament with Travellers of Africa 90 Marataba Lodge A weekend of luxury, relaxation and exciting game viewing 92 Conquistadors, communists and all that jazz Havana, the city where ‘everything is possible’ 96 House of Mandela The family of the former president launches its own range of fine wines – the Royal Reserve

regulars 6 Classic Print 13 News and Events 26 On Stage Fiona Ramsay on Joburg’s theatrical highlights 30 Cape Town Letter Capetonian Rodney Trudgeon keeps us up to date with developments in the Mother City 32 Durban Smarts Caroline Smart brings you the latest cultural news and developments from Durban 64 Backstage with Tenor Musa Nkuna An insider’s look at the opera scene from our resident tenor 98 Victor Strugo on Wine Le GastroGnome gives us his expert opinion on the finest wines the country has to offer 100 Movie Reviews 104 DVD, CD andBook Reviews 112 Encore Carrie Adams, wine industry professional and partner in Norman Goodfellows Fine Wine and Spirit Merchants 5

editor

Editor’s Note

It was Max du Preez who wrote in a recent column, ‘a distorted understanding of history always leads to a distorted view of the present and is an impediment to any group or nation’s capacity to understand’. How very true, and perhaps that is why Heritage Month is such an important time in our country. There is much to understand, to celebrate and to re-examine – and not all of it pertains to politics. We at CLASSICFEEL felt that we wanted our Heritage Month celebrations to be a little different this year, so we chose a rather unusual, yet important and instantly recognisable icon – Jock of the Bushveld. This beloved figure in South Africa’s heritage is being celebrated in two completely separate ventures over the next few months. First there is South Africa’s first ever 3-D animated feature film, due for release early next year, and then there is Deon Opperman’s stage musical take on the famous story, which opens at the Joburg Theatre this month. In our cover feature, we take a close look at both of these exciting projects. Any visitor to our offices will know that our decision to feature a dog on our cover is highly appropriate, as dogs play a big role in our lives. There’s our very special ‘top dog’ Frankie. We named her after Frank Sinatra because of her wonderful blue eyes, and yes, being a Husky she does ‘sing’ too – often reciting complicated ballads – she never barks. We got her from the SPCA as company for our very special Great Dane, Gershwin, so named because of his beautiful blue-grey coat, which put us in mind of Rhapsody in Blue. Unfortunately Gershwin passed away a while ago and we all miss him very much. He was simply the most wonderful dog – very human like all Great Danes. One thing we all wondered when we heard about the film and stage versions of Jock was how they were going to deal with the death of the canine hero. I hope it won’t be too much for children. I’m sure we all remember those special movies we saw when we were younger, like Bambi, Old Yeller or even the original film version of Jock – and those sad moments have stayed with us forever. These new productions are a testament to the tremendous talent emerging from our country and, speaking of homegrown talent, our very own 20 Tenors are once again set to perform at the Rand Merchant Bank Starlight Classics concert, as well as looking forward to the release of their first CD. This group will go a long way and if the World Cup has shown us one thing, it is the whole-hearted enthusiasm with which foreign tourists embrace our music and our uniquely African style. It is important to keep this goodwill alive and encourage tourists to come and experience what we have to offer – even when there is no World Cup in progress. Lore

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classicf eel magazine

EDITORIAL & PRODUCTION EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Lore Watterson; lore@desklink.co.za; editor@classicfeel.co.za PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Chris Watterson; chris@desklink.co.za ASSISTANT EDITOR Warren Holden; warren@desklink.co.za FEATURE WRITER Natalie Watermeyer; natalie@desklink.co.za SUB-EDITOR AND STAFF WRITER Emily Amos; emily@desklink.co.za ART DIRECTOR Luthuli Nyathi; lulun@desklink.co.za DESIGNER Sizakele Shingange; sizakele@desklink.co.za CONTRIBUTORS Fiona Ramsay Caroline Smart Victor Strugo Rodney Trudgeon Musa Nkuna Adrienne Sichel

MEDIA MARKETING DIRECTOR Rudolph Pieterse; ruds@desklink.co.za MARKETING AND SALES EXECUTIVE Sunette Kotze; sunette@desklink.co.za

SUBSCRIPTIONS & CIRCULATION Debbi Gregory; debbi@desklink.co.za Tel : 011 787 1599

PUBLISHING PUBLISHER Lore Watterson; lore@desklink.co.za CO-PUBLISHER Chris Watterson; chris@desklink.co.za FINANCIAL DIRECTOR Debbi Gregory; debbi@desklink.co.za RECEPTION Angelina Ramano DISPATCH Khumbulani Dube Published by DeskLinkTM Media PO Box 3670, Randburg, 2125 Tel: 011 787 0252 Fax: 011 787 8204 www.classicfeel.co.za

Editor’s Pick

www.desklink.co.za

Frankie, today the "top dog"

PRINTING ColorPress (Pty) Ltd © Copyright DeskLinkTM Media The opinions in this publication do not necessarily represent the views of the publisher.

SAMRO Southern African Music Rights Organisation

Gershwin, "Rhapsody in Blue"

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KARL JENKINS

STABAT MATER

Karl Jenkins (conductor and composer), Renette Bouwer (soprano), Elizabeth Lombaard (mezzo soprano), UJ Choir augmented by alumni members and members of Cantamus Corde and a 70 piece orchestra lead by Srdjan Cuca. 7 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 8 September 2010 | 19:30 | Johannesburg City Hall Tickets cost R200 (balcony) and R165 (stalls) at Computicket. Bookings NOW at Computicket. www.uj.ac.za/artscentre | artscentre@uj.ac.za | 011 559 3058

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AGENCY ACOUSTIC EXCELLENCE

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Shows.... Karl Jenkins - Stabat Mater 7 – 8 SEPTEMBER 2010 Johannesburg City Hall Karl Jenkins (conductor and composer), Renette Bouwer (soprano - ‘ethnic’ vocals and mey), Elizabeth Lombaard (mezzo soprano), UJ Choir, augmented by alumni members and members of Cantamus Corde and 70 piece orchestra. Read the full story on page ___. Book at Computicket.

The Purr Factory 8 - 25 SEPTEMBER 2010 A new fun-filled, family-friendly musical, directed by Alby Michaels. Book at Computicket.

Concerts... MONDAY 30 AUGUST 2010 The outstanding Hemanay Trio with Helen Vosloo (flute), Marian Lewin (cello) and Malcolm Nay (piano).

MONDAY 6 SEPTEMBER 2010 Zanta Hofmeyr (violin) and Malcolm Nay (piano) with two Schumann violin sonatas and Lieder transcriptions for violin and piano.

MONDAY 13 SEPTEMBER 2010 Camilia Onea (violin), Berthine van Schoor (cello) and Annalien Ball with trios by Arensky, Chopin and Schumann.

MONDAY 20 SEPTEMBER 2010 Lizette Smith (clarinet), Susan Mouton (cello) and Annalien Ball (piano).

MONDAY 27 SEPTEMBER 2010 Recital of music for piano and two cellos. Carel Henn (cello), Polina Burdukova (cello). Pianist to be announced.

Exhibitions... Ecotopian States 8 – 29 SEPTEMBER 2010 This exhibition, curated by Jacki McInnes, Spier winner of an artist residency in Brazil in 2010, includes works by some of South Africa’s most prominent artists such as Willem Boshoff , Kim Gurney, Mario Marchisella and Marianne Halter (Switzerland), Jacki McInnes and John Hodgkiss (collaboration), Lee-At Meyerov, Marcus Neustetter, Lukas Thobeyane and Strijdom van der Merwe, many of whom have been working around the state of our environment for many years.

UJ Arts Centre:

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For more information contact: Ehllené Bekker - UJ Arts Publicity Officer Tel: 011 559 3058 | Fax: 086 605 7501 | Email: artscentre@uj.ac.za

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I N S U R E

september 2010

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news /events

Aardklop National Arts Festival 2010 This year’s Aardklop National Arts Festival takes place in Potchefstroom from 28 September to 2 October. Audiences can expect three debut pieces – drama from Ingrid Winterbach, ‘literary’cabaret from Marlene van Niekerk, and a new production of one of Deon Opperman’s dramas. Also on stage are popular farce, Die Proponentjie by Pieter Fourie and director Bobby Heany’s Afrikaans version of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman. Mike van Graan brings a dark, new comedy, Magnet Theatre will follow up their award winning 2009 production Every Year, Every Day I Am Walking and Sylvaine Strike stages the Pregnant Pause. Winner of three Absa KKNK Kanna awards, site-specific piece Betésda is also on the programme. For classical music lovers, British violinist Daniel Rowland will grace the stage with the Chamber Orchestra of South Africa, performing 8 Seasons – which includes Antonio Vivaldi’s and Astor Piazzolla’s Four Seasons. For full details of the Aardklop National Arts Festival’s 2010 programme visit www.aardklop.co.za. Tickets are available at Computicket (www.computicket.com) or 083 915 8000.

First National Book Week South Africa’s first National Book Week takes place from 6 to 13 September with activities focused around Museum Africa in Johannesburg. A national collaboration between the Department of Arts and Culture and the South African Book Development Council (SABDC), the week primarily aims to encourage a love of reading amongst South Africans. Fun Reading Tents for children, youth, adults and the visually impaired will be erected. The official opening takes places on 10 September including the opening of the Reading Tents and the arrival of the Books on Bikes cycle relay. A joint initiative with Bike & Saddle, the relay begins at the Centre for the Book in Cape Town and aims to collect donated books along the journey. Activities during the week include an exhibition highlighting reading and literary programmes, South African and African authors and their books; seminars; training workshops; book launches; promotion of library membership; a reading promotion symposium hosted by the SABDC and National Literacy Day celebrations on 8 September. National Book Week also seeks to promote publishing industry skills, with the Academic and Non-Fiction Authors’ Association of South Africa (ANFASA) hosting a Pan-African Writers’ Symposium on 12 and 13 September. The symposium will be a forum for African writers, writing in all genres, to discuss different aspects of the book industry including non-fiction writing, electronic publishing, copyright, contracts, research resources and national book policies. African non-fiction authors’ associations, including the Society of Non-fiction Authors of Nigeria, the Kenya Non-fiction and Academic Authors Association and the Zimbabwean Academic and Non-fiction Authors’ Association will also participate. To find out more about National Book Week contact bookweek@ sabookcouncil.co.za or call 021 914 8626.

news /events Unisa Music Foundation September Concerts

WHATâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S ONâ&#x20AC;Ś SEPTEMBER 2010

FREE WEDNESDAY LUNCH-HOUR CONCERTS 3EPTEMBER \ \ !TRIUM 'REAT (ALL WITS CHOIR GALA CONCERT 3EPTEMBER \ \ 'REAT (ALL Annual showcase concert. THE DEANâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S CONCERT 3EPTEMBER \ \ !TRIUM First-year and foundation music student performers showcase NEWMUSICSA BENEFIT CONCERT 3EPTEMBER \ \ !TRIUM A fundraising concert featuring top contemporary musicians. www.newmusicsa.org.za.

POW ENSEMBLE 3EPTEMBER \ \ $OWNSTAIRS An internationally renowned ensemble playing live electronic and acoustic instruments. /CTOBER \ \ !TRIUM Alma Oosthuizen, Minette Du Toit-Pearce and Malcolm Nay in Concert. A rare opportunity to hear two Cape songsters in Johannesburg. JPO ACADEMY ORCHESTRA /CTOBER \ \ ,INDER !UDITORIUM Works by Dvorak and Bernstein and new compositions by WitsMusic students. 7ITS 3CHOOL OF !RTS $RAMATIC !RTS PRESENTS 4TH YEAR DIRECTORS FESTIVAL 3EPTEMBER \ $OWNSTAIRS Final directing presentations by Wits Dramatic Art fourth year directing students. WITS 969 | GP p 3EPTEMBER Sponsored by Arts Alive 2010 Supported by National Arts Festival (NAF), Grahamstown and The Market Theatre Highlights from the NAF 2010 7ITS 3CHOOL OF !RTS $RAMATIC !RTS IN ASSOCIATION WITH 4HE 7ITS 4RANSFORMATION /FFICE PRESENT WITS PRIDE &ROM 3EPTEMBER A week of festive activities celebrating difference and addressing issues of homophobia. FUCKMEQUEER 3EPTEMBER TO 3EPTEMBER \ .UNNERY Directed by Warren Nebe A series of queer happenings, together with guerilla theatre tactics. $ETAILS SUBJECT TO CHANGE )NFO \ WWW WITS AC ZA WITSTHEATRE

Friday 3 September, 13:00 Dr Miriam Makeba Concert Hall Lunch hour concert SA Saxophone quartet Sunday 5 September, 16:00 ZK Matthews Great Hall Piano duo recital Laura Pauna & Cara Hesse Sunday 12 September, 16:00 ZK Matthews Great Hall Organ recital Ockie Vermeulen Sunday 26 September, 16:00 Enoch Sontonga Conference Complex Piano recital Spencer Myer Tickets at the door: R75, R55 www.unisa.ac.za/musicfoundation Enquiries: 012 429 3311/3344 roosjs1@unisa.ac.za

Spencer Myer

WitsMusic presents:

news /events

Architecture ZA 2010 Architecture ZA 2010 takes place in Newtown, Johannesburg from 21 to 27 September. This urban culture festival aims to celebrate and explore the relationship of architecture with South Africaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s diverse cultures and contemporary existence. Highly topical post the 2010 FIFA World Cupâ&#x201E;˘, the festival seeks to open debate about cities after the event and to examine our urban futures. Held under the auspices of the South African Institute of Architects, the event will bring together leadingedge architectural thinkers, filmmakers, urban geographers, space politicians, community organisers, philosophers and fashion critics from around the world in a meeting of creative minds. The week includes exhibitions, performances, films and multi-disciplinary conferences including poetry readings, film screenings, city tours, live music and dance performances and photography and urban design exhibitions. Keynote speakers include Spanish architects Fernando Menis, AntĂłn GarcĂa Abril and DĂŠbora Mesa Molina as well as South African heavyweights Peter Rich and Andrew Makin. Other guest speakers include Michael Sorkin from the USA, Leon van Schaik from Australia, Duzan Doepel from the Netherlands, Lindsay Bremner, a South African currently working at Temple University, and Nasrine Seraji from Iran/ France. Full programme details are available at www.aza2010.org.

Kirstenbosch Botanical Art Biennale 2010 The Kirstenbosch Botanical Art Biennale 2010 takes place at the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden from 5 to 24 September. This established botanical art exhibition has become a well loved and attended show, drawing diverse and enthusiastic crowds to the garden bursting with the promise of spring. The 2010 biennale, which will feature botanical art from artists all over the country, is supported by Old Mutual and will focus on rare, endangered and narrow endemic species in Southern Africa. The exhibition is hosted at the Old Mutual Conference Centre at Kirstenbosch. It is open from 10h00 to 17h00 daily and entrance is free. For more information contact SANBI Information on 021 799 8783 or email kirstenboschinfo@sanbi.org.za.

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James Cairns’ Dirt at Kalk Bay Theatre Straight from its dynamic debut at this year’s National Arts Festival, James Cairns’ new one-man tour-de-force Dirt is on at the Kalk Bay Theatre from 25 August to 11 September. In a road trip theme reminiscent of Cairn’s stunning Sitting Man, this show features three friends (and a dog named Tom) who need to get to a funeral. Described by Cue as ‘a riot of a play’, Dirt promises more of the Cairns magic – brilliant performance combining humour, drama, physical comedy, and a twist of the deliciously dark. Cairns peoples the stage with the soap star actor Sam, with an ego the size of Everest, exhausted new father Grant, who’s terrified of his post-natal wife, and Wayne, a man whose life has fallen through the cracks but who hasn’t realised it yet. The show should keep audiences on the edge of their seats following the characters’ fights and friendship, without recourse to elaborate sets or scenery. Dirt is written by Nick Warren and directed by Jenine Collocott, who also worked with Cairns on the touching love story, High Diving. Tickets for Dirt are R100, ages 13 years and up. Doors open at 6pm and theatre-goers can enjoy a light meal before the show. To book and for further information, contact 073 220 5430 or visit www.kbt.co.za.

African Tapestry for children

RHYTHMS ON THE SQUARE LIVE EVERY SECOND SUNDAY OF THE MONTH

12H30 - 14H30

For more information, call 011 217 6000 or visit www.nelsonmandelasquare.com

september 2010

The National Children’s Theatre (NCT) Parktown follows up the hit production, Seussical Jr with African Tapestry, which runs from 13 September to 9 October. This musical production weaves the beat of African drums, music and dance with folk tales from across the African continent in performances that should delight and charm young audiences. An interactive theatre experience, African Tapestry celebrates Africa’s many different cultures while at the same time presenting awareness of environmental issues. Joyce Levinsohn, Artistic Director of the NCT, shares her inspiration for the show: ‘During the recent World Cup our sense of belonging to the warm, welcoming and generous continent of Africa was joyously celebrated. More than ever, Africa belongs to us all. African folk tales burst with robust energy, and many of them reveal a harmony with nature which takes on a deeper significance, as Africa’s environmental frailty worsens.’ Music for the production has been arranged by Tebogo Tshotetsi and includes instruments such as the marimba, reed flutes, the okarani and the tshaga. Audiences can expect a delightful, fun-filled experienced with enthralling songs, exuberant performances and masterful animal movements. Seussical Jr’s Sihle Ndaba also stars. African Tapestry will run at the National Children’s Theatre, 3 Junction Avenue, Parktown, from 13 September until 9 October 2010. Ticket prices are R70 (children) and R80 (adults). Bookings can be made through the theatre on 011 484 1584, and through Computicket (www.computicket.com) or 083 915 8000.

THIRD SEASON 2010

PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

Johannesburg

news /events

Mariangela Vacatello to perform with the JPO

Wednesday 28 & Thursday 29 July + (Sunday 1 August – State Theatre at 3pm) RAVEL: Le Tombeau de Couperin ZAIDEL-RUDOLPH: Pendulum for piano and orchestra BEETHOVEN: Symphony no.1, op.21, C major Soloist: Malcolm Nay - piano Conductor: Xu Zhong Wednesday 4 & Thursday 5 August ROSSINI: William Tell Overture LALO: Symphonie espagnole, op.21 TCHAIKOVSKY: Nutcracker Suite no.1, op.71A Soloist: Natasha Korsakova - violin Conductor: Xu Zhong Wednesday 11 & Thursday 12 August + (Sunday 15 August – State Theatre at 3pm) DVORAK: Serenade, op.44, D minor MOZART: Piano Concerto, no.20 op.22, D minor HAYDN: Symphony no.104, D major (London) Soloist: Francois du Toit - piano Conductor: Bernhard Gueller Wednesday 18 & Thursday 19 August IVES: The Unanswered Question BARBER: Adagio for strings BARBER: Adagio a capella: Agnus dei MOZART: Mass, K.427, C minor (Robbins Landon) Gauteng Choristers Conductor: Bernhard Gueller Wednesday 25 & Thursday 26 August + (Sunday 29 August – State Theatre at 3pm) DVORAK: Wood dove, op.110 STRAUSS: Horn Concerto, no.1 op.11, E-flat major BRAHMS: Symphony no.2, op.73, D major Soloist: Abel Pereira - horn Conductor: Bernhard Gueller Wednesday 1 & Thursday 2 September GRIEG: Lyric suite, op.54 (Lyrisk suite) DVORAK: Piano Concerto, op.33, G minor TCHAIKOVSKY: Swan lake suite, op.20a (Kalmus) Soloist: Vassily Primakov - piano Conductor: Bernhard Gueller

Concerts are held at 8pm at the Linder Auditorium, Wits University Education Campus (formerly JCE), 27 St Andrews Road, Parktown. Season tickets are available immediately from the JPO. For further information contact: Tel (011) 789-2733 Fax (011) 789-7256 E-mail: info@jpo.co.za Booking to the general public can be made through Computicket. Booking now open. 20 CF september 2010

The Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra (JPO) is just wrapping up its third season of 2010. However, fans will only have a few weeks to wait before the final season of the year starts on 6 October. Running until 11 November, the fourth season is to include a number of high profile guest soloist appearances, among them a guitar duo made up of James Grace and Jonathan Crossley. The concert scheduled to take place on 27 and 28 October will feature 28-year-old Italian piano starlet Mariangela Vacatello. Born in Naples in 1982, Vacatello showed a talent for music at a very early age, beginning concert performances at the age of five and making her official debut at age 14 with a performance of Liszt’s Piano Concerto no. 1 with the Pomeriggi Musicali Orchestra. In 1999, at the age of 17, she won second prize at the Franz Liszt International Piano Competition in Utrecht, Holland. A year later, she was awarded the Giuseppe Verdi Music for Life Prize in recognition of her precocious talent and technical accomplishments. She went on to study her craft at the Milan Conservatory of Music, receiving her Masters Degree in 2006 with top marks. She then moved on to the Royal Academy of Music in London, where she furthered her studies under Prof. Christopher Elton, Head of Keyboard Studies at the prestigious institution. In June of last year, she became the first Italian woman to reach the finals of the highly esteemed Van Cliburn Competition in Fort Worth, Texas. The million or more internet viewers of the competition voted her the audience favourite. Since then, she has played to rave reviews all around the United States, and remains in great demand in concert halls all over Europe. For her appearance alongside the JPO at the Linder Auditorium in October, she will be performing Maurice Ravel’s heavily jazzinfluenced Piano Concerto in G.

news /events

Walker/ Marx/ Kentridge at the Apartheid Museum The monumental sculpture of Gerhard Marx and William Kentridge seems at first glance diametrically opposed to the films of American artist Kara Walker â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the former colossal and still, while the latter are ephemeral, fragile and animated. And yet, set against the backdrop of the Apartheid Museum, they are linked by threads that run through all three works and the museum itself. World on its Hind Legs â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Marx and Kentridgeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s second large scale collaborative work following Fire Walker â&#x20AC;&#x201C; refers to a drawing created by Kentridge commenting on the Italian invasion of Abyssinia in 1935; chosen by Marx and Kentridge for its â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;strong linesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, it suggests â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;a world held together tenuously, but that might implode at any moment. It is a world that is both powerful... and fragile; on the verge of disintegration, but held together by its own volition; fleeing its fate and at the same time, striding towards its destinyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. While motionless, the work is not static; it calls on the viewer both to bring it to life and to make sense of it. As the spectator circumnavigates the work, its fragmented parts disintegrate into confusion, only reuniting into a cohesive whole at certain viewpoints, to form a world striding out on two steel-girded legs. In this regard, the sculpture might be read as commenting not only on a specific historical event, but on the very nature of history: fragmented, chaotic and confusing, and only offering some semblance of cohesion when viewed in retrospect, and with participation from a spectator who shapes it partly according to his or her own standpoint. As such, it begins to parallel aspects of Walkerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s films, in which she tackles history â&#x20AC;&#x201C; in particular, that of slavery in America â&#x20AC;&#x201C; but more generally, the degree to which history is created of equal parts fact and fiction. Although Walkerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s films enjoy only a short run at the Apartheid Museum, visitors will be able to view Marx and Kentridgeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sculpture until it is moved to its final destination abroad.

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Vienna meets Italy at Casta Diva

Boutique Hotel

The brainchild of South African soprano Bongiwe Madlala, Vienna meets Italy is a musical programme that brings together works from Grafin Mariza, Johann Strauss, Franz Lehar, Robert Stolz, Giacomo Puccini, and Ruggiero Leoncavallo. A dream come true for Madlala, the programme includes: ‘Sag ja mein lieb sag ja’ from Grafin Mariza, ‘Klange der Heimat (Csardas)’ from Die Fledermaus by Johann Strauss, ‘Meine Lippen sie kussen so heise’ by Franz Lehar, ‘Lippen Schweigen’ from Die Lustige Witwe by Franz Lehar, ‘Un bel di vedremo’ from Madame Butterfly by Puccini, ‘Si puo’, ‘Qual fiamma vea nel guardo’ and ‘Silvio equest’ora’ by Leoncavallo. Madlala is no stranger to Casta Diva being one of the most frequent performers at the venue, and the reason why Casta Diva’s theatre was initiated. In 2008, Madlala played the title role of Bess in the Cape Town Opera production of Porgy & Bess. She has performed in Austria, Germany and Japan, and is a member of the Black Tie Ensemble (BTE). In August 2010 she performed the role of Euridice in the BTE Opera Vignette – Orfeo ed Euridice by Christoph Willibald Gluck. Vienna meets Italy is on at 19h30 on 10 September. For bookings contact Casta Diva on 012 542 44449 or info@castadiva.co.za.

A unique venue, nestled high on the Northern slopes of the Magaliesberg amidst peaceful and tranquil surroundings that offer stunning views and an unsurpassed setting of natural beauty and elegance in an oasis of peace and serenity in the city.

$ ) " 3 * 4 . " Restaurant

Guaranteed the true Decadent, Divine, Delightful fine dining experience, the perfect fusion between the magic of Casta Diva, fresh ingredients, a dedicated culinary team and the friendliest service of South Africa.

SA choirs crowned world champions The sixth World Choir Games, held in China during July this year saw South Africa’s Tygerberg Children’s Choir and the Stellenbosch University Choir named World Champions. Under leader Andre van der Merwe, the Stellenbosch choir won two gold medals in the categories Mixed Choirs and Musica Contemporanea. Conducted by Hennie D. Loock, the Tygerberg Children’s Choir also received two gold medals, in the categories of Music of the Religions and Folklore, competing against much older choirs. The Tygerberg choir came fourth overall and earned another gold medal in the Children’s Choirs division. Held in Shaoxing, China the 2010 event had choristers from Asia, Africa, Australia, Europe, North, Central and South America competing. Run by the German Interkultur organisation, whose motto is ‘Singing together brings nations together’, this year’s event saw more than 20 000 singing enthusiasts from 83 countries participate across 472 choirs. The world’s biggest choir competition operates in the spirit of the Olympic ideal, aiming to unify musical artists and nations together through song. Held biannually, the first World Choir Games were held in Austria in 2000. Since then, South Korea, Germany and China have all hosted the games. The next World Choir Games are due to take place in the USA from 4 to 14 July 2010 in Cincinnati (Ohio). For more information visit the Interkultur website: www. interkultur.com/world-choir-games.

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Casta Diva Art Gallery

67 Albatros Street, Ninapark, Pretoria

Tel: 012 542 4449 | Fax: 012 542 3085

info@castadiva.co.za | www.castadiva.co.za

Celebrating 50 years

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Ladysmith Black Mambazo will be touring South Africa to celebrate 50 years of the group’s existence during September. The 10-50-70 Back to eKasi Tour celebrates ten years since the launch of the South African-Norwegian music cooperation organisation (Mmino), which supports the music culture in South Africa; 50 years of isicathamiya music by Ladysmith Black Mambazo and 70 years of age attained by the group founder, Professor Joseph Shabalala on 28 August 2010. Ladysmith Black Mambazo will undertake a countrywide road trip to interact and connect with local fans, performing in the townships of Clermont in Durban, Bloemfontein, Soweto in Johannesburg, Ladysmith, Mthatha, Mdanzane in East London, and kaNyamazane in Nelspruit. Several music groups and artists will accompany Ladysmith along the way, including Norwegian composer and singer, Kristin Asbjørnsen, whose permanent musical ensembles are Dadafon and Krøyt. Asbjørnsen has also participated for many years in the vocal experimentation-oriented vocal quartet Kvitretten. In 2008 she released a live-album, Bessie Smith Revisited, with the jazz quartet Nymark Collective. Local music groups will also be given the chance to share the stage with the three-time Grammy Award winning Ladysmith along the way. From its foundation in 1960, Ladysmith Black Mambazo has married the intricate rhythms and harmonies of South African musical traditions to the sounds and sentiments of Christian gospel music. The result is a musical and spiritual alchemy that has touched a worldwide audience. Their musical work over the past five decades have garnered praise and accolades within the recording industry, and also solidified their identity as a cultural force to be reckoned with. Ladysmith Black Mambazo’s music heritage has been passed on to the third generation of the Shabalala family and has seen offshoots of traditional music groups mushrooming in the form of White Mambazo, Shabalala Rhythms and Imphande among others. The 10-50-70 Back to eKasi Tour brings their music back to South Africans in the most intimate and engaging way celebrating our rich traditional music heritage. For more information on the tour contact Simon Manda at 072 178 6426/ 031 811 7575 or email simon@arisemedia.co.za.

september 2010

Silence of the Music at the Baxter

Desert Rose Music teams up with theatre director, Basil Appollis to produce an intercultural love story set in classical world music. Silence of the Music runs from 22 September to 3 October, featuring original music by leading world music composer and director, Lynne Holmes-Ganief. The show is an exciting formula of drama set in an epic multilingual world with classical music. Audiences can anticipate a new genre of theatre entertainment. Set in 2030 South Africa this ground breaking musical drama tells the tale of an elderly couple whose intercultural marriage was spurned by their families, friends and broader community. Maria, a music composer played by the inimitable Michelle Maxwell (Isidingo and Scandal) and Khalil, played by veteran actor Fahruq Valley-Omar (Tree of Life) reflects on the multitude of challenges they’ve experienced through their love for each other and their common love of music. The thematic musical drama is set on the eve of the couple’s return to their beloved country after decades of self-imposed exile. The original music in this production includes rich and angelic opera voices, Sufi Arabic prayers, romantic ballads and African chants, all set in a diverse world-music arrangement of epic orchestration, flamenco guitar, Indian tabla and African rhythms Other members of the star-studded cast include acting and singing sensation Loukmaan Adams (Kat and the Kings, District 6 The Musical, Ghoema), Keenan Arrison (Shooting Starts, Madam & Eve, Fishy Feshuns, Second Time Around), Yusuf Ganief, Antoinette Blyth, Belinda Silbert, Asmina Aleker, Nobuhle Ketelo, Bienyameen Camroodien, Francois Arzul, Rashied Hassan and Themba Pondo Performances of Silence of the Music run Monday to Friday at 20h00 and on Saturdays and Sunday at 17h00. Tickets are R120 and available through or Computicket (www.computicket.co.za) or 083 915 8000.

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On Stage

with Fiona Ramsay UKZN acting graduate Hlengiwe Lushaba © Market Theatre

‘

Wits acting graduate Claire Gordon-Webster © Samantha Nell

frica will never go out of fashion!’ declared Sierra Leonean film curator Mahen Bonetti and this rings true when speaking to recent drama graduates and young professionals. All exhibit a love for their country and culture, and are excited by the opportunities afforded them early in their careers. I spoke to Asher Stolz, appearing this month in Tuesdays with Morrie, Nat Ramabulana who performed at this year’s National Arts Festival in Woman in the Yellow Dress, UKZN graduate Hlengiwe Lushaba, Standard Bank Young Artist Award winner currently touring the country in Zakes Mda’s evocative play And the Girls in their Sunday Dresses, and Claire Gordon-Webster who landed a role in the soap opera Scandal shortly after graduating from Wits. I was keen to know whether the industry had proved as they anticipated. Asher began, ‘Some wonderful challenging jobs pay very badly, while horrid mediocre jobs can pay handsomely. Really you have to create your own work, so you can exist in the industry, pursuing what you choose to and not be dictated to.’ Claire was convinced she would fall into the ‘actress-cum-waitress’

september 2010

cliché, and was surprised to be cast as journalist Renee, in the soap opera Scandal as early as she was, ‘To be working in this industry – better yet – on television has been an unexpected whirlwind in which I’ve had to learn everything from scratch’. Fellow graduate Nat suggests he had started with no specific expectations, but soon discovered all he really wants to do is work that interests him, and therefore has a responsibility to choose roles carefully. Having worked in the business since 2001, Hlengiwe reflects that although she has encountered ‘a couple of curve balls’, she has fared well; this meant learning how to view her craft not only as a passion but a business. Claire assents confidence is vital. ‘When one goes through the excruciating cattle call of castings it is essential to maintain a sense of self among the thousands of girls who are taller/ prettier/ better. Nat concurs that gaining confidence gave him a clearer idea of the kind of actor he wants to be. He recognised this by writing and performing plays with actor friend Attandwa Kani, which kept him busy and continually exploring. ‘Being resourceful,’ agrees Asher, ‘is essential. I have started a company with a colleague and we generate work ourselves to maintain independence’. He adds wryly, ‘Beware of the couch... it only breeds depression!’ All agree theatre is their favoured medium, as it engages you entirely, is challenging, demands commitment from every part of you, and they relish the immediacy and danger – even opening night jitters. They would all also enjoy working on films as this affords investigation of the subtle and of complex emotional range.

Their view on the local entertainment industry was unanimous: that it is on the cusp of becoming great and inclusive. Positive Claire suggested films like Jozi and White Wedding demonstrate we are making films for South Africans about South Africans by South Africans, and doing it well. Sceptical Nat conceded it may be burgeoning but still has a way to go, because people in positions of power lack an understanding of what is needed and concludes that, ‘Despite this, I feel excited to be a part of it. We seem to be developing as a nation that values and promotes artistic expression’. Ironic Hlengiwe states she would like to be recognised and acknowledged as a worker and accorded rights first and, ‘then talk to me about an industry!’ ‘It is about hard work,’ realistic Asher added. ‘Raphael Nadal is the best tennis player in the world because he practices for six hours a day. Hopefully if I practise my profession as diligently, I will be able to be great!’ On the questions of enough funding they were united. Enough funding? ‘Obviously not!’ Enough opportunity? ‘Obviously not!’ And all agree as ‘newbies’ they need to change all that for those who follow them! They have been influenced by local artists, international film stars, colleagues, directors, writers, and all interestingly cited their teachers as pivotal to their pursuing careers in the arts. When they get despondent their teachers remain the encouraging voices they hear. Optimism is palpable in these young artists and when asked about their futures: Asher hopes the future will bring a trip to Helikos in Florence, a wonderful creative career in South Africa, to grow his company and make great movies and art; Claire ideally wants to ‘have her acting cake and eat it’. ‘I want to do everything. I want to build a television and film career both here and overseas. I want to communicate different experiences, perspectives, ways of life to people and I want them to be moved.’ On a lighter note she giggles, ‘Oh yes, and of course I want to wear pretty dresses to fancy film premieres.’ Hlengiwe adds, ‘I would love never to need to worry about where my next pay cheque is coming from to enable me to create work I love and not have to do work to pay my bond. This compromises art!’ Nat admits he is still trying to get his head around his future, but is sure that, ‘It is possible to live well and work consistently as an actor. I’ve managed to buy a house, live, travel and even put some money away and I’m still very young.’ He smiles broadly and says positively, ‘However, my major goal is to love life and become hugely successful!’ Gauteng stages have a lot to offer this month. Catch Asher Stolz on stage with Graham Hopkins at Sandton’s Theatre on the Square in Tuesdays with Morrie, directed by Alan Swerdlow and adapted from Mitch Albom’s novel – described as ‘inspirational, human and humorous’. A little more north at the Montecasino Theatre, Angela Killian steps into Eva Peron’s stilettos in the hit musical Evita. At the Teatro you can see the last performances of the tribute to Michael Jackson, Thriller and if you travel further north to the State Theatre in Pretoria, Lesego Motsepe becomes the legendary ‘Ma-Brrr’ bringing Brenda Fassie back to life! For those who want to stay closer to the city, Packed House Productions and Absa are behind the new musical Jock of the Bushveld while ‘Chilli Boy’ Matthew Ribnick keeps folks chuckling at the Fringe. Both shows are on at the Joburg Theatre Complex. In Newtown, The Market Theatre offers the Listen with your Eyes festival featuring the exciting Wombtide and QUACK!. CF

news /events

Overall winner Cape Town saxophonist, Hamman Schoonwinkel

The Artscape National Youth Music Competition

september 2010

The third Artscape National Youth Music Competition, played over four rounds, was held from 5 to 10 October last year and culminated in a glittering Finalistsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Gala Concert. The seven finalists, who each had to play a concerto, treated the audience to a varied and exciting concert, accompanied by the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra, under the baton of visiting Dutch conductor, Maestro Arjan Tien. Apart from the tremendous prestige that comes with participating in this tournament, the contestants also compete for substantial cash prizes. The overall winner in 2009 was awarded a Gold Medal plus R10 000, while each of the category winners received a Silver Medal and R5 000. Runners up in each of the categories stood to win Bronze Medals and R2 500. All competitors who made it to the Final Round automatically won R1 500 each â&#x20AC;&#x201C; this after they had already received R1 000 for making it to the Third Round. Special awards included Best Performance of a South African Composition, which brought R1 500 to the successful contestant; Best Performance of a Concerto in the Final Round, which came with R2 000 prize money; and Most Promising Participant who is not a Finalist, which came with R1 500. The overall winner was Cape Town saxophonist, Hamman Schoonwinkel. The category prize for piano was awarded to Irene Kim, while the category prize for wind instruments was shared by Hamman Schoonwinkel and flautist, Myles Roberts. The runner-up prize for piano was shared by Melissa Tu and Willem de Beer, and again because of the high standard displayed by the candidates, the runner-up prize in the category for wind instruments was shared by Meyer Scholtz (clarinet) and Levi Alexander (saxophone). The prize for the Best Performance of a South African Work was awarded to Myles Roberts for his performance of the Concerto for Flute and Orchestra by Hendrik Hofmeyr. Willem de Beer from Pretoria was awarded the prize for the Best Performance of a Concerto in the Final Round for his rendition of the Concerto No. 2, Op. 102 by Shostakovich. The prize for Most Promising Participant who is not a Finalist was awarded to the 14-year-old pianist, Caryn Reed. Leon Hartshorne, Head of the Hugo Lambrechts Music Centre, and Arisa Voges, a teacher of wind instruments, were each given special awards for their exceptional devotion to music teaching over the years. The 2010 Competition will be held from 4 to 9 October at the Artscape Theatre. 30 candidates from around the country have been selected from national auditions held in various main centres and the competitors include pianists and soloists on a wide range of orchestral instruments. To obtain more information about the Artscape National Youth Orchestra Competition, please contact Nellie Hewana on 021 410 9921 or send an e-mail to nellieh@artscape.co.za.

OGILVY CAPE TOWN 29925

YOUâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;LL INSPIRE A THOUSAND STORIES ONCE YOU GET THERE. BUT THEREâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S ONLY ONE WAY TO GET THERE. 3 August 2007 â&#x20AC;&#x153;We were fortunate that the once-monthly Lunar Rainbow was visible at Victoria Falls. A beautiful sight.â&#x20AC;? To share mrfullerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Zimbabwean experience, visit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrfuller/994777138

There are discoveries awaiting you that you will youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve planned to see and upgrading to British Airways. British Airways offers daily and Victoria Falls as well as

CT Rodney Trudgeon’s

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CAPE TOWN LETTER O ne of the things I’ve enjoyed very much since I moved to Cape Town five years ago is the annual Voorkamer Fest which happens in the picturesque town of Darling at the beginning of September each year. It is a most unusual and indeed, a unique festival as far as I can tell. This makes it a very special experience. It is all enhanced by the onset of spring and the outbreak of thousands of beautiful flowers. Let me explain how you ‘do’ the Voorkamer Fest. First of all, it is essential to book. The ‘Fest’ is extremely popular and you need to secure yourself a space. Once that is done, set out early on the day you’ve set aside so that you can enjoy the pleasant drive up the West Coast and then turn inland to Darling. The closer you get to Darling you’ll notice that the flowers become more and more evident. When you arrive, you’ll find that the little town is buzzing with activity and anticipation. You assemble at Evita se Perron and you will be allocated to a ‘combi’ along with 10 or 12 other people. This will be your group. There are a number of ‘combis’ and each one of them whisks their passengers to a total of three private houses, which have been pre-selected by the organisers. So you can’t actually choose which artists you want to see. But that’s fine. Part of the fun is the surprise in store at each venue. The venues are the private homes of people in Darling who’ve agreed to host an artist. These homes range from the moderately luxurious to the typical township tin house and about 21 homes are involved, each of which receives a donation of R600 as a token of thanks. You will be received warmly by the smiling faces of the host family and ushered into the sitting room. The artists will appear, and for 20 to 25 minutes you will be entertained by anything from a classical pianist to a poetry reading, a jazz group, a mini play or a dance sequence. Then, without further ado or hanging about chatting, you will be bundled back into your combi and sped off to the next house. This happens three times. In the process, you’ll fly past the other combis taking people to various other venues, or arriving at the venue you’re just leaving. It’s tremendously exciting and great fun and everyone gets into the spirit of the occasion.

This year, the festival runs on 3, 4 and 5 September and among the many artists appearing will be Angels on Horseback, the Jungle Theatre Company and even the Blinde Boere Orkes – this apart from the various solo performers. When all the theatre activity is over, there are all the stalls to visit featuring local arts and crafts. It is also worthwhile remembering that the Darling Wine Route is of great interest and there are stalls at Evita se Perron showcasing these wines. It is an altogether fulfilling experience – theatre, art, flowers, wine and the focus all the while is on the colourful character of Darling and its richly textured cultures and friendly people. Why not visit their website for full information and booking details: www.voorkamerfest-darling.co.za? Just while we’re on the subject of local art and culture, I wonder if you’ve ever seen a publication down here called The Cape Odyssey? It’s a tabloid-sized newspaper which is published every second month and which concentrates on what they call ‘A journey into the colourful and fascinating history of the Cape’. The paper quality is excellent and the articles and especially the photographs are well worth perusing. It is free and available at branches of PostNet here in the Cape. Another thing to look out for is the series of concerts given in the old Presbyterian Church in Green Point. They are the brainchild of Barry Smith and he gets together a fine selection of singers and chamber musicians to perform during the various seasons. The Academy of St Andrew’s Spring and Summer Season runs from September to December and the concerts are on Friday evenings and Sunday afternoons. Finally, and looking ahead, there’s the next offering from Cape Town Opera in October. Lucia di Lammermoor by Donizetti, with Bronwen Forbay in the title role, opens at the Artscape Opera House on 16 October and runs until the 27th. Then the Artscape Youth Music Competition runs from 4 to 9 October. This competition has established itself as a major event in the country’s music calendar with an incredibly high standard on offer each year. Although the closing date has long passed, the event offers good entertainment for music lovers, who are welcome to attend the preliminary rounds, building up to the grand final concert with the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra. CF

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Caroline Smart’s

KZN

Durban Smarts The Butcher Brothers – photo by Terence Matola

eptember usually sees the weather hotting up again in Durban with all our jerseys, stockings and scarves packed away till next year. The arts scene is just as vibrant! Set to challenge and entertain contemporary dance lovers with cutting edge local and international dance, the Jomba! Contemporary Dance Experience takes place at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre from 1 to 12 September. There’s also an open Fringe programme and a Youth Fringe day plus dance master classes and

workshops. Red Eye Jomba!, a popular partnership project with the Durban Art Gallery is on 3 September. The 18th Witness Hilton Arts Festival from 17 to 19 September brings together the pick of South African theatre with exhilarating drama, physical theatre, comedy fun and music, not to mention a quality craft market, art exhibitions and a Brainfest. Several acclaimed productions seen in Grahamstown will be featured, including two of my favourites – the poignant Kaput! and the equally emotive The Butcher Brothers. Dada Masilo’s cutting edge Swan Lake presents classical ballet as you’ve never seen it before! Then there’s the Israeli gem, The Timekeepers, Berkoff’s classic Decadence, Tree Boy, Breed and Duet for One (which also has a run in the Playhouse Loft beforehand). For comedy lovers there’s Beauty Ramapelepele and the mad antics of Raiders of the Lost Aardvark. There’s a wide selection of music from serious to contemporary, including Nibs van der Spuy and Guy Buttery as well the 70s hit band Uptown Rhythm Dogs. Andrew Buckland will present his classic Ugly Noo Noo and Between the Teeth as well as Dario Fo’s Mistero Buffo. On 17 September, a specifically-tailored schools’ day entitled Jongosi (a word coined by White Zulu, Johnny Clegg) celebrates everything young, dynamic and strong! The annual White Mountain Festival takes place over the Heritage Day long weekend (23 to 26 September) in the spectacular setting of White Mountain Lodge near Giant’s Castle in the Central Drakensberg – only 200km from Durban on tarred roads. KZN’s only acoustic music festival, it offers performances by top artists such as Art Matthews (Just Jinjer), John Ellis (Tree 63), Nibs van der Spuy, the Jack Mantis Band, Margaret’s Daughter, Machineri, Jaspar Lepak, Shannon Kenny and Alan Judd, Redhand Blues Band, Meri Kenaz and Barry Thomson, to name a few. Poetry lovers should diarise the dates of the International Poetry Festival, Poetry Africa. It runs from 4 to 9 October with poets, predominantly from South Africa and elsewhere on the African continent, participating in performances, readings, music and book-launches. Head up north to Zululand for the Zululand Expo, which takes place from 30 September to 2 October in Richards Bay. The second largest combined entertainment and exhibition event in KZN, it provides an ideal opportunity to enjoy the latest in South Africa’s top entertainment. While we are on the subject of festivals, all congratulations to the Absa Kollig op die Absa KKNK for producing its 15th consecutive festival last month. Presented by Die Teatergilde and originating from

With 7 return flights a day, we’ll make

Roz Cryer, Glass Bottle, mixed media on canvas from her exhibition: Adornment in Borderland. Courtesy artSPACEdurban

the Absa KKNK in Oudtshoorn, it is the second oldest Afrikaans arts festival in South Africa. Interesting music programmes at the University of KwaZuluNatal include the eMusic Indaba from 23 to 25 September with two evenings of electro-acoustic music as well as three days of workshops for young South African composers and performers. Featured artists include Nicolas Collins (USA), the POW Ensemble (Holland/ South Africa), and Petra Ronner (Switzerland). Free lunch hour concerts at the university’s Howard College host Sax in the City 3 on 6 September, an all-saxophones concert marking the premiere of Dr Clare Loveday’s Judgment Call written for Jeff and Jonathan Judge. African Drumming Meets Western Drumming follows on 8 September presented by drum and percussion students from the UKZN School of Music Jazz and the African Music and Dance programmes. A Celebration of Life for Surendran Reddy on 4 September at the University’s Jazz Centre includes performances of the late composer’s works as well as tributes to him by other musicians. The KZN Philharmonic Orchestra’s Spring Season gets off to a flourishing start on 16 September with Victor Yampolsky on the podium in a programme which includes Sibylle Tschopp performing Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D Major, opus 35. Yampolsky also conducts a Western and Indian programme on 23 September with Lykele Temmingh wielding the baton for the Youth Concerto Festival on 30 September. Friends of Music will present two piano recitals by acclaimed musicians at the Durban Jewish Centre with Vassily Primakov appearing on 14 September, followed by Spencer Myer on 28 September. The Playhouse has a busy line-up for September with an Indian dance drama take on the western classical ballet Swan Lake presented in association with Sanjoy Roy in the Drama, after which Afzal Khan moves in with his stand-up comedy piece Who’s Your Mamoo?. In the Opera, there’s the ever-popular Shall We Dance and the Loft will host KickstArt’s Duet for One with Clare Mortimer and Michael Richard. The supper theatre circuit welcomes a new venue with the Stirling Theatre at the Italian Club in Durban North, this month featuring the deliciously wicked (okay, I’m biased, I directed it!) multi-awardwinning Brutal Tunes with Lisa Bobbert, Anthony Stonier and

Andrew Warburton. The Barnyard Theatre at Gateway pays tribute to The Big 5 – nope, not lions, rhinos, elephants et al – in this case, it’s Elton John, Tina Turner, Rod Stewart, Michael Jackson and Madonna. The Big 5 celebrates the music of five of the greatest pop icons of all time with their no. 1 hits from the last six decades of pop music. The cast includes Taryn-Lee Hudson as Madonna, Ramaine Barreiro Lloyd as Tina Turner, James Dobson as Elton John, Tiaan Rautenbach as Rod Stewart, and Ernie.B St.Clair as Michael Jackson. Rhumbelow Theatre starts off the month with Fabulous 50’s featuring Jaziel Vaugh’hann, Jocelyn Bennie and Praline Ross in a programme of music by the Platters, Dianna Ross and the Supremes, Nat King Cole, The Manhattans and the Temptations. The hugely popular Jonathan Roxmouth will be back after appearing at the Hilton Arts Festival, to present his smash-hit show, In Black & White. In it, he shares a personal semi-biographical take on showbiz life through songs, sketches and backstage stories. Barry Thomson and Andy Turrell star in Unplugged at the Heritage Theatre in Hillcrest which runs until 10 September to be followed by the Company of Theatre Arts production, One Hit Wonders. On the visual arts front, artSPACEdurban has three exhibitions: All Shades Of Brown by Sandira Reddy, so titled to describe the skin colour element that comes across in her work; Sibusiso Duma’s A Time to Love which makes observations on the landscape, witchcraft, and township life; and The Road Less Travelled in which Di van Wyk links the landscape of the human journey and the passage through the physical landscape. These will be followed on 13 September at artSPACEdurban by Adornment in Borderland by Roz Cryer in which she delves into the history behind, the definitions of and the boundaries between fine art and the decorative arts, and Urban Angel in which Caroline Birch deals with the extraordinary in the ordinary, the promise in our mundane, everyday existence. Running until 5 September at the KZNSA Gallery are Richard Hart’s Lingua Franca, Masuga – a joint exhibition by Caroline Birch, Deborah van Niekerk and Rogan Ward as well as Michele Silk’s Urban-Vermin. The MTN New Contemporaries Award Exhibition opens on 14 September. The Tatham Art Gallery in Pietermaritzburg has Jabulisa 2010: Art of KwaZulu-Natal, an exhibition drawn from the Tatham’s permanent collection and works in the Whitwell Collection from 1923 to 1926. The Blue Caterpillar Art Gallery at the Butterflies for Africa in Pietermaritzburg has new oils by Spanish artist Didier Lourenço as well as his ever-popular lithographs. More information on my artSMart website – either check it out regularly at http://news.artsmart.co.za or search for a particular story at www.artsmart.co.za. CF

sure you see the sunset over the warm waters of the Indian Ocean

september 2010

Images courtesy of Arts Alive and Shared History Festival â&#x20AC;&#x201C; The Indian Experience

Joburg Alive AWAKE WITH THE ARTS Lira is among the artists headlining Jazz on the Lake

Described as a ‘gift to the city from the city’ this year’s annual Joburg Arts Alive International Festival reaches into all seven regions of Johannesburg, providing creative entertainment across all genres for the city’s more than 3.2 million residents. CLASSICFEEL’s Emily Amos wades into the plentiful highlights and challenges of this widereaching festival.

rts Alive is a uniquely urban arts festival – staged throughout the country’s economic powerhouse, Johannesburg – it faces the challenge of creating and sustaining an arts festival atmosphere across kilometres of urban space… for 25 days. This is a mammoth task that is perhaps far more easily achieved by South Africa’s other arts festivals, which occur in small towns (and over much shorter periods) such as the Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees in Oudtshoorn, Aardklop in Potchefstroom and the grandmother of South Africa’s arts festivals, the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown. That said, it might be best for all arts and culture lovers to find their own individual ways to engage with this year’s Arts Alive festival, which runs from 2 to 26 September. There is certainly more than enough on offer for festival goers to create their own journey through the arts this September. The array of choice provided by a multiplicity of genres, artists and venues is quite astounding. Perhaps the most well-known item on the Arts Alive programme is the free Jazz on the Lake concert at Zoo Lake which always has Joburgers arriving in their droves to enjoy a convivial cornucopia of musical entertainment. But there is so much more to this festival. Steven Sack, Johannesburg’s Director of Arts, Culture and Heritage is the person in charge of delivering this artistic gift to the city and it is being managed by Zanusi Brand Solutions for the 2009 to 2011 period. Brenda Devar from the Arts Alive management team, says the festival is ‘an open platform’ and allinclusive. A great challenge of the 2010 festival is to open it up, to move away from ‘niching’ performances to specific audiences – something the 2010 programme certainly promises to deliver. The event’s spaces and places range from Orange Farm and Eldorado Park to Newtown, Braamfontein, Hillbrow, Sandton and Rosebank, and out to Diepsloot and Tembisa. Addressing the specific challenge of bringing such an all-enveloping artistic

celebration to the city, Devar says, ‘for too long the city has operated in silos’ but Arts Alive has an ‘extraordinary reach across the city utilising as many venues as possible’ – this year the festival spans 32 venues and 155 stages, and includes over 150 artists. The festival is unique in that it encourages partnerships and work with existing creative projects, their sponsors, supporters and funders which allows for such a comprehensive gift of artistic diversity to be delivered to the citizens of Joburg. For Devar, often ‘all it needs is a conversation’ – putting artists, companies or cultural institutions in touch with one another. Exciting and dynamic collaborations and projects can arise from these ‘conversations’. Arts Alive 2010 features 78 artistic collaborations and over 70 workshops. Much of Arts Alive is also about audience development, creating new generations of arts lovers and enthusiasts through work with schools. Speaking to Devar about this year’s festival, one cannot help but imbibe her enthusiasm and love for the festival. First up on her list of visual arts highlights are two eco-projects which engage with recycling and which have had numbers of artists, school children and people with disabilities busily engaged with creation for several months already. Urban Eyes, Greening Our Lives has 23 schools working with the Imbali Visual Literacy Project to create designs for a mural to be made out of waste, ‘It’s about renewal, birth and decay… and where we are as a planet,’ enthuses Devar. The mural designs will all be on display at Sci Bono in Newtown for the Arts Alive festival, ‘in that wonderful space between science and art’. The winning design will then be enlarged and installed on a wall somewhere in Johannesburg during October. This final part of the project will involve collaboration between the schoolchildren who designed the winning mural, professional artists and mosaic experts. The other eco-arts project is the creation of a staggering seven-and-half-metre wide by 14-metre high art work, from 94 000 plastic bottle tops. Joburg artist Hannelie Coetzee

created an ‘embroidery template’ which has all involved creating a movable art work out of many-coloured plastic bottle tops sewn together with nylon. It’s a pixilated creation and one that according to Devar is, ‘absolutely gorgeous and a very optimistic picture. It’s a whole lot of children just running on green grass. The one child is almost leaping out of the picture. It’s the idea… of an optimistic sustainable future’. Further visual arts exhibitions include the Standard Bank Gallery’s A Vigil of Departure: Louis Maqhubela, Playing with Image with William Kentridge at Arts on Main, and Shared History Festival – The Indian Experience exhibition, Where the Streets Have No Name, a celebration of street photography, at the Sandton Craft and Design Centre. Hannelie Coetzee also presents an intensely personal sandstone mosaic about her grandmother; Ouma Grooitjie will be on display in Vrededorp. On the music front, Arts Alive joins with Moshito for the Africa Unites concert on 3 September on Mary Fitzgerald Square presenting Friends of Gito Baloi, Ali Keita, Nezio Tembe and Vuyo Tyolo – an up and coming young South African musician who plays a mixture of ‘afro-soul fused with reggae and a touch of jazz’. A new-to-some musical form is being introduced at this year’s festival. Johannesburg-born singer, Katia Guerreiro, will

“It is perhaps best for all arts and culture lovers to find their own unique way to engage with this year’s Arts Alive festival” be performing Portuguese fado music – one of the oldest forms of urban folk music. Devar describes this music as, ‘incredibly stirring and moving, steeped in yearning. We are appealing not just to the Portuguese audience but to all lovers of world music who will doubtless relish the rich sounds of fadista Katia Guerreiro.’ Guerreiro will be performing with three Portuguese guitarists and will be brought to the stage in partnership with the Teatro at Montecasino. This is the first time the Portuguese are specifically participating in the festival and on 24 September, Heritage Day itself. For fado lovers and music aficionados this event should be an absolute delight of enchanting music. This year’s Jazz on the Lake (artists include a diverse line-up of all things South African from Caiphus Semenya to Lira, Auriol Hays (featured in CLASSICFEEL’S August 2010 issue), Kurt Darren and Indian world music band, Mrigya, (another Shared History Festival – The Indian Experience offering) with its rich blend of classical, blues and jazz music. Semenya is well known as a musical composer and director who has often collaborated with Quincy Jones. His work has included the music for Roots and

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Steven Spielberg’s The Color Purple. Lira won the 2010 SAMA for Best Female Artist of the Year and her smooth singing should prove a highlight of the event on Sunday, 5 September. The Eldos Jazz Festival at Kremetart Park on 19 September also promises to deliver soulful sounds of jazz, with Hays again part of the line-up, plus musical artists Giovanca, Dafunc and Sakhula. A theatrical, musical and dance event that should have families flocking to the Bandstand at the Joburg Zoo is Peter and the Wolf which features Isidingo star, Robert Whitehead as the narrator of the story. The Johannesburg Youth Ballet presents this production of the children’s story, originally written (score and text) in 1936 by Sergei Prokofiev with a full orchestra conducted by Kutlwano Masote. The Johannesburg Youth Ballet is a nonprofit organisation which was founded by Audrey Kathleen King in 1976 which continues to encourage and develop young balletomanes in their craft. Not to be missed is Karl Jenkins’ Stabat Mater at City Hall on 7 and 8 September. Zurich-based pianist and ‘sound artist’, Petra Ronner, is also appearing at Arts Alive this year under the banner of the Swiss Arts Council, Pro Helvetia, presenting a concert with local pianist, Jill Richards. Known for her new piano work in South Africa; Richards has worked with composers Philip Miller, Surendran Reddy and Denzil Weale, and has performed in duet with both Michael Blake and Kevin Volans. For African jazz lovers, Ethiopian jazz musician Mulatu Astatke performs his ‘Ethio-jazz’ at the Wits Great Hall on 10 September – a combination of jazz and Latin musical influences with traditional Ethiopian music. Arts Alive offers several festivals within the festival; one of the premier events this year is The Market Theatre and FTH:K’s (From the Hip: Khulumakhale) Listen with your Eyes: A Festival of the Visual. Market Theatre Artistic Director, Malcolm Purkey, has developed the festival in conjunction with Tanya Surtees, FTH:K’s Company Director. The festival will feature performances of both QUACK! and Womb Tide from 31 August to 26 September. FTH:K is a ground-breaking and innovative arts company which has won acclaim both nationally and internationally for their work with people with disabilities ‘specifically, the hearing impaired and deaf. Key to their work is creating theatre work, training and opportunities ‘without compromising artistic quality’. They classify their work as ‘visual theatre’ and it packs a punch delivering deaf/ hearing work which combines physical theatre, dance, clowning, non-verbal performance, masks, puppetry and pure genius. Artistic Director, Rob Murray recently won the 2010 Fleur du Cap award for Best Lighting Design for FTH:K’s Pictures of You and Standard Bank Young Artist for Drama Janni Younge won the Fleur du Cap in the category of Best Prop and/ or Puppetry Design for her masks in both Pictures of You and QUACK!. The Listen with your Eyes festival is a first, presenting a comprehensive programme of FTH:K’s body of work including workshops, lectures and a visual arts exhibition by deaf artist,

Pro Helvetia's production, The Making of Spectacles with Isabelle Rigat, Filibert Tologo, Foofwa d'Imobilité, Ruth Childs, Image by Cédric Vincensini

Tommy Motswai. (Full details of the programme can be found under ‘Upcoming Shows’ at www.fthk.co.za) Distinctive for the beautifully portrayed, colourful and bustling activity in his art works, Tommy Motswai’s work with pastels captures an ebullient South African spirit. On the theatre front, celebrating 21 years of ‘Raiders’, Nicholas Ellenbogen’s Theatre for Afrika brings Raiders of the Lost Aardvark to The Dance Factory from 21 to 25 September – straight from NAF 2010 where it won the new Standing Ovation Award. A legendary theatre-maker, Ellenbogen’s entertaining and innovative theatre style has ensured that his shows have consistently sold out on the Fringe programme at the NAF for years. The Alternative Spaces programme offers a revival of community or ‘township theatre’ at Uncle Tom’s Hall in Orlando West, Soweto, also at the Thusong Youth Centre in Alexandra, and six of the best productions at the Alternative Spaces Final at Museum Africa from 24 to 26 September. Arts Alive’s cultural heartland is of course, the Newtown cultural precinct and The Dance Factory in particular will be

very much alive with diverse dance offerings. In an interesting (though probably unintentional) conjunction of contemporary dance and classical Indian dance, Dada Masilo’s Swan Lake will be performed at The Dance Factory; as Indian choreographer, Vijayalakshmi’s Kerala dance interpretation of the Tchaikovsky original. The dance form, Mohiniyattam is a traditional South Indian dance from Kerala, and one of the eight Indian classical dance forms. Vijayalakshmi is the daughter of Mohiniyattam dance guru Bharati Shivaji. For a truly other-inspired event, Pro Helvetia presents The Making of Spectacles from Foofwa d’Imobilité, also at The Dance Factory. Swiss dancer and choreographer Frédéric Gafner is Foofwa d’Imobilité – he has previously danced with the Stuttgart Ballet and the Merce Cunningham Dance Company. Audience and cast members will be drawn into a unique evening of collaboration and performance. Not simply a dance performer, he presents a blend of theatrical disciplines with an emphasis on ‘play, illusion and risk’. In addition Foofwa will present a free lighting workshop on 20 September for dancers, choreographers and lighting designers.

Fado singer Katia Guerreiro

Another festival within the Arts Alive festival is the Wits Theatre Complex’s 969 Festival. An annual event, this year’s 969 promises carefully chosen highlights from the 2010 National Arts Festival (NAF). For the first time ever, productions were chosen through a selection committee. The line-up includes elev(i)ate 2 from Athena Mazarakis, winner of the new Gold Ovation Award for Physical Theatre at this year’s NAF; Backstory from Craig Morris and Barry Strydom; and Mbeki And Other Nightmares from Tsepo wa Mamatu. On the musical front, Ovation Silver Award winner for Music, Nibs van der Spuy, will be performing his own unique style of acoustic guitar. Occurring in synchronicity with Arts Alive is the Shared History Festival 2010 - The Indian Experience, celebrating the 150th anniversary of the arrival of Indians in South Africa, it showcases the finest that Indian culture has to offer with performances, exhibitions and events presented in Johannesburg and other major cities from 20 August until 3 October. Amongst

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many other events, the Shared History programme will feature Ronnie Govender’s At the Edge and Other Cato Manor Stories at The Market Theatre. Govender is one of South Africa’s leading playwriting and directing stalwarts and is perhaps best known for his long-running play, The Lahnee’s Pleasure. Arts Alive has been instrumental in bringing his work to this year’s festival, a year significant for marking the 150th anniversary since indentured Indian labourers arrived on South Africa’s shores. A fast developing, contemporary and rich artistic form in South Africa, poetry and the spoken word will be the focus of Speak the Mind Sessions at Bassline, and Indian Shared History’s Words on Water at Turbine Hall in Newtown. If the growth of national comedy festivals is anything to go by, South Africans are seemingly looking to laugh as often and as much as possible. To cater to this need, the Alexander Theatre will present David Newton’s Comedy Nine Nine. Friday 24 September features Stuart Taylor, Mark Palmer and Sivuyile

Vuyo Tyolo – an up and coming young South African musician who plays a mixture of ‘afro-soul fused with reggae and a touch of jazz

Ngesi, and Saturday 25 September has Newton in 'Best of the Fest' solo performance. Weighing in with the written word, the Department of Arts and Culture will be introducing National Book Week from 10 to 13 September at Museum Africa – an event developed in partnership with the South African Book Development Council to ‘encourage reading amongst South Africans’. The awe-inspiring and magnificent 2010 Arts Alive International Festival begins with an opening ceremony at The Dance Factory on 2 September that includes Dada Masilo and SA’s Got Talent winner, Darren Rajbal. The reworked Arts Alive Anthem will be sung out to all the citizens of Joburg, delineating the start of this month-long, feast of the arts. For a more comprehensive look at the 2010 Joburg Arts Alive International Festival programme, go to www.artsalive.co.za. Tickets are available through Computicket (www.computicket. com) or 083 915 8000. CF

Nibs van der Spuy

Images courtesy of the Famous Idea Trading Co. and Wits Theatre

Joburgers who missed out on their own journey to Grahamstown and the 2010 National Arts Festival this year need not despair. The Wits Theatre Complex brings its annual ‘best of the fest’ offering to the city’s theatre, music and dance lovers. 40

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amed after the 969 kilometres of distance between Grahamstown and Joburg, this year’s festival offers a superb selection of shows including some of the new NAF Fringe Ovation Award winners. Stronger direct ties and collaboration between the National Arts Festival and Wits Theatre Complex, and first-time use of a selection panel promises shows with a wonderful depth of artistic quality for Highveld audiences. Jennifer Steyn comes to the Wits Downstairs Theatre in Nicky Rebelo’s production of Molly Bloom from 1 to 4 September. The piece portrays the heroine from James Joyce’s Ulysses in a head-on monologue about love, sex, marriage and other political and life issues. Steyn herself recently described the character as ‘wise and quite stupid all at once’. Deep in the middle of an affair, Molly Bloom reflects on her life, nestled in her bed next to her husband, in the middle of the night. The story intertwines the saucy sexiness of the young sixteen-year old in Gibraltar and the present day woman of Dublin. Without Blood combines the talents of Tshwane University’s Janine Lewis and Tick Tock Productions’ Princess Mhlongo. Based on Alessandro Baricco’s original

National Arts Festival 2010 poster for Kruispad

novel of the same name in Italian, the production uses physical storytelling combined with multimedia to tell the story of a violent vendetta which is disrupted by a moment of mercy shown by one of the killers. Fifty years later, Nina, the sole survivor of the incident, tries to discover the truth. It’s deeply sad, fraught and gripping theatre. James Cunningham’s Kaput! has brilliant female actresses, Taryn Bennett and Helen Iskander taking on the roles of brothers, Raphael and Georges. The two navigate the brothers’ shared world, which includes Georges’ barber shop. The story’s journey is told with humour but takes place against a backdrop of spiralling local tensions while at the same time poignantly presenting Raphael’s dreams. Described as ‘an original play of intrigue and disguise’ Kaput! also features Dorian Burstein, seen recently in FTH:K’s Pictures of You. Traversing the political, Mbeki and Other Nightmares explores deeply controversial territory, highlighting where South Africa’s leadership has failed and continues to fail its citizens. The production returned to the NAF this year with newly revised material covering the antics of Julius Malema. Mbeki and Other Nightmares is perhaps a magnificent moment of free speech, creativity and theatre in 2010 South Africa. It is written and directed by Tsepo wa Mamatu who also plays the role of Thabo Mbeki. Performances are in the Wits Main Theatre on 14, 17 and 18 September. Athena Mazarakis’ elev(i)ate2, a physical theatre piece created in collaboration with digital artist Tegan Bristow, will light up the stage at the Nunnery from 14 to 18 September. Mazarakis, a Rhodes University graduate, continues to produce challenging, crisp work, and builds on her original elev(i)ate work with this piece. This new work moves ‘between the comic and the poetic, illuminating the battle between being grounded and elevation; between being rooted and floating away…’ Just go and enjoy her artistry.

Jennifer Steyn in Molly Bloom - Image by Zukiswa Zimela

Barry Strydom and Craig Morris star in Backstory, described as an ‘epic tale spanning approximately six million years... told in approximately 60 minutes’, at the Nunnery from 14 to 18 September. Avid fans of Morris’ brand of physical theatre and humour should thoroughly enjoy this latest offering from these gifted performers. Camping it up, ‘homofabulous’ Little Poof! celebrates gay-friendly South Africa with stand-up comedy, storytelling, cabaret and live music. Regardless of your sexual persuasion, the camp characters portrayed (and written) by Bruce J. Little should thoroughly entertain at the Wits Downstairs Theatre from 20 to 30 September. For darkly adrenalin-craving thriller fans, the Afrikaans Kruispad promises murder and turmoil. Definitely not for the faint-hearted, the story includes graphic sex, violence and ritual elements, with the storyline somewhat reminiscent of the Brett Kebble saga. Written by Wim Vorster, this production carries an age restriction of 16: SNLV – forewarned is forearmed in this case! On the musical front, acoustic guitar fans are in for a treat with performances from Nibs van der Spuy (ex-Landscape Prayers and now solo artist). This extraordinarily talented singer and songwriter should mesmerise audiences with his blend of intelligent folk, world and African music. Taking place in the Main Theatre from 28 to 30 September, this is an aural experience from a truly gifted but humble South African artist who lives for his music. The Soil brings a cappella singing from Papi Marimene, Ismael Motaung and Sibusiso Sithole to the Main Theatre, also from 28 to 30 September. Expect raw beautiful voice sounds accompanied by a beat box. The Wits 969 Festival forms part of the 2010 Arts Alive International Festival. Tickets can be bought through Strictly Tickets at www.strictlytickets.com. CF

DRAMA FOR LIFE Images Courtesy of Drama for Life at Wits University

Hupenyu Art Development actors in their production, Imbokotho during the 2009 Drama for Life Festival.

Applied drama is a form of theatre practice that can operate across multiple interlinking academic fields including psychology, sociology, anthropology, development, education and healthcare. Often seen and dismissed as the province of NGOs, in fact the heart of this practice lies in dramatic story telling, lively audience engagement and the power of giving people space to reflect on their own stories. 42

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rama has been used extensively, more so in rural communities, and outside the city and major urban areas, and to a large extent more so than radio, or any other media form as a means of imparting information and trying to educate,’ says Warren Nebe, Project Director of Drama for Life (DfL) and Head of Dramatic Art at Wits University. The Drama for Life programme was initiated in 2008 and has grown exponentially over the short few years of its existence, bringing together applied drama practitioners from South Africa and throughout Africa. In the first year DfL was university based; then it moved out into Soweto and into Newtown. In a recent interview with CLASSICFEEL, Nebe and DfL’s Levinia Jones and Munyaradzi Chatikobo shared their holistic applied drama approach to HIV/AIDS work and the complexities of issues which surround it. Several years ago while working in Botswana, Nebe found himself critical of the training and skills levels of arts practitioners working within the HIV/AIDS field. The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) sponsored an appraisal mission of the work done in the HIV/AIDS field. Says Nebe, ‘We engaged with all the ministries of education in the SADC region and did an assessment on local artists and all the rest, and what came across was, yes absolutely… the training is inadequate and the depth of skill is not adequate to deal with the complexity of what HIV/AIDS is about. So we dreamt up Drama for Life, first and foremost, as an academic, and leadership development and training programme at post-graduate level. It really is a unique international post-graduate programme in conceptualisation and practice.’ The programme has brought together mature groups of students who have a wealth of experience, and who have worked in a variety of areas. ‘So we’ve had people very strong in the art form or people very strong in education or development,’ says Nebe, something which only strengthens the broad reach of the programme. Practitioners of applied drama are most often highly skilled performers, adept with acting, improvisation, dance, mime and puppetry – the whole gamut of theatrical skills. In addition and probably most importantly, they are trained facilitators (sometimes counsellors) who posses the unique attributes of being willing and able to engage creatively with audiences while at the same time teasing out underlying issues, encouraging reflection, challenging and shaping in the moment. There is a whole play box of skills and methodologies they can draw on to do this, including Augusto Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed and Forum Theatre, the educational theories of Paulo Freire, Dorothy Heathcote’s process drama, Jonathan Fox’s playback theatre and JL Moreno’s psychodrama. These terms may not be familiar to everyday theatre-goers but they allow for incredibly powerful theatre which can move people beyond their circumstances, create greater personal growth and understanding, and traverse the complexities of human existence within individual communities.

‘There’s burn-out around HIV/AIDS and people just switch off but it’s quite interesting as soon as you open the space with the methodologies that we are using now, people have lots of stories to tell and are more than willing to engage, but they need to be able to tell the complexity of those stories without being judged and without feeling hampered,’ says Nebe. And it is ‘safe’, the drama space allows for shared storytelling, testing of thoughts, ideas and actions in a way that is completely real but suspended from the pitfalls of immediate reality. Truly effective drama facilitators should be able to really hear someone, reflect events, ideas and emotions, seek out universal narratives and issues, ask searching questions, guide the drama and above all, inspire trust. Drama for Life currently runs an annual festival programme which has also grown in leaps and bounds. This year’s festival theme is ‘Sex Actually’. Levinia Jones explained, ‘often there is a notion of “here we go again”, or “I know this” or “I don’t need to know this information, I know what they’re going to tell me to do…” It’s really to make the festival seem quite sexy in a sense… [We want] to engage with the themes around, not only HIV and AIDS, but sex: sexual orientation, how we find ourselves within the realm of sexuality and who we are in that space… So it is kind of taking a little bit of a riskier stance, maybe in terms of how HIV and AIDS is generally communicated, but making it accessible to different audiences that have maybe shut down before, that haven’t engaged.’ Their drama formula must be working, 2010 has seen the festival building different audiences, and presented in Joburg, Cape Town, Pietermaritzburg and Durban. This year’s Drama for Life conference, titled Arts Activism, Education and Therapies: Transforming Communities across Africa, ran from 28 to 30 August, bringing together arts practitioners, academia, trainers and community workers to ‘engage in compelling and critical dialogue regarding their work’. From Zimbabwe, Munyaradzi Chatikobo is a former student of DfL and now the programme manager; a job which he clearly loves and anticipates growing within. ‘Research becomes part of the intervention in a way,’ he says and Nebe agrees, saying that the sharing of knowledge and ‘pools of knowledge’ is critical. As a response DfL has built a resource centre with ‘the focus around arts education, arts therapy and arts activism, relating to HIV and AIDS, cultural studies, and broad range development studies areas.’ Currently DfL is enjoying support from GTZ, the SADC, Goethe-Institut, Business and Arts South Africa (BASA), National Research Foundation (NRF), President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (Pepfar) and German Development Service (DED). Through its countrywide network the Goethe-Institut has been instrumental in helping DfL students take their learning back to their own countries and communities. The very nature of the work that DfL does is responsive to input from all sides and so going into the future the team is looking at ‘human rights and social justice’ as a core area for development of the programme. The final word from Nebe: ‘Maybe our work is about building and rebuilding communities, building cohesion, of equipping… with a different sensibility around the arts and what the arts can provide.’ CF

Marie Human

CURATES SANDTON CENTRAL’S MEMORIES On 1 September in celebration of Heritage Month, the Sandton Central Management District (SCMD) is launching a unique exhibition that charts the suburb’s rich history. The exhibition is part of the SCMD’s Art Programme and forms part of a series of outside exhibitions that feature annually on the streets of Sandton Central.

eveloped by the SCMD in collaboration with AAW Art Project Management, the Heritage Exhibition is especially curated by social researcher, curator and publisher Marie Human. In the late 1980s, Human joined Bailey’s African History Archives (BAHA) as curator of the local magazine Drum, which has been published throughout Anglophone Africa during the last fifty years. Under her management this unique collection, created by a group of African journalists and photographers, today stands as one of Africa’s most precious heritage archives. Its uniqueness lies in its record of 20th century African social history. Since then, Human has facilitated, curated and coordinated numerous social historical exhibitions both locally and internationally. A personal highlight of her career was when she facilitated Okwui Enwezor in research and editing for the exhibition: Insight/ African Photographers, 1940 to Present at the Guggenheim in New York (1996). ‘We are very pleased to have someone of her substance and reputation working with our team to source and feature our district’s interesting past,’ says Paul van Rooyen, City Improvement District Manager for Sandton Central. Visitors to Sandton Central can expect to see the Heritage Exhibition in Sandton Central during the whole of September 2010. Using a bespoke and portable infrastructure designed to allow public viewing of exceptional photographs and prints, it is one of the SCMD’s most successful ventures yet. The exhibition will include over forty images, including photographs and documents with contextual captions, ranging from pre-historic Sandton to the economic powerhouse the district is known as today. ‘The district’s first residents arrived approximately 30 000

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years ago when Stone Age hunters established themselves in the area – difficult to imagine when one looks at Sandton Central today. Not many are familiar with the district’s complex history and the exhibition is a fascinating walk through the entire area’s birth and constant growth,’ explains van Rooyen. Human’s curatorial approach will enable audiences to look at the district through these spans of time. Her first story focuses on the district’s pre-history, signs of economic innovation and the settlement of the upper classes. It covers early Tswana and Voortrekker communities, features the ‘Mink and Manure Set’, early farming and water resources as well as the development of the neighbouring Alexandra Township. The second narrative – ‘From Ground Zero to Edge City’ – features the rush to build, fear and loathing, political turmoil in Alexandra and the rise of Sandton City. The final phase in the exhibition – ‘From Edge City to Economic Powerhouse’ – features the decay of Johannesburg’s inner city and the booming growth of the district. This period was put in motion by the development of Sandton City, and the big players soon followed suit, including the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, various law firms and the merchant banks. ‘The exhibition will be a substantial display of Sandton Central’s heritage and will introduce viewers to the district’s roots. I think people will be inspired and fascinated to see how Sandton Central started and how quickly it continues to evolve,’ van Rooyen concludes. The exhibition will be hosted in Sandton Central during the month of September. For more information on the district’s Arts Programme and the Exhibitions’ Outside Project and how you can get involved, visit www.sandtoncentral.co.za or call (011) 784 8400. CF

1936 Inanda â&#x20AC;&#x201C; cross country showjumping

Images Courtesy of Sandton Central Management District, Parktown Westcliff Heritage Trust

1953 Polo Team

Image Courtesy of Jock Animation

This year, South Africa’s favourite Staffordshire terrier is the subject of two separate and unrelated adaptations; one for the screen and one for the stage. CLASSICFEEL’s Warren Holden looks at these revitalising new developments, both of which – aside from being worthy tributes to an important figure in South Africa’s literary heritage – are, in their own right, landmarks of the country’s cultural output.

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ittle by little the book has grown until it has come perilously near the condition in which it might be thought to have pretensions. It has none! It is what it was: a simple record, compiled for the interest and satisfaction of some Little People, and a small tribute of remembrance and affection offered at the shrine of the old life and those who made it – tendered in the hope that someone better equipped with opportunities and leisure may be inspired to do justice to it and to them for the sake of our native land.’ Thus concludes Sir Percy Fitzpatrick’s preface to the fourth impression of his memoir, Jock of the Bushveld, published just over a century ago. In the years since then, despite his insistence on its lack of pretensions, his book has grown in stature to become far more than a collection of reminiscences designed to entertain children. Continuing to sell several thousand copies a year, it has become a South African classic, a document that captures the spirit of its time and the ideals that lie at the heart of our nation. As such it is a vital part of South Africa’s literary heritage. It has already inspired two film adaptations and the next few months will see its enduring popularity and relevance further reinforced with the launches of both a stage musical, and another cinematic retelling – this time in the form of South Africa’s first ever animated 3-D feature film. Published in 1907, the book tells the story of Fitzpatrick’s life as a storeman, prospector’s assistant and ox-wagon transport rider during the Lowveld gold rush of the 1870s. The adventures he describes revolve around his loyal, fearless Staffordshire terrier, Jock. Fitzpatrick was a native of the Eastern Cape, born in King William’s Town, but like many other young men of his generation, he headed north to what was then the South African Republic (or Transvaal) to find his fortune in the gold fields. In his later life, he became a well-respected journalist, politician and entrepreneur. His reminiscences about his life in the Eastern Transvaal, particularly those involving Jock, became oft-repeated bedtime stories for his three children – the ‘Little People’ he refers to in his preface. At the urging of his friend Rudyard Kipling, he finally decided to commit these memories to print and the resulting book, while not his only publication, is certainly the one for which he is best remembered. Jock is a highly entertaining read, filled with all the ingredients of a good story – heroes and villains, humour, action, even a tear or two – but it also has great value as a historical document, being a firsthand story of the Transvaal gold rushes, an important part of South African history. Most significantly, it offers a detailed account of day-to-day life in this period and tremendous personal insight into what it was like to be there. But what really makes it an important work of South African literature is its themes: courage and loyalty, decency in the face of self-serving greed, overcoming the odds through unshakeable self-belief and a ‘never-say-die’ attitude, and the dichotomous nature of Africa – at times seemingly harsh and dangerous, but ultimately beautiful, compelling and undeniably ‘home’. These are themes that, notwithstanding the darker aspects of our history, really sum up the celebrated attributes of our national character. Its appeal is also found in the fact that it is a true underdog story (pardon the completely intentional pun). ‘Zero-to-hero’ stories have universal appeal in any culture and this

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Detail from the original Edmund Caldwell Jock of the Bushveld drawing

is what makes Jock such an appealing figure – the runt of the litter, set to be drowned not long after his birth – who grew into a beloved and trusted companion, a bold adventurer and a living embodiment of the power of self-belief. If he is not already considered a national icon, there is a good chance that he will acquire this status soon. The story’s attractiveness for filmmakers is obvious. Yet surprisingly, no-one seems to have really seen its potential until graphic designer and writer Duncan MacNeillie got hold of it in the early 1980s. He would go on to write the screenplay – together with well-known playwright, screenwriter and director Greg Latter – for the much-loved 1986 film version, directed by industry veteran Gray Hofmeyr and starring Jonathan Rands as Fitzpatrick. At the time it was made, apartheid was going through

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its violent death throes as civil unrest escalated astronomically and PW Botha’s emergency government held the country in a gradually weakening grip. Local morale was low and international perceptions of the country were grim to say the least. No international distributor or studio would touch local product and South Africans were not accustomed to thinking of the country’s film industry as being anywhere near international standard, let alone possessing any capacity for the creation of a potentially great work. As a result, despite the fact that the film was a box office hit at home, it was not widely seen abroad and although local audiences loved it, they completely missed the fact that it was a well made historical drama worthy of any film industry in the world – and a potential classic. Only recently have viewers begun to reassess the film and recognise its merit and wider significance.

Frustrated in his attempts to take the film to an international audience, MacNeillie vowed to revisit Jock when conditions were more favourable. A rather ill-advised attempt was made in 1995 to give Jock a flavour more palatable to American audiences, with a remake that took considerable liberties with the story, including the addition of a fictional American character – a prospector named Rocky, played by TV star Robert Urich – and a happier ending. It failed to make much of an impression at home or abroad. In 2007, MacNeillie finally came back to the story. The favourable conditions he had been waiting for had arrived – South Africa had emerged from the apartheid era to become a highly respected world player, a leader among developing nations, and an object of constant fascination to the international community. This time, he approached the story from an inspired new angle. Considering the enormous success of animation – Disney, Pixar and DreamWorks are more or less guaranteed a box office smash with every new release – MacNeillie saw the medium’s potential as a perfect vehicle for a retelling of Jock. Positioning the story as animated family entertainment rather than historical drama opens it up to a much larger audience and also offers a range of additional opportunities, as Andy Rice, head of Jock Marketing, the company responsible for the film’s publicity and branding, explains: ‘Animation punches way above its weight in terms of cinematic genres and it also has a secondary business pillar in terms of character licensing and merchandising. So you are not solely dependent on box office takings… Many animated films deliver as much bottom line through merchandising as through box office.’ So, one may ask, which international studios did MacNeillie approach to bankroll what must surely be a massive undertaking? The answer: none. Jock of the Bushveld is a completely independent production financed by private investors. MacNeillie pitched his concept and business plan to a number of well-known financial players, all of whom fell in love with the idea and leapt at the chance to get behind it. Among these were the leaders of some of the country’s most important financial institutions, although they all invested in their private capacities and not

through the organisations they represent. The fact that such wellrespected businessmen are investing in this kind of enterprise bodes well for the South African arts and entertainment industry and proves that a good concept backed with a viable business case can and will gain financial support. ‘Another thing that made animation an attractive option,’ Rice says, ‘is the fact that the technology is now so much more accessible. It’s not exactly cheap, but it’s cheaper than it once was. We are using a system called Maya, which is the industry

“The story’s attractiveness for filmmakers is obvious. Yet surprisingly, no-one seems to have really seen its potential until Durban Art College graduate Duncan MacNeillie got hold of it in the early 80s” standard, used by all the big studios.’ Production started in early 2008, with a team recruited from the advertising industry and, in some cases, drawn directly from tertiary institutions. By the time the film is released in March 2011, it will be the result of three years of continuous production by a team of 25 people under MacNeillie’s direction. One thing remembered by many people who saw the original film or read the book as children is the story’s sad ending. Jock is left in the care of a farmer friend of Fitzpatrick’s and accidentally shot after being mistaken for a stray dog that has been periodically marauding the chicken coop. In a family friendly animated film, such an ending might not be feasible. MacNeillie got around that by concluding the film halfway through Jock’s story, while he is still young and has many more adventures ahead of him. This ensures a happy ending and also leaves the door open for a sequel.

However one has to wonder how MacNeillie and his team will treat or avoid the inevitable ending if a franchise of two or more films results. ‘The principle of animation,’ explains Rice, ‘forces you away from an absolutely faithful adherence to the original narrative. For one thing, the animals can now talk and the story is told from Jock’s point of view rather than Fitzpatrick’s. What we have is a film that is completely faithful to the spirit of the book and largely faithful – as far as possible – to the narrative of the book, with some new stuff written for it. I would say that around 60 to 70 per cent of the story comes straight from the book. But of course, with animation, you are a substantial leap away from reality.’ To voice his characters, MacNeillie drew from a pool of wellknown South African theatrical talent. Jock is voiced by Damon Berry, who has distinguished himself as an actor, writer and director on screens and stages both at home and abroad. Theo Landey, a South African actor with an impressive track record in British and South African television, is the voice of Fitz, Jock’s master and best friend. Anthony Bishop, known for his roles in the local dramas,

“While Jock of the Bushveld certainly contains themes that ensure its universal appeal, it is first and foremost a South African story” Isidingo and Jacob’s Cross, plays the story’s primary antagonist, George the baboon. In addition to the main cast, a number of celebrities have come on board for cameo roles. Radio DJ Jeremy Mansfield plays a pontoon driver in the service of Seedling, the movie’s main human villain, while Archbishop Desmond Tutu voices Tata, a spiritual leader with the ability to speak to animals. The 1986 film featured Johnny Clegg’s song ‘Spirit of the Great Heart’, which has become a classic in its own right. ‘People always ask us if we’re going to use “Spirit of the Great Heart”,’ says Rice, ‘and there’s a good chance that we will – perhaps over the end credits.’ However, MacNeillie called for all-new music to be written for the film. Clegg is writing and performing new songs and Craig Hinds (of Watershed fame) has written a duet, which he is singing with Namibian-born singer Nianell. An extremely exciting development occurred when Rice’s brother flew over from the United Kingdom for a holiday. He was shown some of the footage from the film and expressed a desire to get involved. This is a real coup for the project because the brother in question is none other than Sir Tim Rice, one of the world’s most successful lyricists. He has worked with Andrew Lloyd Webber and Elton John and has won three Oscars for his work on The Lion King, Aladdin and the 1997

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film version of his and Lloyd Webber’s musical Evita. He has written lyrics for the six major songs in Jock of the Bushveld. His collaborator on a number of Disney projects, composer Alan Menken is also contributing songs to Jock. An eight-time Oscar winner, Menken has scored many of the biggest animated films of the past few years, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King among them. He has not written the actual score for Jock of the Bushveld, however. That honour went to respected South African composer and producer Marius Brouwer. Some of the songs from the film are to be showcased for the first time at the Starlight Classics concert at Country Club Johannesburg on 11 September. Originally scheduled for release in December of this year, Jock is being held over for an Easter 2011 release as MacNeillie is currently in talks with two major American studios that have expressed an interest in distributing the film overseas. ‘People say “but it’s South African, it won’t travel”,’ says Andy Rice. ‘Well it’s no more South African than The Lion King was east African. We have no reason to believe that it can’t do well overseas and if you have never heard of Jock of the Bushveld and know nothing about the story, I really don’t see that as a major hurdle.’ And surely, in the wake of the international box office coups of District 9 and Invictus, the myth that South African content has no appeal overseas should have been well and truly dispelled. Since the animated film will be the third cinematic adaptation of Jock, there can be little question that Fitzpatrick’s story is more than suitable for this medium. However, few people would have thought of it as good material for a stage musical. Around two years ago, playwright and director Deon Opperman, displaying the visionary talent that has made him one of the most respected practitioners in the South African od stage, hit on the idea of bringing the story to the theatre. There must be something about the story of Jock that resonates with the country’s current Zeitgeist because the simultaneous development of the stage musical and the animated film is completely co-incidental. Addressing members of the media at a briefing held in July at the Joburg Theatre, Opperman explained how the idea for the stage show came about – a process that owes as much to insightful market research as to artistic inspiration. ‘I did a lot of research… on the primary drivers of the purchase of tickets for entertainment in South Africa. And I found that the biggest thing that drove people to buy tickets was that they were able to take their children, that it was a family show. That is the strongest driver in the South African entertainment industry by far. [The question of] who is in the show comes last. And the reason for that is that South Africa never developed a star system, so we can’t just slap a name on a billboard and automatically expect ticket purchases. Another important driver was familiarity. So if you say The Sound of Music, for example, people know what it is, and they know it’s family entertainment.’ So Opperman and his collaborators started racking their brains for local content that would satisfy the primary requirements of being family friendly and instantly recognisable.

Map detail from 1982 Longman & Co. hardcover edition of Jock of the Bushveld

The show that will result from this process is Jock of the Bushveld – The Musical, the latest offering from Packed House Productions, the company Opperman founded in 2003. Marketing itself as the ‘Master of Musicals’, Packed House has staged hugely successful productions of classics such as The Sound of Music, My Fair Lady, Fiddler on the Roof and The King and I. More recently, it has also staged two original musicals created by Opperman dealing entirely with South Africa’s heritage: Ons Vir Jou, set in the Anglo-Boer War, and Shaka Zulu – The Musical, which has just wrapped up its run at the South African State Theatre in Pretoria. So Jock then is the third in what will hopefully be a continuing series of truly South African musical spectaculars. Opperman has high ambitions in this regard: ‘One of the important things that we are trying to do… is to create a South African equivalent of what is known as the “English New Wave”. Until the early 70s, what you would see in London’s West End consisted mostly of Broadway imports – much like we have here now. Then came all those musicals out of British pens and, within a decade, they were actually “recolonising” Broadway with British exports, and they had developed a homegrown musical culture.’ In the same way, Opperman and Packed House, while still content to stage well known British and American musicals, are primarily focused on creating new homegrown work of a high standard, but as Opperman says, ‘It is no simple matter to try and teach a

local audience that it is okay to watch something made by South Africans… and we have no illusions about how long it will take to build that New Wave. You can’t have a one-off, you need to persist. We are finding now, with our original shows, that audiences are gradually beginning to trust these products.’ Opperman co-wrote the book and lyrics for the musical with actor, singer and musician Sean Else. They soon discovered that their task came with considerable challenges. ‘Jock is a vignette based narrative,’ explained Opperman, ‘it’s a series of adventures and you could actually tell them in any order. So the great challenge with a text like this is how to weave it into a continuous narrative where there is a sense of beginning, middle and end. We came up with a few solutions to this problem. Firstly you have the inbuilt reality of the narrator so that helps you bind it all together. Secondly you need through-running characters in the story. It can’t just be Jock – there has to be someone going with him.’ Much like MacNeillie’s animated film version, Opperman’s musical tells the story from the animals’ point of view and both writers clearly understood the need to create a sidekick for Jock. There is a strange synchronicity in their choice of who that sidekick should be – in both cases it is a chicken that befriends Jock and becomes a mentor and guide to the pup. Opperman describes the character as the ‘Jiminy Cricket’ of the show. In the stage musical, this relationship becomes central to the story,

providing the key to the development of Jock’s character as the events progress, and playing a big part in the story’s sad ending. Opperman has chosen not to shy away from the notorious ending, opting instead for a sensitive treatment of it that focuses on the continued existence – if in a different form – of Jock’s spirit, rather than the finality of death. This is comparable to The Lion King’s theme of ‘the Circle of Life’. ‘One question that people always ask me when I say that I’m doing a stage version of Jock is, “so where are you going to get the dog?”’ Opperman said. His reply is usually something along the lines of, ‘I don’t remember seeing an actual lion in The Lion King.’ Much like the stage version of that Disney classic, Jock of the Bushveld – The Musical will require actors to play characters who are animals, whose particular species attributes will be represented through costumes and movement. Sarah Roberts has been tasked with creating the costumes. Roberts is an Associate Professor in the

“Continuing to sell several thousand copies a year, it has become a South African classic, a document that captures the spirit of its time and the ideals that lie at the heart of our nation” Drama division of the Wits School of the Arts and has been in the theatre industry for 27 years. The Lion King made use of puppets to evoke the animals that the performers were representing, but she and Opperman are adamant that they will not be using the Disney musical as a model. However, they face the same challenge – to give animal qualities to human actors. Rather than going for the purely illustrative approach taken by The Lion King, Roberts’ concept is to attach human elements to each of the characters that somehow capture and mirror their animal attributes. ‘I think it’s going to be exciting,’ said Roberts, ‘to have characters that are half-animal, but more importantly that remind us how close the relationship between man and animal actually is.’ ‘The question we asked ourselves,’ Opperman added, ‘is “what sort of person would each animal be?” So we want to capture the human element and the animal element and bring them together.’ Jock will be played by singer Vaughan Gardiner, while Michelle Botha takes the role of Chicken. Coming straight off the Shaka Zulu production, Cobus Venter will play Percy

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Fitzpatrick. Bringing comic relief to the show is a trio of vultures who act as commentators on the story’s action. They are played by well-established stage and screen performers Judy Page, David James and Lawrence Joffe. Making up the rest of the cast are Suzzi Swanepoel as Jock’s love interest, Fifi the poodle; Siyasanga Papu as Mama Hips the Hippo; Hercules Smith as the Leopard and Joel Zuma as the Baboon. The set design, which brings a piece of the Eastern Transvaal onto the Joburg Theatre stage, complete with a stream running through the orchestra pit, life-size baobabs and a complex revolving stage system, is by Stan Knight, a veteran of South African theatre, who has worked on a number of previous Packed House productions including Ons Vir Jou, Fiddler on the Roof and Soweto Story. The music for the show was composed by Johan Vorster. Along with co-writer Sean Else, Vorster was a member of the boy-band Eden and has also written a number of hit songs for other artists including Steve Hofmeyr’s ‘My Juliet’ and Bok van Blerk’s controversial ‘De la Rey’. The overall sound of the show will be fairly eclectic, as Vorster and Opperman have chosen to have it reflect the episodic nature of the narrative. Each song, therefore, will be written in a different genre and will have a unique character. Comparisons to The Lion King are inevitable, as it has really set the standard for stage musicals telling stories featuring animal characters in the African bush. However this is a point on which Opperman has some very strong views: ‘I don’t tell stories about the Wild West and Native Americans and so on. I tell stories that I can understand at my very core. So if an American wants to come here and tell me an African story…’ A loaded silence was all that was necessary to complete this point before Opperman concluded, ‘Part of the reason I’m making Jock is to show what The Lion King should have been.’ While Jock of the Bushveld certainly contains themes that ensure its universal appeal, it is first and foremost a South African story. If the film and the stage musical live up to expectations, they will not only be landmarks in their own right. They will also have served the vital purpose of introducing a historical figure into popular culture and thus keeping a part of our legacy fresh. They will breathe new life into a national icon, bringing him and all that he represents to the attention of a new generation and fulfilling that hope expressed by Fitzpatrick in the opening pages of his book 103 years ago. The animated film is scheduled for release on 25 March 2011, while Jock of the Bushveld – The Musical opens at The Mandela at the Joburg Theatre on 4 September 2010. Tickets are now available through Computicket. Visit www.computicket.com or call 083 915 8000. CF

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The 20 Tenors

and Starlight Classics â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 2010 and Beyond Images Courtesy of Rand Merchant Bank

For a select group of Johannesburg music lovers, the month of September does not only mean the arrival of spring. It also means that after a year of waiting, RMB Starlight Classics is back at Country Club Johannesburg. This yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s concert sees the return of many Starlight favourites, including the ever-popular 20 Tenors.

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he 20 Tenors came into being just less than two years before the 2010 World Cup™ was due to kick off. The original idea behind the act came from conductor Richard Cock, Professor Jonathan Cook of the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) and Carolynne Waterhouse of Rand Merchant Bank (RMB). The winning formula of tenor groups had already proved its viability with the Three Tenors and later the Ten Tenors. This new group would push the formula even further and would capitalise on the obvious link to the impending football tournament. In August 2008, Cock teamed up with tenor and vocal coach Nick Nicolaides and the two held nationwide auditions in search of the talented young men who would ultimately make up the envisaged ensemble. The group that resulted is representative of all nine provinces of South Africa. It was not enough for the 20 Tenors to be merely a singing group; the shows had to be stage spectaculars that also included dance. While Cock and Nicolaides handled the group’s musical direction, the multi-talented Ian von Memerty was brought in to direct and choreograph their stage show. Born in Zimbabwe, von Memerty has been working in South Africa’s entertainment industry for over 20 years. He is an accomplished pianist, director, actor and writer and, for

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South African television viewers, is probably most recognisable as the host of Strictly Come Dancing. Under Cock and von Memerty’s guidance, the 20 Tenors have become a staple of the RMB Starlight Classics concerts, which take place in March every year at Vergelegen, and at Country Club Johannesburg every September. Showcased twice every year on these platforms, the Tenors have captured the hearts of South African music lovers. Cock and von Memerty, the two driving forces behind the group, are of course well established local musical brands in their own right. Since the 20 Tenors were first formed, a number of the group’s members have also found individual success. Given Nkosi, a graduate of the South African College of Music, is a staff soloist with Cape Town Opera (CTO) and has performed in several of their highly successful productions. In addition, he is a regular solo performer with the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra, and at numerous other concerts around the country. Next month, he will be performing opposite Bronwen Forbay in CTO’s production of Lucia di Lammermoor. Two of his fellow 20 Tenors, Siyabonga Maqungo and Zuko Cutu, came together to form a popular duo, called Duetenori, which performs a mix of classical, South African traditional and pop music. Nicolaides is much in demand both as a performer and vocal coach.

Now, as we find oueselves in the latter half of the year after which they were named, the 20 Tenors have reached at a turning point. Two factors arose which could have seen them either splitting and going their separate ways for good, or rising beyond their twice-a-year Starlight Classics platform to even bigger things. Firstly the big event that inspired the group’s formation, the 2010 World Cup™, has come and gone, and secondly, their original sponsors, First National Bank, have decided not to continue their support, leaving the Tenors in limbo. Luckily, their popularity has been such that both their fans and RMB are reluctant to see them disband. In an exciting new development, RMB have made arrangements with Sony Music that will result in the first 20 Tenors CD release, which has been completed just in time to be available at the Country Club Johannesburg Starlight Classics concert. The album will feature songs that have become favourites of the Tenors’ live shows, and guest soloists such as Pretty Yende, Judith Sephuma, Jason Hartman and Loyiso Bala. Sony Music is facilitating the recording of the CD and has promised that all proceeds from sales of the CD will go back to the 20 Tenors to fund further endeavours. The 20 Tenors, looking forward to a bright new future, will be headlining this month’s RMB Starlight Classics concert.

“It was not enough for the 20 Tenors to be merely a singing group; the shows had to be stage spectaculars that also included dance”

For the rest of the line-up, Cock has assembled a host of other Starlight favourites with the overall objective of bringing the programme back to a more classical feel after the recent pop and football dominated concerts. Having said that, pop sounds are still on the menu, with Freshlyground returning to the Starlight stage after their well-received Vergelegen performance in March. Currently one of South Africa’s biggest musical properties, Freshlyground has made considerable inroads into the European market and was seen and heard on radios and television screens around the world earlier this year with the official FIFA World Cup™ song, ‘Waka Waka’, which they performed and recorded in collaboration with Colombian superstar Shakira.

“RMB will be taking up the sponsorship honours and, in an exciting new development, have made arrangements with Sony Music that will result in the first 20 Tenors CD release” Violinist Annake de Villiers and soprano Magdalene Minnaar are also set to make repeat Starlight appearances. De Villiers is acclaimed both as a soloist and orchestra member. In the latter capacity she has played with the Johannesburg Philharmonic, Johannesburg Festival Orchestra and the Chamber Orchestra of South Africa. As a solo performer, she has released two albums, U-Turn and Santa’s Violin and regularly performs in musical revues such as Rock Me Amadeus and Roll Over Beethoven. Minnaar is based in Cape Town and is earning quite a reputation for her soaring coloratura, as well as her dramatic abilities. She

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has played in productions by Cape Town Opera and UCT Opera, including Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Massenet’s Manon, and Puccini’s Tosca. In 2007, she understudied the role of Papagena in William Kentridge’s The Magic Flute. Ian von Memerty’s A Handful of Keys, the multi-award winning show, which has run virtually non-stop since 1994, will also feature at Starlight. The current incarnation consists of Roelof Colyn and Jonathan Roxmouth. Jason Hartman, winner of last year’s season of M-Net’s popular reality series Idols, makes his first Starlight appearance performing some of the songs that he has recorded for the soundtrack of the new Jock of the Bushveld 3-D animated feature film. Having proved very popular with Starlight audiences at Vergelegen in March, performers from the Zip Zap School of Circus Arts will be displaying their talents to the Johannesburg crowd, while the Benoni MacTalla Pipe Band brings a touch of the Scottish Highlands to the show. As always, there is a strong dance element to the performance, which will be choreographed by Gregory Maqoma in collaboration with Alfred Hinkel. Starlight Classics takes place at Country Club Johannesburg on 11 September. CF

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Mad Scenes

Milestones Images Courtesy of Bronwen Forbay

Durban born soprano Bronwen Forbay speaks to CLASSICFEEL’s Lore Watterson about her preparations for the demanding title role of Lucia di Lammermoor in Cape Town and her thoughts on the future of opera in South Africa.

‘I

t’s not an easy role but it’s a very rewarding one, in the sense that she’s one of the great tragic heroines in opera,’ says Bronwen Forbay of her forthcoming role as the lead in Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor. Forbay returned to South Africa last year to take up a position at her alma mater – the University of KwaZulu-Natal – in fulfillment of her obligations to her Fulbright scholarship. At a chance meeting, conductor Kamal Kahn mentioned that UCT was considering staging Lucia and suggested that she audition. Forbay leapt at the opportunity, having never previously taken on the role in its entirety. ‘I did Act One in a performance a few years ago in Houston,’ she says. ‘So I was really dying to do the whole thing; it seemed like a match made in heaven’. There was one, small snag: ‘I was so excited about the possibility of doing the whole role, that when they asked me if I could do the Act One aria and the mad scene in the audition, I said, “Sure! No problem, of course!” Only, I didn’t quite know the mad scene at that stage. There were two or three days between that phone call and the audition – I managed to find Prof. David Smith, the former director of the Opera Studio, and said, “David would you help me learn this please? As soon as possible?”’ Forbay’s ‘cram’ sessions paid off, and she scooped the role. Consequently, Lucia will see her working with Kahn for a second time following her appearance at Opera South Africa’s Nelson Mandela Birthday Concert and for the first time with director

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Angelo Gobbato, a prospect that she finds particularly exciting. ‘I’ve never done an opera in Cape Town before this; I didn’t have the opportunity to work with Angelo Gobbato or sing in Cape Town. I did a concert performance in Cape Town a few years ago in a touring production of Porgy and Bess, but that was through my university in the US; we came on tour here,’ she says. Lucia will also see her cast opposite Albanian tenor Saimir Pirgu, who takes on the role of Edgardo. Since winning the Enrico Caruso International Competition in Milan in 2002, the young tenor has carved out an impressive list of credits, performing the roles of Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, Ferrando in Così fan tutte, Fenton in Falstaff and Alfredo in La Traviata – to name but a few – and putting in repeat appearances at prestigious venues such as La Scala, the Metropolitan Opera House and Covent Garden. This will be the first time that Forbay will work with Pirgu. Forbay says she generally likes to begin preparing for a new role at least a year in advance. As she already knew Act One of Lucia, her preparations for the remaining sections of the opera began in earnest in December. Wherever possible, she prefers to work with a coach; being based at UKZN, she often works with fellow staff member Andrew Warburton, as well as Prof. David Smith, who has been helping her prepare for Lucia. ‘I’ve been very fortunate in that respect,’ she says. She also likes to arrive shortly before rehearsals begin in order to go through the role

with the conductor – particularly when performing a part like Lucia. ‘There are so many cadenzas in this role, so it’s really important to be on the same page, literally’. Commenting on her recent appearance at Opera South Africa’s launch concert, she is warmly enthusiastic about the arrival of the fledgling company, believing that ‘we just need more opera in this country’ and pointing out that a thriving opera scene ultimately represents more opportunities for students emerging from training. Thus she is pleased to see Opera South Africa taking to the stage alongside renowned and well established companies such as Opera Africa and Cape Town Opera: ‘I think that all three opera companies bring something really unique and very individual to the table... When I look at people like Pretty Yende, and Fikile Mvinjelwa and Sibongile Khumalo, and all these heroes that have come out of the country – I see a great future for this country,’ she says. In fact, it is Forbay’s belief that within the next five years, South African singers will be appearing on stages across the globe. This phenomenon started a few years back, she says, but has gained momentum of late; all that the wealth of talent in the country needs is the requisite skills, achieved not only through study but also through international experience. ‘It needs people who have gone away and have experienced the highest level of competition, of professionalism, the highest level of pressure to intensively invest in what we have – because there is so much, she says.

“When I look at people like Pretty Yende, and Fikile Mvinjelwa and Sibongile Khumalo, and all these heroes that have come out of the country – I see a great future for this country” Forbay is vocal in her belief in the need to develop skills among potential singers – in fact, she says, this played a big part in her decision to take part in the Nelson Mandela Birthday Concert. When she heard that the concert was to raise scholarships for students to attend Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) she immediately opted in. ‘Why? Because if students go to TUT, the skills that they acquire are going to feed Opera Africa and Opera South Africa, they’re going to feed all the professional choruses in Gauteng. Some of them are going to go to Cape Town. We’re going to have people who have the skills in various places who can do the job, and elevate the whole country,’ she explains. Not to mention the spin off in audience development, she notes. She also praises Opera South Africa for exploring the idea of taking opera to different centres around the country, an idea that she hopes will coax other institutions into action. Forbay’s own immediate plans include finishing her doctoral thesis while she continues to lecture in Classical Voice at UKZN, while pursuing a flourishing career in performance. Like the future she predicts for opera in South Africa, Forbay’s own prospects looks bright. CF

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SYMPHONICITIES

STING Symphonicities is the newest release by music legend Sting, presenting some of his greatest hits reimagined for symphonic arrangement. Highlights include classics from both the Police songbook and Sting’s solo career, such as ‘Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic’, Roxanne’, ‘Englishman In New York’ and of course, the ever-popular ‘Fragile’. Accompanied by the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, Sting performs his most famous songs as you have never heard them before.

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ecently, after performing at the Festival ao Largo in Lisbon, I drove with my wife and children from Lisbon back to Frankfurt. We made the 2 700 km drive in seven days, stopping and visiting the opera houses of Madrid, Barcelona, Marseille and Geneva. Generally, theatres, concert halls and opera houses are old, majestic, imposing buildings that are ‘a must see’ in such cultured cities. Our first stop was the Spanish capital, Madrid, which has a population of around 3.3 million. It is the largest city in Spain, and has several beautiful theatres. It is one of Spain’s most popular destinations and is notable for its nightlife and nightclubs. It is renowned for its large quantity of cultural attractions, and is considered one of the top European destinations for art museums. The best known is the Golden Triangle of Art, which comprises three museums. There are several beautiful theatres and concerts halls: the Auditorio Nacional de Música is the main venue for classical music concerts, and it is home to the Spanish National Orchestra, the Chamartín Symphony Orchestra, and the venue for the symphonic concerts of the Community of Madrid Orchestra and the Madrid Symphony Orchestra. It is also used as the concert venue for orchestras on tour playing in Madrid. Other concert venues for classical music are the Fundación Joan March and the Auditorium 400, devoted to contemporary music. But it is their main theatre, the Teatro Real, which is the biggest attraction in Madrid. The Teatro Real has 1 750 seats, and is definitely one of the biggest, most beautiful and most technologically advanced opera houses of the world. This imposing theatre building is placed beautifully on the Plaza de Oriente opposite the King’s Palace. It is one of the best addresses to see and hear the best operas, recitals, gala concerts, ballets and dance performances, and to see much sought-after international performing stars. We tried, unsuccessfully, to get tickets to see Placido Domingo as Simon Boccanegra, Angela Gheorghiu as Amelia and Ferruccio Furlanetto as Jacopo in Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra. Apparently they have so many subscribers that – although not impossible – it is neither easy nor cheap to get a ticket to watch a show. And, owing to its excellent acoustics, musicians love performing in this theatre. As an opera singer I can tell you that nothing is worse than a performance space with bad acoustics. Performing in a theatre with bad acoustics is a little bit like playing rugby on a pitch sprinkled with broken glass! This opera house was inaugurated with Donizetti’s opera La Favorite on 19 November 1850. The majestic building once housed the Madrid Royal Conservatory. It was renovated and remodelled in the 1990s to accommodate the ‘must have’ modern technological equipment needed on stage today. The theatre stages around seventeen opera productions a year – either as own, independent productions or as cost-effective co-productions with other major European opera houses. They also stage three major ballets and several solo recitals featuring celebrated stars. This opera was once used as a concert venue by the Spanish National Orchestra and the Spanish Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra; today it is the home of the Madrid Symphony Orchestra.

with tenor Musa Nkuna Images Wikimedia

The auditorium of the Teatro Real has 1 750 seats

The Teatro Real, one of Madrid's main attractions.

What attracts one’s attention and really impresses with their programming is that they cater for all sorts of tastes as opposed to just doing the usual, overdone ‘Italian things’ like La Traviata, La Bohéme, Tosca, Madame Butterfly, etc. Teatro Real’s 2010/ 11 season includes Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin conducted by Dmitri Jurowski (whose father, Mikhail Jurowski, conducted me as Lensky in Eugene Onegin in Lisbon recently); Kurt Weill’s The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny; Benjamin Britten’s The Turn of the Screw; Richard Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier; Christoph Willibald Glück’s Iphigénie en Tauride, conducted by Thomas Hengelbrock (with whom I did Rigoletto and The Barber of Seville at the Festspielhaus BadenBaden in 2004 and 2008); Jules Massenet’s Werther; Karol Szymanowski’s Król Roger; Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro; Olivier Messaien’s Saint Francois d’ Assise; Puccini’s Tosca; Mozart’s La Finta Giardiniera; and Giacomo Meyerbeer’s Les Huguenots. It is when I see such planning of seasons and when I visit such opera houses that I realise how foreign this art form – opera – is to South Africa. It is only through big sponsorships

and community involvement that this art form can become sustainable in any country. The locals have to be proud of their theatre, and support it for it to grow to this stature. I was amazed to see that almost every person who seemed to be a local knew exactly where the Teatro Real is located. Establishment of many smaller, unsustainable theatres and private opera companies would have had an adverse effect and would have hampered growth of this theatre. What also struck me is their ability to plan long in advance. This can only happen in countries where culture is an indispensable part of that country’s growth and pride. And, as opposed to what many may seem to think, politics and culture are ‘cousins’. This is because both are or at least should be part of our daily lives. The day any country starts understanding and realising what culture means, is the day everyone’s life in that country begins to matter. Through culture we are able to understand ourselves better and begin to know exactly who we are. When you get a chance to travel to Madrid, please do visit the Teatro Real. It is a majestic and unforgettable landmark. CF

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South Africa’s

DANCE HERITAGE Since the mid 1970s personal, political and cultural influences and histories have ingeniously been sourced by South African contemporary dance makers, writes Adrienne Sichel for CLASSICFEEL.

Vincent Sekwati Koko Mantsoe dances his Gula (1992) at the 2010 FNB Dance Umbrella

Vincent Sekwati Koko Mantsoe teaching a contemporary African dance master class at the 2010 FNB Dance Umbrella

ntangling our glorious dance heritage is not a simple task. That’s because our cultural history is intertwined with a dazzling diversity of traditions. During apartheid these practices were strictly divided down racial and ethnic lines in terms of the separate development policy. Everyone could do their dances and rituals as long as they did them separately – whether that was the spectrum of tribal dances, Indian classical dance, classical and folkloric Greek dances or Afrikaner volkspele. Western classical ballet dominated in white and coloured communities in terms of training and as a state funded theatrical form. But there were cracks and glimmers of dissension when a number of dancers became activists by not only teaching across the colour line but, more formally, in the 1980s forming the Dance Alliance, a non-racial lobbying group which united dancers and pacemakers from the inner city, townships and the suburbs in Johannesburg and Pretoria. That was the picture at home but what about abroad? Because of the cultural boycott our ballet and dance companies were as a rule, not seen or known overseas. However the world was treated to a remarkable slice of our music and dance heritage through dancer-composer-musician-anthropologist Johnny Clegg (le Zoulou Blanc – ‘the White Zulu’) and Sipho Mchunu, and their band Juluka (who got together in 1976); and Joseph Tshabalala and Ladysmith Black Mambazo. Black Mambazo, was founded in the 1960s but took off internationally in 1986 when, collaborating with Paul Simon, they popularised the isicathimaya song and dance form.

Contemporary dance experimentation with an African ethos began in earnest in 1976 when ballet-trained Sylvia Glasser, defying the apartheid laws, began researching and exploring traditional and urban South African rhythms and rituals with her Moving into Dance studio and company. The garage in her Victory Park home, in Johannesburg, not only taught modern dance but became the crucible for Afro-fusion and ‘edudance’. It was also the foundation of a flagship training institution and African contemporary dance company which has given this country and continent major dancerchoreographer-teachers of the calibre of Vincent Sekwati Koko Mantsoe and Gregory Vuyani Maqoma. In Cape Town, in the mid 70s, another dance revolution began when Sue Parker and Sonje Mayo founded the multi-racial Jazzart Studio. Police raids were not unusual. Over the years this initiative took a seriously political path as a collaborative which boycotted state funded performing arts council theatre and certain festivals. The driving forces of this movement, namely Alfred Hinkel, Jay Pather, Dawn Langdown and John Linden, began questioning the imposition of Western-style body shape as well as incorporating their respective cultural roots and traditions (such as Indian dance, Khoisan rhythms and storytelling) into their choreography and teaching. Their slogan was: ‘Everyone can dance’. Both Moving into Dance Mophatong and Jazzart have subsequently been formalised as important training facilities producing certified teachers as well as administrators, professional dancers and choreographers who can return to their communities to empower them. The existing university and technikon courses and departments have, post 1994, adjusted to the needs and

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demands of a democratic, multicultural society while retaining their core missions. The 76-year-old University of Cape Town School of Dance (formerly the UCT Ballet School), Rhodes University’s Drama Department (home of South African physical theatre), the Tshwane University of Technology Dance and Musical Theatre Department (originally the Pretoria Technikon Ballet Department then Dance Department), and university drama departments at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (now performance studies), Cape Town, Stellenbosch, Pretoria and Zululand all have roles to play. Arts festivals have provided a platform for the exposure and growth of South African dance theatre. Notably the 36-year-old

Vilacoster Pantsula Dancers from Mogale City in Seven Minutes in Heaven on Stepping Stones, 2010

National Arts Festival in Grahamstown which took this art form seriously in 1989 when the Rhodes Drama Department’s Gary Gordon became the first recipient of the Standard Bank Young Artist Award for Dance. Grahamstown also happens to be the home of the 56-year-old International Library of African Music (ILAM) which plays a pivotal role in researching, preserving and passing on the knowledge and heritage of musical, song and dance forms in Sub-Saharan Africa. Tragically, for contemporary dance, no similar archive exists to document development... However that doesn’t mean there aren’t certain touchstones where origins and evolutions can be traced and analysed. One of the major sources (there are others) is the

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Dance Umbrella festival which surfaced at the Wits Theatre in 1989 as a free democratic platform for all South African dancers, choreographers and dance forms. Whether they were in pointe shoes, barefoot, mapantsula tackies or gumboots, everyone was welcome on stage to share their creativity and cultural expression. Works presented at Dance Umbrella, which had to be original or later commissioned, revealed living portraits of a divided country which was united, for a few weeks, in a love for dance, performance and sharing a wealth of influences. As young artists started developing – taking tentative steps as choreographers on the community dance, Stepping Stones programmes – and more mature choreographers courageously left their comfort zones in the main programming; unique vocabularies, cross cultural synergies and aesthetics began to emerge. When the cultural boycott lifted and international doors swung open after 1994, the international dance world and audiences were startled to see such originality and innovation. Seminal works the calibre of Sylvia Glasser’s Tranceformations (inspired by Bushman rock art and shamanistic trance dancing); Christopher Kindo’s autobiographical Me and You; Vincent Sekwatii Koko Mantsoe’s award winning Gula Matari, Menjaro and a series of solos. Robyn Orlin’s Olivier Award winning Daddy, I’ve seen this piece six times before and I still don’t know why they are hurting each other and AIDS piece, We must eat our suckers with the wrappers on ...; Jay Pather’s cross-cultural saga Ahimsa Ubuntu; Boyzie Cekwana’s award winning Rona; and Jayespree Moopen’s Talas in Conversation (African dance cross pollinated with Indian dance) made major impact. On the commercial stage many of these cultural styles and techniques were synergised a decade ago in the still popular dance musical African Footprint. It was co-choreographed by Debbie Rakusin and David Matamela and produced for South African and international stages by Richard Loring. Dancers proficient in ballet, contemporary, tap and jazz techniques have to be as proficient at stamping gumboot rhythms, pantsula jiving and traditional indlamu stamps, African chest contractions and pelvic gyrations. History, diverse cultural identities and a complex theatrical heritage all rolled into one. CF

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Envisioning the Past, Pictures courtesy of the Freedom Park Trust

Probably South Africa’s most moving, spiritual and historical monument, which seeks to encapsulate the soul of a country that is still in the process of finding its identity, Freedom Park commands the land of Salvokop on the outskirts of Pretoria, seemingly twinning itself with its Voortrekker Monument neighbour. Emily Amos examines this living monument-in-progress for CLASSICFEEL.

outh Africa as a country and South Africans as a people are still learning their own identities. We are a fractured, unified, complex nation of cultures, languages, religions and races. Yet so many of us, regardless of race, are determinedly ‘South African’ and ‘African’. We are perhaps never more so certainly ‘South African’ than during major international sporting events. Our art, culture and literature heritage is also finding its feet, gradually moving beyond the all-encompassing pre-, post- and during-apartheid rift of identity that so often defines this nation and its people. The Freedom Park project is a massively ambitious one that seeks to define who we are as Africans and South Africans, and yet also to open debate on the topic, allowing for an evolving sense of identity. One of ten Presidential Legacy projects, the project to construct Freedom Park was inaugurated in 2000. Freedom Park’s mission is to be a leading national and international icon of humanity and freedom whilst it also strives to be a leading heritage destination of choice. The first five years after the concept was approved by Cabinet were mainly dedicated towards developing the various elements contained within the park before it could be officially be declared a cultural institution, in line with Cultural Institutions Act 119 of 1998.

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Present and Future

The Sanctuary, where visitors can conduct their own remembrance ceremonies, or a light a candle in humankindâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s time-honoured tradition of using light to remember those who have gone before.

The Reeds surround the park and provide a dramatic scenery on the hill overlooking Pretoria/ Tshwane at night

Construction of Freedom Park was planned in stages with each construction phase opened to the public as it was completed. Phase 1 focused mainly on the infrastructure of the project but included the creation of Isivivane, a stone space open to the natural elements, which consists of the Lesaka and the Lekgotla. Isivivane is dedicated to those who died in struggles for humanity and freedom and forms an area for sacred reflection that revolves around the original idea of isivivane – a heap of stones believed to bring good luck to travellers. One is also reminded of the memorial heap of stones piled high in the Robben Island quarry in newly free South Africa, by its famous, former political prisoners. The Lekgotla honours the African tradition of open meeting spaces while the Lesaka echoes the ancient standing stone circles of Europe, but also represents an African burial place of the spirits. Each of South Africa’s nine provinces provided a boulder from an area of historical significance to form part of the Lesaka. Two additional boulders representing national government and the international community were also placed within the Lesaka. The provinces also sent trees to be planted around the space. Water plays an important cleansing and healing role here, imbuing this area of the park with a sense of the sacred. This space is certainly seen as such, with South African spiritual leaders such as Credo Mutwa having performed ceremonies there. S’khumbuto seeks to commemorate major conflicts that have shaped South Africa. The major memorial space of Freedom Park, it is designed to honour those named and unnamed heroes

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and heroines who fought and died for freedom and humanity, but should be seen as a celebration of their sacrifices rather than a mourning for their loss. S’khumbuto is a siSwati concept and signifies a place of remembrance while at the same time invoking the spirits to guide us in current affairs. At the park, S’khumbuto comprises the Wall of Names, Ampitheatre, Sanctuary, Eternal Flame, Gallery of Leaders, and Reeds. Freedom Park resounds with the spiritual, giving visitors many spaces and opportunities to honour the sacred and to contemplate history, personal story, healing and reconciliation. In the Sanctuary, visitors can conduct their own remembrance ceremonies, or light a candle in humankind’s time-honoured tradition of remembering those who have gone before with light. The Reeds surround the park, staking the space with their ascending height and providing dramatic scenery on the hill overlooking Pretoria/ Tshwane at night. Ensconced within the Reeds, the Amphitheatre can seat 2 000 people and is available for functions and ceremonies. The Wall of Names has been an involved and extensive project. It seeks to capture the names of those who died during periods of conflict in South Africa’s history, namely: the PreColonial Wars, Slavery, Genocide, Wars of Resistance, the South African War (Anglo-Boer War), the First World War, the Second World War and the Struggle for Liberation. The wall is designed to accommodate 120 000 names, and is 697 metres in length. To date 75 000 names have been verified for inscription on the wall.

A recent development has made it possible for visitors to interact digitally with the wall, checking on a name’s status and specific inscription site on the wall. Visitors can also submit a name for consideration for the wall via the touch screen system. This project is dynamic, unfolding and most certainly alive to all that South Africans care to contribute to it. Connecting the spaces of Isivivane and S’khumbuto is the spiral path of Mveledzo, which allows visitors to undertake a contemplative journey within the natural landscape. After journeying through the park families can relax at the Uitspanplek. One of the final phases of the park will be the construction of Tiva, a large body of water. Artwork in the park includes that of recently deceased, South African bronze artist, Speelman Mahlangu – an artist whose work encompassed the mythological and spiritual with a particular interest in African heritage. His Circle of Peace pays tributes to the peace initiatives during South Africa’s violent township unrest of the 1980s. Also an artist who works in bronze, Mickey Korzennik contributed the Ilanga Elekhulu (isiZulu for ‘Big Day’) statue to Freedom Park, which shows a South African family about to vote for the first time. During 2010, Freedom Park saw the completion of //hapo, a steel-framed, copper-roofed centre that represents the seven epochs of human civilisation that form the back bone of the park’s interpretation of history. //hapo is Khoisan for ‘dream’ and the centre is designed to blend into the local hills as the copper becomes weatherworn with time. At the moment the stark, shiny roofs of these seven domes call out across the veld. Each of these copper ‘boulders’ plays host to an epoch of human civilisation, beginning with the earliest human history of 3.6 billion years ago in Epoch 1: ‘Earth’; and moving through Epoch 2: ‘Ancestors’; Epoch 3: ‘Peopling’; Epoch 4: ‘Resistance and Colonisation’; Epoch 5: ‘Industrialisation and Urbanisation’; Epoch 6: ‘Nationalisms and Struggle’; and Epoch 7: ‘Nation Building and Continent Building’. A uniquely South African interpretation of history, these epochs closely follow the major turning points in the country’s struggle-filled path to its current sense of nationhood. ‘Earth’ begins literally with the journey of earth, the geological structure of the African continent, and its earliest life forms, yet honours an African paradigm of creation. ‘Ancestors’ explores the spiritual links between those who have gone before and those who are alive today – one of the ways in which Africans make sense of their world. ‘Peopling’ introduces the communities, culture and languages of ‘pre-conquest’ African societies. ‘Resistance and Colonisation’ addresses the period of arrival of settlers and colonisers on the African continent and essentially modern South Africa’s evolution since the early 1400s to the present day. ‘Industrialisation and Urbanisation’ encompasses the massive social and economic changes of the country as its mineral wealth was discovered and exploited, detailing the dehumanising creation of the African workforce and the struggle that resulted.

‘Nationalisms and Struggle’ focuses on the formation of the white state of South Africa, in itself a complex tale of competition for power over the ‘beloved country’ between the British and the Afrikaners, from the Anglo-Boer War to the establishment of the Union in 1910 to the rise of the apartheid state in 1948. Finally, //hapo’s last epoch, ‘Nation Building and Continent Building’ records the emergence of freedom and democracy in Africa, and South Africa as the country enters the constitutional age. The Gallery of Leaders will be a permanent exhibition of people from throughout the world who have shown extraordinary leadership qualities, and who have particularly helped move humankind forward with regards to freedom and respect for humanity. The permanent exhibition is due to open in April 2011; 28 leaders have already been determined to meet the inclusion criteria. In the meantime, ten leaders have been honoured in a temporary exhibition, these include South Africans:

“The Freedom Park project is a massively ambitious one that seeks to at once define who we are as Africans and South Africans, and yet also opens conversation on the topic” General Christiaan De Wet, Helen Joseph, Lilian Ngoyi, OR Tambo, Robert Sobukwe and Steve Biko; Africans: Julius Nyerere and Kwame Nkrumah; and international icon, Che Guevara. But the true heart of Freedom Park will surely be the Pan African Archives, whose focal point is to be one of the biggest resources for ‘knowledge-producing’ in the future. The archives provide the underlying knowledge base of the park and should organically extend through coming years as researchers, historians and ordinary South Africans contribute to it. One imagines it similar to the many Holocaust museums around the world that have called for personal contribution from those who have lived momentous history. At the same time, notions of the ancient library of Alexandria and the fantastic wealth of human knowledge it contained seem to nibble at the edges of one’s consciousness when contemplating the ambitions of the Freedom Park Trust for these archives. There are many synergies around Freedom Park; links with the past, created in the present, aiming to play a role in forming the future; it is perhaps South Africa’s first true attempt at grand architecture and design that seeks to shape, not merely a city, but the identity of a country and a nation. CF

Investing IN PEACE OF MIND – GLACIER TOPCOVER ‘Many people consider life insurance to be a grudge purchase,’ says Patrick Sheehy, Head of Product Management at Glacier by Sanlam. ‘But if we approach it as an investment in a family’s future, then people will look at it differently.’

Image courtesy of Glacier by Sanlam

ccording to a study commissioned by the Life Offices Association of South Africa (LOA) in 2007, South Africans are underinsured by a total of R10 trillion. This shortfall exists, by all accounts, in spite of the fact that the country possesses better insurance facilities than any other in the developing world. Since we are not suffering from a lack of options then, the reason for the insurance gap seems to boil down to negative perception, lack of understanding and an unwillingness to put long-term needs ahead of short-term ones. For Patrick Sheehy and the rest of the team at Glacier, it has therefore become necessary to present their personal cover options from a different angle, in order to reverse the general view of life, disability or critical illness insurance as (barely) necessary evils. ‘It’s an investment in a family’s financial security,’ says Sheehy. ‘Its purpose is to ensure that in the event of a drastic life-changing event, such as the death, critical illness or disability of a breadwinner, a family will have sufficient financial resources to carry on with a standard of living comparable to what they have been accustomed to. It can be used to eliminate any accumulated debts that may otherwise become a burden to the family, or to supplement the lost income.’ It is far from uncommon for South African families to deal with the grief of losing a loved one, only to find that they have inherited a burden of debt without sufficient measures having been put in place to allow for the elimination or even continued servicing of that debt. Even those families that find themselves in the rare and fortunate position of being able to service the deceased’s debt take on a needless additional financial burden that could easily have been wiped out all together if the deceased had life insurance. ‘More often than not,’ says Sheehy, ‘there will be a liquidity shortfall in the event of a death, and life cover will fill that shortfall. It can enable the family to pay all remaining expenses without having to liquidate any part of the deceased’s estate.’ As obvious as all this sounds, South Africa’s life cover gap remains, suggesting that South Africans are not sufficiently conscious of the benefits of life cover for their families in the long term, or the consequences of not taking life cover. In all fairness, one can understand the reticence of certain members of the public to invest in insurance policies. There seems to be so much to consider, and there are often well-founded fears that failure to take cognisance of one line of small print can result in a rejected claim, rendering futile the long-term expense of premium payments. The solution to these concerns, according to Sheehy, comes in the form of a good financial advisor. ‘I cannot stress this enough,’ Sheehy says, ‘life cover is not something that average people in the street can determine for themselves. Everybody must enlist the help of a qualified financial intermediary to advise them on the quantity and quality of the cover they will need going forward. No two people or families will have the same generic life cover needs. Insurance policies need to be tailored to the needs of specific individuals and it is the job of the financial intermediary to assess those needs and

determine the appropriate cover.’ Prospective life cover buyers are often stumped, before any other considerations, by questions of how much cover they need. ‘The intermediary will take into account the income of a particular family,’ Sheehy explains, ‘and then will determine how much will be lost in the event of a death of one of the family members, and therefore how much will need to be supplemented. These considerations will determine how much cover is needed. Another critical thing to remember is that this is not a once-off exercise. If the intermediary and the client do not follow up regularly, taking into account any changing conditions, then it may come to the point where the cover is no longer meeting the client’s needs.’ Aside from ensuring that the chosen policy provides enough cover, the client and the intermediary must always ensure that their bases are covered in terms of how and when claims will be honoured. Sheehy says, ‘The question one always needs to ask the financial intermediary is “what is the claims experience of the insurance company like?” Insurance policies are becoming ever more specific and refined, and with the increase of specific benefits that are being covered under life insurance, critical illness and disability cover, the definition of the event that gives rise to the claim is of the utmost importance. From the client’s point of view, there needs to be certainty with regard to these definitions and therefore the likelihood that the claim will be paid. There are four critical illnesses that have standard definitions throughout the industry – heart attack, cancer, coronary bypass and stroke. Everything else is not clearly defined and depends on the specific company and policy in question. The client and the intermediary must ensure all of the necessary definitions and conditions are clearly laid out and provided for by the cover. One example of a condition that could affect the claim is the insured’s occupation. If clients change their occupations, there is a good chance that their risk profiles will change as well and if the disability cover is not adjusted accordingly and a disability then results from that increased risk, then there is a good chance that the claim will be rejected. ‘Glacier’s policy is to make sure that all conditions are clearly laid out from the outset and defined in detail before the client signs on the dotted line. We then underwrite the client in full upfront – we do not defer any part of the underwriting – and create a thorough risk profile that truly covers all bases in terms of the client’s eligibility for cover. This means that even later possible changes in the client’s profile are taken into account and provided for.’ When one changes one’s thinking to consider personal cover – whether for life, critical illness or disability – as an investment, then the way in which we deal with it will change too. Like all other investments, it must be planned and strategised carefully from the start in order to yield the best results. And since no investment exists in a vacuum, adjustments must be made as time goes on to ensure that it keeps up with the many variables of the financial world and the individual’s needs. If treated in this way, long-term personal cover can become an investment that pays dividends in peace of mind. CF

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Jockeying for Screen Rights Renée Luus, media lawyer and consultant at Bowman Gilfillan Attorneys discusses the rights involved in creating screen adaptations of literary works.

JRR Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, triology set —The Fellowship of the Rings, The Two Towers and The Return of the King.

t is very unusual in today’s multimedia society for a best selling book to remain only that. Book critics and media outlets seem to speculate about possible casting of famous actors and screen rights at the same time that they interview literary critics on Saturday morning shows across the world. Successfully adapted screenplays such as The Departed, The Lord of the Rings, Brokeback Mountain and Million Dollar Baby have in the last few years captivated audiences worldwide and generated massive hits for the studios. Closer to home South African audiences are eagerly awaiting the first South African 3-D cinematic adventure, based on Percy Fitzpatrick’s well-loved, Jock of the Bushveld. The business of adapting works and using storylines is a serious and lucrative business (albeit not a new one). Determining the rights of authors and those involved in the adaptation process can, in some instances, become quite a complicated process. The question of who owns which rights and consequently who is entitled to recognition (and more importantly revenue) has been the subject of various disputes, not only between the David and the Goliaths of the entertainment industry but also amongst the Goliaths themselves. In South Africa, the Copyright Act of 1978 protects the original work of an author (who does not always end up as

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the owner of the copyright, but will, for the purposes of this article, be the owner of the copyright as well). This is a virtually automatic right (subject to some provisions of the Copyright Act being complied with) that exists once the work, or the story, has been committed to writing. Once authors have copyright in their work (‘story’), the Act protects them by prohibiting all other people from using, commercially exploiting, and benefiting from their copyright. Copyright, in its simplest form, protects your property and prohibits others from using what is yours. The nature of copyright lies in the ownership of property (albeit intellectual) and should be looked at in the exact same way as owning a VW Polo or a pumpkin pie. The law specifically affords the owner of the copyright the right of adaptation. This means that the owners of the copyright can sell, or give others the right to adapt their story. One oftentimes sees the words: ‘Based on the original book by John Doe’ in the credits of a movie or TV series. In terms of the South African Copyright Act the author has the right to be identified as the author of the work. How authors choose to deal with their right of adaptation is completely up to them. Some authors are very particular about the manner in which their story should be adapted. It

is well known that JK Rowling negotiated the rights to edit the adaptation of the Harry Potter series. Under South African copyright law the author has the right to object to any adaptation of the work that would reflect badly on him or her. The golden rule seems to be that consent and agreement between the copyright owners and whoever adapts their work for whatever medium should be reached. For writers it is obvious that any opportunity to expose their work (by adapting the story and potentially creating earnings, recognition and possible royalties) is a dream come true. Some media commentators argue that, in today’s multimedia society, it is incomprehensible to think that writers do not, when creating a story, think of the possible adaptation thereof in one way or another. Problems sometimes arise when works are adapted (usually when the author was not approached for permission or consent) by copying an original work or part thereof. Once the owners of copyright decide to confront a third party who adapted their work (without being granted the rights to do so) the copyright owners have to prove their copyright, which could often be difficult (bearing in mind that South Africa does not have copyright registration like the US, which affords specific copyright protection for derivative works by US Federal Law). The courts have been asked to decide on matters of infringement of copyright such as the UK case of Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh v. the Random House Group dealing with The Da Vinci Code. The courts in South Africa

have adopted a similar approach when dealing with copyright infringement. The courts choose not to protect the general idea or concept which underlies the work but to afford protection to detailed collections of ideas, or pattern of incidents which form such a substantial part of the work, that to copy it would be an infringement of the copyright therein. Once the adapted screenplay has been written, seen as a ‘literary work’, new copyright subsists therein. Similarly the owner of the new copyright has exclusive rights in the adapted screenplay. Once the screenplay has been performed, filmed, directed and edited a bouquet of different rights (for example in the film, the soundtrack and the performances) comes into play. The owners of copyright have the exclusive right to adapt their work. They can decide what rights they want to grant to someone else, and in what way. This position has to be protected. The most practical way of protecting these rights would be to clearly define what a copyright owner is giving away and what they expect in return. This is not just a casual agreement that can be signed on a napkin in your local bar, but a formal agreement that should be drafted by someone who understands rights and the exploitation thereof. However collaborations between writers, based on mutual respect and interconnectivity, has the potential to create wonderful cinematic and stage performances in the future. Who knows? There may even be a few local South African writers that end up as ‘million dollar babies’. CF

Hoarder’s gold Most people are at least vaguely aware of the possible value of a sought-after first edition book – but a host of other hidden treasures may lie forgotten amongst the clutter we squirrel away.

quick googling of a first edition of Percy Fitzpatrick’s 1907 Jock of the Bushveld comes up with a copy available on auction – starting bid R6 000 – and a listing of one sold earlier this year at Sotheby’s for R11 000. This is enough to make anyone who has recently delivered a box load of books to a charity shop pause for thought; although most people probably know enough to think twice before throwing out a first edition. What many might not suspect, however, is that not only books, but also documents, letters, and printed matter in general may be deemed surprisingly valuable by collectors. According to the dictionary provided by Miller’s Antiques Guide, ‘ephemera’ refers to ‘printed matter intended for immediate use and subsequent disposal, which is now collected’ and includes ‘... tickets, matchbox labels, wine labels, trade cards, cigar labels, broadsides, and shop window advertisements’. Further searching through the same website reveals a first edition, signed copy of JK Rowling’s 2007 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows with ‘publisher’s hologram sticker on title, Moonlight Signing ticket and related ephemera loosely inserted’, valued at an astonishing £1 200 - £1 800, easily rivalling the first edition Jock, despite being a century younger. Presumably first edition copies of the Deathly Hallows are not yet scarce; one can only assume it is Rowling’s signature, along with the accompanying collection of ‘Moonlight signing ticket’ etc. that earn it such a figure. But how many people would think twice about throwing things such as ‘Moonlight signing tickets’ away (let alone of taking the trouble to insure them)? Perhaps less surprisingly, collectable ephemera may also include documents, letters and paperwork of historical significance, be it political, cultural or social. The South African Ballet Theatre recently auctioned a number of items signed by Dame Margot Fonteyn in order to raise sorely needed funds, while one of four copies of a document signed by the American generals at the end of the American Civil War sold for a quarter of a million dollars in New York last year. According to Gordon

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Massie of Artinsure, there is currently a large market for political ephemera relating to the Cold War. ‘It was such a meaningful time for a lot of people, people now in their 40s, 50s, 60s – so one of the documents signed by one of the leaders is highly collectable,’ he says. Within South Africa there is a rapidly growing interest in ephemera relating to the struggle, the rise and fall of apartheid, and the country’s cultural development. Collectors will bid ferociously for, say, a handwritten letter from Mandela to De Klerk during the last days of apartheid, or ephemera surrounding fallen cricket hero/ villain Hansie Cronje. (Indeed, ephemera connected with both heroes and villains – oppressors, perpetrators of genocide, serial killers and the like – are equally likely to command the attention of collectors) As is the case with many collectables, the social, cultural, sentimental and personal value that both society and/or the owner of ephemera may attribute to them, make them irreplaceable. However, collectors can at least insure themselves against the financial loss that may be incurred through the loss or damage of such items. When doing so, the insurance policy should specify upfront the value of the item, in order to avoid later arguments. Also, when loaning objects – often done for academic or research purposes – a tried and tested agreement should be concluded to cover them while on loan. A further consideration specific to the insurance of ephemera is that the value collectors attribute to owning a ‘complete set’ of items – say a series of letters between two leaders in which a historic treaty is agreed upon – frequently renders the whole more valuable than the sum of its parts. This means that if one item of a set is lost or destroyed, the value of the remaining set may be diminished – an eventuality that a specialist insurance should take into account. And finally, it may be wise to think twice before throwing away your now defunct World Cup tickets and other ‘junk’ you may have recently accumulated. While no one wants to become a pathological hoarder, you never quite know what a seemingly useless scrap of paper may mean to someone out there... CF

2007 Collector's Edition of Jock of the Bushveld, published by Jonathan Ball Publishers

African Art Collection

The Standard Bank 80

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Asante, Ghana Figure Wood, pigment, textile, beads (h) 38,5 cm x (l) 9 cm x (d) 13cm

A joint venture between Standard Bank and Wits University, the African Art Collection is dedicated to preserving, researching and developing the university’s remarkable collection of African heritage items. CLASSICFEEL’s Natalie Watermeyer spoke to curators Fiona Rankin-Smith and Julia Charlton about this groundbreaking collection.

n 1979 Anitra Nettleton, Neels Coetzee and Diana Newman from Wits University initiated a collection of African art. Using an exhibition of pieces donated by respected African art dealer Vittorino Meneghelli as an example of what the field had to offer, the university approached Standard Bank for support in creating a collection intended first and foremost to be a resource for teaching and research. A few years earlier, Wits had started offering courses in African art, probably the first university in South Africa to do so. At the time, there was little interest in non-Western forms of cultural expression due largely to apartheid policies and the lingering effects of colonialism. The decision by members of the university and Standard Bank to dedicate resources to the collection was therefore a visionary one. The Standard Bank African Art Collection – as it is now called – was also initiated to preserve and record traditional cultures (then perceived as threatened by urbanisation and industrialisation) and to prevent the loss of vast quantities of African cultural heritage items to international museums and collectors. ‘At that stage South African classical or traditional material was beginning to be recognised as highly collectable and highly covetable, mainly by dealers who were selling internationally, because South Africans were quite slow to wake up to the fabulousness of the material,’ says Julia Charlton, senior curator of Wits Art Museum (WAM). ‘There was a real sense that unless we started collecting and keeping it, it was going to disappear.’ As a result, a contract was negotiated, with Standard Bank and Wits University becoming co-owners of the collection. ‘Standard Bank provides an annual purchasing grant, and the university’s responsibility is to house the collection and take care of it, teach from it, research it and exhibit it,’ explains Charlton. Barbara Freemantle, curator of the Standard Bank Gallery, said of the project: ‘It is a great privilege for Standard Bank to be part of this very special collection and it is a unique sponsorship for the bank in that, contained in the one collection are two forms of sponsorship: the arts and education.’ The fact that the collection is a joint venture on the part of Standard Bank and Wits University has substantially shaped the nature and content of the collection. As the study of African art has changed and developed over the last three decades, so the focus of the collection has altered in response. Academic

Ndebele, South Africa, Irari (Beaded blanket) Textile, beads, (h) 87 cm x (l) 162 cm

Makonde, Mozambique Lipiko (Helmet mask) Wood, pigment, hair (h) 22 cm x (l) 24 cm x (d) 17 cm

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Sam Nhlengethwa, South Africa, It left him cold, 1990, collage, pastel, paint, pencil on paper, (h) 69 cm x (l) 93.2 cm

research and fieldwork play a significant role in the continuous reshaping of policy regarding which works are collected and why; for example, says Charlton, traditions are no longer seen to be disappearing, as they initially were – ‘now they’re recognised as changing. So there are more contemporary adaptations of traditional forms, contemporary materials and contemporary versions, but basically the underlying rituals and things are still in place despite urbanisation and globalisation. So the collection is now shaped to reflect those changes’. Initially the collection consisted primarily of objects from Central and West Africa, in keeping with the research being conducted at the time. From the mid 1980s, the focus became increasingly local, partly for economic reasons. ‘The cultural isolation and the exchange rate made buying from international sources prohibitive,’ explains Charlton. Museums around the country began collecting items from around the locations nearest to them; Durban focused on Zulu works, the Cape on Xhosa, and so on. ‘We started developing quite a significant collection of stuff that was found in the Transvaal, like Ndebele, and Venda,’ says Fiona Rankin-Smith, WAM’s Special Projects Curator. At the

same time, vast quantities of Ndebele beadwork were being taken out of the country, something that the collection began working to redress. ‘From the mid 80s to the end of the 80s we amassed a huge collection of beadwork from South Africa,’ she says. The Standard Bank African Art Collection now incorporates some 5 000 pieces, and is made up of ‘a large amount of South African beadwork, and clothing, a lot of pots, a lot of wooden staffs, wooden headrests, little things like snuff spoons and snuff objects, Ashanti gold weights, a big textile collection, earplugs, barbershop paintings of hairstyles, masks, stools, dolls, drums, costumes, San beadwork...’. Do Charlton and Rankin-Smith have any particular favourites? They change, apparently; Rankin-Smith’s recent passion has been for soccer-related works – she curated the Standard Bank Gallery’s World Cup inspired exhibition Halakashe, for which the collection acquired new pieces with part of its annual budget – but at the moment, her interest has turned towards the new space, and how art works will function within it. Although Standard Bank exhibits works from the collection at the bank’s gallery on a regular basis, the collection – along with the university’s other art collections – has been without a

Shona, Zimbabwe Mutsago (Headrest) Patinated wood (h) 14 cm x (l) 19,2 cm x (d) 6.5 cm

permanent display showcase since the closing of Wits Art Galleries at the end of early 2002. (Prior to that, visitors could view works from the collections in semi-permanent displays) This has not, says Rankin-Smith, stopped tourists from trying to see it. ‘There’s stuff about our museum in guidebooks,’ she says, ‘so visitors come and they say “Oh look, I’ve bought this book, it says you’ve got a collection”... They’ve underlined it, made the effort to find the place and then we say “You can’t come in, we don’t have a gallery” – it’s horrible!’ Sometimes, the curators relent and take visitors on tours of the storerooms – much to their delight. The new museum, to be situated at University Corner, will change all that. A part of the museum will be devoted to the continuous display of African art, making it the only permanent display of such artefacts in Johannesburg – and probably South Africa. As such, it promises to be a major draw card for Johannesburg tourism. Both Rankin-Smith and Charlton appear greatly preoccupied with all aspects of the project: the building itself, what to put on for the opening exhibition and the use of the exhibition space. ‘We’re obliged to put on a beautiful exhibition of our collection, because that’s what we’ve been harping on about for eight years – “There’s this beautiful collection that sits in the store room,” – now we’re going to say, “There’s this beautiful collection

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housed in this gallery – come and see!”’ Their experiences in giving storeroom tours have given them some ideas – ‘People love going into storerooms; it’s even better than going into the gallery,’ says Charlton. ‘It’s privileged access – you’re not usually allowed to go into the storerooms; it’s like a treasure chest. So one of the things we’ve been toying with is how to find ways of communicating the collection, the mass of the collection and wonders of it outside of traditional display practice’. Conveying the excitement and mystique of the storeroom is difficult, it transpires, both for reasons of security and conservation. There is a limit to how much light certain works can be exposed to, how long works can hang for without beginning to warp, and so on; but the idea remains an intriguing one. Most importantly, members of the public will once again be able to view these works on a permanent basis, in an environment where they are presented and appreciated as art – intellectually compelling, visually exciting and rich in cultural significance. This is a far cry from the past portrayal of such objects as ‘primitive’ and ‘backward’. Collections such as the Standard Bank African Art Collection, along with the ongoing scholarship conducted throughout its creation, have no doubt played a major role in the alteration of this perception. CF

A Vigil of Departure –

LOUIS KHEHLA MAQHUBELA a retrospective 1960 - 2010 Standard Bank Gallery 4 August to 18 September 2010 Monday to Friday: 8am – 4.30pm Saturday: 9am –1pm Tel: 011 631 1889 www.standardbankarts.co.za

Louis Maqhubela, Composition, 1972, Oil on paper, 51,7cm x 58,7cm. Collection: Johannesburg Art Gallery SBSA 49201

Images © Roger Delahare

An Ongoing Journey Award winning ceramics studio Ardmore, run by Fée Halsted, has teamed up with Charles Greig and The Collection by Liz McGrath to create a body of work in celebration of South Africa’s many visitors during the World Cup tournament. CLASSICFEEL’s Natalie Watermeyer spoke to Halsted about this new undertaking, titled Travellers of Africa.

rdmore Ceramic Art has made a name for itself both locally and internationally as the ultimate success story – a studio that grew from small beginnings into a producer of distinctive works of outstanding craftsmanship, bringing creative employment and economic upliftment to many along the way. In 1985, deciding that she needed an assistant, ceramicist Fée Halsted took on her first student, 18-year-old Bonnie Ntshalintshali and began teaching on the Ardmore farm in KwaZulu-Natal’s Champagne Valley. Ntshalintshali turned out to be an ideal apprentice; five years later, the duo won the Standard Bank Young Artist (SBYA) Award – the first time it had been jointly awarded. The seed of what was to become an internationally renowned ceramics studio – producing what Christie’s of London has recognised as ‘modern collectables’ – was firmly planted. The duo broke boundaries with their expressive use of clay as an artistic medium and soon established an unmistakable trademark style – a fusion of African, Western and Eastern forms, often featuring African fauna and flora and painted in rich and varied colours. Halsted and Ntshalintshali spent a year preparing work for their Standard Bank exhibition, commissioned in the wake of their SBYA win. Their exclusive dedication to creating work for the exhibition meant that they needed to employ others to take over the day-to-day production of saleable ceramics. ‘We needed people to come and help us create product to live off, because we were having to keep all our work for exhibition,’ says Halsted. At first, they employed the friends and family of Ntshalintshali; as word spread, people from further afield approached Ardmore for training, and the enterprise grew exponentially. These days Ardmore employs more than 40 artists, allowing them to discover unique talents and abilities that otherwise may never have had the opportunity to develop. And not only artists, but also those who display an aptitude for sales, marketing and the like receive training in these areas, and move into the commercial side of the business. Unsurprisingly Halsted says that the effect that meaningful employment and economic upliftment has had on

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the people involved is clearly noticeable. In fact, Halsted is due to receive an award for her role in the empowerment of local women later this year. Yet not all has been plain sailing for the ceramics studio; in November 1999 Bonnie Ntshalintshali died, a victim of the AIDS epidemic ravaging the country. Both she and her work are commemorated at the Bonnie Ntshalintshali Museum, which opened in 2003 and in 2008 moved to Ardmore Caversham, the studio’s current base of operations. Ardmore pieces are hard to miss; they have a highly distinctive style and content. Almost always present, though, is the animal – be it a frog, a warthog, a crocodile or a whole menagerie of creatures great and small, the detailed observation of local fauna and flora, or the patterned exuberance of Africa – spotted, striped, floral or woven. ‘It’s very, very detailed,’ says Halsted. ‘We’ve gone pure white, where it’s very sculptural, but usually it’s ornate, there’s a baroque quality to it. It’s over the top. If you think of the essence of Ardmore, you think of it being fun, a celebration; I think you see it as sculptural, a bit over the top, a bit circus-y’. Pieces characteristically display a zany, whimsical quality, a light heartedness that sometimes contrasts their subject matter – birth, death and sex are all openly depicted. ‘What I love is the humour, the naivety, the truthfulness,’ says Halsted. Each artist develops his or her own unique style, which a recent Ardmore catalogue has loosely grouped into certain categories such as ‘the Expressionists’, ‘Exotic realists’, ‘Creative spirits’ and so on. Yet despite the development of each person’s individual capabilities, virtually all Ardmore creations are collaborative efforts, with different artists responsible for the throwing, sculpting and painting of each item. ‘Old studio potters used to do that too – there was a modeller, there was a painter..., says Halsted. ‘The beauty of Ardmore is its collaboration, there’s no mistrust that the person who paints a piece is not going to do a good job... It’s very much an ubuntu, a working together and supporting each other like a family.’ Over time, what Halsted refers to as ‘phases’ or ‘collections’ become apparent. In some cases these are intentionally brought about as for the forthcoming Travellers exhibition; in others, an

Cheetah and Leopard Riders, sculpted by Alex Sibanda, painted by Virgina Xaba and Jabu Nene, average height 28cm

Boat with Animals (VIR188), sculpted by Bennet Zondo, painted by Virginia Xaba, length 49cm

Buck Leopard Rider Tureen, sculpted by Sabelo Khoza & Thabo Mchele, painted by Rosemary Mazibuko, height 37cm

innovation introduced by one artist is admired and picked up by the rest. To illustrate, Halsted points out pieces from a recent ‘black and white collection’, all featuring black and white patterns with only a little additional colour. The upcoming Travellers show will be Ardmore’s second exhibition produced in collaboration with Charles Greig Jewellers, following the successful Cats of the World show in 2007. Travellers pays homage to the many people travelling to South Africa and vice versa – a nod to the recent World Cup – and celebrates the explorers and pioneers of Africa over the centuries. Halsted, together with Christopher Greig researched African explorers throughout history – going back to Hannu, the first known Egyptian explorer who set out to chart the continent in around 2 750 years BC, and South Africa’s own Mzilikazi who travelled 800 km from KwaZulu-Natal to Zimbabwe. ‘These stories captured the imagination of the artists,’ says Halsted, ‘and the work portrays unrecorded stories, myths and even fantasies of African travellers.’ Travellers draws on diverse inspirations, among them the works of Thomas Baines and the Cornwallis Harris prints, both beloved

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by Halsted; and Operation Noah, the 1958-1964 boat rescue of scores of animals during the building of Kariba dam. According to Halsted’s own description, the ceramics in Travellers have a quality that calls to mind the work of post-impressionist painter Henri Rousseau, featuring animals such as leopards, buffalo, sable antelope, ostriches, crocodiles and hippos alongside beautifully sculptured figures set amidst palm fronds, banana trees and aloes. Travellers also recalls the techniques used by Halsted and Ntshalintshali in Ardmore’s early days. ‘When I started working with Bonnie, we didn’t know how to glaze,’ she explains. ‘I borrowed from the techniques of the old Zulu potters, who didn’t have electricity to fire and to work with glazes; they’d fire the pots in an old wood firing, and then they’d take Zebbo graphite and boot polish and give a shine, a patina to the pots. Bonnie used to paint and we’d varnish her work.’ According to Halsted, their approach changed around the time of winning the Standard Bank award, when they adopted the use of American underglaze paints coated with a glass seal. ‘So this is harking back to a little bit of our roots, it’s looking back and re-inventing them again,’ says Halsted. For Travellers, Ardmore’s artists are combining the use of boot polish with their contemporary techniques, as well as leaving areas unglazed and allowing the paint to seep into the clay when heated, creating an effect that Halsted refers to as ‘Egyptian paste’. ‘It looks beautiful, and you don’t lose all the fine work of the hairs; often when your glaze works, a lot of the fine detail disappears through the glaze,’ she says. The collection features work by a number of Ardmore’s established and long admired artists, such as Virginia Xaba, Mickey Chonco, Jabu Nene, Punch Shabalala and Wiseman Ndlovu. Most interestingly, however, Travellers will include debut work by some of Halsted’s newest recruits, including Zimbabwean sculptor Alex Sibanda. Aside from the unique sensibility of Ardmore, combined with the obvious skill and craftsmanship of Ardmore’s artists, Halsted attributes their ongoing success to partnerships with brands such as Charles Greig, pairings that have demonstrated Ardmore’s products as works of art, comfortable ‘in a beautiful Hyde Park shop or with beautiful antiques’. Ardmore’s other partner in Travellers is The Collection by Liz McGrath, a group of three five-star Relais & Châteaux Hotels that includes The Cellars-Hohenort in the Constantia Valley, The Marine Hermanus and The Plettenberg. Halsted also pays tribute to Ardmore’s dedicated base of loyal collectors. ‘I don’t think Ardmore would be where it is without the support of those people who could see it for what it was and supported it,’ Halsted says. ‘It’s been those people who’ve loved South Africa, loved the people, and who’ve said this quality, this workmanship deserves to be in a better place – that has been very important for Ardmore’. Visitors to Caversham are welcome to visit the ceramics studio and see the work in progress. For more information about Ardmore, visit www.ardmore.co.za. CF

Crocodile Rider Tureen, sculpted by Sabelo Khoza, painted by Rosemary Mazibuko, height 35cm

LODGE Images courtesy of Marataba Lodge

When a Relais & Châteaux destination extends an invitation in the middle of winter to spend a weekend in their ‘tented accommodation’, one just knows that it is not going to be any ordinary camping holiday, as Justine Olofsson, writing for CLASSICFEEL, found out.

he numerous shades of brown in the bush at this time of year help to camouflage the wildlife, making the spotting of a giraffe or eland through the scrub all the more thrilling. Before you even arrive in the wilderness area of the Marakele National Park, a 23 000-hectare private concession in the Waterberg, an exciting game viewing experience – with the sighting of numerous warthog, impala, zebra, giraffe and many bird species – has already begun. An eight-kilometre drive through the reserve brings you to Marataba Lodge, a part of the prestigious Hunter Hotels Group. It is a beautiful structure of glass, stone and wood which forms an integral part of the overall aesthetic, and includes the surrounding bushveld and Waterberg mountain range. Designing a structure like this must be an architect’s dream. From the stoneclad entrance way, incorporating a cascading water feature, to the magnificent tent rooms, everything about the lodge attests to an understated luxury and great attention to detail.

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Guests are met at the entrance by the lodge manager with refreshing glasses of iced tea. After a tour of the lodge and facilities, which include an honour bar, swimming pool surrounded by comfy reclining chairs, cosy lounge with a fireplace and a library with internet access, you can take lunch under the shade of a large camel thorn tree while watching the monkeys frolicking in the bushes. The rooms at Marataba are quite unique – tents unlike any other. Each tent is situated with either a view of the Waterberg mountain range or the plains. As with the lodge, all the materials used in the tent blend in perfectly with the surroundings. From the screed floor of the bathroom (with underfloor heating) and the stone clad walls behind the basins, to the bleached wooden floor of the main bedroom section and the gently draped canvas roof, minute attention has been given to every last detail. The handmade crochet wire-and-bead curtain screening off the main bedroom is particularly eyecatching. The lodge designers have managed a perfect blend

of luxury and style with handcrafted pieces from around South Africa and other places on the continent. At the front of each tent is a deck. In the tents facing the mountains, the decks overlook a small stream with the picturesque sandstone domes of the Waterberg range in the distance. Sunny afternoons allow visitors to sit and contemplate the tranquil bushveld landscape and its numerous smaller inhabitants – squirrels, monkeys, lilac-breasted roller and southern yellow-billed hornbills among them. The Waterberg is so named because of the numerous springs that are found on its upper slopes, so although the terrain is predominantly bushveld, even in July/ August there is a lot of green visible up on the mountain. Marataba is a sanctuary for Africa's Big Five and a host of other species, including rare antelope such as roan, sable and mountain reedbuck. It is also home to the world's largest breeding colony of the endangered Cape vulture. With two game drives a day, even the most avid game viewer is well provided for. The morning drive begins straight after breakfast, with the fresh chill of the sunrise still in the air. The afternoon drive starts at 16h00, continuing into the night for those wanting to catch a glimpse of nocturnal species. The knowledgeable rangers possess a wealth of information about the flora and fauna of the area and impart many fascinating

facts to guests during the course of the game drives. One example of the kind of wildlife revelations they share with their guests is that impala are so geared to living in herds that they even have a gland just above their hoof that secretes a pheromone, which indicates to animals running behind them when they need to jump to avoid an obstacle. This saves time so that when they are being pursued they just follow those in front and don’t have to look carefully to see where they are going. This is the reason why impala are often seen to jump in the same place even when there is nothing there – this is the pheromone at work. In addition to educating guests on many remarkable bush facts, the game drives also provide a great opportunity to take in the scenery of the plains and mountains and their many animal and bird inhabitants. Halfway through the morning drives you are topped up with coffee and freshly baked muffins and on the afternoon drives, sun downer drinks, accompanied by an array of scrumptious snacks, are served just as the sun begins to dip below the horizon. Marataba Lodge, with its tented camp, delicious gourmet food and game drives provides a complete African bush experience with a luxurious touch that sets it apart from many other similar destinations. A weekend at Marataba thoroughly recharges one’s batteries for another few months of hectic of Joburg living. CF

CONQUISTADORS, COMMUNISTS AND ALL THAT JAZZ To Graham Greene, Havana was the city where ‘everything is possible’ while Ernest Hemingway, who made the city his home for some 22 years, liked to say that ‘in terms of beauty, only Venice and Paris surpass Havana’.

et alongside the Caribbean Sea, Havana was founded between 1514 and 1519 in a natural bay chosen partly for its ability to host a multitude of ships. According to legend, Havana took its name from the beautiful daughter of a local chief (or, alternatively a derivation of the early Germanic term for ‘Haven’). From its swashbuckling origins as a trading port repeatedly attacked by pirates, Havana grew into one of the largest cities in the Americas (during the mid 1800s it was surpassed only by Lima and Mexico City). Following a brief occupation by the British during the Seven Years War (1756 - 1763), the Spanish invested heavily in fortifying the city, building the Fortress of San Carlos de la Cabana and the castles of Atares and El Principe, along with a number of cannon batteries. The flourishing trade of the early 19th century resulted in Havana becoming both wealthy and fashionable; the luxurious Tacon Teatre and theatre Coliseo were built during this period, when Cuba remained the last bastion of Spanish colonialism in the Americas. Following the sinking of American warship Maine at the beginning of the twentieth century – an event which ‘filled the national heart with inexpressible horror’ according to American politician William McKinley – Havana was occupied by the United States. For the next fifty years the city continued to develop rapidly, sprouting numerous casinos, luxury hotels and nightclubs where stars such as Frank Sinatra, Gary Cooper, Marlene Dietrich and Ava Gardner rubbed shoulders with gangsters; it was during this period that Ernest Hemingway wrote several of his best known novels while resident in Cuba, inextricably linking his name to the country. The city also laid claim to the largest middle class population of any Latin American city at the time, and attracted large numbers of immigrants, particularly Spaniards. Also during this time, Havana was home to the Buena Vista Social Club – a members’ club that became a popular gathering place for musicians. Some of these selfsame

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musicians later appeared in the 1990s recording made by Juan de Marcos Gonzalez and Ry Cooder entitled Buena Vista Social Club (and inspired by the same institution). The initial recording led to a series of concerts, and was immortalised in the Wim Wenders film of the same name, ultimately bringing about a surge in interest in both Cuban and Latin American music worldwide. Today, some fifty years after the Cuban communist revolution, Havana is well known for the charm of its crumbling colonial buildings, vintage cars that cruise the streets 50 years after their heyday, the thrum of its vibrant nightlife, and of course, its cigars, cocktails, and music. Since 1978, Havana has hosted the annual Cuban International Jazz Festival, founded by Cuban jazz artist Bobby Carcasses, a noted figure on the Cuban jazz scene. Over the years, the festival has featured the likes of Dizzie Gillespie, Jack DeJohnette, Max Roach and Danilo Perez – to name but a few. The festival first took place in Casa de Cultura Plaza, and has since grown to occupy all of the numerous downtown concert halls, frequently spilling out onto the streets in the form of informal jam sessions. Another noteworthy event is the International Havana Ballet Festival, which takes place every two years. The ballet festival’s inception dates back to the Cuban revolution, making it the oldest of its kind across the globe. It is held in various locations across Havana and other Cuban cities and features performances by leading figures of the dance world, also showcasing the work of the National Ballet of Cuba. With the fall of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, Cuba came under increasing economic pressure as the financial support provided by the Russian communist regime came to an end. Ultimately this has led to the Cuban government turning to the revival of the tourist industry, allowing foreigners to begin developing the local hospitality industry (Cubans themselves are forbidden to do so). Efforts have also been made to renovate Havana so as to attract tourists. Once again, Havana is open to the many prepared to cross the ocean to visit this ‘once great and fascinating city’. CF

©Wikimedia Commons Havana, Cuba by Dirk van der Made

AIR FRANCE IS A PROUD CARRIER TO M U S I C F E S T I VA L S AROUND THE WORLD

International Festivals in Havana Havana International Jazz Festival 16 - 19 December 2010 International Havana Ballet Festival 1 October - 30 November 2010 International Film Festival 2 - 12 December 2010 Las Parrandas de Remedios Festival 16 - 26 December 2010 Habanos Cigar Festival February 2011

©Wikimedia Commons Bodequita del Medio

Air France offers daily flights to Paris with an onward connection to Havana. For more details, contact Air France’s Sales and Service Centre in Johannesburg on 0861 340 340 or 011 523 8001 or visit www.airfrance.co.za.

Images courtesy The Collection by Liz McGrath

A tasting menu like no other What are diners to expect when the menu states ‘Shellfish on a Beach’ or ‘Winter Forage’? The answer is a very special menu indeed, created by award winning chef Peter Tempelhoff, Executive Chef for The Collection by Liz McGrath. On a recent visit to The Greenhouse, CLASSICFEEL discovered a very special space.

omehow Liz McGrath has done it again! She decided to give a new home to The Greenhouse, her award winning restaurant at the Cellars-Hohenort hotel, one of the stunning destinations in The Collection, her fivestar Relais & Châteaux hotel group. It must have been no small task for the Hotcocoa design team to create a new space in the 100-year-old Hohenort building in Constantia, Cape Town. The Greenhouse is now an intimate fine dining restaurant which, in typical Liz McGrath fashion, has been created with attention to the very minutest detail. Previously occupied by the Cape Malay Restaurant, this space was a challenging one to work with due to its three small rooms which had awkward half openings connecting them. To expand the space, McGrath decided to add a greenhouse to the outside of the building. For this architect David Misplon was brought in to design a simple Victorian style greenhouse – lots of glass and white timberwork. He used the existing cottage pane doors and added cottage pane windows with sheets of glass to create a perfectly proportioned, yet simple structure. Sitting in the greenhouse section with its glass ceiling, one really feels like you are sitting in the midst of the beautiful gardens for which Cellars Hohenort is so famous. Overlooking the Steenberg Mountains across the valley, it does set the mood for a very special dining experience. By paying careful attention to one detail in particular, the team was able to accomplish two things that are essential to a restaurant’s atmosphere. By using new cork tiles, which are soft underfoot and quite beautiful to look at, noise levels (a personal gripe against even some of the best modern restaurants) are kept down and the space acquires a warm and homely feel.

Once the design team created a place of ‘sophistication and simple understated elegance with lots of references to past classical styles’ according to Liz McGrath, it was up to award winning chef Peter Tempelhoff Executive Chef for The Collection, to create a very special menu for this very special space. Over the past few months, Tempelhoff and his kitchen team have been hard at work developing his new conceptual cuisine and the ‘Imagination’ tasting menu, on which every dish is a surprise. Dishes such as ‘Winter Forage’ and ‘Shellfish on a Beach’ will leave you guessing until they arrive at the table. Tasting menus have become increasingly popular over the last few years and offer small portions of several dishes as a single meal, a challenge to any chef. Tasting menus may be offered to provide a sample of a type of cuisine, or house specialities, or to take advantage of fresh seasonal ingredients. In the case of The Greenhouse and Peter Tempelhoff, the tasting menu has become the restaurant’s sought after speciality, and together with the carefully selected wines, the meal has become a dining experience not to be missed. Not to spoil the surprise but just a hint: the ‘Shellfish on a Beach’ is simply the very best seafood bisque at any restaurant in South Africa and possibly even further afield. It is also a pleasure, considering the high level of culinary artistry that goes into creating a menu like this, to encounter staff that like sharing their in-depth knowledge of the food and wines with their guests. Dining at The Greenhouse is a special experience in a special place – very much a Liz McGrath experience. The Greenhouse is open evenings from Tuesday to Saturday and bookings are essential. 021 794 2137 or www.collectionmcgrath.com. CF

september 2010 95

IImages Ima Im m ges ma ge ge ess co courtesy court urrttesy u syy of of Hou House use off Mandela M dela Man

he Mandela legacy is steeped in historical tradition, family values and a resilient sense of community. ‘Not only are we proud of our heritage but we are inspired by who and what went before us in the Mandela line,’ says Dr Makaziwe Mandela, one of Madiba’s daughters. ‘Our forefathers, including my father, have laid the solid foundations for us to build on and proceed with meaningful and enriched lives that make a difference to others.’ The priceless family tradition of regularly getting together and sharing special time with one another, laughing and communicating, is what has inspired the House of Mandela to create a brand of wines that embodies the authentic, yet simple values of life. The Royal Reserve of Mandela wines harness the same values as their namesake. With expert advice from doyens in the South African wine industry and stringent quality control, only three wines have been selected into the Royal Reserve – Cabernet Sauvignon 2008 produced by Hartenberg Estate;

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The Hou House of Mandela, the family of the fformer president, launched its own ran range of fine wines, the Royal Reserve, near the end of July, with the Reserve release of three vintages from three top Cap Cape wine estates.

Chardonnay 2009 produced by Thelema Mountain Vineyards; and Shiraz 2007 produced by Fairview. According to Makaziwe, for the wines to be selected for this label they had to exhibit qualities that reflected the status bestowed upon them. They needed to be inviting in their flavours, subtle in their tones and evoke pride in their uniqueness. In addition, for them to bear the Mandela name, they were judged to the highest standards. ‘The wineries too were carefully selected and had to mirror our values of openness, warmth and family orientation,’ says Makaziwe. ‘They needed to be ethical in their practices, honest in their communication, and in short they had to share a sense of camaraderie with our forefathers – the Thembu people… Each and every bottle holds a distinct piece of Africa, her history and her people, and the way they have always enjoyed cohesion. Essentially what we strive for is everyone uniting and sharing stories over a bottle of House of Mandela wine.’ CF

2007 Shiraz

2008 Cabernet Sauvignon

2009 Chardonnay From Thelema Mountain Vineyards This fine wine has a pale, gold colour with tinges of green reflecting its youth. The nose shows typical aromatics of citrus and lime with light, toasted notes. There is a definite minerality on the nose, reflecting the cool terroir of the Elgin region and the microclimate of the vineyards on these rolling hills. These citrus, lime and brioche aromatics continue onto the mid-palate. The wine reflects a balance between fruit and natural acidity and the long finish shows balanced oak integration. Elegance is the keystone of this House of Mandela Chardonnay.

From the Hartenberg Estate This fine wine displays a saturated, almost opaque black-red colour. The aromatics show blackberry, violets and liquorice, which are intermingled with vanilla, graphite and nuances of cigar box and sandalwood. On the palate the wine is rich and opulent, and shows layers of sweet fruit with a superb integration of oak and fruit, reflecting supple and ripe tannins. Upon release the wine can be enjoyed with food, but would certainly benefit from eight to ten years in bottle.

From Fairview Wine Estate This fine wine displays a deep, almost opaque, black-red colour. The nose is plush with hints of bramble and cherry fruit and lightly toasted aromas. This very aromatic fruit continues onto the mid palate and the tannins are prominent but silky. The 18 months spent in oak is apparent on the palate, although the integration of oak and fruit has been well managed. The finish is long and powerful. Immediately after release the wine will probably be best enjoyed with food and will certainly continue to improve in bottle for up to ten years.

The House of Mandela wines are available from Norman Goodfellows Fine Wine & Spirit Merchants at 192 Oxford Road in Illovo (011 788 4814), Melrose Arch (011 684 2756) and Hyde Park Shopping (011 325 6462). Email: service@ngf.co.za.

Goodbye pinotage,

HELLO PINOCIN!

Victor Strugo unveils startling opinions on food pairings and on the erroneous name of our proudly South African home-bred red grape.

ave you ever felt out of your depth when selfproclaimed wine ‘experts’ flaunt their knowledge? Or at a loss when asked your opinion of food and wine pairings? You can relax, now. The next few paragraphs won’t turn you into an instant expert, but will reassure you that a sizeable chunk of wine’s mysteries filter down to pure subjectivity, and that in a society of ‘oenophiles’, democracy means ‘one man, one opinion’. I’ll validate this liberating view by asking: what food would you pair with our national red cultivar, pinotage? Come on now, speak up. What’s that? I hear ‘red meat dishes’ from Mr X. Okay, good start. Anything more specific? ‘An oxtail stew,’ ventures Mrs Y. Good, good, any advances on oxtail? ‘A spicy game dish with Spätzle and a juniper berry sauce,’ pipes up Mr Z, with chef-like detail. Yup, I’d go for that too. So you see that’s three once shy people who are in sync with (ahem!) a notable restaurant critic. But let’s now see what three winemakers consider ideal matches for their personally produced

september 2010

pinotages. First up is Rudi de Wet, winemaker at Bilton Wine Estate on the slopes of the Helderberg, whose maiden 2006 pinotage was crowned SA Champion Pinotage at the 2006 SA Young Wine Show. De Wet would pair his new 2007 release (which spent twelve months in oak and which he rather boldly describes as having ‘classic aromas of Turkish delight, cherries and blueberries’ and ‘ripened banana and earthy beetroot’ flavours) with ‘spicy samoosas, Black Forest ham, biltong ravioli or even a decadent chocolate soufflé’. Gosh, we only got ‘spicy’ right (take a bow, Mr Z). The ham sounds interesting (wish I’d thought of that) and the ravioli sounds like a cute branding gimmick (Bilton with biltong, ha, ha!). But what was that last idea: pinotage with dessert?! Is that possible? Well, listen to Bertus Fourie, the alchemist who got nicknamed ‘Starbucks’ for instilling pronounced coffee aromas into this grape (first at Diemersfontein, now at Val de Vie). You may recall that in the April issue we tasted his Barista Pinotage 2009. With this he suggests ‘rich, creamy casseroles’ or his

favourite accompaniment, ‘a blue cheese-filled brandy snap, with Belgian chocolate and roasted coffee beans’. Well, well. Two experts (real ones) who challenge the received wisdom of ‘red wine with red meat’. And it should be at room temperature, right? To shatter another preconception, along comes Martin Moore, cellarmaster at Durbanville Hills, who recently released his 2008 Pinotage. His two previous vintages both won gold medals at the Michelangelo International Wine Awards. The 2008 vintage spent a year in small barrels, picking up ‘a layer of spice, star anise and a hint of citrus marmalade on the nose’. I wonder, will no wine ever manage to capture the flavour of grapes? Moore is also a capable and adventurous chef who suggests you serve the 2008 Durbanville Hills Pinotage, ‘chilled… with desserts such as baked pears, strawberries or mixed berry treats’. But he concedes that the wine is a great match with spicy South African dishes such as bobotie and barbecued meat’ (whew, we’re on terra firma again!) and considers pinotage to be ‘as versatile as the company you choose to have at your dinner party’ (so we’re all invited!). I trust that’s shattered enough myths to give you the confidence to look your pretentious relatives in the eye without

blinking when you uncork a pinotage to serve with eisbein, Cajun chicken, seared salmon, vegetable couscous or whatever else you fancy. Exploring new possibilities is a lot more fun than acting superior. Still, if you need a couple of aces up your sleeve to silence a boring snob in dinner conversation, read on for some ammunition. First, everyone knows that Pinotage came into existence when Professor Abraham Perold crossed Pinot Noir and Cinsaut vines in 1925. This is the first point: Pinotage is a cross (two cultivars of the same species, here Vitis vinifera), not a hybrid (heterozygous). Secondly, the grape’s portmanteau name, with a handle on each of its two parents (‘Pino-’ from Pinot Noir and ‘-tage’ from Hermitage) is (pause here for the drum roll…) quite wrong! Hermitage was an erroneous synonym for Cinsaut in the Cape at that time. Hermitage is in fact a famous northern Rhône appellation made from Syrah (and not Cinsaut) grapes. That should startle most bogus experts. Pronounce – loudly and authoritatively – that the name Pinotage must be consigned to the scrap-heap and replaced with ‘Pinocin’. I find this works best while casually puffing a Cohiba and swirling your Armagnac. They will be grudgingly impressed. CF

movies

GREENBERG Director: Noah Baumbach Cast: Ben Stiller, Greta Gerwig, Rhys Ifans, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Chris Messina, Brie Larson, Juno Temple Ben Stiller takes a step beyond his standard comic repertoire in this 2009 film. Released to critical acclaim overseas Greenberg follows the travails of almost-middle-aged Roger Greenberg as he reaches a point of wanting ‘to do nothing’ in his life. He house-sits for his brother where he starts an unlikely friendship with his brother’s assistant

Greenberg

Florence, who is an aspiring singer. The two begin a tentative, engaging and vulnerable romance which treads the lines between two generations with completely different views of the world. Following Greenberg’s ‘time-out’ crisis the film is lit with humourous pathos. Written by director Noah Baumbach and Jennifer Jason Leigh, who also stars.

DORIAN GRAY Director: Oliver Parker Cast: Colin Firth, Caroline Goodall, Ben Barnes

Greenberg

Based on Oscar Wilde’s 1890 Gothic fiction novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, the film stars Ben Barnes in the lead role. The story follows Gray’s descent into a world of debauchery and hedonism, propelled by the influence of Lord Henry Wotton, who is played by versatile British actor Colin Firth. An initially innocent Gray, intrigued by Wotton, makes a

proverbial ‘deal with a devil’ arranging to remain young and beautiful while his painted portrait absorbs the excesses of his lurid lifestyle. Every sin and every excess is reflected in the painting, growing darkly hideous. Finally finding true love, Gray is forced to deal with his secret and the truth of the ravages of his actions on his soul.

Dorian Gray

COCO CHANEL & IGOR STRAVINSKY Director: Jan Kounen Cast: Nicolas Vaude, Natacha Lindinger, Mads Mikkelsen, Grigori Manoukov, Elena Morozova, Anna Mouglalis An official ‘out of competition’ selection at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival, Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky captures the love affair of two of the 20th century’s great artists. Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel encounters Igor Stravinsky’s work in Paris in 1913 with the premiere of the bold, convention-breaking production of the Rites of Spring, which causes bedlam within dance and theatre circles. She is intrigued by his work but only meets him seven years later. In the intervening years she establishes herself in the world of couture, becoming a wealthy woman. Mourning the death of her lover,

Dorian Gray

Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky

Captain Arthur Edward ‘Boy’ Capel in a car accident in 1919, Chanel is introduced to Stravinsky. At this point, in 1920, Stravinsky and his family are destitute, post the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, so she offers him sanctuary at her summer home. Despite the presence of Stravinsky’s sick wife, the two artists begin a short but intense love affair. The film is in French, Russian and English and is directed by Jan Kounen, a Dutch-born French director and film producer known for Dobermann (1997), Blueberry, l’experience secrete (2004) and 99 francs (2007).

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movies

HOPEVILLE

Hopeville

Director: John Trengove Cast: Jody Abrahams, Desmond Dube, Leleti Khumalo, Paul Luckhoff, Fana Mokoena, Themba Ndaba, Terry Pheto, Junior Singo, Mary Twala, Jonathan Pienaar, Wilmien Rossouw Hopeville the movie, comes to South African film screens on 3 September. Based on the extremely popular Hopeville TV series which was initially broadcast on SABC 2 in 2009 and then on SABC 1 in 2010, the movie should prove another excellent illustration of the merit of contemporary South African film work. Themba Ndaba plays the lead role of Amos Manyoni in this local story, with the talented Desmond Dube taking on the role of the corrupt mayor, Patrick Gumede. A recovering alcoholic, Amos must contend with bringing up his teenage son Themba, whose mother has recently died. Themba is an upcoming swimming star and Amos wants desperately to provide him with a swimming pool to further his dreams. Arriving in the dusty town of Hopeville, Amos takes on a position as the parks and recreation manager, where he wrestles with the municipality and sceptical, disheartened locals to try and renovate the community pool. But the mayor has plans to rezone the site for a liquor store. Fighting his own demons and Themba’s aunt’s attempts to take his son from him, Amos also sees his son brush up against the local gang. Amos perseveres, gradually winning respect from local community members through his patience, courage and determination. The town comes together including corrupt cop, Khobane who has been supporting the mayor. Moving from a mean, dispirited

hopeloosheid, the townspeople open up to the idea of doing good and being good to each other. The Hopeville TV series has been nominated in the category of Drama and miniseries for the prestigious Rose d’Or global television festival awards, one of the most important annual events in the international television industry. The winners will be announced during the 50th Rose d’Or festival, which will take place in Lucerne, Switzerland in September. The movie is a co-production by one of South Africa’s best local production houses, Curious Pictures, and Heartlines and SABC Education. It is distributed by Humble Pie Entertainment with the release of the film dovetailing with the launch of the Heartlines forgood movement. With the motto ‘Inspiring South Africans for good’ this online movement aims to make a difference for good in homes, schools, workplaces and communities.The cast have added their voices to this call for a values-based South African society. The Hopeville script was written by an extremely talented array of South Africans including Darrel Bristow-Bovey, Jacqui L’Ange, Libby Dougherty, Mpho Osei-Tutu, Neil McCarthy, Nick Borraine and Salah Sabiti. Heavyweight casting director Moonyeen Lee ensured a cast of gifted actors including not only Dube but Tsotsi’s Terry Pheto, The Lab’s Fana Mokoena, Stander’s Paul Luckhoff and Yesterday’s Leleti Khumalo.

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DIRE STRAITS – ALCHEMY LIVE Universal UMFDVD 289

This is a crisp new digital transfer of the legendary 1983 concert, showing Mark Knopfler and his band just as they were reaching their peak, two years before the release of Brothers in Arms shattered music industry records. Clocking in at almost three hours, Alchemy Live will satisfy even the most voracious of Knopfler’s guitarcrazy fans. The DVD demands a well set up 5.1 surround sound home theatre system for best results.

FRANK SINATRA – CONCERT FOR THE AMERICAS Universal UMFDVD 287

The Concert for the Americas was a music festival held in the Dominican Republic in 1982. The 67-year-old Sinatra’s performance at the event, backed by the Buddy Rich Orchestra, is captured here and shows him at his mature best. Included in the set are

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MICHAEL BOLTON – LIVE AT THE ROYAL ALBERT HALL

ROSSINI – IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA

DIRE STRAITS – ALCHEMY LIVE

classics such as ‘I’ve Got You Under My Skin’, ‘New York, New York’, I Get a Kick Out of You’, ‘The Lady is a Tramp’ and ‘Strangers in the Night’.

STERLING EQ – LIVE IN CONCERT Five Seasons Entertainment STERLINGDVD01

Sterling EQ, South Africa’s quartet of electric instrumentalists, present their trademark fusion of souped up classical pop before a 1 200-strong audience at the Artscape Opera House, Cape Town. Their arrangement of the first movement of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony is found here on the same line-up with their interesting interpretation of Mandoza’s ‘Nkalakatha’.

MICHAEL BOLTON – LIVE AT THE ROYAL ALBERT HALL Eagle Visions EREDV777

While Bolton is certainly past his heyday, the 57-year-old singer can still hold his own as a live entertainer. Accompanied by

STERLING EQ – LIVE IN CONCERT

Music, documentary, film – whatever your taste in DVDs, you’ll find something here to add to your collection.

FRANK SINATRA – CONCERT FOR THE AMERICAS

dvds... new and exciting

a top notch backing band, he belts out a good number of the hits that made him a star during the 90s, including ‘Time, Love and Tenderness’, ‘How Am I Supposed to Live without You’ and ‘How Can We Be Lovers’. He also sings versions of soul and jazz standards like ‘Summertime’ and ‘Fly Me To The Moon’.

ROSSINI – IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA Virgin Classics 50999 694581 9 4

Filmed last year at London’s Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, this production of Rossini’s evergreen comedy features Juan Diego Flórez in the role of Count Almaviva, Joyce DiDonato as Rosina and Pietro Spagnoli as the title character, Figaro – possibly one of opera’s best-loved roles. The performance is conducted by Antonio Pappano. Despite Barbiere being one of the most often performed operas in the repertoire, this is a fresh, highly entertaining production, intelligently and wittily staged.

THE SECRET DIARIES OF MISS ANNE LISTER BBC DVD 3194L

Based on the diaries of Anne Lister, which she wrote in code, this production follows her emotional highs and lows, and experiences as a lesbian living in early 19th century England. After the love of her life abandons her to marry a wealthy man, Anne is forced to pursue love elsewhere, despite her ongoing passion for the faithless Mariana. Known as the ‘first modern lesbian’, she was a land-owning woman, highly unusual for the 19th century.

SMALL ISLAND BBC DVD 0246L

Set in post WWII England, Small Island is an adaptation of Andrea Levy’s award winning novel. Determined to follow the man she loves to England, Hortense Joseph compels fellow Jamaican Gilbert, to marry her so that she can gain access to the UK. In England, her landlady Queenie is frustrated by her marriage to the tightly

FATHER & SON

SMALL ISLAND

HUNTER

THE SECRET DIARIES OF MISS ANNE LISTER

Science, documentary, film – whatever your taste in DVDs, you’ll find something here to add to your collection.

THE STORY OF SCIENCE

dvds... bbc new and exciting

buttoned Bernard, whose experiences during the war have left him traumatised. Small Island follows the lives of these and other characters as they deal with love and adversity in 1940s England.

THE STORY OF SCIENCE BBC DVD 3157L

Michael Mosley takes on the history of various scientific endeavours – such as the attempt to discover ‘what is out there’ – and encounters numerous eccentric characters along the way. The Story of Science considers the thinkers, the inventions and the politics that have brought about our current perception of the world and its wonders. Witness the dogged determination of scientists and experimenters, and the power, proof and passion of science.

FATHER AND SON 2EDVD0449L

Ex-criminal Michael O’ Connor has served his time, during which his wife

was murdered. In an attempt to begin anew, he leaves for Ireland with his pregnant girlfriend, wanting nothing more than to live a quiet life. However, when his teenage son is charged with murder, he must decide whether to return and confront his past – and risk losing everything. A return to Manchester means facing the policeman who wants to return him to jail, and finally dealing with his wife’s murder.

HUNTER: ALL LIFE IS SACRED BBC DVD 0247L

When two seven-year-old boys are kidnapped by extremists, it falls to Inspector Iain Barclay to find them before the perpetrators can carry out their threat to harm the children if their demands are not met. Hampered by an inexperienced team, Barclay calls his former deputy out of retirement to whip them into shape; but will their efforts come too late?

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cds... hard core classics

CHOIR OF KING’S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE

KARL JENKINS TAL & GROETHUYSEN

EVGENY KISSIN KARL JENKINS – GLORIA & TE DEUM EMI Classics 50999 646430 2

Jenkins conducts his two latest choral works – settings of old Christian hymns of praise, incorporating texts from other world religions. The London Symphony Orchestra accompanies the National Youth Choir of Great Britain and soloist Hayley Westenra. Parts of the Gloria are interspersed with readings from the Bhagavadgita, Diamond Sutra, Tao Te Ching and the Qur’an.

CHOIR OF KING’S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE – A YEAR AT KING’S EMI Classics 50999 6 09004 2

The 16 tracks on this album trace the liturgical year from Advent to Ascension, drawing from over 600 years of musical history, from the Renaissance to the present day. The set begins with Arvo Pärt’s ‘Magnificat Antiphons’ and ends with Thomas Tallis’s ‘Spem in Alium’. Between the two are choral treasures such as Tavener’s ‘Away in a Manger’,

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JAMES GALWAY

For those who prefer their classics undiluted by other genres, here is a selection of exciting new classical releases.

Allegri’s ‘Miserere’ and Barber’s ‘Agnus Dei’. An essential new recording for lovers of sacred music.

JAMES GALWAY – THE BEST OF Sony Music/ Camden CDRCA 8006

Possibly the world’s most well known flautist, Galway is recognised both for his work as a classical performer and a popular entertainer. This compilation is dominated by his classical recordings, such as his take on ‘Morning’ from Grieg’s Peer Gynt Suite. However, it also features folk songs like ‘Danny Boy’ and contemporary pieces like ‘My Heart Will Go On’. Collectively, these tracks present a picture of a highly versatile musician, technically assured and possessing well developed powers of interpretation.

TAL & GROETHUYSEN – J.S. BACH: GOLDBERG VARIATIONS Sony Classical 88697526962

The version of Bach’s work on this recording is Joseph Rheinberger’s 1883

arrangement for two pianos. As with other Bach pieces, such as The WellTempered Clavier, the Variations can be heard both as academic exercises and as light entertainment. It is a hallmark of the old master’s genius that he was able to instruct and entertain simultaneously. Appropriately, Tal & Groethuysen’s rendering of the piece is technically precise, though still lively and playful.

EVGENY KISSIN – MOZART: PIANO CONCERTOS 20 & 27 EMI Classics 50999 6 26645 2 3

This recording sees Kissin take on the dual role of soloist and conductor for the first time, interpreting two concertos, together with Kremerata Baltica, that represent two aspects of Mozart: no. 20 is intense and filled with impish energy, while no. 27 is lighter and more meditative. This recording not only offers a marvelous insight into the contradictory nature of the great composer, but also an opportunity for Kissin to demonstrate his depth and sensitivity as an interpreter.

cds... new and exciting

SERGIO MENDES – BOM TEMPO Universal/ Concord Records STARCD 7436

Still riding high on the renewed mainstream popularity that resulted from his collaboration with Black Eyed Peas on 2006’s ‘Mas Que Nada’, Mendes released a new album that blends the Latin jazz that established his reputation 49 years ago, with up-to-date sounds like rap and its Brazilian equivalent, partido alto. The results, while upbeat and festive, have divided his fans. Either you’ll love Mendes’ new commercial fusion or you’ll be moved to remember his older, ‘purer’ work with wistful nostalgia.

ANDRÉ RIEU – YOU RAISE ME UP Universal STARCD 7463

The ever-popular Rieu’s latest recording, subtitled ‘Songs for Mum’, is filled with everything we have come to expect from the violin superstar: lavish orchestral arrangements, slick production and tracks that are at times sentimental, at times rather cheesy. His myriad fans

will adore You Raise Me Up, and while those less impressed with the Rieu brand would titter derisively at the rendition of ‘Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious’, it would take a heart of stone not to enjoy the moving, Celtic-tinged title track.

ADAM DAVIS – ADAM DAVIS David Gresham Records DGR1710

This album introduces the talented local singer Adam Davis to the world. A blend of rearranged standards and original songs, the album is very much in the adult contemporary vein. The CD launched last year with the lead single, a cover version of Styx’s classic ballad ‘Babe’. Davis’s vocals on the song are fairly faithful to Dennis DeYoung’s on the original and are representative of the sound on the rest of the album: smooth, pleasant, easy listening.

SIMPHIWE DANA – KULTURE NOIR Gallo CDGURB 147

Dana’s long-awaited follow-up to The One Love Movement on Bantu Biko Street has

SERGIO MENDES

ROLLING STONES

ADAM DAVIS

ANDRÉ RIEU

SIMPHIWE DANA

In this section you will find CDs and DVDs that are not strictly classical or jazz, but are new and exciting nonetheless.

finally arrived, and it does not disappoint. It’s filled with the sophisticated mix of smooth jazz, traditional South African music, stunning vocals and thoughtful lyrics that has become Dana’s trademark. Adding to the album’s polished sound are the contributions of producers Moreira Chonguica, Thapelo Khomo and Grammy winner Gordon Williams.

ROLLING STONES – EXILE ON MAIN ST Universal/ Virgin STARCD 7460

Originally released as a double LP in 1972, Exile… initially divided the critics. It is now widely regarded as one of the Stones’ greatest albums, and one of the most important records in rock history. It showcases the Stones at the height of their most creatively fertile period and also marks the point at which they began working outside of record company restraints and expectations. This remastered CD edition went to number one on the UK charts exactly 38 years after the album’s first release.

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cds... pure jazz

STANTON MOORE – GROOVE ALCHEMY Telarc TEL-31890-02

With Groove Alchemy, drummer Moore set out to explore the history of funk. The project culminated in a CD, book and DVD which together are designed to educate drummers in the style’s rhythmic intricacies, but the CD on its own is not just a teaching exercise – it’s a highly entertaining album which any music lover can enjoy. In keeping with the style it explores, it has a decidedly ‘retro’ sound, due in large part to the dominance of the Hammond B3 organ, played by Robert Walter.

RICK BRAUN – ALL IT TAKES Sheer Sound/ Artistry Music ART 7020

This album is the result of a collaboration between trumpeter Rick Braun and keyboard player Philippe Saisse. The music displays R&B, disco and neo-classical influences. All It Takes is a smooth, easy

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STANTON MOORE

RICK BRAUN

HOT CLUB OF DETROIT

BRIAN BROMBERG

JASON MORAN

Are you a jazz connoisseur? This is where you will find albums to suit your taste.

listening set dominated by Braun’s warm, muted trumpet and flugelhorn sounds. Each of the tracks somehow calls to mind leisurely days in sultry, tropical climes.

BRIAN BROMBERG – IT IS WHAT IT IS Sheer Sound/ Artistry Music ART 7019

Acclaimed bassist and producer Bromberg assembles a group of top jazz musicians on this eclectic set that includes original tracks and amusing reworkings of existing tracks, including the B-52’s 80s pop hit ‘Love Shack’ and Quincy Jones’ theme from Sanford and Son. Among the stellar guest musicians on It Is What It Is are trumpeter Rick Braun, saxophonist Gerald Albright and keyboardist George Duke.

HOT CLUB OF DETROIT – IT’S ABOUT THAT TIME Mack Avenue MAC 1051

Hot Club of Detroit – HCOD to their

fans – are dedicated to keeping the musical legacy of Django Reinhardt alive. The great guitarist’s fast, swinging style is certainly an integral part of their sound on this, their third album. But the quintet has moved somewhat beyond the ‘gypsy jazz’ vibe for which they have become famous. This album also carries fitting tributes to Miles Davis and Pat Martino, as well as a beautiful reworking of Chopin’s ‘Tristesse’ etude.

JASON MORAN – TEN EMI/ Blue Note 509994 57186 2 5

Pianist Moran and the other two members of his trio – drummer Nasheet Waits and bassist Tarus Mateen – celebrate their tenth year as a band with this album, Moran’s first in four years. Aside from Moran and Mateen originals, the album also includes notable covers of some of the pianist’s biggest influences, such as Thelonius Monk, Leonard Bernstein, Andrew Hill and Jaki Byard.

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Subscribe now and claim one of these fantastic free gifts: Adagio 2, a collection of relaxing classical masterpieces, or Bombella, the new album by South African jazz icon Abdullah Ibrahim.

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Take 100: The Future of Film – 100 New Directors

‘Take 100 is the first ever film festival attempted between the covers of a book,’ reads the blurb of this new coffee table book. ‘Curated by directors of the world’s ten leading film festivals, including Toronto, Venice and Sundance, the survey features 100 of today’s best emerging filmmakers.’

n an effort to pin down the best of cinema in the early 21st century, Phaidon Press asked the curators of the world’s top ten film festivals to each come up with a list of ten emerging filmmakers, whom they felt represented the future of film. Take 100 is the result of that brief. The curators who contributed are Cameron Bailey and Piers Handling of the Toronto Film Festival; Trevor Groth of Sundance; Kim Dong Ho of Pusan; Li Cheuk-To of Hong Kong; Locarno’s Frédéric Maire; Marco Müller from Venice; Olivier Père, formerly of Cannes; Azize Tan, who presides over the Istanbul Festival; Christoph Terhechte of the Berlin Film Festival; and Sergio Wolf of the Buenos Aires International Independent Film Festival. These are the people whom the international film industry, fans and critics look to for guidance on cinematic trends and, as such, the ten lists that they have collectively contributed to this book should be taken to represent the 100 best rising filmmakers in the business today. For each film director, the curators examine one film that has made an impact on them, and which appear to represent the quintessence of that filmmaker’s oeuvre. Complete with full-colour stills from each film, snippets of dialogue from

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the individual screenplays, and in-depth essays, the curators make the case for their chosen directors. The book is fully representative of North and South America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australasia. Local readers may note, however, that Africa is somewhat underrepresented, with only two filmmakers from the continent getting a mention – three if you count Eritrean born Gianfranco Rosi, who actually lives and works in the USA and Italy. That being said however, Take 100 is a valuable, comprehensive resource for film professionals, critics and casual cinema fans. Among the 100 featured filmmakers are some that have already become well known – such as Liev Schreiber, Sarah Polley and Ari Folman – and others that have only just appeared on the scene. ‘The directors and films featured in Take 100,’ concludes the introduction to this sizeable tome, ‘are pushing the boundaries of filmmaking – whether through exploring taboo subject matter, inventing new animation technology, or combining an intelligent drama with a classic horror flick – these are films you won’t want to miss, made by directors you’ll be hearing about for years to come.’ CF

books... your guide to great reads

OTHER LIVES By André Brink Umuzi ISBN 9781415201275

In this three part novel, Brink explores the lives of three main characters. Each experiences an unexplained shift in identity, which sets them to question the possibility of other lives lived in a parallel universe. Set in Cape Town, the novel swirls in the murkiness of each character’s confusion but delights with cross-references between each story and the intriguing possibilities of being different from one’s known self.

JAY NAIDOO: FIGHTING FOR JUSTICE By Jay Naidoo Picador Africa ISBN 9781770101777

This is a timely autobiography with Jay Naidoo returning to work as a social activist in 2010. Follow Naidoo’s life story as he moves from working as a trade unionist and General Secretary of COSATU during the height of the anti-apartheid struggle, to Minister of the Reconstruction and Development Programme and Minister of Communications, and then co-founder of the J&J Group and the subsequent J&J Development Trust. Throughout this journey, it is clear that family is of utmost important to this father and son. He explores his family roots, returning to India and celebrates his lifelong love for his wife, Lucie and his three children.

provide literary insight on the life and work of Guy Butler, a South African literary luminary, academic and arts advocate. A Grahamstown legend, Butler was the ‘motivational force’ behind the building of the 1820 Settlers Monument, the home of the National Arts Festival. He also helped to establish the National English Literary Museum and the Institute for the Study of English in Africa. Butler’s place in South African history is still debated with some seeing him as a ‘liberal humanist’ and others accusing him of a colonialist, Anglophone mind set. In this academic book, Thurman examines Butler’s contribution from a thematic viewpoint.

MASKED RAIDERS: IRISH BANDITRY IN SOUTHERN AFRICA 1880 - 1899 By Charles van Onselen Zebra Press ISBN 9781770220805

GUY BUTLER: REASSESSING A SOUTH AFRICAN LITERARY LIFE By Chris Thurman UKZN Press ISBN 9781869141837

Chris Thurman seeks to document and

Author of The Fox and the Flies, Charles van Onselen, delights in bringing some of history’s more obscure tales into the limelight. Masked Raiders charts the adventures and exploits of a little-known group of Irish bandits who patrolled the

wealthy mining routes of 1800s South Africa. A tight-knit band of ‘outlaw legends’ the ‘Irish Brigade’ grew from groups of soldiers deserting their posts at Fort Napier in Pietermaritzburg. Flourishing during the era of the Jameson Raid, these Irish brigands influenced the future lines of South Africa’s borders while sowing criminal chaos from Mozambique to Rhodesia.

WHAT IS SLAVERY TO ME? POSTCOLONIAL/ SLAVE MEMORY IN POSTAPARTHEID SOUTH AFRICA By Pumla Dineo Gqola Wits University Press ISBN 9781868145072

Wits academic Pumla Dineo Gqola has noticed that many South Africans are starting to claim a ‘slave identity’. In this book she explores what this is and what it means in a democratic South Africa. Drawing on existing slave theories, she breaks new ground looking at South Africa’s slave history and the lack of ‘slave memory’. Focusing on slavery as an identity, and body conscious memories of slavery from a feminist perspective, What is slavery to me? is brilliant, clear and personally perceptive.

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Name one artist you would love to meet. I’d have given my all to meet Sviatoslav Richter – possibly the greatest pianist of all time – but he has gone to the Steinway chamber in the sky to whence I will one day (hopefully) ascend!

A wine industry professional with over 20 years of experience, Carrie Adams is a partner in Norman Goodfellows Fine Wine and Spirit Merchants. She has served on numerous wine tasting panels and has judged at the prestigious Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show from 2006 to 2010. As of last month, she is also a regular CLASSICFEEL contributor, with a monthly feature imparting her impeccable knowledge of fine wines to our readers. Name three works of art that you love and why. I adore art, music and literature and consequently have a huge bank of favourites in my mental hard drive, so I am just going to name the first few that come to mind in no real order: my sister owns two signed Pietro Annigoni’s which I covet – one of Christina and one of Rosella – too beautiful; I could happily die quietly to Weber’s Cello Concerto whilst reading a copy of anything written by JD Salinger.

Carrie Adams

Image courtesy of Carrie Adams

What are you reading at the moment? I have just finished reading the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. Not really being into vampires and fantasy reads, I was forced by my son to embark upon their journey. It absolutely sold me – I want to be a vampire in my next life! What is in your car’s CD player? Peter Cincotti’s On the Moon album. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? Not sure actually – problem is that if you change one thing you could become imbalanced – at least now almost all of it is unacceptable! I’ve grown to love all the warts and bumps! How have the arts/wine/food/travel industries in South Africa changed over the last ten years? Shew – we’ve come such a long way from The Doll’s House Roadhouse – where to start? We are so fortunate to be living in SA at this time – just an explosion of discovery from samp and beans to delicious dim sum, from Newtown to Napier – we are up there with the best. Name one thing you think would improve the arts and culture industry in South Africa. A 10 percent buy-in from every breathing South African would make such a huge difference What is your most treasured possession? My sense of humour. What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery? An empty cellar. What is it that makes you happy? My job. In fact my friends and my family too and oh yes, my Scottie puppies – can I just extend it to ‘my life’ please? Describe a defining moment in your life. A life threatening illness in my late twenties gave me the invaluable insight to live every single day until I die – I have, and I do. What projects will you be busy with during 2010? Busy wrapping my dinosaur brain around on-line sales and marketing to the huge frustration of my business partners, so watch out – Norman Goodfellows is going to be all modern and digital. That, and writing more – I love to write. Name one goal you would like to achieve in the next twelve months. Perhaps I’ll find enough time to write something that people will enjoy reading…