Creative Feel April 2018

THE ART OF

photography

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Creative Feel / April 2018 / 1

2 / Creative Feel / April 2018 www.airfrance.co.za

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CONTENTS

COVER IMAGE Erinyes II, Justin Dingwall | Model: Anyon Asola | Paper Sculpture: Vanessa Snyders | Stylist: Chloe Andrea | Makeup: Kelly-Jean Gilbert

Following a year of collaboration, the eighth cycle of the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative culminated in an inspiring showcase of exceptional art at the Arts Weekend held in Berlin in February.

cover story 14

26 CELEBRATING MENTORSHIP

FLY BY NIGHT

34 NEW MENTORS AND PROTÉGÉS ANNOUNCED Rolex has announced four new mentorships in

Fly By Night, the latest solo exhibition by

architecture, music, dance and literature as well as

acclaimed photographer Justin Dingwall, was

changes to the Arts Initiative’s timing and funding.

shown in its entirety for the first time recently.

With this body of work, Dingwall continues his investigation into the depiction of beauty in difference while focusing specifically on

38 SA CONTEMPORARY JEWELLERY AWARDS EXHIBITION 2018 FADA gallery, Creative Feel and the Contemporary

xenophobia, diaspora and migration across the

Jewellery Forum congratulate Joani Groenewald,

African continent and the negative stigma that

the winner of the inaugural SA Contemporary

is often related to these constructs.

Jewellery Awards.

arts and culture 18 REFLECTIONS Four photographers, Alexia Webster, Jabulani Dhlamini,

44 UJ ARTS & CULTURE’S #METAMORPHOSIS Drawing inspiration from the theme of #METAMORPHOSIS has seen UJ Arts & Culture plan to change more than its content.

Pierre Crocquet de Rosemond and Mauro Vombe, all chosen by David Goldblatt, will exhibit their work at the Gerard Sekoto Gallery of the Alliance Française. The exhibition, which opens on 3 May 2018, will be curated

by John Fleetwood, and it will be a reflection of David

48 CELEBRATING COLLABORATION, INNOVATION & SECONDARY IDEAS It is these secondary ideas that find a home at The Centre for The Less Good Idea.

Goldblatt’s socially engaged work.

22 BLACK CHRONICLES IV Curated by Renée Mussai, Black Chronicles IV is a

touring Autograph ABP exhibition, hosted by VIAD at the FADA Gallery in collaboration with UJ Arts &

50 PORT ELIZABETH’S INNER CITY COMES ALIVE WITH DIVERSE SOUNDS AND TASTES The Mandela Bay Development Agency (MBDA)

recently embarked on an ambitious new initiative

Culture. The exhibition opens on 13 April and will run

aimed at fusing culture, food and the arts to bring

until 31 May 2018.

vibrancy and light up the inner City of Port Elizabeth.

We are currently inviting entries for our

AUTUMN AUCTION IN JOHANNESBURG 17 JUNE 2018 Historic, Modern & Contemporary Art

FOR GRATIS & OBLIGATION-FREE ART VALUATIONS CONTACT 0 11 243 5243 | enquiries@aspireart.net

www.aspireart.net

Wim Botha, Prism 2, bronze on a wooden base, height: 174 cm Auctioned 25 March 2018, Cape Town

Entries close mid-May 2018

CONTENTS

52 THE SOUTH AFRICAN SOUND IN JAZZ TODAY The 14th SAJE Jazz Conference takes place from

The market for contemporary art globally is

27 to 29 April 2018 in Cape Town and is the

growing. The traditional strength of the art market

culmination of Jazz Appreciation Month (fondly

in South Africa has been in historic and modern

known as JAM).

painting and sculpture, roughly from the late 19th

54 CAPE TOWN BIG BAND JAZZ FESTIVAL TOASTS 20 YEARS WITH FOUR-DAY MUSIC FIESTA 56

66 THE CONTEMPORARY AND

THE MILLENNIAL

century through the first half of the 20th century.

68 SPECTRUM OF LIFE ‘Paint talks, if you allow it,’ says artist Elsa Duault as she discusses her upcoming exhibition Spectrum of Life at Berman Contemporary with Lucinda Jolly.

REMEMBERING A MUSICAL ICON From 3 to 6 May 2018, Joburg City Theatres will honour the life of Hugh Masekela and his contributions to musical theatre in a celebration concert.

lifestyle and entertainment 78 79

BOOK REVIEWS CD REVIEWS

58 CREATING A CULTURE OF EXCELLENCE Between Table Mountain and Table Bay, the City of Cape Town boasts a cosmopolitan mix of historic and modern landmarks. One of these is Artscape Theatre Centre on the Foreshore, home to the Artscape performing arts company.

62 DEGENERATIVE EVOLUTION

OF THE LIVING

contributors 60

Creative expression meets future science in Degenerative Evolution of the Living – the

ARTLOOKS & ARTLINES

Johannesburg’s theatres define the soul of the city, writes Ismail Mahomed.

mindblowing new solo exhibition from Absa L’Atelier

70

2016 Merit Award winner, Ugandan Donald Wasswa.

Dave Mann looks at bringing art home.

THE ART OF PERFORMANCE

64 REMEMBER YOUR FREEDOM

74

Since 1995, during the first half of every year,

Numbers, narratives and surfing big waves are

South Africans have celebrated some of the most important socio-political events in accomplishing the reconstruction of our nation’s history and the building of a free and democratic future.

BUSINESS & ARTS Michelle Constant’s themes this month.

76

LITERARY LANDSCAPES Indra Wussow explores Santiago in Chile.

www.artscape.co.za

Artscape Theatre Centre @ArtscapeTheatre @ArtscapeTheatre

A R T S C A P E

an agency of the Department of Arts and Culture

DF Malan Street, Foreshore, Cape Town. Purchase tickets online or via Artscape’s Dial-A-Seat on 021 421 7695 or at Computicket.

EDITOR’S NOTE

A HOMAGE TO BERLIN

‘B

erlin, the greatest cultural extravaganza that one

the disciplines and the general public, showed Berlin

could imagine.’ This quote could have summed

at its very best. To be seated in the Gemäldegalerie or

up the recent Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts

the Staatsbibliothek or the Deutsches Theater or the

Weekend, whose eighth cycle was held in Berlin

Kammerspiele or the Staatsoper among so many talents was

during February, but it was actually said by David Bowie, who

truly a very special moment. As was the happy evening at

loved Berlin, and about a Berlin that loved Bowie. In the late

Clärchens Ballhaus, where the participants casually met on

1970s, the musician stayed in Schöneberg for two years and

the first night.

his song ‘Heroes’ is often seen as a Berlin anthem. His quote seems timeless.

previous cycles met and shared insights and strategies, Berlin today is a most

while mentors and advisors also had a great time. It would

creative space and is still a

be like endless name-dropping if I mentioned them all.

great source of inspiration

Mentor William Kentridge, protégée Lara Foot, advisor

for any artist as the recent

Gregory Vuyani Maqoma – who seems to know the whole

Rolex Mentor and Protégé

worldwide dance fraternity and is in great demand for future

Arts Weekend showed again.

collaborations. Anish Kapoor, mentor to Nicholas Hlobo, and

While attending the Arts

Meeting my hero Philip Glass in Berlin

All through the weekend, protégés from current and

Olafur Eliasson, whose studio is in Berlin. Wayne McGregor,

Weekend, I was reminded

Lucinda Childs and Alexei Ratmansky – three very different

of an earlier mentorship:

style choreographers – sat in the same row and watched

Christopher Isherwood came

our dance protégée Londiwe Khoza and her mentor Ohad

to Berlin in 1929, following

Naharin present his particular dance process, which he has

his mentor W.H. Auden as

named ‘Gaga’. We watched the four-wall film presentation by

he was looking for freedom

Robert Lepage’s theatre protégé Matias Umpierrez.

and an artistic community that would nourish his

For me, this time in Berlin was extra special, I actually managed to meet, interview and chat to Philip Glass, whom

unconventional spirit and early writings. I am a Camera and

I have long admired. Glass is a cultural icon who reaches

Cabaret sealed his success at that time.

across generations and genres – even outside the world of

Though the Rolex Mentor and Protégé programme has

music – with his unique work. The young Peruvian composer

the goal of helping artists, it also allows an extremely rare

and musician, Pauchi Sasaki, was Glass’s protégée during

opportunity for both leading and up-and-coming stars to

2016 – 2017 and he introduced her and her composition to

mingle with one another. During the days (and nights) of the

the packed audience in Berlin. Her composition, GAMA, set

Arts Weekend, you eat, sleep, experience and discuss arts and

against a swirling black-and-white background, delivered a

culture. You meet former mentors, protégés and arts journalists

stirring conclusion to the Arts Weekend.

from every part of the world.

Berlin was the perfect location. The spectacular places

A relationship between a great mentor and a gifted protégé can work and produce wonderful work in dance,

that Rebecca Irvin, head of Rolex Philanthropy, had secured

music, film, theatre, literature, architecture and visual arts as

for the presentations and panels for the participants,

seen this year again in Berlin.

mentors and protégés from past cycles, advisors in all

Lore

TEAM PUBLISHER & EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Lore Watterson; lore@desklink.co.za COPUBLISHER & PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Chris Watterson; chris@desklink.co.za DEPUTY EDITOR Tamaryn Greer; tammy@desklink.co.za DIGITAL CONTENT CURATOR Angelia Muller; angelia@desklink.co.za ADDITIONAL EDITORIAL CONTENT: Ismail Mahomed Indra Wussow Michelle Constant Dave Mann SALES & MARKETING sales@desklink.co.za sales@creativefeel.co.za SALES & MARKETING COORDINATOR Zama-Africa Mkhize; zama@desklink.co.za DESIGN Leigh Forrest; leigh@desklink.co.za DISPATCH Khumbulani Dube SUBSCRIPTION & CIRCULATION subs@creativefeel.co.za Published by DeskLink™ Media PO Box 3670, Randburg, 2125

We love this!

Beverley Price, who was the guest speaker at the awards ceremony and opening of the South African Contemporary Jewellery Awards Exhibition at FADA Gallery recently, created this beautiful piece using wood, raw enamel, anodised aluminium, nuts and bolts, foiled images and silver chenier (tube).

For this work, Price used a piece of wood she got in a forest near Munich a few years ago which she cut out to make the collar. The piece is stained with food colouring and shellac and has copper decorations and hooks. The piece also consists of foiled miniature images of products, and the triangular section at the bottom is frit enamel (unground) which Price used in a new way – sandwich set between anodised aluminium held in place with nuts and bolts. It is ergonomic in that the collar rises by virtue of the weight of the front section, emphasising the back of the body too.

Tel: 011 787 0252 Fax: 011 787 8204 www.creativefeel.co.za www.desklink.co.za Printing Raptor Print (Pty) Ltd © Copyright DeskLink™ Media The opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent the views of the publisher.

While every last effort has been made to check that the information in this magazine is correct at the time of going to press, the publisher and their agents will not be held liable for any damages incurred through any inaccuracies.

For SAMRO general inquiries & licensing info, visit www.samro.org.za

JOBURG BALLET PROMISES A

Dazzling Gala

AT MONTECASINO

J

oburg Ballet will make its debut at Montecasino

Moloi and Samantha Peo, presenting a range of their

in May with what promises to be an unmissable

favourite popular songs and arias – several accompanied by

gala programme. Brimming with world-class

Joburg Ballet’s dancers.

entertainment, the company partners with some

Jewels from great ballet classics such as Don Quixote,

of South Africa’s top singers to bring audiences Joburg Ballet

Swan Lake and Flames of Paris, as well as several

& Friends – A Dazzling Gala at The Teatro, a programme of

contemporary pieces, will showcase the range and versatility

sparkling highlights from great ballets, operas and musicals.

of local and international talent that makes up Joburg’s

Joburg Ballet & Friends follows the company’s highly successful gala last year, with 2017’s winning line-up of

resident classical ballet company.

‘Joburg Ballet is in impressive form right now and

artists again joining forces for two performances only,

audiences at the gala can look forward to some dazzling

on Saturday 19 May at 15:00 and 20:00. Sharing the

dance in this specially curated programme, blending

stage with the full Joburg Ballet company will be acclaimed local voices

technical brilliance and bravura virtuosity,’ says artistic director Iain MacDonald.

CEO Esther Nasser adds, ‘We’re delighted to have been

Angela Kilian, Sibongile

invited to perform at Montecasino for the first time. We

Mngoma, Timothy

hope it’s a chance to introduce new audiences to one of the city’s most successful performing arts companies, alongside some of the country’s most talented voices.’

Teatro manager Bryan Hill says, ‘Over the last decade, The Teatro, Montecasino, has steadily built up a faithful ballet following and we’re thrilled to be hosting Johannesburg’s very own ballet company at our world-class venue for the first time.’ CF Tickets ranging from R200 to R400 are available via www.computicket.com Keep up-to-date with the company @JoburgBallet or online at www.joburgballet.com

12 / Creative Feel / April 2018

Art, beauty & cuisine

N

estled on the northern slopes of the Magaliesberg, you will find not only a true gem among the boutique hotels in Gauteng, but also an avid admirer and supporter of the arts.

Casta Diva Boutique Hotel accommodates their guests in the

lap of luxury with their elegantly decorated 28 guest rooms, while often entertaining them with some local arts and culture talent.

Spontaneous classical and jazz performances often take place in the elegant and beautiful Casta Diva’s Charisma Restaurant. The restaurant has chairs that have become individual works of art, and you may select yours to sit on! Please do note that bookings are only taken per reservation as the focus is on providing quality, so the number of reservations allowed is balanced with the number of in-house guests and the number of hosts available.

Boutique Hotel 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.

To reserve a table for a business or romantic dinner, or a lunch, call 012 542 4449.

Casta Diva has an intimate 70-seater theatre/art gallery, Casta Diva’s Vissi d’Arte, where local talent is encouraged to perform at no charge. This space is often used by up-andcoming talents who are serious about developing their art as well as showcasing their talents and the talent of others.

The intimate space is glittered up from time to time by cabaret performances. The venue is also equipped to host art exhibitions with mesh wiring on the walls where paintings and other artistic pieces can be displayed.

Performance on 7 April – A Night In Paris

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.

This powerful show starring Tonya Koenderman encapsulates a love of drama and romance as only the French can. It features songs from the ever passionate Édith Piaf: ‘La Vie en rose’, ‘Mon Dieu’, ‘Non, je ne regrette rien’, and ‘Autumn Leaves’. Not to be forgotten are classics from Jacques Brel such as ‘Ne me quitte pas’ or Charles Aznavour’s ‘Quiet Love’. On a lighter note, Koenderman portrays the fun and folly of Paris with classics such as ‘C’est si bon’, ‘Habanera’, and the ever-sassy ‘Le Jazz Hot!’.

The show is half English and half French so those without the luxury of speaking French can still understand and be transported by this poised and powerful performer. Tickets are R140 and the show starts at 19:30. To book, email info@castadiva.co.za Do keep an eye on the Facebook pages, Casta Diva the Place to…; Casta Diva’s Charisma and Casta Diva’s Vissi d’Arte, to stay up-to-date on the events and special occasions.

For a sneak peek of what this true gem looks like, visit their website at www.castadiva.co.za.

Casta Diva Boutique Hotel where art, beauty and cuisine are perfectly combined in the elegant embrace of luxury.

Casta Diva, the place where you can break away, wind down, breathe and simply just… be. CF Creative Feel / April 2018 / 13

Em’kal Eyongakpa receives €20 000 Henrike Grohs Art Award 2018

Em’kal Eyongakpa in his studio

Em’kal Eyongakpa (born 1981 in Mamfe, Cameroon) is the first recipient of the

autonomous art hubs like KHaL!SHRINE in Yaoundé (2007 – 2012) and the recently launched sound art and music

Henrike Grohs Art Award, conceived by the

platform ԑfúkúyú. He holds degrees in Plant Biology and

Goethe-Institut and the Grohs family. He

at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam.

was awarded a €20 000 (R292 000) cash prize on 13 March 2018 in Abidjan.

‘T

Ecology from the University of Yaoundé and was a resident Eyongakpa’s work has recently been exhibited at the Jakarta Biennale (2017), the 13th Sharjah Biennial (2017), La Biennale de Montreal (2016), the 32nd Bienal de São Paulo (2016), the 9th and 10th Bamako Encounters (2011, 2015),

he jury unanimously awards the inaugural

the 10th Biennale de l’art africain contemporain, Dak’art

Henrike Grohs Art Award to Em’kal Eyongakpa

(2012) and at several international art spaces and museums

for his poetic, subtle and subjective approach.

around the world.

His work expresses universal concerns of

Klaus-Dieter Lehmann, President of the Goethe-Institut,

humanity. The multidisciplinary stance of his practice that

says, ‘We have not only lost a highly esteemed and beloved

includes knowledge derived from science, ethnobotany,

colleague in Henrike Grohs, but also a person who carried

magical realism, experimentation and utopia, aptly responds

hope into the world with her beliefs and actions. Therefore,

to the core values of the Henrike Grohs Art Award,’ said

it is of particular importance to link the memory of Henrike

jury members Koyo Kouoh (Artistic Director, RAW Material

Grohs to a viewpoint that reflects her work and desires. This

Company, Dakar), Laurence Bonvin (artist and representative

has come to fruition in the prize, as it promotes the cause of

of the Grohs family, Berlin), Raphael Chikukwa (Chief Curator,

Henrike Grohs: to support African creative artists and make

National Gallery of Zimbabwe, Harare) and Simon Njami

a contribution towards international dialogue. I would like

(Curator, Paris).

to congratulate the first prize winner Em’kal Eyongakpa with

Em’kal Eyongakpa is an intermedia artist who approaches the experienced, the unknown, as well as collective histories through a ritual use of repetition and

whom, after an intensive selection process, the judges have made an excellent choice.’

The Henrike Grohs Art Award is a biennial prize

transformation. His recent ideas increasingly draw from

dedicated to artists who are living and working in Africa and

indigenous knowledge systems and aesthetics, ethnobotany,

practising in the field of visual arts. It recognises the lifetime

applied mycology as well as technology in his explorations

achievements of the former Head of the Goethe-Institut in

of the personal and the universal. Eyongakpa is also

Abidjan, Henrike Grohs, who was killed on 13 March 2016 in

known for self-organised community research projects and

a terrorist attack in Grand-Bassam, Côte d’Ivoire. CF

14 / Creative Feel / April 2018

It’s all happening at Nothando Hlophe - 28 April

Alcohol Festival - 26 May

Swaziland born songstress Nothando Hlophe affectionately known as “Khululugcobo”, from her leading the hit song from the Women in Praise and Spirit of Praise volume 6 LIVE recordings, brings her mellifluous sounds to Soweto Theatre for her first ever live DVD recording.

Thorough Events will be hosting an event in the name of ALCOHOL FESTIVAL on the 26th of May 2018 which will be held at Soweto Theatre. The event will bring a new dynamic experience that will accommodate all types of clientele to enjoy the ambience and the culture of the occasion. Tickets will be sold at Soweto Theatre, R70 Pre-sold and R100 at the door.

R180 R300

R100

(V.I.P.)

Soweto Art & Craft Fair - 5 May

Tune Recreation Committee - 24 & 25 May “Led by the trumpeter Mandla Mlangeni, this alliance of young South African musicians delves into the country’s syncretic cultural heritage -then ventures beyond. You hear Balkan folk, American funk, West African high life, South African free Jazz.

Most of all, you hear 5 bristling improvisers dancing together, modeling a kind of thoughtful communion.” -New York Times

One of South Africa’ s favourite markets, a great space for the development of young businesses and performers is one of the premium live music, visual art and craft venues attracting some of Mzansi’s best.

R20

R150

Soweto International Jazz Festival 14-17 June The wildly anticipated Soweto International Jazz Festival is finally here!

The Soweto International Jazz Festival highlights Soweto’s cultural currency including music, art, cuisine, accomodation and adventure.

R450

Soweto Day 20 - 22 July Celebrate all that is and about Soweto, the people, Institutions, History, Arts, Culture and Heritage. Soweto Day Festival will showcase the best of Soweto, Movies, Music, Arts & Craft, Food, Fashion Visual Arts and drinks for the whole family.

Free entrance!

Creative Feel / April 2018 / 15

DON’T MISS OUT - BOOK NOW! For tickets call 0861 670 670 or visitwww.sowetotheatre.com. Free and safe parking.

cdfl

Fly By Night

She who spins, Justin Dingwall Model: Anyon Asola Paper Sculpture: Vanessa Snyders Makeup: Lesley Whitby

Fly By Night, the latest solo exhibition by acclaimed photographer Justin Dingwall, was shown in its entirety for the first time recently. With this body of work, Dingwall continues his investigation into the depiction of beauty in difference while focusing specifically on xenophobia, diaspora and migration across the African continent and the negative stigma that is often related to these constructs.

J

ustin Dingwall, best known for his acclaimed

dismissal of indifference, the acceptance of a person that

series Albus, has exhibited extensively locally

involves a blindness to their dissimilitude, the mother

and internationally, including in the USA, Spain,

that overlooks any disparity in her child and accepts their

Germany and the UK. He was part of both the Sasol

uniqueness. A black swan is specifically portrayed in

New Signatures and Absa L’Atelier Top 100 exhibitions in 2014

contrast to the more common white variety to represent

and 2015, a Thami Mnyele Fine Art Award 2014 Top 5 Finalist,

the contradictions to the norm.

a gold winner for portraiture at the Fuji Film Awards and an award winner at the 2013 IPA – int’l photography awards.

Dingwall began working on Fly By Night in 2015, which

‘To represent beauty in difference, the swan is a central symbol in these images, not only depicting beauty in difference as well as the acceptance of dissimilitude, it

was recently shown at Lizamore & Associates, taking a

also evokes the black swan theory in accordance with the

total of three years to complete the body of work. ‘I really

turmoil caused by xenophobia in South Africa. A black swan

take time to craft each piece from the conceptualisation to

event depends on the observer and these images express

the research, finding and creating objects to put into the

the perception of the unforeseen and unexpected calamity

imagery and then finding the right models for the artwork,’

that occurred, and what some perceived as predictable

says Dingwall. ‘Each piece is meticulously planned and all

circumstances in reaction to the pressure faced in society,

details are considered.’

others viewed with shock and disbelief. The black swan

In some images from this series, models Joseph Ntahilaja,

theory emphasises that knowledge comes with hindsight.

Emy Ozori and Anyon Asola cradle or are placed alongside a

These images aim to provide a means of coming to

black swan – a metaphor through which Dingwall questions

terms with these social issues in an effort to increase our

concepts of beauty, otherness and xenophobia. ‘The idea

awareness towards changing our perceptions.’

for these images started at a time when South Africa was

In some images, Vanessa Snyder’s exceptionally crafted

focused on the issues of xenophobia,’ says Dingwall. ‘Many

paper owl sculpture digs its talons into Asola’s arm, in

people were leaving their homes from outside South African

others, a crow hovers nearby. ‘First and foremost, birds

borders and travelling to find new places to fit in. They were

represent freedom, perspective and a messenger. The reason

looking to find a new identity in South Africa. The folktale of

I decided on the owl is because the owl represented wisdom

the ugly duckling inspires a theme of acceptance, and being

and truth and the raven/crow represented transformation,

discriminated for being different, the young swan is not

guidance, rebirth and I really like the idea of rebirthing

accepted and he leaves in search of his identity. This links

transformation in terms of a rebirth of ideas, a rebirth of

with the characteristic that swans are nomadic, forever in

understanding,’ says Dingwall.

search of better living conditions. The theme of movement

‘Even though the birds are made of paper, I wanted to

is foregrounded in the symbol of the swan and it also mirrors

give them a sense of life, I wanted you to look at them and

the movement of people, both in search of a place to fit in

feel as though they would take off at any moment. I wanted

and to exist.

them to embody potential, the potential that they have the

‘The “Mary” figure symbolises comfort, acceptance,

ability to fly off the page and become free. The reason for

protection, provision and compassion in a way that can

my placement of the birds is to show a different connection

be perceived as motherly. The beaded veil that the female

between each of the birds. If you look at one of the images,

figure wears over her eyes represents the unconscious

the owl’s talons firmly grip the skin, I wanted to make people

Creative Feel / April 2018 / 17

feel something when they viewed it, I wanted to make people

that is both useful and beautiful. Paper also symbolises

question why is this happening. Within another image, you’ll

physical communication in our modern world.’

notice that Anyon’s hand is extended to the sky and the

With titles like Erinyes, Call of the Siren and Disposer

raven has landed on her hand almost as in a dance to show

of Lots, Dingwall brings references to the Greek myths of

the symbiotic relationship that there can be unity.’

the Furies, the Three Fates and the Sirens into play. ‘The

In addition to working with Snyders, Dingwall worked

reason that I decided to use Greek mythology is that myths

with Chloe Andrea who created the ethereal white clothing

are more than mere stories, they serve as a more profound

that the models wear, as well as the epic paper dress worn

purpose in ancient and modern cultures. Myths are sacred

by Asola. ‘It’s very important when I’m working on these

tales that explain the world and people’s experiences and

bodies of work that I work with people whom I can trust,

a lot of Greek myths are stories that tell us about battles

who I feel have the same aesthetics and also that I can trust

between good and evil, and the reason that I focused on

to actually pull off what I’m trying to create, obviously it

these specific Greek deities and beings is that they represent

wasn’t an easy task and it’s also very hard to get to what

our fates and the journeys we take to find a better life for

you want,’ says Dingwall.

us and our families, and that if we have the desire to grow

‘I did give Chloe as well as Vanessa very detailed briefs

and the openness to change and the ability to accept new

on what I was trying to create.

And it was very very important for me that they were able to fulfil those briefs as closely as possible because within the imagery everything needs to work together – I don’t want there to be a hero of the shot.

‘When I talk to my collaborators on what I’m trying to create, I want them to have the same passion towards it and it’s really great to have

“I don’t follow trends, I’m not trying to fulfil someone’s brief, I’m not trying to advertise a product or an item of clothing or a garment, what I am trying to do is truly capture the essence of the person in front of me”

people that you can storyboard as well as go back and forth with because sometimes they might suggest something that you’ve overlooked or there

experiences into our lives then we as a society can truly grow

might be some part of the process that you don’t know

and become stronger for it.’

about that can actually add to it. It’s very important to

Although he works as both a commercial photographer and

me to actually work with other people on the project. I

a contemporary artist, there is no overlap. While working on his

was very happy obviously with the final products that

visual art projects, Dingwall says that, ‘I don’t follow trends, I’m

Vanessa and Chloe created and I really feel that the

not trying to fulfil someone’s brief, I’m not trying to advertise a

entire project came together quite beautifully and that

product or an item of clothing or a garment, what I am trying to

the message that I was trying to get across really did

do is truly capture the essence of the person in front of me. It is

come through.’

one of the hardest as well as one of the most rewarding things

The use of blank, white paper to create these bird

to be able to capture the person in front of you, to collaborate

sculptures and some of the clothing, Dingwall says, is a

with someone who feels comfortable enough to be able to give

metaphor for life. ‘Our futures are unwritten and what I

a part of themselves to the actual imagery. When someone

really like about paper is that it’s a malleable object that

actually views the work in person, I want them to be able to feel

we’re able to craft and change and turn it into something

what I was feeling at that moment.’ CF

18 / Creative Feel / April 2018

Erinyes III, Justin Dingwall Model: Anyon Asola Paper Sculpture: Vanessa Snyders Stylist: Chloe Andrea Makeup: Kelly-Jean Gilbert

Creative Feel / April 2018 / 19

Ayini, Rooistena, Sharpeville. Recapture Series. PHOTO Jabulani Dhlamini

REFLECTIONS Four photographers, Alexia Webster, Jabulani Dhlamini, Pierre Crocquet de Rosemond and Mauro Vombe, all chosen by David Goldblatt, will exhibit their work at the Gerard Sekoto Gallery of the Alliance Française. The exhibition, which opens on 3 May 2018, will be curated by John Fleetwood, and will be a reflection of David Goldblatt’s socially engaged work.

20 / Creative Feel / April 2018

Dhlomo, Putswastena, Sharpeville. Recapture Series, 2015. PHOTO Jabulani Dhlamini In Recapture, Jabulani Dhlamini utilises the medium of photography to explore and question how South Africa’s traumatic and violent past permeates the consciousness of its people. The series, the first since the artist’s breakout exhibition uMama in 2012, documents the town of Sharpeville, ruminating on the process of recovery and memorial in post-apartheid South Africa. Born in 1983, the artist considers himself to be bound not only by his past but by a history of violence. The artist recalls the moments leading up to South Africa’s first democratic elections – ‘I knew that something important was happening, makeshift posters and pictures of Mandela were posted all over the streets, but at the time I didn’t realise that the man in the pictures was the soon-to-be leader of a new South Africa – I didn’t realise the implications of what this was.’

Creative Feel / April 2018 / 21

The Ambohitrombihavana granite rock quarry, outside of Antananarivo, Madagascar, 2014. PHOTO Alexia Webster Alexia Webster’s Street Studio Project creates outdoor family portrait studios in public spaces and invites anyone to come have their portrait taken. Webster has a portable printer on site and prints the photographs for free for people to take home with them. She wanted to return these images, ‘treasures’, to the people she photographed.

Webster is a South African freelance photographer born in Johannesburg. She has travelled widely through the African continent as a documentary photographer. In 2007, she received the Frank Arisman Scholarship at the International Center of Photography in New York City where she completed the programme in Documentary Photography and Photojournalism.

22 / Creative Feel / April 2018

PHOTO Mauro Vombe Mauro Vombe, born 1988 and based in Maputo, Mozambique, started photographing in 2006. His work connects to his earlier experience in theatre, unveiling hidden feelings and creating a form of collective or individual representation, and finds resonance from his work as a news and events reporter. Vombe has received numerous awards locally and internationally. He participated in an exhibition dedicated to the 40 years of Mozambican photojournalism at Foundation Fernado Leite Couto in 2015. In 2017, he was invited to the ‘Catchupa Factory’, in Mindelo, Cape Verde.

Creative Feel / April 2018 / 23

Curated by Renée Mussai, Black Chronicles IV is a touring Autograph ABP exhibition, hosted

by VIAD at the FADA Gallery in collaboration with UJ Arts & Culture.

The exhibition opens on 13 April and will run until 31 May 2018.

Wellington Majiza, The African Choir. London, 1891. By London Stereoscopic Company. © Hulton Archive/Getty Images. Courtesy of Hulton Archive, and Autograph ABP, London.

Black Chronicles IV

T

his stunning collection of rare images presents

(protegée to Queen Victoria); Prince Alemayehu; and Kalulu,

extraordinary stories of both ordinary and

the ‘African boy servant’ (companion) to the British explorer

prominent black figures – artists, dignitaries,

Henry Morton Stanley.

servicemen, missionaries, students, businessmen

The exhibition features newly rediscovered and

and international royalty. Black Chronicles IV includes

exquisitely rendered photographic portraits from Hulton

portraits of key black South Africans such as Katie Makanya

Archive’s London Stereoscopic Company collection that

and Paul Xiniwe, taken in London at the turn of the century.

were buried deeply in the archives for decades and not seen

As members of the ‘African Intelligentsia’, these figures went

for 125 years.

on to become leading social activists and reformers. Alongside

Renée Mussai, Senior Curator and head of archive and

these notable personalities, the exhibition features portraits

research at the London-based organisation Autograph ABP,

of such high-profile personae as Sarah Forbes Bonetta

says that ‘the aim of the Black Chronicles series is to open

24 / Creative Feel / April 2018

“Another significant component of the exhibition is the sound and image-based installation, entitled The African Choir 1891 Reimagined. The installation comprises 16 individual photographic portraits of the original members of the African Choir, who toured Britain and the US between 1891 and 1893. The portraits will be augmented by a five-

up critical enquiry into the archive to locate new knowledge and support our mission to continuously expand and enrich photography’s cultural histories. Not only do the sitters’ visual presence in Britain bear direct witness to the complexities

channel soundtrack of songs composed by Thuthuka Sibisi

of colonial history, they also offer a

and Philip Miller as a creative re-imagining of the choirs’

fascinating array of personal narratives

19th-century concert programme”

that defy preconceived notions of cultural diversity prior to the Second World War. ‘This collection discredits the notion that black faces in Victorian Britain were absent from the historical and visual record. The curatorial premise of Black Chronicles is to open up critical enquiry into the archive, continue the debate around black subjectivity within Britain, examine the ideological conditions in which such photographs were produced and the purpose they serve as agents of communication. At the heart of the exhibition is the desire to resurrect black figures from oblivion and re-introduce them into contemporary consciousness.’

A highlight of the Black Chronicles IV exhibition will be the inclusion of 200 images from leading African American scholar and civil rights activist W.E.B. DuBois’ landmark collection of photographs, which he presented as The American Negro Exhibit at the 1900 Paris Exposition. These images have not been exhibited in South Africa (or on the African continent) before. The studio photographs, entitled Types of American Negroes, Georgia, U.S.A. and Negro Life in Georgia, U.S.A, show middle-class African American men and women, posing in Western dress. As such, they challenged the scientific ‘evidence’ and popular racist caricatures of the day that ridiculed and sought to diminish African American social and economic success. This remarkable collection can be read as the origins of a visual construction of a new post-slavery African American identity, providing

Untitled, from Types of American Negros, Georgia, USA (1900) and W.E.B. Du Bois: The Paris Albums 1900 Courtesy of the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

extraordinary insight into the conditions and self-affirming expressions of black culture in the US at the end of the 19th

Creative Feel / April 2018 / 25

century. These photographs present new knowledge – offering viewers alternative ways of seeing and thinking about black experiences in Victorian Britain and the US at the height of the colonial era.

‘We hope that the exhibition series will inspire people to ask questions, and to look closely, and critically, at the intimate connections between the visual, and the history of the British Empire, through the presence of those photographed,’ says Mussai. She continues: ‘These “presences” are of course intimately connected to colonial and imperial politics. A citation in the exhibition by the late Professor Stuart Hall brilliantly states, “They are here, because you were there.” Hence, in this fourth iteration of Black Chronicles in partnership with VIAD, we are connecting W.E.B. Du Bois’ 1900 Paris Albums with the 1891 LSC portraits of The African Choir, and other Black Victorian figures. Part of this re-framing is also a questioning – why it is only now – in the 21st century – that we are beginning to create a more inclusive visual portrait of a nation in the making…?

Politics of access, gate-keeping and the marginalisation of histories are particularly relevant to consider here – as is the question of who is allowed to interrogate the Archive? – especially in light of the emergence of decolonial work across the academy, the museum, etc.’

Another significant component of the exhibition is the sound- and imagebased installation, entitled The African Choir 1891 Reimagined. The installation comprises 16 individual photographic portraits of the original members of the African Choir, who toured Britain and the US between 1891 and 1893. The

Charlotte Maxeke (née Manye), The African Choir. London, 1891. By London Stereoscopic Company. © Hulton Archive/Getty Images. Courtesy of Hulton Archive, and Autograph ABP, London.

portraits will be augmented by a fivechannel soundtrack of songs composed

activist and leader Charlotte Maxeke, who was the first

by Thuthuka Sibisi and Philip Miller as a

black South African woman to graduate with a college

creative re-imagining of the choirs’ 19th-

degree, which she obtained from Wilberforce University,

century concert programme. Made up of

Wilberforce, Ohio, USA. By 1919, she was active in the

individuals educated at mission schools

South African anti-pass laws demonstrations, which led her

in Southern and South Africa, the choir

to found the Bantu Women’s League, which later became

included notable South African political

part of the African National Congress Women’s League.

26 / Creative Feel / April 2018

Sarah Forbes Bonetta (Sarah Davies), 1862 by Camille Silvy Courtesy Š National Portrait Gallery, London

Previous iterations of Black Chronicles exhibitions have

In the build-up to the Black Chronicles IV exhibition

been showcased in such distinguished international venues

at FADA, The African Choir installation showed at the

as Rivington Place Gallery, London; the London National

Iziko South African National Gallery (SANG) (August

Portrait Gallery; the Ethelbert Cooper Gallery for African

2017, Cape Town), and the Apartheid Museum (January

and African American Art (2015, Hutchins Center, Harvard

2018, Johannesburg). The South African Department of

University, Cambridge, MASS) and the Spelman College

Arts and Culture (DAC) is funding costs associated with

Museum of Fine Art (2016, Atlanta, Georgia). The profile

this travelling component of the exhibition, and UJ is

and stature of these venues add to the already considerable

providing funding towards the additional components of

provenance of the work.

the Black Chronicles IV exhibition. CF

Creative Feel / April 2018 / 27

Following a year of collaboration, the eighth

DANCE DANCE

cycle of the Rolex Mentor and ProtĂŠgĂŠ Arts Initiative culminated in an inspiring showcase of exceptional art at the Arts Weekend held in Berlin in February. This remarkable promotion of artistic creativity seeks to nurture the talent of younger artists by pairing them with older, more experienced mentors in their field.

Ohad Naharin and Londiwe Khoza

Celebrating

28 / Creative Feel / April 2018

MENTORSHIP

L

aunched 15 years ago, the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative is a philanthropic

ARCHITECTURE

programme that recognises the importance of passing on artistic knowledge across generations. It aims to find gifted young artists from around the world and bring them together with artistic masters for a year of mentoring and creative collaboration.

The 2018 Arts Weekend featured a series of stunning events held across Berlin’s most important cultural institutions: the Deutsches Theater, Gemäldegalerie, Staatsbibliothek, Kulturforum, Kammerspiele and culminated in a gala closing ceremony with a most memorable evening at the iconic Staatsoper Unter den Linden – home of the German opera company, the Berlin State Opera.

‘Berlin is a well-known centre for emerging artists,’ says Rebecca Irvin, head of philanthropy at Rolex. ‘What better place for us to welcome nearly 200 of our artistic family – past and present mentors and protégé, advisors and nominators – as well as hundreds of art enthusiasts from Berlin and beyond?’

Sir David Chipperfield and Simon Kretz

Creative Feel / April 2018 / 29

The Arts Weekend wass a chance for the protégés to display their ideas and their creations to the artistic community that Rolex has built over more than 15 years. The performances, installations, talks and three world premieres showed the work that the protégés produced with their mentors during the eighth cycle (2016 – 2017) of the Arts Initiative, covering dance, music, architecture, film, literature, visual arts and theatre.

For the very first time, the weekend also included a symposium on the need for arts education, moderated by Harvard Professor Homi K. Bhabha and featured a panel made up of visual artists Anish Kapoor and William Kentridge, architect Tatiana Bilbao, festival director Fergus Linehan and writer Miroslav Penkov, discussing what it means to be an artist in a complicated global world. The conversation covered many subjects, including the need to resist instrumentalism in arts education and the idea that every skill has to be narrowly marketable. Kentridge, who described himself as ‘rescued by a series of failures’, mentioned his Centre for the Less Good Idea, a scheme to encourage the development of all the interesting ideas that float away from the centre of your initial grand idea but which then ‘emerge and surprise you… You think you are doing one thing and then you get a whole new idea,’ he explained.

There’s no way to apply for the Arts Initiative. Mentors are proposed by an Advisory Board comprising distinguished artists and arts practitioners from all over the world. Once the mentors have been invited and have agreed to take part, Rolex works with them to establish a profile of a suitable protégé.

The Canadian world theatre man, Robert Lepage, explains that the scheme provides a ‘fountain of youth’ for older artists who have inevitably lost the bullishness of their hungry years. ‘We’re all full of doubt,’ he says. ‘The more you know, the less you’re sure of. At a younger age, you know less but you’re more confident, and that’s very uplifting. That’s why you hang on to younger people who say, “Go all the way”.’

Protégés do not apply directly to the programme either. Rather, one nominating panel for each artistic discipline is assembled. Panel members identify potential protégés, who are invited to submit applications; members then recommend three to four finalists to meet the mentor who will choose their protégé.

30 / Creative Feel / April 2018

VISUAL ARTS

Thao-Nguyen Phan and Joan Jonas

LITERATURE

Rolex’s only stipulation is that the artists spend a minimum of six weeks together.

The firm gives 100,000 Swiss francs (R1.3 million) to each mentor and 40,000 (R509 000) to the protégés, while also funding travel and expenses.

The project’s diversity is largely due to the mentors and the international nature of the programme (artists have come from 34 countries to date). ‘Certain mentors will say, “I want to help young film-makers from Asia and Africa.” We don’t have quotas, we’re not following some kind of political agenda, it’s happening organically,’ Irvin explains.

South Africa has done rather well during the years of the Arts Initiative. William Kentridge was mentor to Mateo López, Lara Foot the protégée of Sir Peter Hall, Nicholas Hlobo the protégé to Sir Anish Kapoor and during the recent cycle, Londiwe Khoza, our protégée from Cape Town, was chosen by mentor Ohad Naharin to work with him for the past year at his Batsheva Dance Company in Israel.

Showing her work to the packed audience in the Studio Theatre of the Kammerspiele, it was clear that Londiwe Khoza was loved as she made a dramatic entrance, suddenly emerging

Mia Couto and Julián Fuks Creative Feel / April 2018 / 31

THEATRE Robert Lepage and Matías Umpierrez

to the crashing sounds of a guitar. ‘Do You Want to Dance?’ the song enquired, and Khoza did just that, flying around the stage in a solo simultaneously sharp and soft, that revealed both her ballet training and her work during the past year.

Introducing her, Naharin talked of her immense talent and the way he had tried to give her keys to unlock ‘the treasure of that talent’. Khoza stood beaming by his side, stretching her feet as he described their work together. ‘Why do you dance?’ someone asked. ‘Like a writer writes, this is how we say what we want to say,’ said Khoza, simply.

New-York based performance and video artist Joan Jonas accepted Rolex’s invitation to be a mentor because, she says: ‘I enjoy meeting young artists and am curious about their concerns in this chaotic and difficult time. I hope to have a dialogue that might clarify thoughts and ideas.’

She chose the visual artist Thao-Nguyen Phan in 2016 to be her protégée. Moved by Jonas’s ‘extraordinary power to reinvent, being so groundbreaking from one work to the next,’ protégée Thao-Nguyen Phan described meeting Jonas as ‘something like destiny.’

Despite being from two different eras and two different parts of the world – one born in Vietnam in 1987 and the

32 / Creative Feel / April 2018

Alfonso Cuarón and Chaitanya Tamhane other in New York in 1936 – they were able to inspire each other and find a common desire to tell stories across multiple media.

For a year, Thao-Nguyen Phan had the opportunity to participate in numerous projects with her mentor, and produced her first personal exhibition, Poetic Amnesia, reflecting her own vision of Vietnam and its social issues. It consists of paintings, sculpture and video installations that challenge the viewer in different ways to reconsider the uses of stories and language in building a view of the past.

Her pale watercolours showing scenes of contemporary Vietnamese life are painted on the pages of a book written by the 17th-century Jesuit missionary Alexandre de Rhodes, who invented a romanised script that fundamentally altered the

FILM

development of Vietnam. An accompanying video – entered through heavy bamboo curtains and called Tropical Siesta – explores the same theme by imagining a school full of children who transform his stories into make-believe games.

Visitors to the Arts Weekend witnessed the premiere of Empire, a reimagining of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, shown by protégé Matías Umpierrez, the Argentinian director. Walking into a room, one is first confronted with a series of video portraits of actors warming up for a performance. Among them is Robert Lepage, Umpierrez’s mentor, who effectively plays the part of Lady Macbeth in this radical, contemporary production. The great Spanish actress Angela Molinas is the star, playing a mayoress corrupted by ambition, in a thrilling version of the play that unfolds across four huge screens.

Creative Feel / April 2018 / 33

Pauchi Sasaki and Philip Glass It is a truly dramatic idea. Shakespeare’s words are mixed

since Couto is based in Mozambique and Fuks in Brazil –

with a contemporary script. When Macbeth fires a gun, the

thrived. Fuks, who had written books based on his family’s

bullet seems to fly over the head of the viewers, watching

experiences as exiles from Argentina, wanted to write a

the action from the centre of the room. A Macbeth in modern

different kind of fiction. ‘I was beginning a new journey and I

times, this version, which takes place in post-dictatorship,

thought I needed new principles,’ he explained.

1990s Spain, reveals fiction as political and social mediation

Couto, sitting quietly beside him, told a story that he

tool, creating a mix between the entertainment industry, the

felt illustrated his principles of mentorship. He described

current mechanisms of power, and the rage caused by the

meeting two men sitting on the steps of his home. He asked

clash between tradition and globalisation.

one what he was doing. ‘I’m doing absolutely nothing,’ he

Umpierrez created Empire, the first in his Museum of Fiction series, with Spanish actors in Madrid where he lives.

By challenging fiction’s temporal-spatial limits, it tries

replied. And what are you doing, he asked the other? ‘I’m helping this guy,’ he said.

In a talk in the wood-panelled lecture hall at the

to find a possible ‘museumification’, or a unique way to

Staatsbibliothek, film mentor Alfonso Cuarón described his

keep the dramatic construction for the present and future

relationship with Chaitanya Tamhane as ‘horizontal, not

collective memory.

vertical’. He said that Tamhane, who spent a month on the set

A sense of engagement and collaboration between the mentors and their protégés was visible in talks over

of his new film, Roma, became ‘a compass on the set for me’.

For Indian protégé Chaitanya Tamhane, his mentoring

the weekend. Sir David Chipperfield and his architecture

year with Academy Award-winning film director Alfonso

protégé, Simon Kretz, have produced a book as a result of

Cuarón was a stroke of fortune. He describes his mentor’s

their collaboration. It discusses, as did their lecture, the

image-based filmmaking as ‘like watching magic’. Tamhane

use of architecture to promote civic good, taking London

says his approach to cinema will never be the same again

as an example of a city where a different attitude towards

The warmth of the relationship between the two men

planning could help to preserve the city as a centre of

was revealed by a conversation full of laughter, and a serious

diverse culture and community cohesion.

analysis of filmmaking, illustrated with excerpts from

The literature pairing of novelists Mia Couto and Julián Fuks – the first mentorship in the Portuguese language

34 / Creative Feel / April 2018

Cuarón’s work and from Tamhane’s strikingly strong debut, Court. Though one man is working with almost nothing and

MUSIC the other with the infinite weight of a Hollywood studio behind him, they discovered much common ground.

The highlight of the Arts Weekend was, without a doubt, the closing performance of the electro-acoustic project GAMA by young Peruvian composer and music protégée, Pauchi Sasaki. She was the protégée of composer Philip Glass, a most impressive, generous and dedicated mentor, who introduced her and the performance.

Slowly, as if guided by a ghost, a petite woman moves from the entrance down the ramp to the stage. Her strangely stiff dress makes sounds reminiscent of feedback, only more harmonious. It is not made of fabric but of speakers. With every step, every movement of the arm, every inclination of the head, the sound changes; it is a sight – and a sound – experience that one does not forget so quickly. Musicians who are so passionate about ‘merging with their instrument’ are a trite cliché, but Pauchi Sasaki is right. The 36-year-old Peruvian designed the speaker dress herself and composed music for it. The music is just as other-worldly, strange and thrilling, an evocation of space, that shifts and evolves as Sasaki and her talented musicians perform her composition against a swirling black and white background.

A stirring conclusion to the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Weekend showing that a relationship between a great mentor and a gifted protégé can work and produce wonderful work. CF

Creative Feel / April 2018 / 35

NEW

MENTORS+ PROTÉGÉS ANNOUNCED

Zakir Hussain and Marcus Gilmore

Rolex has announced four new mentorships in architecture, music, dance and literature as well as changes to the Arts Initiative’s timing and funding.

F

our renowned artists − Sir David Adjaye

fields: architecture, dance, film, literature, visual arts, music

(architecture), Zakir Hussain (music), Crystal Pite

and theatre. Starting in 2018, the programme will expand to

(dance) and Colm Tóibín (literature) will be the

eight disciplines, but offer four at a time, each taking place over

mentors for 2018 – 2019 in the Rolex Mentor and

two years. Architecture, music, dance and literature will be the

Protégé Arts Initiative. The company also announced a new

2018 – 2019 focus, while film, theatre, visual arts and a ‘wild

programme schedule, which will allow more time for the

card’ eighth discipline will run through 2020 – 2021.

mentorships, along with increased funding.

The names of the new mentors and their protégés

‘We’ve realised after observing this for many years now that in many disciplines, the mentors and protégés

were announced on 5 February 2017 at a public ceremony

needed more time together,’ said Rebecca Irvin, the head of

in Berlin celebrating the completion of the 2016 – 2017

philanthropy at Rolex, in an interview. ‘It felt like they barely

mentoring year and the 15th anniversary of the programme.

got going before it was over.’ Irvin added that the rigorous

Leading arts figures from Germany and around the world

and time-consuming selection process for the protégés

joined the new and past Rolex mentors and protégés at the

meant that finding the final seven candidates for each cycle

gala event.

‘felt like a rush.’

Rolex also announced that funding will be increased to

The eighth discipline ‘could be design, cooking,

allow some changes to the Arts Initiative, which began in 2002.

photography or a multidisciplinary form,’ Irvin said. ‘It gives

Previously, the initiative created year-long pairings in seven

us the flexibility to be more experimental.’

36 / Creative Feel / April 2018

Khoudia Touré and Crystal Pite Colm Tóibín and Colin Barrett

THE FIRST PAIRS TO BENEFIT FROM THIS EXTENDED MENTORSHIP ARE: ARCHITECTURE: Ghana-born British architect Sir David Adjaye – renowned for major commissions worldwide, including the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, in Washington DC, and Hallmark House in Maboneng, Johannesburg – has chosen as his protégée Mariam Kamara, 38, who is dedicated to designing spaces and structures that respond to the needs of people in her homeland, Niger, and all of Africa.

Mariam Kamara and Sir David Adjaye The programme, which began in 2002, asks the mentor

DANCE: Canadian choreographer Crystal Pite, famed for her passion to communicate ideas, emotions and stories,

and protégé to spend at least six weeks together during

and her strong theatrical sensibility, has chosen as her

the mentoring period. The protégés – this year Mariam

protégée Khoudia Touré, 31, from Senegal, a pioneer

Kamara (architecture), Khoudia Touré (dance), Colin

in urban street dance. Touré has helped enrich African

Barrett (literature) and Marcus Gilmore (music) – must be

dance through her work as a dancer and choreographer

professionals in each field. They each receive a stipend of

with her hip-hop dance-based company.

40 000 Swiss francs (R509 000) in addition to funds for travel and expenses. At the end of the mentoring period,

LITERATURE: New York-based writer, essayist and

each becomes a fellow of the Arts Initiative and is eligible for

journalist Colm Tóibín has depicted his native Ireland and

a further 30 000 Swiss francs (R381 000) for future projects,

the experience of exile in his much-acclaimed novels;

as well as additional funds for collaborative projects

he will mentor Colin Barrett, 35, also from Ireland, whose

From this year, the Rolex Arts Initiative mentorships will address disciplines in alternating periods. In 2018 – 2019,

first collection of short stories, Young Skins, received three major prizes in 2014 in the UK and Ireland.

mentorships will take place in architecture, dance, literature and music. The change will give each mentoring pair up to

MUSIC: Indian musician Zakir Hussain – widely viewed

two years of collaboration, doubling the 12 months of the

as the world’s greatest tabla player, this composer, actor

original model used from 2002 to 2017.

and producer will mentor Marcus Gilmore, 31, a New York

In 2020 – 2021 the programme will address film, theatre,

jazz musician and startlingly innovative young drummer.

visual arts and a variable eighth mentorship. In this expansion of the programme, the variable mentorship will take place in other fields of the arts; it will be announced in 2020. CF

Creative Feel / April 2018 / 37

TITLE: Bobbin Lace: Interlacing Identities JEWELLER: Mariam Bibi Khan (Runner-up) MATERIALS: Fine Silver, Sterling Silver & Gold Plating TECHNIQUE: Bobbin Lace

SA Contemporary

Jewellery Awards Exhibition

2018

Winners Announced

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ADA gallery, Creative Feel and the Contemporary Jewellery Forum congratulate Joani Groenewald, the winner of the inaugural SA Contemporary Jewellery Awards. She received the coveted award

for her jewellery pieces entitled Envy, Hopelessly hopeless and Sloth. The runner-up prize was awarded to Mariam Bibi Khan for her piece Interlacing Identities and a special mention award was presented to Nora Kovats’ jewellery piece titled Poeletjie (‘puddle’).

Of the 130 artists that submitted work, 22 finalists were

selected. The awards exhibition showcases 65 art jewellery pieces in a broad range of materials, techniques and finishes, which reflects a diversity of current art jewellery statements in South Africa. We trust the awards exhibition will grow from strength to strength and inspire all who submitted work to lend their ongoing support to this new initiative. The organisers will in future work closely with the Contemporary Jewellery Forum, established last year at the Jewellery Department of the University of Johannesburg.

The participants, winners and organisers of this awards

exhibition wish to thank our media partner, Creative Feel, for their support in promoting this new creative initiative in fostering an appreciation for this particular cultural creative production.

Creative Feel / April 2018 / 39

TITLE: Hopelessly Hopeful – three-part series JEWELLER: Joani Groenewald MATERIALS: Brass, Glass, Copper, Enamel, Plastic, Cotton TECHNIQUE: Silversmithing, enamelling, piercing, lampwork glass and mould making techniques

40 / Creative Feel / April 2018

2018

SA CONTEMPORARY JEWELLERY AWARDS EXHIBITION

Winner J

JOANI GROENEWALD

oani Groenewald’s work takes a satirical stance

are based on memory and narrative studies; questioning

against popular-culture and consumer culture as

the stability of them, while also challenging the traditional

experienced from within a South African context.

function of jewellery, specifically in relation to a South

In her latest series of works entitled The Seven

Deadly Seductions, Groenewald is inspired by the religious concept of the seven deadly sins. The series humorously

African context. She continues to make art that feeds into and from these research interests.

Groenewald is a lecturer in the Visual Arts Department

challenges the seductiveness of unethical behaviour,

at the University of Stellenbosch, as well as a jewellery

particularly within the framework of the current South

designer, goldsmith and artist. She sees her technical

African political environment. The pieces are personal

grounding, as a medium that allows her to create conceptual

interpretations and abstractions of form, material and

art. She graduated with a BA degree in Visual Art (with a

colour and take a satirical stance against popular culture

focus on Creative Jewellery and Metal Design) from the

and the consumer-orientated lifestyle that so many South

University of Stellenbosch in 2009 where she later enrolled

Africans have become accustomed to. They portray negative

in the graduate training programme in 2010. During this

character traits as jewels, which confront the meaning of

time she worked as a goldsmith apprentice and eventually

status symbols. The work challenges perceptions through

qualified as a goldsmith in 2011. In March 2015, she

the influential symbolic power of jewellery, specifically as a

successfully completed her MA degree in Visual Arts from

means to communicate identity and social status.

the University of Stellenbosch with distinctions. She has

Groenewald views contemporary jewellery as a medium

been a participant in numerous national and international

through which one can critically reflect upon one’s social

contemporary jewellery exhibitions throughout her entire

and political environment. Her research and art interests

career in the jewellery industry.

TITLE: Sloth JEWELLER: Joani Groenewald MATERIALS: Silver, glass, synthetic turquoise, enamel TECHNIQUE: Silversmithing, enamelling, piercing, lampwork glass and mould making techniques

Creative Feel / April 2018 / 41

Runner-up F

2018

SA CONTEMPORARY JEWELLERY AWARDS EXHIBITION

MARIAM BIBI KHAN

or her piece Interlacing Identities, Mariam Bibi

the associated gendered assumptions. This is illustrated in

Khan chose to investigate gendered and feminine

the delicate lines, floral patterns, and soft, organic design

identities and their associations with metallic and

motifs which are considered to be more accepted for the

lace inspired jewellery. Her inspiration is derived

adornment of women. However, her main focus was to

from the hydrangea in both its live and skeletal decayed

analyse whether the material and context used played an

form. This represented a complex contrast and translation

important role in feminine inspired designs of lace jewellery.

of form, shape and function.

She has incorporated the textile technique of bobbin lace in jewellery. This allowed her to construct metallic lace pieces which embody bobbin lace in contemporary jewellery

Khan was recently appointed jewellery lecturer in Metal Art and Design in the Department of Visual Art at the University of Stellenbosch.

In 2015, she graduated with a BA Honours in

practices. She also found that although a more geometric

Jewellery Design and Manufacture from the University

structure of the lace is used, it draws attention to feminine

of Johannesburg (Cum Laude). She has comprehensive

and gendered stereotypes associated with design processes.

knowledge of jewellery design and manufacturing skills,

Her related research provides a description of the use of

obtained from working in the industry with Elegance

alternative material of lace and lace jewellery, and explores

Jewellers, among others.

Title: Bobbin Lace: Interlacing Identities Jeweller: Mariam Bibi Khan Materials: Fine Silver, Sterling Silver & Gold Plating Technique: Bobbin Lace

42 / Creative Feel / April 2018

Special mention

2018

SA CONTEMPORARY JEWELLERY AWARDS EXHIBITION

NORA K O VAT S

N

ora Kovats defines herself as an ‘identity-hopper’ due to her being South-African and European.

She is interested in the way narrative constructs human identities, particularly their overlaps and

boundaries. Identities are infinitely complex and fragmented compositions, often paradoxical, fragile and fluid yet so powerfully definitive – something she attempts to represent visually in the form of complicated, multi-layered structures in her jewellery and drawings.

With this particular piece, titled Poeletjie (Afrikaans for ‘puddle’ or ‘small pool’), she attempted to investigate her own fascination with water and its elusiveness. She describes water as ‘having the paradoxical characteristic of being immensely powerful (both as a force of nature and in its importance for humanity’s survival) yet also incredibly fragile, easily polluted and its systems tilted off-balance. It is mysterious, difficult to quantify. Water harbours some of our most profound fears in its darkest unexplored depths, and it is sheer gushing life and vibrancy. It carves away ancient stone with patient drops – literally shaping the landscapes that form our human stories, our identities.’

She is drawn to enamelling as a technique because of its uniqueness and its ability to create spontaneity, dictated by the firing process. In this way, she can achieve a feeling of fragility, fresh colour and a delicate, spattered texture that visually embodies the emotions water elicits for her.

Her thoughts were circling around different water themes for some time, sparked by news of the severe

TITLE: Poeletjie (Puddle) JEWELLERY PIECE: Brooch and Pendant (dual function) MATERIALS: Enamel. Copper, sterling silver, steel pin, amethyst, citrine TECHNIQUE: Smithing, enamelling, hand-sawing

water crisis currently threatening Cape Town, her hometown, and the contrasting wastage she experienced in Berlin, where dishes are washed under a running tap.

countries, two cities – water succeeds in having multiple

She contemplates the links between water and human

identities at the same time.

identities, how we are affected by floods, rain, drought

Kovats graduated with a BA and MA Degree in Jewellery

and how we identify as river-, sea- or desert-people. Water

Design from the University of Stellenbosch. She was the

in itself can be seen as a metaphor for human identities

overall winner of the 2013 Thuthuka Jewellery & Product

with its perfectly contradictory embodiment of fragility

Development Programme Competition. She has participated

and monumentality: water is an immensely powerful force

in a number of International Jewellery competitions

of nature, yet so easily polluted and vulnerable. As it is

including the Berlin State Prize Competition for Applied

within herself, in her existence – a dance between two

Arts in Germany.

Creative Feel / April 2018 / 43

2018

SA CONTEMPORARY JEWELLERY AWARDS EXHIBITION

THE CONTEMPORARY JEWELLERY FORUM

The Contemporary Jewellery Forum (CJF) seminar, the first

and the industry. Lastly, the forum aims to provide a space for

platform of its kind in Africa, provides a space for reflective

the development of a community of practitioners.

dialogue and the development of discourse around the unique South African variant of art or contemporary jewellery design.

CJF was developed by a dynamic team of emerging academics

The biennale engages key academics and stakeholders in a one-

at the University of Johannesburg, under leadership of Farieda

day long conversation on pertinent themes related to the field.

Nazier, as part of an initiative to enhance both creative and textual research within the field. The CJF will be held by the UJ

The aim of the seminar is to create an online repository

FADA Jewellery Design and Manufacture department on the

that can be used as a basis for scholarly and commercial

12 September 2018 and will be hosted by the Faculty of Art,

research. The online platform will allow for ongoing debate

Design and Architecture (FADA).

and commentary around relevant issues in the field. Another aim is to keep abreast of the current status of this specialised

For further information and to become a member, please

field, in order to guide the decisions of the educational project

follow/visit www.contemporaryjewelleryforum.co.za

44 / Creative Feel / April 2018

A NEW VISION FOR THE U J F A D A D E PA RT M E N T OF JEWELLERY DESIGN AND MANUFACTURE The UJ FADA Department of Jewellery Design and Manufacture is widely recognised as one of the leading jewellery schools in South Africa.

Farieda Nazier, who is head of the department, provided further insight into their vision for 2018 and the future. of these inherited design canons. This is counterproductive – as it has led to the lack of transformation in terms of leadership, the position of creative and novel design, as well as the development of a South African design identity.

Based on these realities, UJ FADA Jewellery Design and Manufacture Department has restructured the Diploma programme to incorporate 1) a rigorous design curriculum (instituted since 2009) and 2) pertinent elements of jewellery entrepreneurship (flagship content developed during 2017).

C

These include the re-curriculation of the Design Management module framework, the introduction of a Retail Focussed

urrently, 80% of South African jewellery is imported

Learning Unit, and the infusing of best practices throughout

– of which the designs are generally appropriated

the Jewellery Practice module. In addition to this, the

from historical European ‘canons’. Also, the

Gemmology and Technology modules have been redirected

inevitable rise of the machines is creating a rift

to encompass the implications of methodologies and skills

in terms of the viability of transferring jewellery crafting

taught on an entrepreneurial venture. The new direction aims

skills in its traditional sense. In addition to this, numerous

to maximise economic viability through excellence in design.

recessions have had devastating effects on the luxury goods

This innovative new approach to jewellery education will

sectors. Subsequently, the size of the industry has reduced

result in the 300 Art Ornaments Exhibition hosted by UJ Art

from approximately 3 000 jewellers nationally, to merely 800.

Gallery from 16 May 2018.

Against this backdrop, the UJ FADA Jewellery Design and

The aim of UJ FADA Jewellery Department is to be the

Manufacture Department has identified that a differentiated

leading jewellery design department nationally and on the

model of education is required to generate diverse

continent, by providing jewellery design programmes that

opportunities for our graduates towards a more dynamic and

are transformative in society and lead the industry. With

resilient industry.

the exciting changes in our offering and the additional

At present, the jewellery design landscape is not geared

enrichment elements such as the Contemporary Jewellery

towards the harnessing of entrepreneurial thinking. As

Forum, we can safely say that we are merrily on our way. For

a result, many of our students are forced into retail and

further information visit www.uj.ac.za/faculties/fada/Pages/

manufacturing careers, which in turn maintains the status quo

Jewellery-Design-and-Manufacture.aspx CF

Creative Feel / April 2018 / 45

#METAMORPHOSIS

Drawing inspiration from the theme of #METAMORPHOSIS has seen UJ Arts & Culture plan to change more than its content. The 2018 programme features two new

festivals as well as new partnerships that will increase opportunities for the university community, creative industries and the public to experience and participate in the arts. The programme is diverse,

ranging from jazz, poetry and youth arts festivals to a music concert series, stand-up comedy shows, drama and dance seasons and an exhibitions programme.

‘L

end, UJ Arts & Culture offers students and staff a robust programme to participate in the arts. Through the UJ Arts Academy, students, alumni and staff have access to a range of free dance and acting classes, poetry and drumming sessions, or they could audition for theatre productions, the UJ Choir, UniJoh Chorale, jazz band, wind band or orchestra. Its student offering would not be complete without the hugely popular student talent competition presented annually and group tours to festivals and celebrations.

A key component of UJ Arts & Culture’s activities

is its annual interdisciplinary collaborative FADA programme, launched in 2017 by the Dean of the Faculty, Professor Federico Freschi. Once again, this programme will see more than 300 students from departments across the faculty get involved in different design aspects of a UJ Arts & Culture-produced play as part of their coursework.

‘UJ Arts & Culture’s #METAMORPHOSIS programme

is designed to advance the University’s vision of an international institution of choice, anchored in Africa, dynamically shaping the future. Bolstered by PhD residencies, local and international performing arts residencies, lectures, workshops and conferences, the

ooking at our creative programme through this thematic lens is the ideal stimulus for alignment with the University’s drive to participate

Division strives to offer world-class opportunities to experience, participate in, and for empowerment through the arts,’ concludes Jacobs.

UJ Arts & Culture, a division of the Faculty of

meaningfully in decolonisation and transformation,’

Art, Design & Architecture (FADA) produces and

says Pieter Jacobs, Head of Arts & Culture (a division

presents world-class student and professional arts

of the Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture) at the

programmes aligned to the UJ vision. A robust range

University of Johannesburg.

of arts platforms are offered on all four UJ campuses

‘It is a great responsibility to play a role in

for students, staff, alumni and the general public to

shaping leaders of the future. And what better tool

experience and engage with emerging and established

than the arts to develop the emotional and cultural

Pan-African and international artists drawn from the

intelligence to harness the knowledge and skills we

full spectrum of the arts.

acquire as we go through life,’ says Jacobs. To this

In addition to UJ Arts & Culture, FADA

(www.uj.ac.za/fada) offers programmes in eight creative disciplines, in Art, Design and Architecture, as well as playing home to the NRF SARChI Chair in South African

UJ ARTS & CULTURE’S

Art & Visual Culture, and the Visual Identities in Art & Design Research Centre. The Faculty has a strong focus on sustainability and relevance, and engages actively with the dynamism, creativity and diversity of Johannesburg in imagining new approaches to art and design education. #METAMORPHOSIS promises to appeal to art

lovers with diverse interests:

46 / Creative Feel / April 2018

Kicking off the UJ Concert Series is the re-launch

exhibitions programme will feature the PPC

of the University’s Steinway Concert Grand with

Imaginarium Awards. These awards, established by PPC

Steinway artists Christopher Duigan, Charl du Plessis

Ltd, offer emerging designers and artists a platform to

and Jill Richards featuring the rising star, Sulayman

showcase their talent and creativity through the use of

Human, in concert.

cement as a primary medium.

Presented in partnership with Pro Helvetia

In May, the 300 Art Ornaments exhibition

Johannesburg, the group Hildegard Lernt Fliegen

will showcase over 250 pieces collected by the UJ

(Hildegard Learns to Fly) is a Swiss formation of avant-

Jewellery Design and Manufacture Department over

garde jazz, headlined by singer Andreas Schaerer. In

the past ten years.

2014, the band received the BMW Welt Jazz Award, and

UJ Art Gallery in partnership with the Bag Factory

subsequently toured Switzerland, Austria, Germany,

will play host to Brazilian curator Daniella Géo,

Czech Republic, Slovenia, Estonia, Lithuania, Russia,

who delves into the Bag Factory’s alumni archives.

Luxembourg, China, Italy, Finland, the UK and France.

TRANS will showcase the impact Bag Factory’s alumni

The programme will culminate in FADA’s major

have had on the art scene and the role it played in

fundraising drive in support of the Dean’s Bursary

connecting Johannesburg with the rest of Africa and

Fund. Presented annually on the first Saturday of

the world.

November, A Grand Night for Singing will feature

UJ Arts & Culture, in collaboration with the MTN

familiar and new voices, the UJ Choir and the

Foundation SA, presents Continuing Conversations, following the 2017 collaborative Shifting Conversations exhibition. The conversations continue in 2018, with works derived from both the MTN and UJ art collections as well as emerging artists, with an addition of a mentorship and educational programme.

The 2018 UJ Arts Gallery calendar is set to close on a high with the celebration of 21 Years of The Ampersand Foundation, which rewards excellence in the visual arts by granting fellowships to young professional South African contemporary visual artists.

Curator Gordon Froud brings works completed by such fellows together in this exhibition.

Johannesburg Youth Orchestra.

MUSIC

VISUAL ARTS

For the fourth year in a row, UJ Arts & Culture’s

In addition to performing at more than 20 graduation ceremonies and special events, the UJ Choir will perform alongside Hope College (USA) at the Rosebank Catholic Church and with Akustika Chamber Singers at SABC’s M1 Studio in May. A highlight of UJ Choir’s 2018 calendar includes competing in the muchanticipated World Choir Games in early July.

UJ Choir, Tuks Camerata, and Puk-Koor will be performing in Koorkaleidoscope at the University of Pretoria’s Musaion in August. UJ Choir’s annual programme wraps up with its customary end year Celebration Concert at the end of October.

Hildegard Lernt Fliegen

Creative Feel / April 2018 / 47

Culture will again team up with POPArt and Goliath & Goliath to present the Out the Box Comedy shows, culminating in a marathon of 20 comedians performing five-minute sets each.

Comprising a combination of student and professional actors, the play Choir Boy tells the story of a young man who wants nothing more than to take his rightful place as leader of the school’s legendary gospel choir. Can he find his

African Gothic PHOTO Jan Potgieter Presented in celebration of Africa Day, the inaugural UJ

THEATRE

FESTIVALS

Back by popular demand, UJ Arts &

way inside the hallowed halls of this institution if he sings in his own key?

After its premiere at the National Arts Festival, Choir Boy will be performed at the UJ Youth Arts Festival in August.

Set against the backdrop of a farm in desolate ruin, Reza de Wet’s African Gothic (translation of Diepe Grond) tells the story of the complicated, passionate, and troubled relationship between two siblings. Presented in partnership with Joburg City Theatres, the play will be presented at The Fringe following its run at the National Arts Festival in July.

As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams, he found

Weekend of Jazz is scheduled to take place at the UJ Arts

himself transformed in his bed into a

Centre from 24 – 26 May. This urban jazz experience is set

gigantic insect. The staging of the play

to cast a spotlight on exceptionally skilled emerging jazz

Metamorphosis will be the culmination

musicians who are not afraid to experiment or disrupt the

of a year-long process that involves

notion of jazz.

more than 300 students and lecturers

Keeping up the tradition, UJ Arts & Culture will present

from different departments in the

a substantive programme at the National Arts Festival with

Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture

the translation of Reza de Wet’s iconic African Gothic (Diepe

(FADA), working on various design

Grond) headlining the UJ programme, which includes Choir

and development aspects of the work

Boy by Tarell Alvin McCraney, a music concert, and STAGED,

as part of their coursework. Kafka’s

a new play development showcase.

Metamorphosis, adapted by Steven

The new UJ Youth Arts Festival will cast a spotlight on some of the best new creative voices with students from other institutions, colleges and youth groups joining UJ Arts & Culture students in a showcase of acting, singing, dancing and making music. The festival will be hosted at the UJ Arts Centre as well as at the Con Cowan Theatre in August.

UJ Arts & Culture’s grand finale after a year-long slam poetry programme with students, school learners and the public will take shape in the form of a week-long poetry festival, Izimbongi Poetry Festival, featuring performances by professional and amateur spoken word artists, book launches, lectures, forum discussions and workshops.

48 / Creative Feel / April 2018

Berkoff, will be tested in October with a view of undertaking full runs in 2019.

DANCE

Keisuke Mihara in SWAN

MIDM’s 40th Anniversary Celebration Season, proudly hosted by UJ Arts & Culture at the UJ Arts Centre, will comprise two programmes – the first will run from 14 to 16 September 2018 and the second in the following week from 20 to 22 September 2018.

SWAN, inspired by the famous ballet, Swan Lake, and the Japanese social phenomenon Hikikomori, the dance piece was built by Hannah Ma and Keisuke Mihara on Tchaikovsky’s music.

SWAN will perform at the Con Cowan Theatre from 21 to 23 September 2018.

For more information, visit UJ Arts & Culture’s new user-friendly website and booking system at www.uj.ac.za/arts

CELEBRATING COLLABORATION, INNOVATION, All great works of art begin with an idea. Most often, they are passionate and ambitious ideas that, after being chipped away at and refined, go on to become successful and confident final products. The process of transforming an idea into its final form isn’t always straightforward, however. Problems and limitations arise, and new ideas must be borne to fill the gaps. It is these secondary ideas that find a home at The Centre for The Less Good Idea.

W

ith its third season currently under curation,

As an artist who focuses her practice on the relationship

The Centre for the Less Good Idea is an

between art and other fields, including performing arts,

ambitious and inspired project founded by

physics, museum practice and education, Lace explains

internationally renowned South African artist

that collaboration is a key component when it comes to

William Kentridge.

Towards the start of 2016, Kentridge sought to launch

workshopping new and innovative ideas.

‘The Centre believes an ensemble sees the world

an institution that would support local artists as well as

differently to how one individual does. The good idea – that

foster new, experimental, and cross-disciplinary work

thing that wakes you up at 3am and drives you to stand in

that wouldn’t necessarily find a home in conventional

front of the empty canvas or on to the page or stage – exists

theatres, galleries, or music venues. He approached

in the mind. It is not yet shared and for a moment feels

Botswana-born artist Bronwyn Lace, whose role would be

magnificent and untouchable,’ she explains. ‘Most artists

the ‘animateur’ for the Centre – someone who could bring

recognise the moment that comes next, as you attempt

energy, momentum and a dedication to the process – and

to manifest the idea, something happens, some things

six months later, they had their first space located in Maboneng’s Arts on Main complex.

Over the 18 months that the Centre’s been operational, they’ve produced two seasons, each season lasting six months and seeing fundamental curators coming together to build the works up by inviting their own collaborators into the space and process. Works are then showcased at a fourday festival and smaller, more regular programmes such as the For Once programme, Off the Cuff and the In Conversation programmes take place throughout the year.

50 / Creative Feel / April 2018

Venus Hottentot Vs. Modernity | POET & PERFORMER Lebogang Mashile | PERFORMER Ann Masina | PERCUSSION Tlale Makhene | DIRECTOR Nhlanhla Mahlangu | PHOTO Stella Olivier

+ SECONDARY IDEAS collapse and others ignite, this is particularly true when your individual ideas come to meet other ideas. The Centre is the space to follow the next step, the less good ideas that didn’t wake you up because you couldn’t have imagined them until you were firmly in the process of making and exchanging.’

Beyond bringing artists together and providing a space for new work to be made, The Centre also allows for the work to be seen by large crowds at sold-out shows, and to serve as a springboard for further work. Lace explains that since The Centre’s debut season, a number of works have gone on to be further developed and performed. Works such as Venus Hottentot Vs. Modernity by Lebogang Mashile, Ann Masina and Nhlanhla Mahlangu; Requiem Request by Gregory Maqoma, Nhlanhla Mahlangu and Phuphuma Love Minus, and Bag Beatings by Ntsoana Contemporary Theatre have all gone on to be funded by outside bodies and presented in other forms.

‘Artists are natural opportunity makers,’ says Lace. ‘The Season 1 gathering with William Kentridge | PHOTO Stella Olivier

time and space they are given at the Centre to develop their own work will naturally translate into further opportunities, because all artists are developing a trajectory, a language

Requiem Request | CHOREOGRAPHER Gregory Maqoma | DANCERS Thulani Chauke, Xolisile Bongwana | DIRECTOR OF PHUPHUMA LOVE MINUS Nhlanhla Mahlangu | CHOIR Mhlakazeni Myeza, Patrick Majozi, Mqapheleni Ngidi , Siyabonga Majozi , Siphesihle Ngidi, Mbongeleni Mafutha, Ngidi, Lucky Inunuyamanzi Khumalo,Wiseman Nkusheshe Mthembu, Jabulani Tshitshelimithi Mchunu & Celimpilo Mkaba Ngudi | PHOTO Stella Olivier

that is their own. The time they spend at the Centre is just a moment in a lifelong conversation. We hope it’s a rare moment that allows for things that normally don’t get enough space.’

Seeing a host of secondary and seemingly imperfect ideas come into bloom over the past two seasons is a great triumph for the Centre, but as it goes, it’s the smaller, lesser seen moments that Lace has found to be the most rewarding.

‘My highlights have been the people I’ve met, the privilege of watching a dancer conceptualise and communicate complex issues without needing spoken language, watching actors go into trance-like states before performing gruelling Beckett texts and vocalists discover incredible compositions by simultaneously singing and listening to one another,’ she says.

Looking ahead, Season 3 promises over 30 artists in collaboration under the guidance and curation of artists Lindiwe Matshikiza, Bettina Malcomess, and Bhavisha Panchia. The season festival will run 11 – 14 April 2018 at Unit 11 and 13, Arts on Main, Maboneng. CF

Creative Feel / April 2018 / 51

Port Elizabeth's

inner city comes alive with diverse sounds and tastes

The Mandela Bay Development Agency (MBDA) recently embarked on an ambitious new initiative aimed at fusing culture, food and the arts to bring vibrancy and light up the inner City of Port Elizabeth. This celebration of heritage and arts brought together the City’s iconic landmarks, the Campanile, City Hall/Vuyisile Mini Square and the Feather Market Hall, a first for the Bay. Creative Feel spoke to Luvuyo Bangazi, Marketing and Communications Manager and Spokesperson at the MBDA.

52 / Creative Feel / April 2018

A proud development by

ways Building, th Union Street

T

he MBDA initiative was made possible through a partnership with Baakens Food Truck Company and the Eastern Cape Philharmonic Orchestra. This all culminated in a two-day family orientated unique

combination of music, art and artisan food on Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 March.

The Eastern Cape Philharmonic Orchestra is renowned for many successful symphonic orchestra concerts held at Victoria Park with leading musical performances. ‘This year, the orchestra moved into the inner city to the Feather Market Hall, bringing with it new opportunities,’ says Bangazi.

‘The move by the orchestra gave us the opportunity to create a multicultural and diverse programme that culminated in front of City Hall, incorporating performances such as the Campanile Bells chiming out songs like the legendary “Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrica”; live music acts on stage; a live screening of the Eastern Cape Philharmonic Orchestra; and the ever popular Baakens Food Truck Funday contingent,’ adds Bangazi.

‘The Baakens Food Truck village offered the popular array of speciality foods and drinks that they are renowned for. Bay citizens who weren’t able to attend the orchestra were able to watch a live stream of the performance on screen at Vuyisile Mini Square, making sure that those on the square did not miss much. During the orchestra breaks, the Campanile Bells were played by Professor Troskie, offering an array of musical performances, a first as far as we know,’ concludes Bangazi.

The exciting programme started on Saturday the 17th at 14:00 with live bands on the Vuyisile Mini Square stage and concluded at 21:00. The action continued on Sunday from 11:00 with live performances on the square, with the Campanile Bells ringing out before the orchestra programme kicked off inside the Feather Market.

On Sunday the weather was great out on the square with the Bay really showing off the last days of summer.

The executive mayor, Athol Trollip, was among the crowd assembled on the square enjoying the orchestra sights and sounds. The mayor made a brief appearance on stage saying, ‘I spend days inside the building behind me, pointing to City Hall, working hard every day to create a City we can all be proud to live in and enjoy. It gives me pleasure to sit among you on this square as every citizen should, the inner city belongs to all of us and initiatives like this that bring it to life need all of us to get behind them.’

In and among the musos was a group of crafters who were there to exhibit their wares. Judging from early feedback, it seems that the crafters, food vendors and patrons all had a great time. Bring on #Movetothemusic2019 #Route67 #TheCampanile #VuyisileMiniSquare #Sharethebay CF

Creative Feel / April 2018 / 53

Melanie Scholtz

14TH SAJE JAZZ

CONFERENCE: The 14th SAJE Jazz Conference takes place from 27 to 29 April 2018 in Cape Town and is the culmination of Jazz Appreciation Month (fondly known as JAM), which draws public attention to jazz and its extraordinary heritage throughout April. The Conference will be hosted by the South African College of Music at the University of Cape Town (UCT), and the South African Association for Benjamin Jephta

Jazz Education (SAJE).

The South African Sound in Jazz Today

S

AJE is a section 21 non-profit organisation and for

there are opportunities for discussion, networking,

the past 26 years its mission has been to assure the

information exchange and professional development.

growth of jazz in Southern Africa, the development

The theme of the 2018 Conference is ‘The South African

of jazz and jazz education in urban and rural areas,

Sound in Jazz Today’.

building the jazz arts community by advancing education and

This year, the Conference offers an impressive line-up

research, promoting skills development and performance, and

of South African jazz educators – Mageshen Naidoo, Mike

developing new audiences.

Rossi, Mike Campbell; jazz musicians – Melanie Scholtz,

The biennial SAJE Jazz Conference is the only

Nduduzo Makhathini, Benjamin Jephta, Vuma Levin and

conference of its kind in Africa and offers a unique forum

Mandisi Dyantyis; arts journalists – Gwen Ansell, Carol

for musicians, educators, students, jazz fans, and those

Martin and Nigel Vermaas; local jazz and jazz venue

in the media and arts, to engage with the latest sounds

promoters; master craftsman Johannes Gerber (saxophone

and ideas in jazz. Along with paper presentations,

mouthpieces) and creative legal agency Legalese from Cape

workshops, performances and industry displays,

Town, among others.

54 / Creative Feel / April 2018

Benjamin Jephta Quintet Visit the Conference website for more information about the Conference schedule and concerts: www.sajejazzconference2018.weebly.com Tickets for the UCT concerts will be available through www.quicket.co.za or at the door.

The Conference is open to everyone. Daily events run

Tickets for the Jazz in the Native Yards venue in Gugulethu will

from 09:30 till late over the three days. Evening concerts will

be available at the door.

take place in the Chisholm Recital Room at the SA College of

To register for any of the papers/workshops, please email

Music at UCT on Friday 27 April and Saturday 28 April. SAJE

sajejazz@gmail.com

members receive a substantial discount.

Venue: South African College of Music, Lower Campus,

On Sunday 29 April, SAJE will present a concert at

University of Cape Town

KwaSec in Gugulethu in conjunction with Jazz in the

The 14th SAJE Jazz Conference receives funding support from

Native Yards, featuring the Benjamin Jephta Quintet.

the SAMRO Foundation, Business and Arts South Africa (BASA),

This performance will celebrate International Jazz Day

the Cape Tercentenary Foundation and University of Cape Town.

(30 April), which brings together communities and jazz enthusiasts worldwide to celebrate and learn about

Please visit the SAJE website, 2018 Conference website and

jazz and its roots, future and impact; raise awareness

facebook page for more information.

of the need for intercultural dialogue and mutual understanding; and reinforce international cooperation

LINKS:

and communication. Each year on 30 April, this

SAJE: www.saje.org.za

international art form is recognised for promoting peace,

South African College of Music: www.sacm.uct.ac.za

dialogue among cultures, diversity, and respect for human

SAMRO Foundation: www.samrofoundation.org.za

rights and human dignity; eradicating discrimination;

Cape Tercentenary Foundation: www.cape300foundation.org.za

promoting freedom of expression; fostering gender

Business and Arts South Africa (BASA): www.basa.co.za

equality; and reinforcing the role of youth in enacting

International Jazz Day: www.jazzday.com

social change. Visit: www.jazzday.com. CF

Jazz in the Native Yards: www.facebook.com/nativeyards

Creative Feel / April 2018 / 55

Cape Town Big Band Jazz Festival

TOASTS 20 YEARS WITH FOUR-DAY MUSIC FIESTA Big band music is not something from a bygone era – in the hands of South Africa’s passionate young musicians from all walks of life, it’s infused with a vibrant contemporary sound that’s guaranteed to get your toes tapping and your feet moving! And much of the credit for its popularity locally goes to the Cape Town Big Band Jazz Festival, which celebrates 20 years of making music dreams come true this year.

T

aking place from 30 May to 2 June 2018 at the

anything I know of in this area, in that it’s created a unique

Baxter Theatre’s concert hall in Rondebosch, Cape

kind of performance event that isn’t competitive, where

Town, the 20th-anniversary Cape Town Big Band

everyone gets on a professional stage with great sound and

Jazz Festival promises an upbeat celebration of

presentation, and does their thing for everyone else to hear

youthful exuberance expressed through big band music.

The festival gives jazz bands and big bands from about

and enjoy.

‘It’s a high point for the bands and something to work

25 junior schools and high schools from across the country,

towards, a great incentive to do your best and an opportunity

as well as university and community bands, the golden

to hear some experienced players in the alumni bands doing

opportunity to perform on a professional stage to test their

what you do.’

musical mettle. Over four entertainment-packed days,

Adds Diane Rossi, of the South African Association for

they’ll be treating audiences to a feast of energising music

Jazz Education, congratulating the festival on its 20th-

ranging from familiar big band favourites to arrangements

anniversary milestone: ‘The annual Cape Town Big Band Jazz

of much-loved South African jazz standards and even rock

Festival is more than just an event – it has become a highlight

music classics.

of the Cape Town music calendar. Thank you for promoting

These budding young musicians will be joined by two alumni big bands made up of past participants and professional guest performers. One of these all-star

big band music and providing a platform for school big bands to “strut their stuff”. Here’s to the next 20 years!’

The festival is preceded by the Cape Town Steelband

bands is led by Dr Gordon Vernick, professor of music and

Festival and the Cape Town Marimba Festival in April, and is

coordinator of jazz studies at Georgia State University in

known for ‘paying it forward’ by supporting music initiatives

the United States; the other will be helmed by Professor

in disadvantaged communities. One of these is a thriving

Mike Campbell of the South African College of Music at the

marimba project at Ned Doman High School in Athlone.

University of Cape Town.

Says Prof. Campbell, recalling the festival’s modest roots

Gail Bedeker, who coordinates the marimba band at the school, says the festival’s funding has made this extramural

20 years ago: ‘I’ve been part of it from the beginning, seeing

activity possible. ‘Being part of the band has enabled us to

it grow from a one-night concert to a full-on festival. This

focus on more positive activities than getting involved with

festival has done more for band music at school level than

the wrong crowd, gangs and drugs,’ she explains.

56 / Creative Feel / April 2018

SACS High School Senior Jazz Band

Wynberg Girls’ High School Big Band

CAPE TOWN BIG BAND JAZZ FESTIVAL PROGRAMME

‘The selected band members have used the opportunity to make beautiful sounds, with the help of Robin Engel, a former learner at Ned Doman High School who is now

WEDNESDAY 30 MAY

employed by Woodworx Marimbas and is a marimba teacher

SACS Junior School Jazz Band, Sans Souci Jazz Cats, SACS

at the school. Shortly he will also be assigned to other

High School Junior Jazz Band, Rustenburg High School

schools in a teaching role.’

For Girls’ Jazz Band, SACS High School Senior Jazz Band,

Band members Ricky Newman and Joshua Mullins are equally enthusiastic, saying: ‘Being part of the Marimba

Stellenbosch Youth Jazz Band

Band Festival gives us the opportunity to see how other

THURSDAY 31 MAY

schools play marimbas, learn new songs and be part of

Rondebosch Boys’ Prep Jazz Band, Pinelands High School

a large, talented group. The sound of the mass band is

Jazz Band, Rondebosch Boys’ High School Junior Jazz

always awesome!’

Band, Sekunjalo Delft Big Band, Rondebosch Boys’ High

Says Festival Organiser Ann Barr: ‘On behalf of the Cape Town Big Band Jazz Festival, and all the participating musicians, we would like to extend our sincere thanks

School Senior Jazz Band, Alumni Big Band (led by Gordon Vernick)

to the following sponsors for their invaluable support:

FRIDAY 1 JUNE

SAMRO Foundation, Pres Les, Varsity College, Paul Bothner

Wynberg Boys’ Junior School Big Band, Uni-Sound Big Band,

Music, Fountainhead Design, Fine Music Radio, Western

Wynberg Boys’ High School Jazz Band, Edujazz Big Band,

Cape Government – Cultural Affairs and Sport, Peninsula

Westerford High School Big Band, UCT Big Band

Beverages, South African College Of Music, and two anonymous sponsors.’

Bring your family, friends and colleagues and head to

SATURDAY 2 JUNE The Little Giants, Bergvliet High School Big Band, Heathfield

the Cape Town Big Band Jazz Festival from 30 May to 2 June

High School Jazz Band, Beau Soleil Music Centre, Wynberg

2018 to be swept along on a feel-good wave of big band

Girls’ High School Big Band, Alumni Big Band (led by Mike

euphoria! Tickets range from R70 (for scholars, students and

Campbell)

senior citizens) to R120 per day. Book at Webtickets, Pick n Pay or the Baxter Theatre on (021) 685 7880. CF

Creative Feel / April 2018 / 57

Remembering a musical icon From 3 to 6 May 2018, Joburg City Theatres will honour the life of Hugh Masekela and his contributions to musical theatre in a celebration concert.

Hugh Masekela, No Borders shoot. PHOTO Brett Rubin. STYLING & ART DIRECTION Nicole van Heerden

58 / Creative Feel / April 2018

The cast of Sarafina! at Broadway cast recording in 1988.

PHOTO Brigitte Lacombe Hugh Masekela and cast in Songs of Migration

A

lot is known about South African music legend Hugh Masekela, but less is known of his love and contribution to musical theatre in South Africa.

He was an integral force in the success of South

Africa’s most successful international musical Sarafina!, which ran on Broadway from 1988 to 1989, with a parallel cast running in Europe and Australia. Yes, he later initiated a musical theatre revue called Songs of Migration, which was a critical success that toured South Africa, Europe and the United States of America. His last theatrical offering was Gone Native: The Life and Times of Regina Brooks, which he initiated, composed, and was the musical director. Gone Native’s world premiere took place in 2015 at the Soweto Theatre.

Joburg City Theatres will celebrate Hugh Masekela’s

Composer Hugh Masekela and lyricist Mbongeni Ngema at Broadway cast recording of Sarafina! in 1988

theatre music with a limited four-performance season at the Joburg Theatre Mandela Theatre from 3 to 6 May. The performances will be a dramatic tapestry of songs from Sarafina!, directed by Mbongeni Ngema, Songs of Migration, directed by James Ngcobo, and Gone Native: The Life and Times of Regina Brooks by Makhaola Ndebele.

The theatrical casts will be joined by select eminent musicians who worked with Hugh Masekela, and will be backed by the original Hugh Masekela band members with whom he toured the world.

It promises to be a celebration like no other… CF DATE: 3 to 6 May 2018 VENUE: The Nelson Mandela @ Joburg Theatre Complex TICKET PRICES: R150 to R300 CONTACT INFO: Box office on 011 877 6848 or www.joburgtheatre.com The cast of Gone Native: The Life and Times of Regina Brooks

Creative Feel / April 2018 / 59

excellence

CREATING A CULTURE OF

Learners performing a dance routine during the Artscape Theatre Centre’s annual Schools Arts Festival

Participants in the annual Artscape Theatre Centre’s Youth Jazz Festival

Between Table Mountain and Table Bay, the City of Cape Town boasts a cosmopolitan mix of historic and modern landmarks. One of these is Artscape Theatre Centre on the Foreshore, home to the Artscape performing arts company.

E

stablished 40 years ago as the then Nico Malan

immense challenges facing the youth of today, including

Theatre Centre, Artscape’s close proximity to Cape

socio-economic issues, and, through our programmes, assist

Town’s central business district, the new International

in resolving some of these challenges.

Convention Centre and the V&A Waterfront, makes it

The Artscape Theatre Centre continues to deliver on

ideally situated to serve the Cape’s performing arts, film, tourism,

our mandate by presenting quality education and outreach

entertainment, conference, and exhibition industries.

programmes with the youth as our target market. This lays

Known for its world-class theatrical productions, from

fundamental stepping-stones for our people and brings us

opera to ballet, musicals to drama, tribute performances to

closer to the ideal of being a socially cohesive nation. This

jazz, as well as a host of festivals celebrating the democratic

is just one example of how we create shared and safe spaces

legacy of South Africa, the Centre boasts an equally strong

with all our partners, including the City of Cape Town and

education and training programme.

the Western Cape Government among others, as an agency

The programme’s objective is to create avenues of accessibility for, specifically, the youth, the historically

of the Department of Arts and Culture.

The youth projects, which aim to expose learners to

marginalised and those who face challenges, such as

required curriculum based outcomes, include the annual

distance, transport and disability, in accessing the arts. The

setwork productions in all three official provincial languages,

comprehensive year-long arts education programme also

the High School Drama Festival and Schools Arts Festival.

serves as a conduit towards the contribution to nationbuilding. In addition, the cultural institution recognises the

60 / Creative Feel / April 2018

This year, the setwork productions include Shakespeare’s Hamlet; Athol Fugard’s My Children! My

Instruments made by participants to The Artscape Theatre Centre’s first artist in residence project with Dizu Plaaatjies

Participants in the Artscape Theatre Centre’s first pantsula competition – Ayatchisa’amatekie

Youth Jazz and Youth Classical Music Festival – the latter offering young singers and solo instrumentalists the opportunity of performing with the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra – have excelled as professionals both locally and internationally, with many scooping major awards.

One of last year’s participants, Cecilia Rangwanasha, also a Cape Town Opera studio member, went on to win the 6th International Unisa Music Foundation Voice Competition.

Expanding on international exposure, we also embark on cultural exchange programmes inclusive of the Brouhaha Carnival based in Liverpool, UK; the Urban Space Project and the Cultural construction of Youth that sees youth from South Africa, Zambia and France participate to the exploration of Youth centred challenges such as violence or disability.

Meanwhile, on a local government level, we have a proud 13-year partnership with municipalities across the province Africa!; Adam Small’s Krismis van Map Jacobs; and Witness

where we take the theatre to people, reaching up to 3 500

K. Tamsanqa’s Buzani kuBawo.

learners through our annual rural outreach programme as

As part of the Centre’s ongoing vision to develop a love for the performing arts, we invite schools to participate in the

well as the inhabitants of the adjacent towns and farms.

Artscape Theatre Centre’s ethos is to create a ‘culture of

Schools Arts Festival – a wonderful opportunity for learners.

excellence’. This remains critical to the growth and sustainability

Approximately 15 schools share the same stage each evening,

of our organisation. To achieve this excellence, we continuously

contributing to an exciting and diverse theatre experience,

monitor the quality of the productions that grace our stages,

from classical choirs to contemporary dance. The festival

thereby creating a culture that ensures our development and

culminates in a glittering gala performance by selected schools.

educational programmes are masterpieces that will leave our

During the High School Drama Festival, learners are given a platform to voice their creativity, views and social concerns

audiences mesmerised in all genres of the performing arts.

Concurrently to stay abreast of this growth, Artscape

through drama on a professional stage to a captive audience. The

Technical Training Academy hosts Workplace Integrated

aim is to broaden their horizons by experiencing the magic of

Learning Technical Internships in Stage Management, Stage

live theatre, professional lighting and sound, while being able to

Lighting, Stage Sound and Wardrobe. Interns work alongside

learn the discipline of acting, essential to being a performer.

industry professionals with the purpose of providing training

Other projects to be showcased include the continuation of the inaugural 2017 artist-in-residency project with Dizu Plaatjies that saw the birth of the Indigenous Ensemble

and practical experience towards a career in the technical aspects of theatre.

Stay up-to-date on these and all other programmes and

Special Project; and the host of productions which highlight

productions through our various digital platforms. Be sure

our shared democratic history encapsulated in the Youth,

to follow Artscape on social media, including Facebook and

Women’s and Heritage Month festivals, as well as the

Twitter @ArtscapeTheatre; or visit our website on

flagship, Jazz Masters Tribute.

www.artscape.co.za For ticket bookings, prices and dates,

Many of the developing artists who have participated in Artscape’s youth-orientated productions, such as the

refer to Computicket or Artscape Dial-a-Seat on 021 421 7695. CF

Creative Feel / April 2018 / 61

ARTLOOKS & ARTLINES |

ISMAIL MAHOMED

Johannesburg’s theatres define the soul of the city

ASSITEJ SA’s Naledi Theatre Award-winning show Just Antigone, led by Billy Langa with Mahlatsi Mokgonyana as the director and music from Cape Townbased sound designer John Withers

W

ith a growing circuit of independent theatre

Leftfoot productions’ Nijinsky’s War at POPArt Theatre

There are few cities in the world where theatres located on

venues and newer arts festivals popping

university campuses present both student work and high-end

up in some of the most unusual places in

productions by professional companies. Both the Wits Theatre

Johannesburg, the city is proving that it is

and the University of Johannesburg Theatre take pride of place

alive and well. From the posh northern suburbs to the fast-

in the city as hubs for a range of boldly curated professional live

developing southern suburbs, there’s an interesting spectrum

performance festivals, including the iconic Dance Umbrella.

of work that entertains, inspires, challenges and informs.

In Johannesburg, South Africa’s most vibrant

Joburg Theatre, renowned for its annual pantomime created and directed by Janice Honeyman is also the

multicultural city, theatre enthusiasts can be assured of

producer of some of the most successful large-scale musical

finding anything ranging from home-grown South African

theatre productions. The Theatre also presents a bouquet of

theatre productions to Broadway and West End favourites.

classical ballet and contemporary dance.

The city is also home to an eclectic range of festivals from

In Newtown, the legendary Market Theatre, with more

the So Solo Festival at the Wits Theatre to the 24-hour

than 300 awards won over the past 42 years, is noted

Festival produced by the POPArt Theatre.

for originating new South African works. Celebrated

Connecting the kilometres between the Soweto Theatre

internationally as the leading South African artistic voice,

in the south of Johannesburg and the Montecasino Teatro

the Market Theatre now has a fourth performing arts space,

in the north of Johannesburg, there are thousands of

the Ramolao Makhene Theatre, housed in its impressive and

patrons whose support not only creates work for the city’s

award-winning Market Square complex.

creative forces but who also add value to the city’s vibrant cultural identity.

62 / Creative Feel / April 2018

In the heart of Hillbrow, the Windybrow Arts Centre is rising like a phoenix and forging its identity as a hub for

Pan-African creativity and expression. Surrounded by a diasporic African community, the Windybrow Arts Centre is a stone’s throw away from the Hillbrow Theatre where an annual Inner-City Schools Festival attracts thousands of learners to re-envision the city through music, theatre, dance and poetry.

The Festival of Fame, presented annually by the National School of the Arts, also continues to grow each year as it evolves with a programme that is bold and cutting edge. Not even the South African Constitutional Court, which is the

“ FROM THE POSH NORTHERN SUBURBS TO THE FAST-DEVELOPING SOUTHERN SUBURBS, THERE’S AN INTERESTING SPECTRUM OF WORK THAT ENTERTAINS, INSPIRES, CHALLENGES AND INFORMS”

showcases highlights from Grahamstown’s National Arts Festival – and the annual Naledi Theatre Awards.

The city is also an active hub for incubating the next generation of theatre-makers. With AFDA, the Market Theatre Laboratory, Wits School of the Arts and Oakfields College, there’ll be no shortage of new theatremakers who will continue to enrich the city’s cultural soul.

More than merely giving a cultural identity to Johannesburg, each of these performing arts spaces and festivals make a dynamic contribution to the city’s economy.

Jemma Kahn in We Didn’t Come To Hell For The Croissants

Not only do these theatres create work for writers, directors, actors and designers but they also inject significant business opportunities for an extensive range of service providers and hospitality industries who chew off the benefits of a thriving

vanguard of the nation’s access to Freedom of Expression and Freedom of Creativity, can stay away from the power

arts economy.

It’s time for the city authorities in the Metro Council

of live theatre. Under the leadership of Executive Director

in Braamfontein to take a closer look at the city’s theatre

and city tourism guru, Dawn Robertson, the Constitutional

economy through a wider lens. It might just be surprised at

Hill precinct is increasingly becoming a site for live

the important role the Metro Council can play in bringing

performances and public arts events.

all the role-players to a conference that can help the city to

As one departs from the inner-city to the northern suburbs, the highways lead to the National Children’s Theatre in Parktown, Daphne Kuhn’s intimate Auto &

reposition the way that it can take advantage of one its most vibrant resources – the arts!

After all, it is Johannesburg’s theatres that define, curate

General Theatre on the Square in Sandton and to Ntshieng

and sustain the heartbeat of the city’s nightlife. It’s here in

Mokgoro’s Olive Tree Theatre in Alexandra Township.

the concrete jungle where the city really comes alive. CF

Each of these theatres has developed a strong following of audiences. The city’s two casino theatres, Montecasino’s Teatro and Gold Reef City’s Lyric Theatre on either end of the of the northern and southern suburbs, also play to packed houses of audiences.

Added to these theatres, the city of Johannesburg also hosts the acclaimed Joy of Jazz festival, the

Artlooks & Artlines is a monthly column written by ISMAIL

MAHOMED,

CEO of the Market Theatre Foundation.

Zwakala Community Theatre Festival, the Johannesburg International Mozart Festival, the 969 Festival – which

Creative Feel / April 2018 / 63

Ntonzi, Donald Wasswa. Leather off-cuts and Gross thread

Donald Wasswa brings an unusual future world to life in solo exhibition

DEGENERATIVE EVOLUTION OF THE LIVING Creative expression meets future science in Degenerative Evolution of the Living – the mindblowing new solo exhibition from Absa L’Atelier 2016 Merit Award winner, Ugandan Donald Wasswa. Intriguing and provocative, the exhibition promises to change the way audiences look at animals, man and the evolution of both in our scientifically advanced modern society.

D

r Paul Bayliss, Absa Art and Museum Curator,

audiences to this showcase will not be disappointed,’ says

says the Absa Gallery is thrilled to welcome

Dr Bayliss.

Wasswa in this fascinating new exhibition.

‘Donald is renowned for pushing the boundaries

Degenerative Evolution of the Living explores the concept of animals and their progressive development

in his art, and we’re incredibly privileged to host his first

through a wide range of artworks, rendered in Wasswa’s

solo exhibition since his L’Atelier win and his first-ever

highly engaging trademark style. It draws on themes

solo exhibition in South Africa. Exhibitions like this are

such as Charles Darwin’s natural selection theory;

just another way in which Absa L’Atelier aims to help

living species’ desire to propagate better offspring than

further the careers of our continent’s emerging artists, and

themselves to ensure their long-term survival; cloning

64 / Creative Feel / April 2018

island of Sylt, Germany, which he won as part of his L’Atelier Merit Award.

‘I had the best time of my life during my residency. I used the time to reflect on what I wanted to do with my life, what made sense in life, what was life etc. It was refreshing; the perfect break. I made a few drawings related to how I was feeling at the time, even though I had not planned to make any works. Later, when I began to organise my works for this show, I realised three of the drawings I did during my residency were directly in line with the key themes I was exploring,’ adds Wasswa.

Those themes, he hopes, will inform public discussion and debate on the effects of the environment, time, and science and technology on human development.

Wasswa grew up in Nakivubo Flats in downtown Through the heart of every man, Donald Wasswa.

Albiza and Ebony wood

Kampala, but today lives and works in Buziga, a suburb in Kampala, where he runs Artpunch Studio.

Degenerative Evolution of the Living runs from 26 March until 20 April 2018 at the Absa Gallery in Johannesburg. The Gallery will also produce a virtual walk-thru of the exhibition, which will allow Wasswa’s many fans across Africa, including in his home country of Uganda, to enjoy the exhibition. CF

and the amplification of human intelligence with artificial intelligence.

‘The exhibition was inspired by the process of transformation, with a focus on humans versus a given environment, and the influence and effects of science and technology on both humans and their surroundings today. It’s an idea I developed after a discussion with fellow artists Genza Peter and Nakitende Sheila, where I imagined our current era as being the past, and humans living in a future existence – with these futuristic humans and animals presented in a museumlike space,’ explains 33-year-old Wasswa, who has long drawn inspiration from animals and animalistic forms.

Much of the appeal of Wasswa’s work – often described as unconventional and even experimental – lies in its abstract realism combined with his diverse use of media; he enjoys painting, sculpture and multimedia, with wood and mixed media being his current favourites.

This is evident in the exhibition, which features 22 ink on paper drawings; nine sculptures carved from the indigenous Ugandan hardwoods, teak, albizia and ebony; two wall sculptures and a set of three free-standing sculptures; and two installations.

Three of the drawings featured were conceptualised while Wasswa was in residency at the Sylt Foundation on the

Through the heart of every man, Donald Wasswa.

Albiza and Ebony wood

Amandla iliiswe iAfrika!, Thomas Nkuna, 1989. Oil on canvas

REMEMBER YOUR FREEDOM Since 1995, during the first half of every year, South Africans have celebrated some of the most important socio-political events in accomplishing the reconstruction of our nation’s history and the building of a free and democratic future.

F

ollowing Human Rights Day on the 21st of

commemorate the student uprisings in Soweto during 1976,

March, we also celebrate Freedom Day on the

in recognition of the sacrifice and contribution that our

27th of April to commemorate the first non-

youth have made to the struggle for democratic freedom.

racial democratic elections, which took place on

All these public holidays not only provide South Africans

that day in 1994. South African labour associations have

with much needed free time to relax or spend with friends

also, since 1895 on the 1st of May, participated in the

and family, but also an opportunity to remember and reflect

international May-Day celebrations, which commemorate

on the cost of that freedom and to commemorate those

the establishment of an eight-hour work day and the

who sacrificed their own freedom and lives in building a

legalising of trade unions; and on the 16th of June, we

new South Africa.

66 / Creative Feel / April 2018

TOP LEFT: Stop Apartheid Killings: (Matthews Goniwe) the struggle continues, Unknown artist (SASPU National, Johannesburg), 1985. Silkscreen TOP RIGHT: Regardless the Struggle Continues, Unknown artist (Wits SRC, Johannesburg), 1977. Silkscreen BOTTOM LEFT: Now you have touched the women you have struck a rock, Judy Seidman with the Medu Art Ensemble (Gaborone), 1982. Silkscreen BOTTOM RIGHT: Images of Human Rights portfolio: South Africa’s Bill of Rights, Norman Kaplan, 1996, Linocut

In celebration of these public holidays, the MTN SA Foundation features the Remember Your Freedom exhibition at the MTN head offices on 14th Avenue in Fairland, Johannesburg, from the end of March to the end of June. The exhibition comprises a selection of paintings, drawings and sculptural pieces by legendary South African resistance artists such as Thomas Nkuna, Charles Nkosi, William Kentridge, Robert Hodgins, Deborah Bell, Willie Bester, Willem Boshoff, Anthony Nkotsi, to name a few.

This exhibition also features a selection of linocut prints from the Images of Human Rights portfolio, which was initiated by a Durban-based non-profit

Botswana. Here he joined the ANC and co-founded the Medu

organisation, Artists for Human Rights, in 1996, the same

Arts Ensemble, an organisation of artists, musicians, writers

year that South Africa’s Constitutional Assembly adopted our

and actors who ran workshops in printmaking, photography,

nation’s new Bill of Rights. A group of 27 artists were chosen

film, theatre, music and literature. Mnyele devoted the rest

by regional galleries and each received a brief to create a

of his short life to political and educational work. Early in the

black and white image of one of the 27 clauses of the new Bill

morning of 14 June 1985, South African forces crossed the

of Rights. While aiming to re-inspire and communicate the

border into Botswana and launched an attack on Mnyele’s

meaning and spirit of Human Rights to South Africans, the

house. He rushed towards the fence of the property, but was

collection also engages on issues that threaten our democracy

shot dead as he clambered over it. Afterwards, when the

– issues such as racism, poverty, poor education and other

soldiers found Mnyele’s works, they put bullets through each

scourges. Master printer Jan Jordaan, of the Fine Arts

piece. Some were salvaged, but many of his works were seized

department at Technikon Natal, printed each limited edition

by the authorities. These have never been recovered.

of the 50 portfolios. In 1998, MTN contributed towards this

MTN has invested in the support of South African artists

important initiative and acquired one of the Images of Human

and art-initiatives since 1997 and continues to do so through

Rights portfolio for the MTN Art Collection.

arts and culture CSI projects focused on training, publishing,

A selection of MTN’s resistance poster collection of 158 pieces dating from the 1950s to the early 2000s also features on this exhibition. Many of these posters made at Medu between

awards, art collection partnerships, national touring exhibitions and in-house exhibitions at MTN’s head offices.

To view the Remember Your Freedom exhibition please

1979 and 1985 were designed and printed by artist Thami

contact Niel Nortje at the MTN Foundation on

Mnyele. In 1978, Mnyele left South Africa to go into exile in

niel.nortje@mtn.com for a guided walkabout. CF

Creative Feel / April 2018 / 67

Ga Etsho, Mohau Modisakeng

THE CONTEMPORARY

and the Millennial

The market for contemporary art globally is growing. The

traditional strength of the art market in South Africa has been in historic and modern painting and sculpture, roughly from

the late 19th century through the first half of the 20th century.

E

stablished markets for collectors have grown up

collectors. In addition, the amount of works by these high-

around artists like Irma Stern, Maggie Laubser and

end artists that are available in today’s auction market is

J.H. Pierneef, whose works trade reliably on both the

becoming less and less.

local auction market and internationally.

In the global market too this phenomenon can be seen in

But these established cornerstones of the collectable

the increasing paucity of Old Masters available at auction –

art market are often out of reach for newer and younger

symbolised by the sale to a private collector last year of the

68 / Creative Feel / April 2018

Fine Art auction turnover; 18 years later it now generates 15%. But despite the gains in collecting importance that contemporary art is making, it remains a somewhat skewed and concentrated market. Just three countries – the USA, China and the UK – have 89.4% of the market.

By contrast, SA has only 0.3% market share, but many of the top-selling contemporary artists from Africa are South African. In fact, the local market is demonstrating the same appetite for growth as the global one, if recent results on contemporary auctions are any guide. Aspire’s recent sales have seen world record and South African record prices fetched for work by artists as diverse as Louis Maqhubela, Dumile Feni, William Kentridge, Angus Taylor and Willem Boshoff. A newer market is also opening up for cutting edge contemporary work by younger artists such as AthiPatra Ruga and Mohau Modisakeng. Their presence and performance on Aspire’s recent Cape Town sale bears out the perception of a bullish market for contemporary work.

While the contemporary sphere continues to expand globally, the expansion of a collector base also requires infrastructural support from more areas than just the primary and secondary art markets themselves. Two of the most important factors in opening up new audiences to a passion for collecting art are education and exposure. While younger and newer collectors know what they like, the relative lack of reviews and analysis of trends and individual artists and exhibitions in the South African market makes things more difficult for artist and collector alike.

Art criticism in the mainstream was usually conducted by the established press, but with the gradual whittling away of this forum from daily and weekend newspapers, exposure to opinions and research about art has become more and more specialised and rarefied. Other institutions Children Under Apartheid, Dumile Feni

have stepped into the breach. Most of South Africa’s larger public and private art institutions run media, publicity and outreach programmes designed to educate and

so-called ‘Last Leonardo’ for over $450 million. Perhaps in

expose their collections to the public. The primary and

response to these market constraints for collectors, interest

secondary markets, in the form of art galleries, dealers

in the contemporary art market is growing.

and auction houses, have also expanded their educational

The ArtPrice Index for contemporary art reports that

and information marketing services to fill the gap. This

the market grew 14% globally through the first half of 2017,

includes in depth marketing catalogues of work – for which

relative to the previous year. This represents a growth in

Aspire has become justly respected – and information-

global auction turnover for the year to June 2017 to $1.6

rich advertising and marketing campaigns. While much

billion, equating to an increase in the average price per work

contemporary art continues to be neglected by mainstream

to $27 500.

cultural outlets, it is still finding a way to thrive in a

In terms of the market share of the segment, in the year 2000, contemporary art accounted for 3% of global

constrained climate, and to grow its investment and collector base. CF

Creative Feel / April 2018 / 69

LIFE SPECTRUM OF

‘Paint talks, if you allow it,’ says artist Elsa Duault as she discusses her upcoming exhibition Spectrum of Life at Berman Contemporary with Lucinda Jolly.

70 / Creative Feel / April 2018

A

rtist Elsa Duault crouches barefoot on the floor,

Although Duault’s works echo traditional marbled paper

pouring bright pigments onto a large stretch

in technique and abstraction, strictly speaking, they are

of paper like a small, pale god creating worlds.

probably closer to fluid painting. Fluid painting is defined

Duault is in the throes of generating a body of

as an abstract art utilising acrylic paints which, when

work called Spectrum of Life, comprising 60 oval pieces, some sculptures, collages and photographs. Her method loosely

combined, react to create organic-looking forms.

An example of fluid painting with a spin is French

refers to the ancient marbled paper technique known as ebri

artist Frédéric Fontenoy’s Blood and Milk series, where the

in Persia and ebru in Turkey (both meaning ‘cloud’), and the

elements of blood and milk are combined and captured

Japanese suminagashi, meaning ‘floating ink’.

on film with dramatic effect. Duault became aware of the

But what precisely is marbled paper? Its origins are said

relatively new fluid paintings ‘everywhere’.

to be as ungraspable as the instability of the process, which is

‘I’m always looking for the new,’ she says. In fact, fluid

shrouded in secrecy. This is partly because recipes were closely

painting was used in an advertisement for the Apple iPhone.

guarded, but also as marbled papers were never signed, the

But it was the British fluid painter, Mark Chadwick, who

artist’s identity was never known. Historians indicate that

Duault found online five years ago, that turned her on to her

the name comes from its similarity in appearance to veins in

current process.

marble stone. Briefly, the technique involves floating pigment

Duault experimented for two years, culminating in a

on a liquid to create a pattern. A piece of paper is then placed

paper marbling workshop in 2016 in Avignon, France, at the

over the liquid to receive the patterns.

historical Palais des Papes. Her approach is a highly focused,

The bible on this technique must be Richard J. Wolfe’s

physical one. As an ex-figure skater, she understands how

book, Marbled Paper: Its History, Techniques and Patterns.

‘in synchronised skating, you have to break up the body

Wolfe suggests that the precursor to marbling was in use as

with movement to make it interesting.’ She applies the same

early as the 6th century in China, where paper was dyed in

principle to her art pieces.

orange, yellow and red mixtures as a protection from the ravages of insects.

Paper marbling really comes into its own in Japan in the

‘The process expresses natural forces,’ she explains.

It involves the forces of both gravity and balance, the allowance for the element of chance and the

10th century at the time when, as Wolfe explains, Japan was

acknowledgement that there is ‘no sole creator’ and that

extricating itself from the strong influence of China and finding

‘other forces are at work.’ Ironically, she adds, ‘You have to

its own autonomy. For 400 years, marbled paper was reserved

control the gesture.’

exclusively for the Imperial House of Japan and nobility.

In the 15th century, marbled paper took hold in Turkey and Persia. It was used there for official documents as it eliminated forgery and was often gifted by nobility to other

Ultimately, ‘you want your viewer to feel the energy of the process,’ she says. The outcome is work with a dynamic feel, suggestive of having caught and captured movement mid-stream.

Duault’s works are both meditative and complex

nobility. It is not known for certain whether the adoption by

pieces ‘inspired by the natural environment’. ‘Nature

these countries had any connection with Asia.

is all around us – even in utilitarian objects such as

Wolfe writes that marbled paper became known to the

furniture,’ she says. Her work celebrates the natural

West via charmed travellers to Turkey and Persia in the

world, and her inspiration is entirely appropriate given

middle of the 16th century who brought samples home to

the current scarcity of natural resources, pollution, greed

Europe. Once marbled paper found its way to the West,

and plundering.

it became prevalent in everyday life, from the lining of

Her visual influences are, understandably, Paul Klee and

cupboards to drug powder wrappings and wall coverings. It

Wassily Kandinsky, both masters of process and chance.

remained popular from the mid-17th to mid-19th centuries.

Intellectually, she is in thrall of the writings and thoughts

With the advent of the Industrial Revolution and its

of the astrophysicist Hubert Reeves and cosmologist

emphasis on mechanisation, it faded into obscurity along

Stephen Hawkings.

with many hand-crafted processes. However, since the 1970s there has been a revival of the craft.

Duault first came across marbled paper unexpectedly,

Although her current works may be more complex than in the past, they maintains their original organic and aerial view feel. In this way, viewers can look forward to a slight

unaware of its existence, on the cover of her artist

shift in Duault’s modus operandi – with the introduction of

grandfather’s portfolio. She says, ‘I was drawn to its

the human element. The start being a self-portrait using a

hand-made quality.’

combination of marbling and fluid painting techniques. CF

Creative Feel / April 2018 / 71

THE ART OF PERFORMANCE |

DAVE MANN

Tiny Dancers, Pola Maneli

BRING ART HOME

W

hy do we keep art in our homes? What does it

to hear of groups of buyers who band together to buy up a

mean to have a framed print, a painting, or a

certain artist’s works, trading them among each other until

sculptural work in place of stock canvases and

they’ve raised the value high enough, and then selling them

vases from home-décor stores? Does keeping

off for dizzying amounts of money.

art in our lived spaces serve to enhance the space itself, or to

But as layered and complex as the art-buying market is,

enhance our experiences of the space? Does it influence the

I’m more interested in the organic process of collecting art –

way we go about our days, or does art simply exist to beautify

buying a piece you love and keeping it in some prized spot in

a space?

your home, purely for the love of the artwork.

Collecting art is a tricky business. Tricky because there

I’m reluctant to call myself an art collector. As much as I

are many factors to consider when purchasing a piece of

can, I save up to purchase the works of friends and favourite

art – price, space, value, content and more – but also tricky

artists’ works, but I’m hardly a high-flying collector with a

because collecting art can be used for rather seedy ends.

keen eye on the market. I simply buy the work I love, and the

Entire fortunes can be built and sustained through collecting art. The process of buying and reselling artworks

work I can afford, and I keep it in my home.

The first piece I ever bought was an editioned print

for enormous profit is one way to do so, and then there

by Cape Town-based artists Mo Hassan and Inspiral. I

are those who dodge the taxman by ‘donating’ artworks

knew of Hassan from his days as a graffiti writer, and I had

to museums or private galleries. It’s also not uncommon

recently interviewed him for a story on his new character

72 / Creative Feel / April 2018

illustrations. After combing through his Instagram and viewing his works online, I knew I wanted to have a physical work by him. We chatted via Instagram, made all the necessary transactions online, and a week or two later, a parcel containing two prints – the collab print, and another solo work by Hassan – arrived at my door. I was thrilled.

Since then, my walls have slowly been populated with original prints, paintings, and photographs by local artists.

Some of them are by artists I’ve written about or followed online, many of them are by friends. Most of the works mean something to me – a memory, a message, a way of thinking or performing in, or making sense of the world. There are others that I keep purely because I think they are beautiful and I enjoy looking at them every day.

Recently, I’ve become interested in the way my generation (I’m 26 so you can consider me a millennial if you’re that way inclined) collects art. People my age grew up in the digital boom and it’s shaped, for better or for worse, the way we interact with the world.

Social media, for example, can be an interesting influence on the way we collect and engage with art.

Oranges, Manjit Thapp

Creative Feel / April 2018 / 73

THE ART OF PERFORMANCE |

DAVE MANN

‘THE WORKS I KEEP IN MY HOME REFLECT SOME ASPECT OF WHO I AM OR WHO I’D LIKE MYSELF TO BE’ My walls, and the walls of many of my friends, will mostly be covered with a range of artworks from different Ancestral Mothers, Somnath Bhatt

artists, across different styles, mediums, colours, and motivations. In this way, it’s not too different from the way our Instagram profiles look – a bright and chaotic grid of curated, but far-reaching influences and styles.

While young art enthusiasts still visit galleries and attend exhibition openings, it’s often through social media that we’ll end up learning more about an artist, ultimately connecting with them and buying their work.

In the home of Joburg-based writer Youlendree Appasamy, four different works adorn her walls, all of them purchased from artists she’s never met in person.

One is Oranges by UK-based illustrator Manjit Thapp, while another is Ancestral Mothers by the US-based Somnath Bhatt, and Tiny Dancers by the Eastern Cape-based artist Pola Maneli make up the other two. All of them were purchased via Instagram, with Appasamy having followed the artists on there for some time.

‘Buying art via Instagram is interesting because you see the work on a screen and when it arrives at your door, you finally get to see the detail, the brush strokes, or the artist’s signature, you know? It’s not mass-produced, it’s still personal. There’s an element of surprise almost,’ explains Appasamy. ‘I also feel more comfortable buying art through Instagram because I didn’t grow up with a sense of how art is formally purchased. I feel there’s more accessibility – you can scroll through an artist’s portfolio online and although

74 / Creative Feel / April 2018

with the gallerist. Still, she didn’t seem to regret the decision at all and I imagine it now makes for a good story whenever someone sees it hanging in her home.

Art has a distinct ability to capture moments in time, too. Like family albums, trinkets, or even well-worn pieces of furniture, they’re things that build up over time and serve to represent specific and personal memories. The thing about works of art, though, is that they often express these things more intimately than other objects.

I have a framed photograph taken by a Durban-based artist in my home. I was born in Durban, but didn’t grow up there. I moved away with my family when I was too young to really form any firm connections with the city, but old enough to retain a few distant, hazy memories of the city. The photo – a wistful and balmy scene at Durban’s South Beach – seems to capture all informal, artists are truly professional. Buying through

of the feelings and memories about Durban that I can’t

galleries or by knowing the artists personally was never

put into words.

something that came to mind.’

The outcome of buying an artist’s work online is no

Similarly, I have two photographic works by a Joburgbased artist that capture and isolate two iconic Johannesburg

different from purchasing it through a gallery or private

buildings. Both images were taken in wet, stormy weather

dealer, either. Appasamy explains that she still keeps in

and see the buildings being shrouded in a thick, grey fog.

touch with the artists through Instagram and having their

When I first moved to Joburg, there was a lot about the city

work in her home means being able to discover more about

that scared and excited me, and even though the city’s now

the artworks and their meanings each day.

familiar to me, the photographs still remind me of those

‘The works I keep in my home reflect some aspect of who I am or who I’d like myself to be,’ she explains. ‘Art

uncertain days spent traversing a brand-new city.

Maybe it’s the case that we fill our homes with art so we

doesn’t have one fixed meaning, so the meaning I ascribe

can be continually faced with the things that move us. So

to a painting differs as my emotions do. It’s also really

that even on the worst of days, we can look at those works

important to me to wake up and see the things I love. We’re

and be reminded of all the things that inspire us, keep us

often restricted from that love in our daily movements or

grounded, or even irk us. And if art is simply another way of

interactions, so to find that moment every day in your home

making sense of ourselves and those around us, then filling

– that means a lot.’

our homes with new and different works of art can only serve

As African art continues to grow across local and

to make the outside world more bearable. CF

international markets, it’s unfortunate that buying a piece of art is still considered a luxury to many of us. Still, buying work from emerging artists, friends, or even prints of original artworks are ways to bring art into your home.

I once bumped into a friend who told me how, driven purely by impulse, she had just spent an alarming chunk

DAVE MANN is an editor and

of her salary on a piece she saw on exhibit at a gallery in

award-winning arts journalist.

Braamfontein. Eventually, she managed to pay it off in instalments over a few months – an agreement she reached

Creative Feel / April 2018 / 75

BUSINESS & ARTS |

MICHELLE CONSTANT

Numbers, narratives and SURFING BIG WAVES

I

’m creative when I’m surfing big waves.

This was the answer I filled in on my icebreaker name

support for every R1 million of supporting grant funds, in partnership with the Department of Arts and Culture.

tag at the BASA Research Colloquium, partnered by Hollard, in Johannesburg last month, where we shared

The BASA Artstrack research has shown that, on average, 46% of South Africans feel more positively about a company

two decades of research and best practice with business,

that has invested in the arts. When it comes to music

academics and friends of the arts. It’s also a good description

specifically, this level rose to 59% among audiences. (Indeed,

of BASA’s challenging work in recent years, surfing big waves

the BMi numbers show a larger audience for jazz than for

in South Africa’s public, private and arts sectors, defining the

soccer in this country…)

moments between the numbers and the narratives.

The numbers are impressive in themselves. To date,

Historically, private sector funding for the arts has come from corporate social investment, but over the last

BASA has been able to leverage R440 740 824 in sponsorship

decade, the BASA research has shown a shift. In attempting

from the corporate sector – that is R13 million of corporate

to understand why businesses fund the arts, we decided to

For 20 years Business and Arts South Africa (BASA) has been enabling, supporting and growing great, profitable and meaningful partnerships between South African business and the arts

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BUSINESS MEMBERSHIP 150

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The Business and Arts South Africa Research Colloquium, partnered by Hollard and US Embassy Celebrating 20 years of enabling thriving business/arts partnerships in South Africa

76 / Creative Feel / April 2018

DATE February 16, 2017 TIME 07h00 to 17h00 VENUE Hollard Campus Villa Arcadia More info here: www.basa.co.za

‘follow the money’; to see where the budgets for support of the arts came from. We call this a Shared Value Cycle, as we see a divergence of support coming from CSI and Marketing to HR for wellness, transformation and diversity; we see the arts supporting brand awareness and social currency, we see businesses engaging in the arts to grow cultural tourism.

“ALL IN ALL, THE BUSINESS PRESENTATIONS WERE POWERED BY PASSION, BY POSITIVE PARTNERSHIP AND A BELIEF IN AN INCLUSIVE FUTURE, FUELLED BY CREATIVITY”

What becomes clear is that the principle of Shared Value is supported when creativity and the arts are seeded in a company’s core strategy. Companies like Nando’s, Merrill Lynch Bank of America, Spier, Hollard, Standard Bank, Absa, PPC, RMB, Investec, and FNB all demonstrate diverse

important leadership quality they were looking for. This is

engagements with the creative and cultural sector. In fact,

a compelling narrative. For Callanan, the ultimate nexus

this week I spent some time at Spier Wine Farm, with the

between the arts and business comes in the form of ‘artist

Spier Arts Trust, and their approach to ESG (Environment,

innovators’. Think Leonardo da Vinci: a famed artist, who

Society and Governance) is highly commendable.

was also an avid and curious inventor. Indeed, it’s a strong

Indeed the Colloquium presentations proved the real

argument for the STEM (science, technology, engineering

calibre and creativity of business people that are engaging in

and maths) to STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts

the arts. Merrill Lynch revealed a focus on child-centred arts

and maths) approach in education.

engagement with their support of the schools outreach at

South Africa’s creative economy contributed more than

Wits Art Museum. PPC described to the audience the story of

R90.5-billion to the national economy, or 2.9% of the GDP in

an Imaginarium winner – a sculptor from the Eastern Cape

2013 to 2014, according to the DAC (Department of Arts and

– through theatre. Standard Bank invited Standard Bank

Culture) and SACO (South African Cultural Observatory).

Young Artist for Jazz, Nduduzo Makhathini, onto the stage

Over 60% of those practitioners are below the age of 34. In

to perform, taking the audience on an aural journey. RMB’s

referencing Hugh Masekela in his SONA speech, ‘I wanna

Yvette Nowell simply got down on the floor and danced,

lend a hand/Send me’, the message to each and every one

challenging the entire audience to do the same. What struck

of us to engage as citizens, is a clarion call by President

me was that we did not follow the numbers of RMB but

Ramaphosa. At BASA, we believe that the potential for cross-

rather the narrative – that as partners they are passionate,

sectoral and positive growth is immense. It’s time to surf the

fun and innovative.

big waves. CF

All in all, the business presentations were powered by passion, by positive partnership and a belief in an inclusive future, fuelled by creativity.

So, what can the arts mean for South African business

Business & Arts is a monthly column by

and, more broadly, for society? Speaker Laura Callanan,

MICHELLE CONSTANT,

whose trip was supported by the US Embassy, is a New

CEO of Business and Arts South Africa (BASA).

York native who founded the Upstart Co-Lab in 2015. She highlighted how artists offer creativity, an attribute that 60% of CEOs surveyed by IBM in 2010 felt was the most

Creative Feel / April 2018 / 77

LITERARY LANDSCAPES |

INDRA WUSSOW

SANTIAGO OR ARRIVING AT THE VERY END OF THE RAINBOW

Di Lu Galay, Artur Becker and Rodrigo Naranjo

Santiago, Chile

A

warm evening on a balcony on the 24th floor of

infamous prisons. Beyond his calm surface, his intellect and

one of Santiago’s modern high rise buildings that

emotions run amok against the inequality of the globalist

spread across the city: epitomes of the economic

and neoliberal economic model that Pinochet imported with

success that makes Santiago the powerhouse of

his CIA supported coup d’etat in 1973. Chile’s September

Latin America.

The most scenic sunset over the impressive Andes

11 is a date most wealthy and conservative Chileans fondly remember as the day of restoration. Their very own Blood

mountain range accompanies our conversation. Another

River. While we are talking, I look down onto the street and

conversation about trauma and reconciliation, about a

imagine the march of thousands of upper-class housewives,

troubled past that carries its wounds into the present and

beating their empty pots with their cooking spoons to

leaves the Chilean society divided and silenced.

oppose Allende’s socialist agenda. The beats of the wealthy

There are four of us, I am with Polish-German writer

being afraid to lose their power. The beats of the wealthy

Artur Becker, Burmese poet and human rights lawyer Di Lu

not wanting to share their assets. However, the power and

Galay and Chilean philosopher Rodrigo Naranjo. I take it as

wealth are still in their hands today.

a good sign that the golden glory of the sun resembles the

Rodrigo went into exile in the United States and the

glitzy mine dumps of my adopted home. Speaking about the

experiences of his youth as a muzzled warrior define his

mine dumps, it is not a long detour to discussing the tragedy

work and publications. In one of his most important books,

of today’s global injustices. There is one gruesome legacy

he wrote about the perpetuation of the slave mentality

from their pasts that connect South Africa and Chile: both

through the course of history.

are among those countries with the highest Gini-coefficient, which measures the economic inequality of countries.

Rodrigo Naranjo is a quiet man, a philosopher and humanist of note who spends his life fighting the

Descabellado, ¿Qué es Eso? La Dinámica del Cautiverio was published in 2016 and will hopefully be translated into English soon.

Rodrigo grooms a love-hate relationship with his

dictatorship that swallowed many members of his family

hometown and it is a blessing to conquer Santiago with his

and destroyed his former girlfriend’s life in one of their

stories and memories, to see it through his eyes. His complex

78 / Creative Feel / April 2018

personality is intriguing. He can be delightfully cheerful, charmingly sentimental or gloomy and imbued with an ontological pain.

Our workshop in Santiago is my third one in 2017, after those in Yangon and Phnom Penh, and my engagement with trauma and historical wounds brings me to the verge of a nervous breakdown. The constant preoccupation with pain and marginalisation is desponding my rabbit heart.

Rodrigo accompanies me to the emergency ward of posh Clinica Alemana while I am suffering a panic attack. And it is our discussion inside the cubicle while waiting for the doctor to arrive that I will always remember. We talk about reconciliation and what this means for us personally. A dear friend brightening up these bleak hours of anxiety.

In a way, Santiago reminds me of the Johannesburg of apartheid times. The suburbs of the poor and those of the rich are neatly separated. While the upper class enjoy their bucolic lifestyle at the foot of the Andes mountain range, the povertystricken neighbourhood of El Bosque is set in the bleak plains of Santiago’s vast urban landscape. El bosque means ‘the forest’, but apart from some mingy trees whose task to embellish the unkempt central square fails, there is nothing

“There are, that’s right, plenty of ways of disappearing, such as coming back pointing at him naming you and without being named by it, and so disappear by leaving your insights open, so as to pass through the threshold of an insomniac, who while dreaming sputters out like fire, the flame that returns is death that lives in order to die.”

RODRIGO NARANJO, XII. THE CRY OF THE WHALES, APARTADOS (2011)

green around. Hard-working immigrants, mainly from Colombia and Haiti, try to make a better life for themselves side-by-side with the notorious drug dealers who are destined to kill the futures of the kids of El Bosque before it begins.

‘official bourgeois tradition’ at an accessible price for

The distance between these lost souls and the jeunesse doreé

the country’s working class. Quimantú means ‘sun of

(gilded youth) in Las Condes is hardly bearable.

knowledge’ in Mapudungun.

A peculiar tent on an unkempt meadow next to a

Now it is managed by a group of engaged people who

train line and an untidy but buzzing market catches my

‘decided that dreams aren’t of much use if we don’t try to

attention... It hosts the Mapuche cultural centre, built to

make them a reality’, and there again I perceive the spark

preserve their cultural identity and teach their traditions to

of a revolution. A revolution fought by the intellectuals

the next generations... It seems a Herculean task without

who demand a dialogue about the past, who want to end

much of an audience.

the silence and see the perpetrators of the Pinochet years

Rodrigo, who knows many Mapuche writers and poets, talks about their desperate struggle to be heard, to be published.

brought to real justice.

On the balcony, we ask ourselves the same eternal

But in spite of all his experiences of violence, desolation and

question: How could one country bring to birth two so

alienation, Rodrigo considers himself an optimist.

dissimilar brothers at the very same time: a socialist

Does this optimism derive from the legacy of Salvador Allende? Allende’s dream of a just society that he defended

and a fascist, a famous poet and an infamous dictator simultaneously? CF

with his death in the Moneda, the presidential palace during the days of the coup, is still rooted deeply in half of Chilean society. More than a few art initiatives still celebrate the spirit of this socialist revolution.

We meet the publisher who reopened the famous Quimantú publishing house. La Editora Nacional Quimantú

Literary Landscapes is a monthly column by

INDRA WUSSOW, a writer, translator and director of the Sylt Foundation.

was created in 1971 by Salvador Allende’s government and founded under the premise of offering various literary works and a view of Chilean culture not covered by the

Creative Feel / April 2018 / 79

BOOK REVIEWS |

R E C E N T LY P U B L I S H E D

THE INVISIBLE CROWD

DARK PINES

By Ellen Wiles | Publisher: HQ, an imprint of

A Tuva Moodyson Mystery 1 | By Will Dean | Publisher: Point

HarperCollins Publishers | ISBN: 9780008228835

Blank, an imprint of Wildside Press | ISBN: 9781786072535

2nd March 1975

Five villagers. Six hundred square kilometres of Swedish

In Asmara, Eritrea, Yonas Kelati is born into a world of

forest. One reporter. Two bodies…

turmoil. At the same time, on the same day, Jude Munroe

For fans of Gillian Flynn’s Sharp Objects and Peter Høeg’s

takes her first breath in London, England.

Miss Smilla’s Feeling for Snow, a brand new debut crime

Thirty years later

writer introduces a Scandi-noir Tuva Moodyson Mystery.

Blacklisted in his war-ravaged country, Yonas has no option but to flee his home. After a terrible journey, he arrives on a

SEE NO EVIL

bleak English coast.

Eyes missing, two bodies lie deep in the forest near a small

By a twist of fate, Yonas’ asylum case lands on Jude’s desk.

Swedish town.

Opening the file, she finds a patchwork of witness statements

HEAR NO EVIL

from those who met Yonas along his journey: a lifetime the

Tuva Moodyson, a deaf reporter on a small-time local paper,

same length of hers, reduced to a few scraps of paper.

is looking for the story that could make her career.

Soon, Jude will stand up in court and tell Yonas’ story.

How she tells it will change his life forever.

SPEAK NO EVIL A web of secrets. And an unsolved murder from 20 years ago.

Can Tuva outwit the killer before she becomes the final

Ellen Wiles was born in 1981 and grew up in Reading. After

victim? She’d like to think so. But first, she must face her

completing a music degree at Oxford, she did a Master’s in

demons and venture far into the deep, dark woods if she

Human Rights Law, and then became a barrister at a London

wants to stand any chance of getting the hell out of small-

chambers, going off periodically to work, including on The

time Gavrik.

Bushmen Project in Botswana and with Karenni refugees in a

‘Atmospheric, creepy and tense. Loved the Twin Peaks

camp in Thailand. After scribbling fiction on the side for a while,

vibe. Loved Tuva. More please!’ C.J. Tudor, author of The

she did a Master’s in Creative Writing, and eventually quit law.

Chalk Man.

She is the author of Saffron Shadows and salvaged Scripts: Literary Life in Myanmar Under Censorship and in Transition

Will Dean grew up in the East Midlands, living in nine different

(Columbia University Press, 2015), which includes interviews

villages before the age of 18. After studying Law at LSE,

with Burmese writers and new literary translations. She is

and working many varied jobs in London, he settled in rural

currently doing a PhD in Literary Anthropology; researching live

Sweden with his wife. He built a wooden house in a boggy

literature; and directs an experimental live literature project. She

forest clearing and it’s from this base that he compulsively

lives in London with her husband and two small children.

reads and writes.

80 / Creative Feel / April 2018

MUSIC |

T H E L AT E S T R E L E A S E S TO S U IT A L L TA S T E S

All for one and one for all WORDS: BJØRN WOLL Duets | Rolando Villazón, Ildar Abdrazakov and Yannick Nézet-Séguin with Orchestre Métropolitain de Montréal | Deutsche Grammophon

D

uets represents a rare encounter between three

de perles, when both voices were suddenly all golden. The

leading figures from the world of opera, starting

orchestra beamed at me, and we were all overwhelmed by

with Rolando Villazón, one of the most famous

the beauty of the music. I’ll never forget it – this is what

and sought-after tenors of our day. Partnering him

making music is all about.’

in these duets is Ildar Abdrazakov, undoubtedly one of the

This number from Les pêcheurs de perles is arguably the

foremost basses of his generation, whose powerful voice is in

most famous duet for tenor and baritone or bass – not that

demand in all of the world’s great opera houses, from Milan

it has much competition. Abdrazakov’s extremely flexible

to Vienna and from Munich to New York. These two vocal

voice enables him to sing both baritone and bass roles. On

heroes are joined by no less a musician than Yannick Nézet-

the one hand, he has a secure top register that allows him to

Séguin, an absolute superstar among the current generation

undertake forays into some of the baritone repertory, while

of conductors. Currently the music director of the Orchestre

on the other he is a genuine bass with a sonorous lower

Métropolitain of Montreal, from the start of the 2020/21

register, which he needs for ‘Vieni a me, ti benedico’ from

season he becomes the principal conductor of New York’s

Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra. For Nézet-Séguin this duet is ‘a

legendary Metropolitan Opera, the great shrine of singing.

wonderful moment of calm in this album’.

Hearing these three artists speaking about each

This disc brings together duets from Italian and French

other, one can’t help but think of the Three Musketeers.

operas: not just popular numbers like the Pearl Fishers Duet

‘All for one and one for all’ could be their artistic credo.

(‘Au fond du temple saint’) but also rarities such as ‘Son lo

As Villazón emphasises, it is the sound-stage that the

spirito che nega’ from Boito’s infrequently performed opera

conductor offers his singers with his orchestra that allows

Mefistofele. Even Abdrazakov ventured into new territory

them to achieve such outstanding results. ‘Yannick’s

for this recording: ‘I’d already sung Escamillo from Bizet’s

conducting is incredibly precise, but then you get this wild

Carmen, but in the case of Donizetti, I’d previously only

side, where art, blood and soul all come to the fore. There’s

sung some of his serious roles. I’ve only just discovered

a flood of energy that streams from the orchestra – and it’s

his comic roles for myself!’ Rounding off the recording are

an incredible feeling to plunge into this river of energy.

two of the singers’ personal favourites, which pay musical

I’d already felt this at an earlier date, but never with the

tribute to their respective countries: a duet version of the

intensity that there was in this recording.’ The performers

famous ‘Granada’ by the Mexican composer Agustín Lara,

spent a week honing their ideal interpretation in a church

and the Russian folk song ‘Ochi chernye’. The two singers

in Montreal, a truly intense period for all concerned. But it

prepared for their recording of these numbers by giving

was also a source of great pleasure, as Nézet-Séguin recalls:

each other extra coaching in Spanish and Russian: one for

‘there was a moment during the duet from Les pêcheurs

all and all for one. CF

Creative Feel / April 2018 / 81

ENCORE DIANE ROSSI is passionate about all the arts. She completed her Master’s degree in Theatre Studies at UKZN and then worked for the Loft Theatre Company and Nicholas Ellenbogen. She subsequently taught at numerous tertiary institutions in South Africa and the US. Her passion, however, has always been jazz. Since 2007, she has been promoting jazz and jazz education via SAJE – the South African Association for Jazz Education.

Currently, Rossi organises outreach workshops, live music performances, mentorship projects, the biennial SAJE Jazz Conference and SAJE Jazz Festival.

Name three artworks that you love and why.

Name one thing you think would improve the arts and

Any photograph by Obie Oberholzer because he so

culture industry in South Africa.

splendidly captures the things I love (and hate) about

More funding from the business sector.

South Africa.

The stone-filled elephant sculptures by Andries Botha

What is your most treasured possession?

at Warwick Triangle in Durban – because they are bold

My family.

and magnificent.

Any play by Athol Fugard – because he makes us walk the

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?

tightrope of life in South Africa.

Losing a loved one.

Name one artist you would love to meet.

What is it that makes you happy?

Carla Bley.

To quote Leo Tolstoy… rest, nature, books, music, love for one’s neighbour.

What are you reading at the moment?

The Hare with Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal.

Describe a defining moment in your life.

Meeting my husband Mike.

What is in your car’s CD player?

Miles Davis – Kind of Blue.

What projects will you be busy with during 2018 and into 2019?

If you could change one thing about yourself, what

The 14th SAJE Jazz Conference (April 2018) and the 6th SAJE

would it be?

Jazz Festival (2019). SAJE will continue with its outreach

Sometimes I’m a trifle impatient – I don’t suffer fools easily.

and mentorship projects and live music performances (in conjunction with Concerts SA), plus facilitating an ongoing

How have the arts industries in South Africa changed

student/teacher cultural exchange programme between

over the last ten years?

South Africa and Italy.

The arts industries, in general, have flourished in some spheres, but in others because of the lack of arts funding

Name one goal you would like to achieve in the next

sadly there has been little or no change. Artists still struggle

twelve months.

to make a decent living.

To travel more. CF

82 / Creative Feel / April 2018

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