MUSIC, BOOKS, THEATRE & ART SA R36,90 (incl. VAT) - Dec 2018 / Jan 2019
12018 9
771607
519004
SCULPTURES
For the world at large
CONTENTS
COVER IMAGE Angus Taylor, Conduit Series: Sit (Red Jasper). Cast bronze, patina, red jasper and black banded chert on steel base, 174 x 121 x 150 cm. Edition 1 of 8. Courtesy of the artist and Everard Read Gallery
30 RMB WELCOMES AFRICA’S FEARLESS GIRL In March 2017, the iconic Fearless Girl statue by Kristen Visbal took its place on Wall Street. Now, in 2018, it’s time for Africa’s own Fearless Girl to take a stand.
34
The Hatfield Campus at the University of Pretoria
cover story
18 SCULPTURES FOR THE WORLD AT LARGE Tamaryn Greer and Lore Watterson of Creative Feel spoke to Mark Read, director of Everard Read
MUSEUMS BEYOND WALLS (UP) does not only feature beautiful historic buildings, but also a diversity of contemporary sculptures and other works of art.
36
THE V&A WATERFRONT
Gallery, about his passion for sculpture and his
The V&A Waterfront in Cape Town attracts roughly
role as a mentor to South Africa’s top sculptors.
24 million visitors each year and is most frequently thought of as a shopping destination.
arts and culture 16 STANDARD BANK TOASTS 35 YEARS OF SPONSORING THE YOUNG ARTIST AWARDS The latest list of winners of the Standard Bank Young Artist Awards for 2019 are announced.
24
SCULPTING A GARDEN
38 SUMMERTIME… AND THE LIVING’S DEFINITELY EASY AT ARTSCAPE THEATRE CENTRE 42 AUNTY MERLE COMES TO JOBURG Marc Lottering’s most beloved alter ego, Aunty
Dylan Lewis is widely recognised as one of the world’s
Merle Abrahams, sashays onto the stage for
foremost sculptors of the animal form, particularly of
the first time in Johannesburg with Aunty Merle,
big cats.
The Musical.
28 SOUTH AFRICA’S NEW ART DESTINATION
44 DREAMS, WISHES AND EXPECTATIONS_RECYCLED
When Norval Foundation opened in Steenberg,
Following the success of the Dreams, Wishes and
Cape Town, art and culture enthusiasts and the
Expectations exhibition at the Voices of Women
public alike gained access to a new space dedicated
Museum in 2017, a continuation will be held at the
to showcasing art exhibitions with global appeal.
Castle of Good Hope in Cape Town.
48 ENRICHING COMMUNITIES THROUGH ART
Known for his quirky on-screen persona, Jeff
Giving back to our families, to our communities, and
Goldblum has brought to life some of the most
to society at large is the essence of the Zulu saying,
iconic characters in cinema since the 1970s. Now,
Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu (a person is a person
at 66, he is passionately exploring another of his
through other persons), which is core to my life and
talents with the release of his debut album The
a slogan that I live by, writes Nkululeko Khumalo of
Capitol Studios Sessions on Decca Records.
Vaal University of Technology (VUT).
54
66 JEFF GOLDBLUM’S FEEL-GOOD JAZZ
INGRID BOLTON: CELLULAR
68 INTRODUCING TALENT TO THE CREATIVE ECONOMY
Ingrid Bolton’s latest solo show, Reconnect Cubed,
As part of its social missions, Vuyani Dance Theatre
showed recently at Berman Contemporary in Sandton.
works within communities to develop dance talent.
56 STEPHAN WELZ & CO. CELEBRATES A WELL-ROUNDED 50 YEARS IN THE AUCTION INDUSTRY Another year has passed and Stephan Welz & Co. is proud to say that 2018 has been a good year.
58 JUSTUS FRANTZ At the second concert of the Spring Season in Johannesburg, Justus Frantz took to the JPO podium to the great delight of audience members.
60 KATHERINE JENKINS’ GUIDING LIGHT Britain’s best-selling classical artist of the last 25 years, Katherine Jenkins OBE, has just released her new album Guiding Light via Decca Records.
lifestyle and entertainment 82
contributors 50
album, Hymn.
COLLECTING FOR THE FUTURE
Ruarc Peffers announces Aspire’s breakthrough year.
70
THE ART OF PERFORMANCE
Dave Mann looks at art and technology.
74
ARTLOOKS & ARTLINES
Ismail Mahomed looks at the life of Albertina Sisulu.
78
LITERARY LANDSCAPES Indra Wussow reports back on the Gong Laut
64 HYMN: AN EXCITINGLY ECLECTIC NEW ALBUM BY SARAH BRIGHTMAN Sarah Brightman has unveiled a new full-length
BOOK REVIEWS
festival in Indonesia.
80
BUSINESS & ARTS Michelle Constant gets ready for some December contemplation.
EDITOR’S NOTE
ANOTHER ANNUS HORRIBILIS?
I
s it really a year ago that I wrote the last December/January editor’s note? It seems to have been just yesterday and many friends, colleagues and clients feel the same about the fast pace of time. Many of us who are in the arts environment also feel that it has been a true
annus horribilis, and with that I am actually repeating last year’s note. Instead of having improved, we feel that in the past year the arts and creative sectors have had even more drama than deserved, with disruptions at the National Arts Council (NAC), the South African Music Rights Organisation (SAMRO), the Market Theatre Foundation, and the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF). As Michelle Constant writes, ‘This has caused higher levels of tension in the sector, and deepening mistrust between agencies, staffing, the sector and broader society. It talks to the need for extremely rigorous governance and interrogation as we move forward.’ Perhaps all this contributed to her resignation as the CEO of Business and Arts (BASA)? But as she says, it has also made her more determined to stay in the arts sector and make her own mark and contributions. Her column in our magazine will continue and great plans are being made for those pages. For us here at Creative Feel, all of these disruptions also mean that we have to work even harder to persuade clients to believe in and to invest in the arts. For the clients who still do so, we are really grateful and thank them. Actually, we are lucky to have so many loyal ‘old’ or, rather, ‘long-term’ clients and subscribers. We have some fantastic partnerships already in place for next year and are excited about these events that still make our arts sector the vibrant, colourful environment we all love, while providing work for artists and, of course, marketing budgets for Creative Feel – wonderful partnerships indeed. To share our commitment to the environment – and to face a new exciting design challenge for the ‘Feel’ of our publication – we have decided to change the paper we are printing on. With this, our first issue on the new paper, we are entering a new phase and a time of greater awareness of the environment. We will be also changing how we package the magazine in order to get away from plastic once we have finalised the software we will use. The whole Creative Feel team will be recharging their well-worn 2018 batteries over the next few weeks and we all wish you, our friends, clients and readers, a wonderful and restful festive season and a peaceful new year, hopefully with less disruptions, and instead full of possibilities for our country and the arts – both deserve it!
6 / Creative Feel / December 2018 / January 2019
Lore
We love... giveaways
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 Dave Mann Michelle Constant SALES & MARKETING COORDINATOR Zama-Africa Mkhize; zama@desklink.co.za SALES & MARKETING sales@desklink.co.za, sales@creativefeel.co.za Tshepang Ralekgari; tshepang@desklink.co.za DESIGN Leigh Forrest; leigh@desklink.co.za DISPATCH Khumbulani Dube
It’s been one helluva year – again. We’ve seen Zuma resign as president, the DA go after its own people, Trump exercise his megalomania, the rise of racial tensions (as well as the petrol price) and the flaring of tempers. All while the Guptas fled the Saxonwold Shebeen. Who better to make sense of this than Zapiro, political analyst, cartoonist and agent provocateur. He has the ability to knock the air out of us, to rock us back in our seats, and to force us bolt upright with a 1000-watt jolt of electrifying
SUBSCRIPTION & CIRCULATION subs@creativefeel.co.za Published by DeskLink™ Media PO Box 3670, Randburg, 2125 Tel: 011 787 0252 Fax: 011 787 8204 www.creativefeel.co.za www.desklink.co.za
shock. He makes us angry, he makes us laugh and he makes us think. He shines a light on the elephant in the room, presents the emperor in all his naked glory.
Printed and bound by
Impossible to brush off, he is determined to provoke a response.
Company
To stand a chance to win a copy of Zapiro’s Let the Sunshine In, email us at competitions@creativefeel.co.za and let us know which of Zapiro’s 22 annuals has been your favourite.
, a Novus Holdings
© Copyright DeskLink™ Media The opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent the views of the publisher.
And... to win a copy of one of the ‘Illustrated books for young imaginations’ (see pages 84 – 85), email competitions@creativefeel.co.za and let us know which book appeals to you and who you will be giving it to if you win.
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.
8 / Creative Feel / December 2018 / January 2019
It is that time again!
2019... arriving... arriving... arrived!
Y
es, it has started: the madness in the stores and shopping malls filling up with ‘Christmas cheer’. Now is the perfect time to escape to Casta Diva Boutique Hotel – a hidden sanctuary north of
Pretoria where you and a few friends can break away from the consumer-driven holiday season... your place to retreat. Casta Diva now boasts a total of 30 beautifully decorated, elegant accommodations. In addition to four-star accommodation, this boutique hotel offers the culinary skills of the Charisma Restaurant kitchen team. Here, the food is excellent, the ambience
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.
is elegant, the service like no other, and the experience is always memorable. Book a table for a romantic dinner, a small family function or simply just a special meal. If you enjoy supporting established or up-and-coming local artists, book tickets for one of the events hosted in the intimate Vissi d’Arte Theatre/Art Gallery on a Saturday evening. Visit the ‘Casta Diva’s Vissi d’Arte’ Facebook page for updates on events. So, whether it is a break away from the Christmas madness, a relaxed Christmas lunch, or a way to rejuvenate and prepare for the new year before work starts and life commences, why not find peace at an oasis just outside the city?
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.
Take time for yourself and enjoy the peaceful beauty of the best-kept secret in Gauteng – Casta Diva Boutique Hotel, the place to… Enjoy life. On stage at Casta Diva’s Vissi D’Arte Theatre in December: Andiswa Makana’s Homecoming Opera Gala With Friends on 8 December at 19:00. This special classical performance has been organised by young, upcoming baritone Andries Aldrich in celebration of South African-born, international sensation, soprano Andiswa Makana as she returns to South Africa. Makana will perform opera arias and duets, lieder, and operetta arias and duets. She will be joined on stage by her dear friends Coert Grobbelaar (tenor) and Andries Aldrich (baritone), and will be accompanied on piano by legendary accompanist Susan Swanepoel. Be ready for an intimate concert of a lifetime, you will not want to miss this one! Entrance is free, but a donation for the participating artists is highly appreciated. To book, call 071 141 4938 or email info@castadiva.co.za CF
10 / Creative Feel / December 2018 / January 2019
AVAILABLE NOW
Sanmarie Kreuzhuber as the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella PHOTO Lauge Sorensen
Joburg Ballet’s magical Cinderella waltzes into Montecasino for the Christmas season
A
dazzling night, a glittering ball, something wonderful is bound to happen when the ultimate fairy tale – Joburg Ballet’s production of Cinderella – comes to The Teatro at Montecasino from 14
to 23 December. Marking the company’s first major season at the popular venue, Cinderella offers an unmissable chance for Teatro audiences to enjoy Joburg’s world-class ballet company as it expands its reach across the city. Choreographed by Joburg Ballet’s artistic director Iain MacDonald in 2013, Cinderella will waltz across The Teatro stage with Johann Strauss’ champagne-infused melodies providing the perfect musical setting for the ultimate ragsto-riches tale. Andrew Botha’s glittering designs frame the action and the full company will light up the theatre in a family-friendly production brimming with charm and magic. ‘Strauss composed some of the most enchanting and memorable classical music ever written and Cinderella, his only ballet score, is no exception. With Christmas just around the corner, it’s the perfect outing this holiday season,’ MacDonald says. ‘We’re also inviting our audience members to bring a little magic into a child’s life this Christmas by depositing a gift in our special gift box in the main foyer before any Cinderella performance and we’ll pass CHRISTMAS GIFT IDEAS
it on to our chosen charity, NG Welfare.’
FOR DANCE LOVERS
Bryan Hill, Teatro general manager, says: ‘We’re thrilled to be hosting this exceptional production and we know that
If you’re looking for the perfect gift for
Joburg Ballet’s many fans, both existing and new, will enjoy
the dance-lover in your life, a range of
an incomparable performance when visiting The Teatro at
Joburg Ballet performances (including
Montecasino this festive season.’
Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet, Snow
General manager of Montecasino Mike Page adds:
White and Carmen), all captured live at
‘Montecasino is all about making memorable moments
Joburg Theatre, are available on DVD
for all our visitors – and Cinderella will add a special touch
from the Friends of the Ballet’s online
of magic to our exciting festive offering. We look forward
store via www.fotb.co.za. Both single
to welcoming the superlative Joburg Ballet and their
and double box sets cost R250 and
enthusiastic and delighted audiences in December.’
make the perfect Christmas present
Tickets start from just R150 and booking is open via Computicket on 0861 915 8000 / www.computicket.com. CF
for any budding ballerina or grown-up dance lover.
Keep up to date with all Joburg Ballet’s news on www.joburgballet.com / Twitter @JoburgBallet / Facebook @JoburgBalletCompany / Instagram @joburgballet
Jake Aikman, Veiled Distances, 2014, oil on canvas, 150 x 210 cm, R200 000 – 300 000
AUTUMN AUCTION ENQUIRIES & FREE ART VALUATIONS CAPE TOWN +27 21 418 0765 ct@aspireart.net JOHANNESBURG +27 11 243 5243 enquiries@aspireart.net
www.aspireart.net
Cape Town | 3 March 2019 Historic, Modern & Contemporary Art SELL WITH US. CONSIGN NOW.
Entries close 16 January 2019
Cape Town Opera’s Youth Development and Education Department recently embarked on an evocative new project with young learners in Khayelitsha and Stellenbosch: The People of Nyalashishi (a fictitious place, meaning ‘People of the Soil’).
Cape Town Opera’s The People of Nyalashishi
T
he new musical production evoked memories
and techniques to the learners. For this project, George
and stories of San and Xhosa cultures, and
and Magatyana had to conduct intensive research on San
their relationship with water and other natural
culture and language. All 44 students were taken on a road
resources. What do these cultures’ past
trip to the !Khwa ttu San Culture and Education Centre
practices teach us now during a time of drought and
on the West Coast, and cultural historian and traditional
environmental degradation? How can we learn from the
music artist Dizu Plaatjies taught the creative team about
past to influence our future?
indigenous musical instruments.
Twenty-five students at Khayelitsha’s Chris Hani Arts
Magatyana is Xhosa, making the music composition
& Culture High School, and 19 students at Makupula
familiar and easy. ‘It was an opportunity for me to
Secondary School in Kayamandi, Stellenbosch, participated
introduce traditional music to the learners, who are from
in this workshop-style musical theatre production. Over
the city, and not necessarily from our villages in the
the course of three months, director Mhlanguli George and
Eastern Cape,’ he says.
composer Bongani Magatyana met with the school learners
The People of Nyalashishi was created with funding from
on a weekly basis to create, rehearse and perform the text
the National Geographic, Rand Merchant Bank, Maria Marina
and music.
and the Western Cape Government. Performances took place
‘Theatre is not only about speaking the lines,’ says George, explaining how he introduced theatre concepts
14 / Creative Feel / December 2018 / January 2019
at Chris Hani on 10 October and at Makupula Secondary on 25 October 2018. CF
Joburg Ballet presents
Joburg Theatre • 29 March – 7 April 2019 Book now for 30% Early Bird discount 0861 670 670 • joburgtheatre.com
Shannon Glover & Bruno Miranda Photo: Lauge Sorensen
CARLO MOMBELLI
CARLO MOMBELLI Angels and Demons A 1 / In Search of the Holy Grail 2:42 2 / Pulses in the Centre of Silence 5:40 3 / The Ghost of Norcia 1:54 4 / The Ghost of Norcia - Part 2 2:20 5 / The Ritual of Memories 4:53 6 / Glissando 3:18 B
Carlo Mombelli lets loose his Additional musicians: Maria Mombelli / voice and tenor saxophone Janus van der Merwe / bass clarinet Peter Cartwright / piano on 'Like a Mouse in a Maze‘ and 'The Children of Aleppo‘ Susan Mouton / cello
ANGELS and DEMONS
1 / Athens 7:56 2 / The Spiral Staircase 4:43 3 / Like a Mouse in a Maze 1:32 4 / Children of Aleppo 4:25 5 / In the End we all Belong 2:57
Angels and Demons Assistant engineer: Luyanda Libala. Mixed and mastered by J.B. Arthur at Joe’s Garage, Johannesburg. August 2018.
All music composed and arranged by Carlo Mombelli. Published by Mombelli Music. Recorded by J.B. Arthur. Recorded at Sumo Sound studios in Johannesburg on the 15th and 16th July 2018. Produced by Carlo Mombelli.
Ink artwork by Gina Nelson.
The piano part of 'The Children of Aleppo‘ was recorded on the 25th June 2018.
Thanks to the Angels and Demons quartet, Kyle, Keenan and Jonno for the beautiful melodies, textures and colours you created. Peter Cartwright, thank you for capturing that piano part on ‘Like a Mouse in a Maze‘ and 'Children of Aleppo‘ with your beautiful playing. Thanks to Jo for recording and mixing the music as it sounded and Luyanda for assisting in capturing the sound. Big hugs to Rouleaux for making this Vinyl edition a reality. A special thanks to my two daughters, Gina for the beautiful ink artwork and Maria for your beautiful voice. Very proud Dad. Also, thank you Susan and Janus for your great input on this album. A big thanks to my wife Sandra for my inspiration. And lastly thanks to the National Research Foundation and Wits University for the help to make this recording possible. Peace and love to all of you.
PR015
PR015
Carlo Mombelli’s latest release, Angels and Demons, is everything you would expect from the master bassist and composer.
One of South Africa’s most impressive jazz
Above: Angels and Demons album cover Carlo Mombelli PHOTO J Rees
innovators, his music has been described by the BBC as ‘hauntingly beautiful’.
I
n his 40-year career as a bass player, bandleader and composer, Carlo Mombelli has bridged gaps between genres, musicians and audiences. A self-taught musician, he has recorded and performed at many respected
festivals, including the Roma Villa Celimontana Jazz Festival,
Jonno Sweetman (drums). Also contributing musically
the Stockholm Jazz Festival, the German Moers, and the
are Carlo’s daughter Maria Mombelli (voice and tenor
Banlieues Bleues Festival, to name a few.
saxophone), Janus van der Merwe (bass clarinet), Peter
In addition to his over 100 recorded works and
Cartwright (piano on ‘Like a Mouse in a Maze’ and ‘The
performances with his own projects, Mombelli’s composition
Children of Aleppo’) and Susan Mouton (cello). Mombelli
commissions include more than 14 films/documentaries
himself is credited for ‘electric bass and voice and
and animations, music for a mobile game, commissions for
instrument sound designs’.
the Stockholm Saxophone Quartet, piano music for the art
2018 has been a busy year for Carlo Mombelli. In
film Exquisite Corps, and his recent piece for the GRAMMY
addition to recording Angels and Demons, he has also been
Award-winning New York String Quartet, entitled ‘Ethel’.
touring the country with the Angels and Demons Quartet.
Of Angels and Demons, Mombelli says, ‘My new project is
He has been completing a book for Real African publishers
about my on-going search to create works of beauty between
entitled Pulses in the Centre of Silence – The Compositions
my Angels and Demons, works that explode out of these two
and Composition Process of Carlo Mombelli, which is also
opposites. It is an exploration of the positives and negatives
due for release this year. And that’s just what he has been
of everything. Striving for beauty in my art is my lifelong
busy with in South Africa. He performed his music with
quest and I put my projects together for this end.’
the Italian Euregio Ensemble at festivals in Switzerland,
Mombelli’s purpose with the project is to tell a story. ‘It
Austria and Italy; he debuted a new project at the Bird’s
is a story. At the end of a performance, the audience raptures
Eye Jazz Club in Basel, Switzerland, with Adrian Mears and
into applause or is in dead silence because the energy of the
Andreas Tchopp on trombones, with special guest Jorge
concept of the band is spiritual. I am always trying to find
Rossy on vibraphone; and he was a guest lecturer at the
the spiritual element in music.’
Basel Jazz School in Switzerland.
The recording features longtime Mombelli
Angels and Demons will be launched at the Norval
collaborators and renowned jazz musicians (named
Foundation in Tokai, Cape Town on Sunday 8 December. To
for this project as the Angels and Demons Quartet),
buy tickets, visit www.norvalfoundation.org or visit
Kyle Shepherd (piano), Keenan Ahrends (guitar) and
www.carlomombelli.co.za for more information. CF
16 / Creative Feel / December 2018 / January 2019
Mandla Mlangeni, Megan-Geoffrey Prins, Gabrielle Goliath, Amy Jephta and Kitty Phetla
STANDARD BANK TOASTS 35 YEARS OF SPONSORING
the Young Artist Awards with five new innovators for 2019 Since its inception almost four decades ago, one national award has come to be regarded as the ultimate accolade for young South African arts innovators on
T
he National Arts Festival announced the recipients of the 2019 Standard Bank Young Artist (SBYA) Awards as Mandla Mlangeni (Jazz), Kitty Phetla (Dance), Megan-Geoffrey Prins (Music), Amy Jephta
(Theatre) and Gabrielle Goliath (Visual Art). Each of these exceptional young artists will receive a
the cusp of greatness. The latest list of
cash incentive, as well as a commission to premiere a new
winners of the Standard Bank Young Artist
work or exhibit on the Main Programme of the 2019 National
Awards for 2019 proves that the creative
27 June to 7 July 2019.
fire that fuelled their predecessors in the 1980s burns just as fiercely in the current generation of South African arts pioneers.
Arts Festival, taking place in Makhanda (Grahamstown) from These five young stars join a long list of illustrious SBYA alumni who have attained dizzying creative and professional heights over the years. Since 1981, the ranks of SBYA winners have included Sibongile Khumalo, William Kentridge, Mbongeni Ngema, Pieter-Dirk Uys, Johnny Clegg, Vincent Mantsoe, Gregory Maqoma, Janice Honeyman, Helen Sebidi, Lara Foot, Darrell Roodt, Robyn Orlin, Jerry Mofokeng, Andrew Buckland, Sam Nhlengethwa and Marthinus Basson.
18 / Creative Feel / December 2018 / January 2019
Mandla Mlangeni is a jazz trumpeter and composer who has become a popular fixture on local and international stages since being
with a Business and Arts South Africa (BASA) Award in the Sustainable Partnership category. Desiree Pooe, head of Group Sponsorships at Standard
selected for the Standard Bank National
Bank, says: ‘Over the 35 years of Standard Bank’s
Youth Jazz Band in 2006. A gifted bandleader,
sponsorship, the Standard Bank Young Artist Awards have
Mlangeni has carved out a name for himself
become regarded as an illustrious accolade that takes pride
with various bands and ensembles, including
of place on any artist’s CV.
the Amandla Freedom Ensemble, with which he has released two albums. Kitty Phetla is a senior soloist and
‘We value and appreciate the prestige that the award holds in the local and international art community and take our role as sponsors very seriously. It is a great honour for us
choreographer at Joburg Ballet. She has
to recognise and reward these artists for their talent, and to
toured and performed extensively on stages
contribute to moving their careers forward. We continually
across the globe. A career highlight was
strive to support South Africa’s creative economy by
dancing The Dying Swan solo for Nelson
elevating their craft.’
Mandela and the Dutch royal family, but one
National Arts Festival Executive Producer Ashraf
of her most noteworthy recent performances
Johaardien notes: ‘There are so many young South Africans
was her Queen Modjadji-inspired Rain Dance
producing incredible, important work that, every year, the
for Cape Town, in situ at the then-parched
Festival’s artistic advisory committee has its work cut out
Theewaterskloof Dam. Megan-Geoffrey Prins is a pianist whose prodigious talent was evident early on – he had performed with all of South Africa’s major orchestras by the age of 14. Today, while studying for his doctorate in music in Cleveland, he traverses the world as a solo performer and chamber musician, often returning home for concerts, teaching engagements and community outreach initiatives Amy Jephta is a playwright who has also built a reputation as a filmmaker, activist and academic.
“There are so many young South Africans producing incredible, important work that every year the Festival’s artistic advisory committee has its work cut out when deliberating on who should win”
A champion of theatre by and for women, she has been a driving force in local and global initiatives promoting
when deliberating on who should win. Foremost in the
opportunities for women playwrights. Aside from her
committee members’ minds is how these creative upstarts
theatre work, she wrote the script for the film Ellen – The
have already seized the baton and taken the initiative to
Ellen Pakkies Story and is editing a collection of plays by
produce outstanding work – we are simply giving them an
African women.
additional platform and the enhanced profile to reach even
Gabrielle Goliath is a multidisciplinary artist who is known for sensitively negotiating complex social concerns
greater heights.’ Adds Johaardien: ‘For almost 40 years, the SBYA
in her work, particularly relating to gender-based and
recipients have produced work that captures the zeitgeist
sexual violence. Among this PhD candidate’s long-term
of our times, sometimes at the risk of incurring the ire of
performance projects is her Elegy series, where each iteration
political or corporate power elites. They upset apple carts.
marks the absence of a woman or LGBTQI+ individual who
They are bold and unapologetic in their creativity, as they
has been raped and killed in South Africa.
train their gaze on making sense of the here and now.
The 2019 Standard Bank Young Artist Awards marks 35
They are the artistic conscience of our times, and what
years of Standard Bank’s sponsorship and of its partnership
they reflect and refract through their lenses has the power
with the National Arts Festival, representing a winning team
to ignite conversations and shift perceptions, to provoke
that shares a strong commitment to enriching the country’s
and to entertain. As we celebrate 45 years of NAF next
arts landscape by giving a platform to successive generations
year in the newly renamed Makhanda, we look forward
of diverse, exciting and progressive creative voices. In 2010,
to the fresh and bold insights that the 2019 crop of SBYA
Standard Bank and the National Arts Festival were honoured
winners will bring.’ CF
Watch Creative Feel in 2019 for more in-depth features on these talented Young Artists.
Building legacies
The Everard Read stand at FNB Johannesburg Art Fair 2018
Sculptures
for the world at large Tamaryn Greer and Lore Watterson of Creative Feel spoke to Mark Read, director of Everard Read Gallery, about his passion for sculpture and his role as a mentor to South Africa’s top sculptors.
20 / Creative Feel / December 2018 / January 2019
Guy Pierre Du Toit, King and Queen, 2018. Bronze, 170 x 122 x 110cm. Edition 5 of 12
I
t’s a warm day, so Mark Read suggests we sit on the deck
Nirox are dotted with large-scale three-dimensional works
outside his home on top of the Everard Read Gallery for
by some of the country’s most respected artists, most of
our chat. The views from up here are spectacular, and
whom are Everard Read artists.
Read’s two passions are immediately evident: art and
Mark Read is deputy chairperson of the WWF South
conservation. He eagerly points out the baobab tree he is busy
Africa Board, has previously held positions at Christie’s
growing – just one of the many well-tended plants that fill the
Fine Art Auctioneers, London, and was a founding trustee
rooftop space.
of The Rhino and Elephant Foundation, a co-founder of the
He points out a striking bronze by Deborah Bell; a
Palaeontological Scientific Trust (PAST) and a founding
custodian of the skyline, visible from his bedroom window.
partner of the Great Plains Conservation Tourism Company.
Read’s love of sculpture is the reason for our meeting.
He took over as director of Everard Read Gallery from his
Everard Read Gallery represents most of the sculptors in
father in 1990 and has been a part of the business for 40
South Africa – sculpture gardens like Norval Foundation or
years. When he took the reigns, the gallery, which is now 105
Creative Feel / December 2018 / January 2019 / 21
That the gallery now specialises in large pieces, says Read, is ‘half conscious, half chance.’ One thing he does credit for making this possible is the excellent foundries that we have in South Africa. ‘About 20 years ago, for various reasons, the foundries upped their game. South Africa has brilliant foundries, quite a number, and the bronzes that they produce are really, I generally hate the term “world-class”, but they are. They’re up there with anything, anywhere.’ This hasn’t always been the case, he says. Decades ago, there were a few foundries in SA, but if you really wanted ‘something very upper-class’, you had to send it to Italy or the US or the UK or France. ‘In South Africa, sculptors now have the ability to take their work to a top-quality foundry. Nothing’s cheap, but it’s certainly less money than elsewhere in the first world,’ says Read. ‘So there’s been this great relief on the part of artists that are interested in three-dimensional works of art – that they can actually produce something that is a valid interpretation of what they started out with. They can trust
Norman Catherine, Balancing Act. Bronze, 98.5 x 43.5 x 47cm. Edition 1 of 12 years old, ‘sold about 20% bronzes and 80% paintings, and now it is absolutely the other way around for this business, and I find it absolutely remarkable,’ says Read. ‘I’m privileged to lead the team whilst I’m around here, in growing it as much as we can, and doing what we can for artists from all over the continent. People are really deeply interested in what is happening, and not a day goes by without some extraordinary person from somewhere in the world reaching out and trying to find out how they interface with us and the artists we show.’
22 / Creative Feel / December 2018 / January 2019
Blessing Ngobeni, The Narcissist. Powder Coated Mild Steel, 61.5 x 55 x 27cm
that the plaster ends up actually being properly transposed into bronze in a way that pays homage to the artist’s work.’ It’s a feedback loop, says Read. As artists grow, their work stimulates the foundries. Dylan Lewis, for example, when he started out ‘had absolutely not a brass farthing’, and his first bronzes were about the size of a cricket ball. ‘But then he got bigger and bigger and was very demanding of the foundries and stimulated them to do bigger and better things… Dylan’s imprint on Cape foundries was immense. ‘He was the person, in my opinion, who pushed the foundries down there to really up their game, and now they do monumental works for him that sell throughout the world.’ Lewis now has his own sculpture garden in Stellenbosch. ‘It’s incredible that one man can go from not being able to cast anything bigger than a cricket ball to actually purchasing a fabulous place in amongst the Winelands and then sculpting it very tenderly. It’s got wonderful lakes and his
Dylan Lewis Sculpture Garden PHOTO Elsa Young
All images courtesy Everard Read Gallery and the artist
pieces dot the area and do a botanical wander
Speelman Mahlangu, Riding The Bull II (Maquette). Bronze, 44 x 32 x 20cm. Edition 2 of 8
through this fynbos garden with these bronzes rising out of the fynbos – it’s just incredible. It’s really a gift for South Africa and it’s profound, it really is, that one artist can do that. ‘Dylan and I have worked a lot together and we had shows of his work in India and London, and I must say, that gave me a lot of impetus. I started to attract the attention of collectors and artists because of our success.’ One such artist is Deborah Bell. ‘One of the reasons why she wanted to show with us is that I said to her that we would underwrite the costs of any bronze.’ To really dominate the bronze market, says Read, they had to commit to helping the artists do what they need to do – ‘we generally, not all the time, but generally pay for the bronzes and then we recoup our investment when the bronze sells. ‘We are now in the process of casting an entire exhibition of absolutely wonderful bronzes from Deborah Bell for her Cape Town show in March next year. There are about 18 bronzes, including one very monumental piece, which I think will be the most exciting three-dimensional work of art in South Africa in the coming year. It’s a woman of the world who’s clasping sort of a bowl and water is almost leaking through her breasts into a bowl.’
24 / Creative Feel / December 2018 / January 2019
Brett Murray, Bart In Africa, 2018. Bronze, 120 x 60 x 62 cm. Edition 2 of 6
Brett Murray is another artist Everard Read has
Everard Read’s artists are achieving enormous successes
placed considerable investment in. ‘He went from being,
internationally, something Read finds as unchallenging
essentially, a commentator on the political landscape in
logistically as shipping a magazine. There are considerations
two-dimensional works into, primarily, a sculptor at the
to take into account though, which the Everard Read Gallery
moment.’ Murray’s bull bronze, entitled Again Again, which
does advise on, such as ensuring that when the sculpture is
is now at Norval Foundation, cost just over R2 million just
lifted out of the shipping container, the belt that suspends it
to cast it. ‘You can’t expect an artist to cover that, it takes
doesn’t rub against and damage the patina.
a heavy swallow for me to do it.’ Murray also has a show coming up in Cape Town in 2019. Everard Read also represents Angus Taylor. Known for
Under the guidance of Mark Read, Everard Read is now the go-to gallery in South Africa for sculpture collectors across the globe. With galleries in Rosebank, Cape Town,
his powerful, often monumental, sculptural works, Taylor
Franschhoek and London, Everard Read is, as Read puts it, a
works with an extraordinary range of materials from his
rising star. CF
immediate environment – Belfast granite, red jasper and the orange soil found near Pretoria, where his studio is based. Taylor, says Read, ‘has his own industrial casting facility which totally backs up everything he does. It allows him to scale to extreme proportions. He has massive gantries to hold things in position, huge drilling machines, and he’s got his own foundry – he can cast in stainless steel, which needs to be cast at such a high temperature that it is a very rare thing to be able to do. It’s a profound thing that he has built up there. ‘Rina Stutzer, his wife, has just done a huge bronze of Africa for the Mall of Africa, so they really are on the map for developers who are creating massive buildings. For instance, Angus is putting a huge piece outside the presidential palace in Addis Ababa. Another large piece of his is going into a
“To really dominate the bronze market, says Read, they had to commit to helping the artists do what they need to do – ‘we generally, not all the time, but generally pay for the bronzes and then we recoup our investment when the bronze sells’”
building in New Delhi, he has monumental pieces littering Australia, so he is enormously busy.’
Deborah Bell, That One Voice, 2018. Bronze, 42 x 90 x 30cm. Edition 1 of 12
Creative Feel / December 2018 / January 2019 / 25
Sculpting a garden
26 / Creative Feel / December 2018 / January 2019
Dylan Lewis Sculpture Garden PHOTO Elsa Young
Dylan Lewis is widely recognised as one of the world’s foremost sculptors of the animal form, particularly of big cats. But over the past decade, he has carved out a new space in the form of the magnificent seven-hectare Dylan Lewis Sculpture Garden in Stellenbosch, a project he considers his ‘largest sculpture to date’.
T
Words: Catriona Ross
he making of a garden rarely goes according to plan. For Dylan Lewis, his garden began serendipitously in 2009, when he hired an excavator to make a level play area for his children behind the family’s house
on a farm in Paradyskloof. ‘When the earth-moving machine began work, I was mesmerised,’ he says. ‘It was like a giant sculpting tool, with the potential to transform the derelict tract of flat farmland we lived on into dynamic shapes and forms.’ Over the next two years, the artist shaped hills, valleys and water features, then set about planting and placing sculpture in relation to the surroundings. Today, over 60 pieces spanning his career have been grouped into distinct areas: his early bird pieces; big cats and African animals; and the human figures he has explored since 2005, including shamanic images, male and female torsos, and increasingly abstracted, largescale works. Two kilometres of paths lead visitors through various ‘rooms’, including a meditative poplar grove, a pavilion, a hidden grotto, a succulent zone, a pepper tree grove of leopard bronzes, and a pink heather hill topped by a giant masculine figure. Botanically, the garden is focused on indigenous plants, particularly fynbos, incorporating many buchu species, and ericas, of which a large selection of unusual varieties has been sourced from Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden. Born in Johannesburg in 1964, Lewis has held exhibitions in Paris, Sydney, Toronto, Houston and San Francisco, as well as numerous one-man exhibitions in London, where he is among the few living artists to have held solo auctions at Christie’s. The garden depicts not only his career progress but his inner evolution. Where once he expressed powerful feelings only through animal subject matter, the artist now produces honest and intimate human groupings. This shift reflects
Creative Feel / December 2018 / January 2019 / 27
"The garden depicts not only his career progress but his inner evolution. Where once he expressed powerful feelings only through animal subject matter, the artist now produces honest and intimate human groupings"
Dylan Lewis Sculpture Garden PHOTO Elsa Young
28 / Creative Feel / December 2018 / January 2019
Dylan Lewis Sculpture Garden PHOTO David Ross
"Botanically, the garden is focused on indigenous plants, particularly fynbos, incorporating many buchu species, and ericas" a healing within, he believes: ‘Now I’m no longer hiding behind the animal. I’m fully in the human realm.’ Lewis’ human figures enact the range of emotions of which we are all capable without attaching to them labels such as good or bad, desirable or undesirable. ‘For me, the only way I can get to my own authenticity is to remove judgement,’ says the artist. The tension seen in many of his figures underscores a central theme: wilderness versus tameness. ‘I’m fascinated by the metaphor of nature and trying to control it, and our inner nature and our attempts to control that,’ says Lewis. ‘The garden is an attempt to make some meaning of the energies that afflict and guide me in life. It’s a reflection of my passion for sculpture and wilderness, and, more than anything else, a relentless search for an internal untamed land.’ CF Dylan Lewis Sculpture Garden tours and visits are by Dylan Lewis PHOTO Elsa Young
appointment only. For bookings and ticket sales, please contact info@dylanart.co.za or phone +27 (0) 21 880 0054.
Creative Feel / December 2018 / January 2019 / 29
South Africa’s new art destination When Norval Foundation opened in Steenberg, Cape Town on 28 April 2018, art and culture enthusiasts and the public alike gained access to a new space dedicated to showcasing art exhibitions with global appeal, in an environment that also fosters an appreciation for nature.
A
djacent to Table Mountain National Park, Norval
also the custodian of the Edoardo Villa Estate Collection,
Foundation was designed by dhk Architects and
the Alexis Preller Archive and hosts the Gerard Sekoto
features world-class, purpose-built galleries, a
Foundation. In addition, it incorporates Bruce Campbell
sculpture garden, outdoor amphitheatre, research
Smith’s Revisions Collection and a significant collection of
library, a restaurant and bar, a shop, and a children’s playground. The Norval family are the founders and initial funders
publications on South African art. The Sculpture Garden at Norval Foundation features three-
of Norval Foundation. Their aim is to make art widely
dimensional and installation-based artworks. The unique site,
accessible to local and international visitors, by creating a
bisected by a protected Cape Lowland Freshwater Wetland
self-sustainable centre for art.
and surrounded by the natural beauty of the Western Cape,
The Homestead Art Collection, housed at the foundation
features flora that are indigenous to the area. The placement of
as a curatorial asset, is one of the leading collections of
artwork takes the site into consideration, using the contours of
20th-century South African art, assembled by the Norval
the garden to hide and reveal work, creating an experience of
family over the past two decades. Norval Foundation is
discovery for the viewer.
30 / Creative Feel / December 2018 / January 2019
Victor Ehikhamenor, Isimagodo (The Unknowable), 2016. Enamel paint and steel, 450 x 200 x 150cm. On loan from the artist and NIROX Foundation Trust
by South African-Zimbabwean artist Michele Mathison: Kakiebos (2017), Fault Line (2017), and Volition (2017). An exhibition of works by Helen Sebidi as well as Wim Botha’s Prism are currently on exhibition at Norval Foundation’s purpose-built galleries. Ending on 24 January 2019, the Helen Sebidi exhibition looks at her continued dedication to issues of non-western mythologies, ancestry and traditional African value systems. Through the relationship between dreams and ancestry, Sebidi references the politicisation of landscape, and its relationship to growth and issues of creation. Wim Botha has developed a singular visual language through the interpretation and questioning of icons from the natural world, including African fauna, European regalia, architectural The exhibition programme in the Sculpture Garden aims
motifs and works of art historical significance. This exhibition
to represent a plurality of practices currently taking place in
brings together key works in Botha’s career, including commune:
the region, including artists working with the figure, narrative
suspension of disbelief (2001) and Prism 13 (Dead Pietà) (2015),
and mythology, abstraction and post-minimalism, and craft.
alongside a new major and immersive installation.
Following its acquisition by the Homestead Art Collection,
From 13 February to 25 August 2019, Norval Foundation
Norval Foundation will unveil Yinka Shonibare’s Wind Sculpture
will host an exhibition of David Goldblatt’s photographic
(SG) III (2018) as part of the permanent display in their
series On the Mines. Exhibited as a complete set for the
Sculpture Garden on 13 February 2019. Accompanying the
first time, it documents the communities and landscapes
sculpture unveiling will be a solo exhibition by Shonibare in
associated with the gold mines of Gauteng, South Africa in
the Norval Foundation gallery. Shonibare’s practice considers
the 1960s and 1970s. This exhibition will be accompanied
how colonial and postcolonial representations and identities
by texts written by Nobel Laureate Nadine Gordimer, which
function within complex historical and contemporary networks,
sensitively respond to Goldblatt’s photographs.
particularly in the relationship between Africa and Europe. Nandipha Mntambo’s sculpture Ophelia (2015) is a
Norval Foundation has invited Ibrahim Mahama to create a site-sensitive work, which will be exhibited from 13 February
Sculpture Garden highlight. In Mntambo’s interpretation of
to 18 August 2019. Mahama’s practice, predominantly focused
Ophelia, a character in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the artist
on installation and architectural interventions, questions
places herself in the role of the tragic protagonist moments
Africa’s role in the global exchange of commodities and
after she has thrown herself into a brook and drowned.
the way labour is valued. This is suggested by the materials
Mntambo’s choice of Ophelia, one of Western literature’s great
Mahama employs, such as hessian sacks that bear traces of
female characters in one of its most iconic plays, is indicative
cocoa production and used shoeshine kits. CF
of the artist’s practice of creating hybrid narratives that draw upon both Western and African cultures. Historically, Ophelia has not been played by an African or Black women but Mntambo questions this norm by confidently inserting herself into this role. Ophelia is also a recurring art historical theme,
Nandipha Mntambo, Ophelia, 2015. Bronze and mild steel, 303 x 121 x 25cm Collection of the artist
perhaps most famously in paintings by Sir John Everett Millais and John William Waterhouse, both part of the Pre-Raphaelite movement that took place in the late 19th century in England. Norval Foundation’s Sculpture Garden also features William Kentridge and Gerhard Marx’s Fire Walker (2009-10), Wim Botha’s Prism (Flush) (2013-18), Victor Ehikhamenor’s Isimagodo (The Unknowable) (2016), Joni Brenner’s Kin (2015-16), Brett Murray’s Again Again (2015), Angus Taylor’s Holderstebolder (2018), Speelman Mahlangu’s Riding the Bull I (circa 2004), Mark Swart’s Voyage (2016), and three artworks Brett Murray, Again Again, 2015. Bronze, 250 x 180 x 260cm. Homestead Art Collection Creative Feel / December 2018 / January 2019 / 31
RMB welcomes Africa’s
Africa’s Fearless Girl by Marieke Prinsloo-Rowe at RMB’s Think Precinct
Fearless Girl
A symbol of pride, courage, and strength. In March 2017, the iconic Fearless Girl statue by Kristen Visbal took its place on Wall Street, standing defiantly and staring down New York’s bronze Charging Bull by Arturo Di Modica. Now, in 2018, it’s time for Africa’s own Fearless Girl to take a stand.
32 / Creative Feel / December 2018 / January 2019
C
ommissioned by RMB and created by
RMB’s Athena initiative: Towards equality in
Cape Town-based artist Marieke Prinsloo-Rowe,
the workplace
the artwork shows a proud and courageous African
As a demonstration of RMB’s commitment to promoting
teenage girl walking alongside a contemporary
equality in the workplace, Africa’s Fearless Girl complements
concrete lion. The lion doubles up as a functional bench, and
the brand’s gender equality initiative Athena, first launched
invites viewers to sit and contemplate the ideals inherent in
in 2015. Through the Athena initiative, RMB works towards
‘fearless femininity’.
creating an environment where women feel they are
Having been inspired by Wall Street’s Fearless Girl, RMB envisioned a life-size, Afro-centric version of the artwork that would speak to the values of individuality, courage, and strength. After embarking on a nationwide search for female
empowered to achieve their individual career goals, while growing the number of women in leadership in finance. ‘New York’s original Fearless Girl highlighted a need to change the perception of what it takes to build a successful company. This is what we wanted to create for RMB – but
sculptors, Prinsloo-Rowe’s concept, which depicted a
with a distinctly African narrative,’ explains Dharshni
quintessentially African Fearless Girl walking alongside
Padayachee, Inclusion and Equality Lead at RMB.
a male lion, captured this vision. The lion references the RMB brand’s ‘Lion and Key’ logo. The work, which debuted at the 2018 RMB Turbine Art Fair, now forms part of RMB’s Think Precinct Collection and is an inspiring, functional, and engaging artwork, to be enjoyed by RMB and all its visitors. Art captures the spirit of the time RMB CEO James Formby explains that when RMB invests in the arts, it is also investing in the lives of young artists and communities, and contributing to the growth of the overall creative economy. And when it comes to transformation in the workplace, art can be a leading factor in how a company and its
“Africa’s Fearless Girl is a constant reminder of the important role women play in positively influencing economies at all levels of society. RMB, therefore, plans to extend her presence to some of our offices across Africa next year”
workforce communicates.
Linda Kachingwe-Sisya
‘RMB believes that arts, culture and creativity can contribute to a strengthened economy,’ explains Formby. ‘But more importantly, they can capture the spirit of the time, transform lives and bind together, not only hearts and souls, but entire societies and nations. Having a
‘Our Fearless Girl takes her rightful place alongside
corporate art collection on-site helps to reflect the culture
the male lion in our Think Precinct, reiterating one of
of the company in an unspoken way. For example, Africa’s
Athena’s key principles of not having to “man up” to have
Fearless Girl expresses how diversity and gender equality
a successful career at RMB. Athena is, however, not a
are valued and embraced. Our people and clients have
women’s conversation. Instead, it is a business imperative
always had easy access to the palpable energy that original
with the clear agenda being to focus on both men and
creativity exudes. Artworks are generously displayed across
women, together with the collaborative diversity they offer.
workspaces and our newly refurbished Think Precinct hosts
This makes Africa’s Fearless Girl an incredible beacon of
our most extraordinary sculptures in one central, outdoor
hope to young women in Africa – encouraging us to lead in
area, for all to experience.’
a way that is authentic.’
Creative Feel / December 2018 / January 2019 / 33
Gert Kruger and Linda Kachingwe-Sisya with Africa’s Fearless Girl by Marieke Prinsloo-Rowe at RMB’s Think Precinct
Extending her reach
In addition to
Linda Kachingwe-Sisya, who oversees RMB’s marketing
the life-size bronze,
portfolio for Africa, feels that ‘a woman’s place’ in society
RMB commissioned
has become the narrative around women in Africa,
a limited edition of
despite them taking up leadership roles at a presidential
20 maquettes, 60
level, in parliaments and in boardrooms – alongside
centimetres in height,
their traditional responsibilities at home and in the
which were launched
community. ‘Africa’s Fearless Girl is a constant reminder
at the RMB Turbine
of the important role women play in positively influencing
Art Fair. Such was the
economies at all levels of society. RMB plans to extend
appeal of the narrative
Fearless Girl’s presence to some of our offices across Africa
that Africa’s Fearless
next year,’ Kachingwe-Sisya says.
Girl conveys, that the full edition was sold out on the first
The addition of Fearless Girl to the Merchant Place
Rumbi Vambe and Charlotte Barnard at the St Anne’s unveiling of Fearless Girl
evening of the Fair. Reasons to purchase ranged from personal
campus also endorses the international 16 Days of Activism
art-collecting, to acquiring gifts for ‘fearless female’ loved
Against Gender-Based Violence campaign.
ones. Particularly meaningful was the story of the St Anne’s
‘At RMB, we want to create a workplace where everyone,
Diocesan College class of 2014, who matriculated this year,
irrespective of gender, can thrive and achieve success
and collectively purchased edition number 14 to present to
in their careers,’ says Co-head of RMB’s Investment
their school at their matric farewell ceremony. The maquette
Banking division Emrie Brown. ‘It is unbelievable how a
will most likely find her home in the foyer of the new theatre
sculpture can encapsulate so much and with such beautiful
complex, due for completion in early 2019.
simplicity. For me, Africa’s Fearless Girl demonstrates some
RMB believes that everywhere she goes, Africa’s
key characteristics for success – optimism, courage, and
Fearless Girl will serve as a visual reminder of an
resilience to deal with challenges that might come her way,
environment where all people are encouraged to fearlessly
and focus and tenacity to pursue her goals with loads of
reach their potential; at the same time taking the equality
positive energy.’
conversation across society. CF
34 / Creative Feel / December 2018 / January 2019
Creative Feel
Creative Feel www.creativefeel.co.za
www.creativefeel.co.za JUNE 2017
DEC 2018 / JAN 2019
MUSIC, BOOKS, THEATRE & ART SA R36,90 (incl. VAT) - Dec 2018 / Jan 2019
12018 9
771607
SCULPTURES
For the world at large
519004
Creative Feel Magazine subscription for 6 months for only R205 or 12 months for R365. Visit www.creativefeel.co.za/shop/
J O I N T H E C O N V E R S AT I O N Creative Feel
|
@CreativeFeel |
@creative_feel
W W W. C R E AT I V E F E E L . C O. Z A
MUSEUMS beyond walls
When walking across the Hatfield Campus at the University of Pretoria (UP), one does not only pass beautiful historic buildings with noteworthy architectural features, but also a diversity of contemporary sculptures and other works of art. These public sculptures and artworks often go unnoticed, yet they form an integral part of the University’s campus heritage. The more than 40 sculptures are accessible to the general public, students and staff, and form a living extension of the collections curated and managed by the UP Museums.
O
fficially opened in 1995, the Edoardo Villa Museum is situated in the Old Merensky Library building on the University of Pretoria’s Hatfield campus. The museum exhibits a broad range of sculptural
objects by the Italian-South African artist Edoardo Villa (1915 – 2011), works by Anton van Wouw (1862 – 1945) as well as sculptures by a few other South African artists. Villa came to South Africa as a prisoner of war during World War II. He spent several years in a Prisoner of War camp in Cullinan, east of Pretoria. Upon his release after the end of the war, Villa chose to stay and live in South Africa as a full-time artist. While some of Villa’s works reveal the influences of his European background, he was also strongly influenced by African sculptural traditions and, together with Cecil Skotnes and Sydney Kumalo, was a member of the Amadlozi group, which sought to popularise traditional African sculpture. The museum also includes many smaller sculptures in maquettes that Villa designed while planning larger public artworks. On the lawn in front of the museum building are Villa’s large cement works. One is also able to appreciate his distinctive
36 / Creative Feel / December 2018 / January 2019
Sculpture by Anton Smit
Sculpture by Guy du Toit
steel sculptures exhibited publicly across the University of Pretoria campuses. The western, eastern and central wings of the museum house some of the finest sculptural works comprising more than 208 classic and modern sculptures on public display. The oldest sculpture is titled Bird catcher by Anton Van Wouw, dated 1881. Many of the new additions to the museum gallery share a particular enriched narrative and reflection in relation to sculpture within a South African context. Such narratives are evident in other acquired works such as the art of Collen Maswenganyi (1977), Lwandiso Njara (1987) and Jan van der Merwe (1958). This open public display and ever-expanding collection is considered one of the largest permanent sculptural collections at any university in South Africa. Beyond the museum walls, dispersed across the main campus, as well as on other campuses, is a public sculpture collection consisting of more than 41 works that serve as memorable landmarks of the University of Pretoria. These include sculptures by Mike Edwards, Guy du Toit, Mary Steinbank, Fanie Eloff, Thijs Nel, Ike Nkoana, PHOTOS courtesy the University of Pretoria
Andre Otto, Noria Mabasa, Rhona Stern, Lucky Sibiya, Anton Smit, Coert Steynberg, Angus Taylor, Isaac Seoka, Berco Wilsenach, Dorte Berner, Elly Holm, Danie de Jager and many other notable South African
“Beyond the museum walls, dispersed across the main campus, as well as on other campuses, is a public sculpture collection consisting of more than 41 works that serve as memorable landmarks of the University of Pretoria”
artists. The museum aims to promote the cultural, artistic, and aesthetic vitality of sculpture within the University of Pretoria and the wider Capital City. This diverse sculptural collection celebrates the creativity of the artists who created them in the form of abstract expressionism, realism, and constructivism. The museum offers guided tours to visitors and scholars for exploration, research, and knowledge to evoke the culture of art appreciation, art understanding, and to foster an ongoing dialogue between art and diverse communities. CF ADMISSION: Free of charge HOURS: Open Monday to Friday 08:00 –16:00. CLOSED: Weekends, Public Holidays and December CONTACT: 012 420 2178 / 012 420 6419 EMAIL: museums@up.ac.za TOURS: hcstours@up.ac.za or Tel: 012 420 5155
Creative Feel / December 2018 / January 2019 / 37
View of Zeitz MOCAA in the Silo District, architecture by Heatherwick Studio PHOTO Iwan Baan
The V&A Waterfront in Cape Town attracts roughly 24 million
The V&A Waterfront
visitors each year and is most frequently thought of as a shopping destination, with Victoria Wharf Shopping Centre, the Watershed, Alfred Mall, the Clock Tower, Dry Dock District, Breakwater and, its most recent addition, the Silo District.
T
he V&A Waterfront isn’t all about rampant
which dates back to 1725 and is the harbour’s oldest
materialism and hedonistic pleasures. It is still a
heritage site. The grand old Castle of Good Hope and its
fully functioning harbour; there are attractions for
coastal cannon batteries like the Chavonnes Battery and the
the history buffs; and, of course, with the opening
Amsterdam Battery were the watchdogs that guarded Table
of Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (MOCAA), the
Bay and its road-stead from invaders in the 17th, 18th and
Silo District has become one of the most important exhibition
19th centuries.
spaces of contemporary art in South Africa. The V&A (Victoria & Alfred) Waterfront was named
Foreign ships making landfall at the Cape were expected to fire a salute of blank shots on entering the bay, not only
after Prince Alfred, who tipped the first load of stone to start
to signal their friendly intentions but also as a greeting. The
the construction on the harbour in 1860, and his mother,
salute would be answered by the coastal fortifications – on
Queen Victoria. The V&A Waterfront encompasses many
the understanding that a volley of cannonballs might meet a
landmarks, including the Chavonnes Battery fortification,
ship that did not fire a greeting.
38 / Creative Feel / December 2018 / January 2019
Nobel Square at the V&A Waterfront
There is the infamous Breakwater Prison. It was
The old Grain Silo, originally built in 1920, remains
constructed in 1859 to house British convicts working on
the tallest building in the V&A at 65 metres. The V&A
the breakwater, which eventually allowed the harbour to be
Waterfront’s R500-million refurbishment of this historic
built. Also to be found are the Robinson Dry Dock (one of
Grain Silo into a fit-for-purpose home for Zeitz MOCAA is a
the oldest operating dry docks in the world) and the Iziko
work of art in itself, while still preserving the historical look,
Maritime Centre.
feel and many features of this iconic building.
A more recent addition is the Nobel Square in the
The refurbishment required converting over 100
Waterfront, which pays tribute to South Africa’s four Nobel
27-metre tall concrete silo tubes, each with a diameter of up
Peace Prize Laureates: the late Albert Luthuli, Archbishop
to 5.5 metres, into a functional space to house the not-for-
Emeritus Desmond Tutu, former State President F.W. de
profit museum. The art collection is showcased in a custom-
Klerk and former President Nelson Mandela.
designed space that occupies nine floors (9 500 square
The larger-than-life bronze sculptures of the four
metres), while 6 000 square metres have been dedicated to
laureates were created by internationally acclaimed artist
exhibition space. The remainder of the space was used to
Claudette Schreuders to reflect the ambiguities of the
create the Silo Hotel, a 28-key luxury boutique hotel.
search for an ‘African’ identity in post-apartheid South
The new industrially aesthetic pedestrianised space
Africa. Also here is the Peace and Democracy sculpture by
invites visitors to meander along the working harbour with
Noria Mahasa, which symbolises the contribution of women
its ships, cranes, gantries and other technology required in a
and children to the struggle. It’s etched with pertinent
working harbour. CF
quotes by each of the great men, translated into all the major languages of the country. Mandela, speaking at the original launch of the project in December 2003, described the Nobel Square as a gesture celebrating and promoting reconciliation. ‘We need to celebrate ourselves and our achievement as often as we can.’ Tutu, the 1984 recipient, said that the real heroes of South Africa were the so-called ordinary people. ‘What happens here is not a tribute to the four of us, but to the people of South Africa.’ The project has the blessing of the Nobel Institute in Norway. At the recent SAPOA Property Development Awards for Innovative Excellence, the Silo District won the prestigious Best Overall Building, Best Overall Heritage Building, and Best Overall Refurbishment Awards for the Grain Silo conversion to the Zeitz MOCAA. The property also won the Best Mixed Use Development and Best Green Development Awards for the overall Silo District.
Creative Feel / December 2018 / January 2019 / 39
Scene from Matilda The Musical
SUMMERTIME…
and the living’s definitely easy at Artscape Theatre Centre
Artscape Theatre Centre is excited to usher in its summer programme, along with a brand-new look and feel for its front-of-house foyers – the perfect complement to the many facilities that make Artscape the world-class theatre that it is.
40 / Creative Feel / December 2018 / January 2019
W
ith Artscape’s stages hosting first-
9 December until 13 January. Matilda The Musical is the
rate performances, it is essential
multi-award-winning musical from the Royal Shakespeare
that the theatre caters to the
Company, inspired by the beloved book by the incomparable
needs of today’s performing
Roald Dahl, telling the story of an extraordinary little girl
arts and provides patrons with a comfortable
who, armed with a vivid imagination and a sharp mind, dares
theatre-going experience. The foyers have thus
to take a stand and change her own destiny.
been transformed to include modern, world-class
Also perfect for the whole family over the holiday
facilities that prioritise audience comfort, an
season is The Little Mermaid, showing from 14 December to
improved atmosphere, flexibility and disabled
6 January in the Artscape Theatre. Adam Sage’s telling of
access. Bar facilities and coffee stations have
this captivating story features the delicate Little Mermaid,
been increased for easier access and faster service
the Handsome Prince, the evil Sea Witch and many more
during intervals. Patrons can now also enjoy free
enchanting characters. Choreographed for the Missouri
WiFi access and can view the all-new audio-visual
Ballet a few years back and performed to sold-out theatres,
screens in the foyers for information or show
this production will highlight the versatility and acting skills
details. And, the theatre’s doors remained open
of the dancers of the Cape Town City Ballet.
throughout the year-long overhaul. The Artscape summer season is a composite
The jazz world recently celebrated the magnificent Ella Fitzgerald’s 100th birthday, and her timeless repertoire
of song, dance and merriment, befitting of
still brings joy to millions of jazz fans across the globe. Join
a Cape Town summer. High on any family’s
SAMA-winner Anna Davel and the star of My Miriam Makeba
priority list is the musical Matilda, which will be
Story, Sima Mashazi, for a swinging tribute to Ella Fitzgerald
performed in the Artscape Opera House from
in the Artscape Arena from 19 to 22 December.
Mark Williams, lead guitarist of TopDog SA
Creative Feel / December 2018 / January 2019 / 41
The ever-popular Swing Time graces the Artscape Theatre stage from 20 December to 5 January. This is the return of
will be performed in the Artscape Arena from 28 to 30 December.
Sean Bovim’s ballet, performed to the music of the swinging
The indigenous theme continues with two acclaimed
‘30s. Relive the past as you watch the Cape Town City Ballet
productions in January and February: Sarafina! and Krotoa:
dancers interpreting hit tunes such as ‘It Had to Be You’,
Eva van de Kaap. The latter is playwright Sylvia Vollenhoven
‘Unforgettable’ and ‘Fly Me to the Moon’.
and director Basil Appollis’ attempt to ‘finish’ the story
Summer in Cape Town would not be the same without
that started three-and-a-half centuries ago. This musical
TopDog SA, who return with their third instalment of the
theatre production is a multilingual, perspective-changing,
highly acclaimed Nama Jazz Series. The band draws music
intercultural, and musical tribute to a shared history
from an ancient well and fuses it with modern Cape Jazz
between the Dutch and South Africa.
traditions and genres. This presentation is underscored by the narrative: ‘this is who we are’. Nama Jazz Series
Artscape Theatre Well
42 / Creative Feel / December 2018 / January 2019
Sarafina!, written and composed by the legendary Dr Mbongeni Ngema with additional songs by the late struggle icon
Hugh Masekela, is an ode to the lives of our fallen youth who, through their struggles, fought for equality in education in 1976. The show will be staged in early January in the Artscape Arena. The Michael Jackson HIStory Show makes a welcome return to the Opera House stage in January. A musical tribute and live concert experience that journeys through Michael Jackson’s vast and incredible catalogue of work, this show features all of MJ’s greatest hits performed live by multi-talented impersonator Daniel ‘Dantanio’ Goodman. Community development is also never absent at Artscape, with the second annual Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra Community Gala Concert in February. This is a
“The foyers have thus been transformed to include modern worldclass facilities that prioritise audience comfort, an improved atmosphere, flexibility and disabled access”
symphonic platform for community brilliance for several amazing young Capetonians, most of whom are performing in a mainstream symphony concert with a professional orchestra for the
Michael Jackson impersonator Daniel ‘Dantanio’ Goodman
first time. It’s a celebration of talent across Cape Town’s communities. Also in February, and known as the highlight of the creative calendar, Design Indaba’s flagship event has evolved into so much more than a
presentations combine career-changing insights and the most cutting-edge work on the global circuit. Throw into this mixed bag of summer goodies, the
conference. It’s an immersive experience that
wildly admired feel-good stage musical and winner of
includes not only a series of design talks by
eight Tony Awards, Hairspray, in February and summer is
creative industry heavyweights, but also music,
served with absolute style at Artscape. Hairspray’s timeless
performance and theatre, product launches,
message is synonymous with Artscape’s: that everyone
dance, and surprise appearances by creative
should be treated equally regardless of social, cultural and
industry leaders. Named the best of its kind in
physical differences.
the world, the annual Design Indaba Conference
Come for the intrigue. Stay for the drama. One thing is
presents a stellar selection of international
clear: at Artscape, you can sing or dance for your supper
speakers over three days. Compelling
this summer. CF
Creative Feel / December 2018 / January 2019 / 43
Aunty Merle comes to Joburg
Popular comedian Marc Lottering’s most beloved alter ego, Aunty Merle Abrahams, sashays onto the stage for the first time in Johannesburg with Aunty Merle, The
W
ritten by comedian Marc Lottering and directed by Lara Foot, the show has received four Fleur du Cap nominations and has already enjoyed two sell-out seasons in Cape
Town, playing to rave reviews: ‘A musical with an international punch, a debut
Musical from 1 February to 3 March 2019
production that astonishes with its assuredness’ – Karen
on The Mandela Stage at Joburg Theatre.
Rutter, WeekendSpecial. ‘… witty one-liners that are met with sassy comebacks’ – Kirsten Delcie, What’s on in Cape Town.
44 / Creative Feel / December 2018 / January 2019
“a musical with an international punch, a debut production that astonishes with its assuredness”
High drama unfolds in Belgravia Road, Athlone, as Merle’s daughter Abigail announces her engagement to her boyfriend, Alan. As Merle puts it: ‘He’s a good-looking white chap!’ But it’s never smooth-sailing in the world of musicals. Abigail’s twisted and corrupt ex, Denver Paulse – who holds a dodgy top job with the SABC – is determined to get her back, and if he can’t, threatens to reveal a very dark secret that is bound to tear the lovers apart. Aunty Merle, The Musical boasts a talented South African cast, including Lottering as Aunty Merle, Tracey-Lee Oliver as Abigail, Paul du Toit as Alan, Loukmaan Adams as Denver Paulse, with a stellar support cast including Royston Stoffels, Tankiso Mamabolo, Gina Shmukler, Adrian Galley, Carmen Maarman, Zandile Madliwa, Sizwesandile Mnisi, Anzio September, Crystal Finck and Austin Rose – accompanied by a live eight-piece band. Twenty-two original songs, with lyrics by Lottering and Tarryn Lamb, musical direction by Alistair Izobell, and choreography by Grant Van Ster, have earned the cast thunderous standing ovations. Aunty Merle, The Musical is suitable for all ages (no under 3s). Tickets from R145 are available through visiting www.joburgtheatre.com for more information. Performances are Wednesdays to Saturdays at 20:00, with matinee shows on Saturdays and Sundays at 15:00. Cape Town fans can also expect a triumphant return season at the Baxter Theatre from 3 December 2018 to 5 January 2019.
“witty one-liners that are met with sassy comebacks” Join in the conversation online with #MerleInJozi: Facebook: @Marc-Lottering and @auntymerlethemusical Twitter: @marclottering Instagram: @marc_lottering
Creative Feel / December 2018 / January 2019 / 45
DREAMS, WISHES AND EXPECTATIONS_RECYCLED –
An exhibition in its second edition
dreams, wishes and expectations_RECYCLED installation photographic prints by Coral Bijoux
Following the success of the Dreams, Wishes and Expectations exhibition at the Voices of Women Museum in 2017, a continuation will be held at the Castle
A
colonial legacy, forbidden heritage/s and a hankering for the past in the present, to affirm an authentic African dream, is what defines the Dreams, Wishes and Expectations_RECYCLED
exhibition, led by the Voices of Women at the Castle of Good
of Good Hope in Cape Town. Curator
Hope in Cape Town. To consider dreaming, again as a protest
Coral Bijoux gives us in-depth insight
acknowledges the individual within the collective of people
into the exhibition.
and at the same time, a declaration that to ‘dream’ a world that is to be connected to the very soil we fight over. The dreams (framed narratives of women) that are situated in the hallways of the Castle space during this exhibition echo a past that
46 / Creative Feel / December 2018 / January 2019
‘stole’ dreams and futures from people by its sheer ‘being-ness’. A letter by the curator to Jan van Riebeeck, first Commander of the Dutch East India Company (DEIC) in the Cape from 1652 to 1662, sets the tone for the Voices of Women Dreams exhibition. The letter implores Van Riebeeck as DEIC representative to ‘doe het goede (do the right thing)’. An interesting consideration is that by the time Van Riebeeck left the Cape, there were more slaves than officials stationed there, few women, some free burgers, and a smattering of children. It is, of course, not clear how many of these children were, in fact, of mixed race. The curator’s letter asks him, ‘Wat doe je als dromen worden gestolen? (what do you do when dreams are stolen?)’ By this, it is hoped that there
Jackson Hlungwani, Helmeted Angel (c. 1990), Carved and burned wood, MTN Art Collection PHOTO Jan Potgieter
will be a response that breathes new life into this tiresome
disparity – and ask this time, ‘Hoe repareren we het? (how
realisation: the realisation that the colonial presence negated
do we repair it?)’ We consider the life of Krotoa and what
many a people in the hope of blunting cultural and psychical
appears to be her compromise in this space. Much like
minds; mostly because skins and languages and practices
Sarah Baartman, we ponder on notions of compromise as
were different to theirs. And of course, the commercial or
mechanisms of survival and what the alternatives were/are?
economic imperative was paramount. This difference, which
In the wake of the 2019 election year, we must consider
is mirrored in today’s landscape, holds true and while it
the shape we want our living socio-political and cultural
attempts to, cannot negate the feminine persona in Africa.
landscape to take. Becoming conscious of the fictitious barriers
We view Gladys Mgudlandlu’s Landscape, which is a proud,
we are burdened with and which are outlined in Google Maps,
yet humbly priced rendering of Eastern Cape land as opposed
old-style atlases and inscribed in our identity documents of
to Pierneef’s million-rand investment pieces – a subjective
not-so-long-ago, we are aware of these restrictive ideologies
Creative Feel / December 2018 / January 2019 / 47
A Day I Will Never Forget Collection: Voices of Women Museum. MEDIUM: embroidery cotton on cloth
Aerial view of Castle of Good Hope in Cape Town
that are emblazoned in our minds and which cannot be easily
conceptually by their narrative outlines the circumstances
erased. These inherited mindsets repeat in mantra-like form,
embedded in the memory (cloth). The presence of the
even among the younger generations, rendering us ‘baggaged’
Colouring-in Series by Sue Williamson and the ever-present
before we can even begin to dream again. To dream with fresh
Prospect: Saartje Baartman (Sarah Baartman) by Penny
eyes requires a certain innocence, a negation of knowingness.
Siopis in the exhibition series, translates some of these
How, then, is this possible? Considering the many narratives in
truths within the defiant presence of UCT SRC’s The Spirit
word and cloth by women, one can only suppose that beneath
Lives On: Biko and Lionel Davis’ Spirit of No Surrender.
the cloth of sorrow is a dream, behind the blanketed and cross-
Resistance poster prints by various activist artists during
stitched and threaded mark-making is a wish; and through the
apartheid echo women’s determined protests and Gerard
tragic echo of an experience is an expectation, that something
Bhengu’s pieces speak of traditional ways, while selected
would transform itself into a repowered sense of self.
pieces become transformative devices that may assist
The exhibition features selected artworks from the
us into the future. These include angels in the form of
Voices of Women Collection, where women’s artwork
Helmeted Angel by Jackson Hlungwane, the dreams, wishes
defiantly rendered in cloth and thread and framed
and expectations_RECYCLED installation photographic
48 / Creative Feel / December 2018 / January 2019
prints by Coral Bijoux and Kwesi Owusu-Ankomah’s Soft
During installation and the three-month exhibition
Gentle Depths, as well as a Mami Wata mask as feminine
period, members of the public are invited to participate
goddess reference, provoking an African feminist
by writing their letters to Van Riebeeck and by doing so,
perspective. Included in this exhibition is Andries Botha’s
ultimately to the Dutch East India Company (DEIC) of
framed embroidery and personal narrative. The initiator of
1652, that we may continue to engage in dialogue as well
the Amazwi Abesifazane-Voices of Women project, Botha
as continue to question ourselves and each other, until we
now places himself amid the collective and allows you to
confront our answers. CF
gaze back at him. This action posits the sentiment that to transform – which, in this instance, means to begin to dream
The exhibition will open early in 2019 and will be
again – one must look ‘the self’ in the eye and consider
accompanied by walkabouts, discussions and
engaging all complicity in the negation of dreams. An
presentations by the curator and guides of the Castle.
exhibition during challenging times, which speaks difficult
We also encourage you, should you not be able to view
words through imagery and thread, must unravel within
the exhibition physically, to submit your letters online at
these walls that echo the first compromise.
www.amazwi-voicesowfomen.com
Creative Feel / December 2018 / January 2019 / 49
Vaal University of Technology
Enriching communities through art Giving back to our families, to our communities, and to society at large is the essence of the Zulu saying, Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu (a person is a person through other persons), which is core to my life and a slogan that I live by, writes Nkululeko Khumalo, an independent curator and a printmaking lecturer at Vaal University of Technology (VUT).
T
his is the case with Gamakhulu Diniso, a community engagement guru (practitioner), not only for VUT but for the entire Sedibeng region (the Vaal Triangle). His love for the arts and people is evident in his works.
Gamakhulu Diniso
50 / Creative Feel / December 2018 / January 2019
Books from the archive of Gamakhulu Diniso
“Diniso also founded Busang Arts School, based in Sharpeville, which offered children lessons in visual arts, drama and dance”
arts, drama and dance. The children participated in community cultural activities and formal school events. In 1984, the Busang Arts School was transformed into Busang Thakaneng Theatre, which presented plays that commented on the socio-political issues of the day. Sixteen Diniso has engaged with VUT since it was an art college,
of Diniso’s students were enrolled at the renowned Funda
through to its days as a technikon, and continues to do so
Centre for Community Education in Soweto between 1986
today. He is entrenched in the institution and has established
and 1989. In 1984, Diniso closed his art portfolio and
relationships with staff members and students alike.
concentrated on the performing arts, having received rave
He attended the Rorke’s Drift Art and Craft Centre in
reviews for his stage plays. Among the reasons for closing
KwaZulu-Natal, which was founded as the Evangelical
his portfolio, was to stop the exploitation of black artists and
Lutheran Church Arts and Craft Centre in 1962 by the
the need to preserve his artworks, to ensure that his children
Church of Sweden Mission. Rorke’s Drift was instrumental in
could access his works in the future.
developing a black, fine arts identity in South Africa during
In 1996, he established the Sharpeville Resource Centre,
a period when access to formal training in the fine arts was
which encompassed an art gallery named after Prof. Es’kia
largely denied to black communities by the government. One
Mphahlele. Thereafter, Diniso went to Wits Technikon,
of the only other arts schools in the country at the time was
where he was appointed the director of drama from 2000
the Polly Street Art School in Soweto.
to 2001. He then formed a student group called Culture
Diniso’s own archival collection is proof of his
Reclamation Youth. They first held a programme at Wits
accomplishment as a visual artist and as an archivist
Technikon in September 2000 entitled Observing Steve
of note. His archive dates back over three decades, and
Biko, which involved dance, performance, theatre and talks
the most fascinating of all is his preserved collection of
regarding the Black Consciousness Movement. This was
newspaper clippings. The majority of these have been
followed by a visit to the Steve Biko home in Ginsberg, King
scanned and reprinted for exhibitions that took place at
William’s Town, on 16 June 2001 by students from Vaal
Bodutu Art Gallery in 2010 (VUT), his studio in 2014 and at
Technikon and Wits Technikon. Diniso facilitated and ran
The Point of Order in 2016 (Wits University). Despite not
a workshop for young people attending the Biko Centre to
having studied at a formal institution of higher learning, he
commemorate 16 June, in memory of the Soweto Uprising.
needs to be recognised as an ‘organic intellectual’, to quote
Diniso is currently working with Vaal University
Antonio Gramsci. Diniso’s involvement in the struggle
students, and the programme includes art talks, space for
against colonial apartheid deserves to be celebrated; he is
exhibitions, theatre, and an art market. This has helped
an embodiment of the country’s historical memory that is
the students of VUT to build their self-confidence and to
worth preserving and learning from.
understand that when they complete their qualification
Diniso also founded Busang Arts School, based in Sharpeville, which offered children lessons in visual
and have to go back home, they have to support communities too. CF
Creative Feel / December 2018 / January 2019 / 51
COLLECTING FOR THE FUTURE |
RUARC PEFFERS
Athi-Patra Ruga, The Night of the Long Knives III, 2013
ASPIRE ART AUCTIONS in breakthrough year
2018
proved a momentous year for the South African fine art auction market, and for Aspire Art Auctions, its newest entrant, in particular. The auction house hosted a total of six
online auctions and four live sales, which saw the setting of a many worldrecord prices, especially in the contemporary segment. Aspire’s first sale of the year was held on 11 February 2018. The Contents of Deodar House sale comprised over 100 lots of selective fine arts, decorative items, antique and modern furniture, luxury jewellery, watches, and wine. The
52 / Creative Feel / December 2018 / January 2019
unique point about the sale was that the entire seller’s
The second sale of the year was held in Cape Town, on
proceeds were donated to seed fund a new children’s
25 March. Headlining its success was a rare intaglio by Alexis
leukaemia charity. The sale achieved the phenomenal
Preller, Gold Angel (Arêté), which sold for R4 638 400. This
sell-through rate of 82%, well above the industry average.
outstanding piece was part of Preller’s last body of work shown
The top seller was a sumptuous still life by Irma Stern,
at the Goodman Gallery in 1975. However, the sale was perhaps
Hydrangeas and St Joseph lilies in the artist’s hand-made
most notable for its concentration of top quality contemporary
ceramic jug, which sold for R4 774 560, above its high
art, led by a magnificent oil painting by Robert Hodgins, Night
estimate. The sale of the fine art lots on the Deodar sale was
of the Awards, which fetched R2 087 280. Aspire was pleased
dominated by an exceptional collection of large outdoor
to see a strong performance for the work Night of the Long
sculpture. Among these, a highly coveted piece by William
Knives III by cutting-edge new South African star Athi-Patra
Kentridge and Gerhard Marx, Fire Walker (2010) achieved
Ruga, indicating the growth and diversity of contemporary
a price of R3 978 800. The sale also achieved world records
collecting trends. The photographic work fetched R295 568,
for well-known South African contemporary artists Angus
well above its high estimate. Other contemporary artists in this
Taylor and Willem Boshoff, whose works Sit en Staan (2008)
category included Zander Blom, whose painting Untitled 1.96
and Clast Mar (2009), which respectively attained top prices
went for R170 520, and the well-known Penny Siopis, whose
of R2 159 920 and R682 820.
Help fetched R79 576, more than double its high estimate. A
The associated Deodar House online sale, comprising
challenging painting by counter-cultural artist Conrad Botes,
various house contents and collectables, had the rare
Origin, went for R170 520, by some distance the best price ever
distinction of being a ‘white glove’ sale, with 100% of lots sold.
achieved by the artist at auction.
Peter Clarke, Lazy Day, 1975
Creative Feel / December 2018 / January 2019 / 53
“The company’s most recent sale took place in Johannesburg in October. Again, the records tumbled. Alexis Preller’s oil, Adam, fetched R9 104 000, a world record for the artist. There was also a world record for a William Kentridge, of R6 600 400 for the Drawing from Stereoscope (Double page, Soho in two rooms)”
A Winter sale followed in Johannesburg, held in June. Here, Aspire made impressive statements, and set several more world records. The top lot by value was Irma Stern’s Still life with magnolias, apples and bowl (1949), which sold for R6 828 000. The world records on the sale began with the sale of Peter Clarke’s work Lazy Day (1975), for R1 479 400, a mark which also obliterated his previous auction record achieved by Aspire in 2016. Aspire’s strong showing in the contemporary segment delivered world records for Zander Blom (Untitled 1.5 (2010), R386 920), Andrezj Urbanski (A0037 47/47/16, 2016, R125 180), and Paul Stopforth’s Steve Biko’s Right Hand (1980), which sold for R79 660, an important record to have achieved for such a work in the context of post-apartheid South Africa. The company’s most recent sale took place in Johannesburg in October. Again, the records tumbled. The top lot by value on the sale was a superb and vibrant Alexis Preller oil, Adam, which fetched R9 104 000, a world record for the artist, beating the previous mark of R8 433 924. This world
Angus Taylor, Sit en Staan, 2008
54 / Creative Feel / December 2018 / January 2019
William Kentridge, Drawing from Stereoscope (Double page, Soho in two rooms), 1999
Alexis Preller, Adam, 1972 record was joined by that achieved for a drawing by William
several sales in the year focused, partly or wholly, on books.
Kentridge, of R6 600 400 for the Drawing from Stereoscope
Aspire themes each of its online sales, and is seeing good
(Double page, Soho in two rooms), significantly beating the
user uptake and sales growth for the platform.
previous mark, achieved in Paris, of R5 744 788. The successful
The innovative and agile auction house saw continued
strategic focus on the contemporary segment continued in this
success for its Artist’s Resale Rights (ARR) initiative, a self-
sale. Highlights included a new world record for Cape Town
funded royalty project which sees Aspire pay royalties on a
painter Georgina Gratrix, whose work I Love You All the Time
sliding scale to living South African artists whose works sell
sold for R591 760, beating the R318 304 previously achieved
on its auctions. The project is run by Aspire to help sustain
for the artist by almost double, and further almost doubling
the art industry in the absence of a nationally legislated
its high estimate. Another record was achieved in the segment
royalty scheme for visual art. To date, it has paid out almost
when photographer Pieter Hugo’s famous 2005 work The
R500 000 to around 100 artists. The project was awarded
hyena men of Abuja sold for a South African record of R375 540,
official recognition in the year, earning the Best Strategic
almost three times its high estimate. Mohau Modisakeng saw
Project Award at the annual Business and Arts South Africa
considerable success with his Ditaola XV, which sold for R261
(BASA) Awards. CF
740, a record, and beating the previous record of R204 624, also held by Aspire. A contemporary sculpture by David Brown, from 2011, entitled Engine Driver from his Eleven Deadly Sinners series, sold for R273 120, a new world record for this artist, bettering the previous mark, again held by Aspire. In the online sphere, Aspire held five sales in the year, as
Every month the MD of Aspire Art Auctions,
RUARC PEFFERS, contributes a
well as the online auction for Deodar House. The company
column on the business of collecting and
was the first in the country to launch a bespoke app for
investing in art.
conducting its online sales, and became known in the course of the year as the place to be to trade in art books, after
Creative Feel / December 2018 / January 2019 / 55
INGRID BOLTON
Cellular Ingrid Bolton’s latest solo show, Reconnect Cubed, showed recently at Berman Contemporary in Sandton. Ashraf Jamal spoke to the artist about her practice, through which she expresses concerns ranging from climate change to cable theft.
56 / Creative Feel / December 2018 / January 2019
Ingrid Bolton, Reconnect Cubed exhibition, 2018
I
t is when I leave Ingrid Bolton’s studio, poised in the
but buoyed nevertheless by the artist’s keen interest in
corridor, that I see a work in ink on paper that evokes
patterns that are not discernible to the eye, but which
the flight pattern of birds, or some obtuse and sublime
remain integral to all forms. Abstraction, then, is structural.
trajectory. The work was created by tracking the
Shape and volume, the very dynamic nature of our lived
movements of her wireless mouse, says Bolton, as I peer
world. In this regard, Bolton’s art can be seen as a mirror for
more closely. There are varying dots, some blackened, others
the inscrutable.
thinly circled, intercut with a frenzied mesh of fine and jagged lines. Overlaying this is a fretwork of fine copper wire. I return to Bolton’s studio, needing to learn more
The artist speaks of ‘finding the overlooked’. This taste for the hidden, for that which we either discard or fail to reflect upon more deeply, stems not only from Bolton’s
about these works on paper. While markedly different to
scientific training, but also from her acute realisation that
the artist’s experiments with coal and calcium carbonate,
today – in a world glutted and inflexible in its obsessive-
resulting in works arranged involuntarily on the rim of a
compulsive demand for our attention, grinding, churning –
horizontal plane of finely bevelled paper – works evoking
there remain pockets of stillness, instance of sublime repose,
smoky mountain ranges, the strange graphs of a beating life
which allow the fortification of our distracted and distracting
– and also markedly different to the artist’s sculptural works
lives. Her art is the locus of this stillness.
made of copper cabling – her most distinctive signature –
As Bolton muses on phytoplankton, microscopic
this work in ink and copper wire nevertheless reaffirms the
organisms as insignificant as they are utterly essential to
artist’s abiding fascination with ‘correlated conjunctions’ –
the ocean’s ecology – the ‘bottom of the food chain’ – I am
the title of her joint exhibition with Zyma Amien.
forcefully reminded of the fragility of life, and the precarious
Circuit boards, the inspiration behind a work in
balance required to sustain it. ‘The energy we burn, coal,
progress in the artist’s studio – a metre by a metre-anda-half in scale – further expresses Bolton’s interest in the topographical intersection of realms, the proximitous connections between things. Terms such as ‘matrix’ and ‘cellular’ pepper the artist’s conversation. Trained in Medical Technology, completing an MA in Fine Art later in life, Bolton finds herself drawing connections
“I return to Bolton’s studio, needing to learn more about these works on paper”
between the realms of science and art, which, for her, are inextricable in a culture as mediatised as ours. If her one sphere of interest concerns climate change – and the ocean’s acidification in particular – then the other
fuel, gas, is absorbed by the ocean,’ says Bolton, the disastrous outcome of which is acidification – unlivability. We kill that which we most need to nurture. And if
addresses cable theft – a treacherous act that, she says, is
Bolton’s art performs a particular role, then it is as a
directly connected to China’s insatiable demand for copper,
warning. That the works are comparatively placid, conceal
a material intrinsic to computerised production. We are
their inner aggravation, has everything to do with the
networked through copper filaments, Bolton muses. But,
artist’s temperament, for there is nothing excessive
paradoxically, we are also disconnected through them,
or frantic about her nature. Instead, Bolton’s work is
because hyper connectivity also threatens our capacity to
a sounding, a kind of sonar, quiet, recessive, and yet
truly connect. Hence the artist’s preoccupation with the
alarming. For, despite the seemingly calm and conscious
shared realm of science and art.
beauty of her works, Bolton remains aware that ‘our world
Bolton was first spurred to work with copper following the theft of irrigation piping on a farm she managed. It
is driven by uncontrollable events.’ Harnessing this discord, cutting then suturing it,
was then that she first began to reflect on the integral
examining that which connects and disconnects us, Bolton
nature of this material. Visits to junkyards followed. With
arrives at a place ethically animated and becalming. Hers,
the assistance of a group of assistants, Bolton proceeded
one senses, is a journey long in the making that is only now
to cut defunct cables. What compelled her was the pattern
unfolding. Trial and experimentation are fresh capacities,
inside the tubing, which echoed the cellular patterns one
increasingly rare in a time overly preoccupied with
associates with sacred geometry.
certainty. I imagine the artist finding surprising new ways to
More obtusely, Bolton informs me that ‘the molecular structure of copper is cubic’. I’m puzzled by this nugget,
understand the interconnection between science and art… life and its strangely poised and cellular fructification. CF
Creative Feel / December 2018 / January 2019 / 57
Stephan Welz & Co. celebrates
a well-rounded 50 years in the auction industry Another year has passed and Stephan Welz & Co. is proud to say that 2018 has been a good year. The auction house achieved several auction records for well-known artists and has expanded its operations and expertise with stand-alone focused special category auctions and a new platform for its growing collector base.
D
uring 2018, Stephan Welz & Co. achieved the current world-record price for a work by Esias Bosch with the sale of a large vitrified panel by the artist for R1 393 200 on its March Johannesburg
auction. This was followed by the world-record price achieved for an oil on canvas by the Dutch artist Jan Catharinus Adriaan Goedhart, The Turquoise Bowl, selling for R452 790 on the Cape Town October auction. In 2018, the auction house expanded its expertise into category-specific auctions, which allows a refined and
The Turquoise Bowl Jan Catharinus Adriaan Goedhart (Dutch 1893 – 1975) Lot 298 – Cape Town November Auction Estimate: R 12 000 – R 18 000 Sold for R452 790
focused presentation on its specialised categories for the discerning collector. Some of these categories include works by the Old Masters; Meteorites, Minerals and Gemstones; Collectable Cars; and Stamps. Combining these developments with the launch of its new online platform – Welz Online – has allowed clients and collectors easy access to news, events, results and a greater connectivity to Stephan Welz & Co. Welz Online allows collectors to view and bid on both live and online auctions, obtain auction evaluations and stay up to date with the latest happenings A New English Dictionary On Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), 21 Vols In Bespoke Bookcase James Murray (ed) Lot 28 – Cape Town November Auction Estimate: R40 000 – R50 000 Sold for R92 880
58 / Creative Feel / December 2018 / January 2019
anytime and anywhere. Stephan Welz & Co. looks forward to 2019 with tremendous anticipation, with its first premium live auction of the year being held in Cape Town in early February, and followed by a host of live and online auctions in both Johannesburg and Cape Town. Stephan Welz & Co. looks forward to seeing you online and in the saleroom for many more milestones and successes. CF
TM
Invitation to Consign. We are inviting consignments for our forthcoming 2019 auctions.
Enquiries
Cape Town 021 794 6461 | ct@stephanwelzandco.co.za
Johannesburg 011 880 3125 | jhb@stephanwelzandco.co.za
Pretoria 012 010 0121 | pta@stephanwelzandco.co.za
ESIAS BOSCH: (1923 - 2010) A LARGE VITRIFIED PAINTED PORCELAIN PANEL SOLD FOR R 1 393 200 Record for artist on Auction
www.stephanwelzandco.co.za Download t he Stepha n We l z & Co. a pp
Justus Frantz
Not only is the music back in Johannesburg as Bongani Tembe, chief executive and artistic director of the Johannesburg and KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic Orchestras, promised, but there is also a flourishing of great artistic collaboration between South African musicians and international visiting artists. At the second concert of the Spring Season in Johannesburg, Justus Frantz took to the JPO podium to the great delight of audience members. Creative Feel managed to catch up with this charismatic, internationally acclaimed German pianist and conductor.
60 / Creative Feel / December 2018 / January 2019
J
ustus Frantz is known for passionately cultivating
Frantz celebrated his US debut in 1975 with the New York
young talent. His schedule, therefore, includes
Philharmonic, conducted by Leonard Bernstein. He says that
frequent auditions, giving young musicians valuable
his long collaboration and close friendship with Bernstein
opportunities to start their international careers.
began by chance when Bernstein, listening to WGBH Radio
Among the musicians who were first introduced to audiences
Boston late one night, heard a recording of Dvořák’s Piano
by Frantz are violinists Maxim Vengerov, Midori Gotō and
Concerto played by Frantz, and was determined to meet the
József Lendvay, pianist Evgeny Kissin, and composer Martin
pianist. This deep friendship lasted until Bernstein’s death.
Panteleev. He is full of praise for the young South African
During the last 20 years of his life, Frantz says that Bernstein
soloist, Astride du Plessis, who that evening played Camille
did most of his work at Frantz’s Spanish house in Gran
Saint-Saëns’ Violoncello Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Op 23,
Canaria where every summer Frantz invites musicians from
which Tembe had so carefully chosen for the programme.
all over the world to his music festival, El Finca Festival Frantz
Frantz explains that he grew up in a house where music was important and how the whole family would come
& Friends de Monte León. In 1986, Frantz founded the Schleswig-Holstein Music
together to listen to classical concerts on the radio. He began
Festival (SHMF) and was its director for nine years, turning it
playing the piano at an early age and later studied with Eliza
into one of the world’s greatest music forums.
Hansen and Wilhelm Kempff at the Hochschule für Musik
During 2018, the focus of the SHMF’s programme was a
und Theater Hamburg with a scholarship from the German
celebration of Leonard Bernstein. At the Festival finale on
Academic Scholarship Foundation. Today, Frantz lives in
25 August, Frantz conducted Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9
Hamburg with his family and is a well-known personality, actively contributing to the cultural life of the city. In 1970, Frantz started playing with the Berliner Philharmoniker under Herbert von Karajan, who was the principal conductor of the Orchestra for 35 years. With that, Frantz joined a group of first-class pianists. He too
“Bernstein wanted to go to Gran Canaria, where he had been a guest in my house several times. I told him: ‘I know a place that is perhaps even nicer than Gran Canaria: Schleswig-Holstein.’ – ‘Schleswig what??’” Justus Frantz, founding director of the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival in 1990.
feels that Von Karajan is both an icon and an enigma in the story of 20th-century music. Von Karajan arguably did more to turn symphonic music into a commodity in the post-
on what would have been Bernstein’s actual 100th birthday.
war era and is a familiar face on millions of records, videos,
Bernstein had conducted the work a few weeks after the fall
laserdiscs, DVDs and downloads. Today, it is Frantz who uses
of the Berlin Wall in both East and West Berlin. At that time,
his talent to bring classical music to a wide audience.
he had the choir sing the word ‘freedom’ instead of ‘joy’
Frantz plays and conducts with orchestras around the world, including the Philharmonia of the Nations, which he
when they performed the famous ‘Ode to Joy’. Today, Frantz continues to adhere to Bernstein’s
founded in 1995. He works on a regular basis with renowned
musical ideals. Bernstein’s dream of an international, young
orchestras such as the Mariinsky Orchestra in St. Petersburg,
and professional orchestra inspired Frantz to found the
the Moscow Symphony Orchestra, the China Philharmonic
Philharmonia of the Nations. As the chief conductor, Frantz
Orchestra, not to mention the KZN Philharmonic Orchestra,
works throughout the world with the constantly growing
the Georgian Chamber Orchestra, Sinfonia Varsovia and
and changing orchestra, continuously discovering new
many others. Frantz was made a Special Envoy for the UN
names. He feels strongly that such an orchestra builds strong
Refugee Agency in 1989, and in the same year received
bridges between different nations and cultures. Perhaps this
the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, the
is something that South Africa as a much-divided nation
German equivalent of the British OBE.
should support much more? CF
Creative Feel / December 2018 / January 2019 / 61
Katherine Jenkins’
Guiding Light Britain’s best-selling classical artist of the last 25 years, Katherine Jenkins OBE, has just released her new album Guiding Light via Decca Records. The release is also accompanied by the announcement of
G
Jenkins’ 2019 tour, An Evening With Katherine Jenkins.
uiding Light includes 15 brand-new tracks featuring
father, Selwyn, died, culminating in her new-found path
Katherine Jenkins’ personal favourites – new and
as a mother.
old. From the time-honoured ‘Make Me a Channel of Your Peace’ and ‘Morning Has Broken’ to covers
Guiding Light is an album that speaks of life, hope, acceptance and a universal spirituality. For the 38-year-old,
of Stormzy’s ‘Blinded By Your Grace’, and ‘Never Enough’ from
there is also a sense of a greater purpose to her performance.
The Greatest Showman, alongside original material including
‘I have undergone a huge change in my life,’ says Neath-born
‘Xander’s Song’, written for the newest addition to her family,
Jenkins. ‘As a child, I first started to sing in St David’s choir,
her son, who was born earlier this year.
so hymns were the songs I grew up with. I loved the music,
‘My voice has changed. This album is the most intimate album I have ever made. It’s a mindful collection of songs.
but the words and the emotion only truly hit me after my father died when I was 15.
I’m not trying to prove anything, I’m not trying to show how
‘His death was incredibly difficult for me and my mum
many notes I can hit, I just want to take people to a place of
and sister but a lot of what I did after that was driven by that
emotion and reflection – to touch hearts and souls.’
sense of loss and the deepest emotion in my music came
As one of the UK’s greatest musical exports, multi-awardwinning Jenkins has performed all over the world, for the pope,
from that place.’ At 17, after winning several choral awards and
for presidents and is a favourite of the Royal Family, having
competitions, she received a scholarship to the Royal
been invited to sing ‘God Save The Queen’ at Her Majesty’s
Academy Of Music, where she graduated with honours. At the
Diamond Jubilee, to perform at Her Majesty’s Coronation
age of 23, she became the only classical singer in history to
Concerts at Buckingham Palace and more recently, by special
be offered a six-album deal by Universal and Decca Records.
request at Her Majesty’s 90th birthday celebrations at Windsor
Her debut, Premiere, was merely the first of twelve best-selling
Castle. She was appointed an Officer of the Most Excellent
number one albums, followed by two Classical Brit Awards
Order of the British Empire (OBE) at the 2014 New Year’s
and the record for the fastest-selling British classical artist.
Honours List for her services to music and charity. Jenkins has performed twice in South Africa to her huge
By 2010, so phenomenal was her success that she spent every day of that year on a plane flying from one country
fan base thanks to Rand Merchant Bank and their Starlight
to the next, in addition to helping to highlight the plight
Classics concerts. She has embarked upon numerous sold-
of soldiers on the frontline and travelling to dangerous war
out tours and duetted with greats like Plácido Domingo,
zones to perform for the troops.
Andrea Bocelli, José Carreras, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Bryn Terfel, Rolando Villazón, and Il Divo, among others.
‘It’s only now that I’m a mother that I understand how terrified my mother was for me when I called her from Iraq
For Katherine Jenkins, Guiding Light represents a
to tell her that the plane I was in had been shot at but that I
deeply emotional journey that began when her beloved
was okay. My mother was in pieces. I think about it now and
Images: Katherine Jenkins ©️ David Venni
Creative Feel / December 2018 / January 2019 / 63
can’t imagine how I would feel. All I felt – and still feel – is that I want to perform for the troops because they are out there risking their lives for us every day. I think I should have just waited till I got home to tell her but these are the things you learn,’ she says. Marriage and motherhood – and even working as the host of the BBC’s Songs of Praise – have had the most fundamental effect on Jenkins. In 2014, she married artist and film director Andrew Levitas, with whom she has two children, 3-year-old Aaliyah and 3-month-old Xander. ‘I have a life now that I don’t think I ever expected to have,’ she says. ‘I am very happy, very blessed and I feel incredibly grateful. I feel whole new layers of emotion which have really taken me by surprise and made me feel like I have found myself, found my true voice and my true self. ‘There is not a minute of the day – even when I’m exhausted or run off my feet trying to juggle everything – that I don’t feel incredibly thankful for what I have and so conscious of how precious it is. ‘And, of course, it’s not all wonderful,’ she laughs. ‘I definitely have those moments where I’m trying to keep all the plates spinning and feel I’m just not managing. The other day when I was going to the studio, I was sorting out Aaliyah who wasn’t feeling well. I was running late and trying to rush and as I picked Xander up to kiss him goodbye he projectile vomited all over me. That’s just what happens these days. I guess nothing keeps it more real.’ Last year, Jenkins, who has performed at scores of glittering celebrity events, became friends with a Cistercian monk, Brother David, whom she met through Songs of Praise. ‘He’s an incredible man who really made me think,’ she says. ‘He had some incredible job working in finance and then just decided he needed something deeper and more meaningful and became a monk. I loved listening to him and what he said really resonated with me. We are now pen pals. ‘Working on Songs of Praise and travelling through Britain talking to remarkable people like Brother David and others who are focused on a more spiritual life was another big factor in this project. ‘I wanted to make an album that was spiritual but not specifically religious and I wanted to include songs that felt very special to me, that triggered those emotions, from “Blinded By Your Grace” to “Jealous of the Angels”, which isn’t a hugely known song but it was written by a woman called Jenn Bostic after her father died and it is very beautiful. “Never Enough” is the song I sing to my daughter every night and “Xander’s Song”, I actually wrote as I breastfed my son. Before I had children, I felt I would give up working when they came along, but now music has become even more precious to me and with songs like these I am very conscious that I am making memories for my children which will be there after I am gone.’ Asked if people will find it unusual that she has chosen one of English rapper Stormzy’s tracks to be part of this album, she laughs: ‘I know Stormzy himself is religious, so it will be interesting to see what he thinks about a different take on his song. I’ve always made my albums with the listener in mind and I really hope this album helps transport people to a calm, serene and reflective place.’ CF
64 / Creative Feel / December 2018 / January 2019
“I am very happy, very blessed and I feel incredibly grateful. I feel whole new layers of emotion which have really taken me by surprise and made me feel like I have found myself, found my true voice and my true self”
HYMN: AN EXCITINGLY ECLECTIC NEW ALBUM BY SARAH BRIGHTMAN Sarah Brightman has unveiled a new full-length album Hymn and has announced her latest world tour, Hymn: Sarah Brightman in Concert. To enhance her world of enchantment, Brightman has partnered with Swarovski; her elaborate costumes and dazzling tiaras will be composed of the precision-cut crystals for her world tour.
Sarah Brightman ©Simon Fowler
T
hough it’s been five years since Sarah Brightman last released a studio album – 2013’s classical charttopper Dreamchaser – the world’s best-selling soprano has hardly been idle. Not only did Brightman perform over 100 concerts on five continents to support Dreamchaser, but she also took her Gala: An Evening with Sarah Brightman tour to Asia and Mexico in 2016 and the 22-date Royal Christmas Gala
tour to Europe in 2017. For both tours, she performed songs from her most-beloved albums, Timeless, Eden, and La Luna, and the multiplatinum soundtrack to Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera, which celebrated its 30th anniversary on Broadway during 2018. Webber was inspired to write the role of Christine Daaé for Brightman – who was already well-known after releasing several hit singles as a solo artist – upon seeing her standout performance as Jemima in the original London cast of Cats. In early 2016, German composer and producer Frank Peterson, with whom she had celebrated some of her greatest successes, Dive (1993), Fly (1995), Timeless (Time To Say Goodbye) (1997), Eden (1998), La Luna (2000), Harem (2003), Symphony, and A Winter Symphony (both 2008), began talking to Brightman about making a new album. ‘He kept calling me and saying, “Look, it’s time,”’ she recalls. ‘But I didn’t know what I wanted to do.’ Brightman, who had intended to launch on a future orbital spaceflight mission to the International Space Station, had halted her cosmonaut training in Russia, which left her feeling vulnerable and depleted. ‘It was quite hard for me to bring myself down to earth again psychologically,’ she says. ‘I went to Florida to lie on the beach, work with an opera coach, and get myself back into a normal pattern again. During this time, Frank and I came to the conclusion that we should do something that sounded very beautiful and uplifting. That was the start of it. So, we started looking at songs that we both felt good about – and suddenly we were working together again and it all felt familiar.’ Peterson reminded Brightman that audiences flocked to her because of ‘the beauty in her voice’ and that, after mounting a technically complex tour filled with elaborate visuals and effects behind the scienceminded Dreamchaser, a return to something simpler in nature, something spiritual and emotionally connected, might be just the thing to ease the inertia she was feeling. ‘I said, “Okay, you went the science route, let’s try something different,’’’ Peterson says. ‘It wasn’t calculated in any way; it simply felt right to both of us.’ The result is the spiritually themed Hymn – an inspirational collection of orchestrated, choir-based songs that Brightman says felt soothing to record after she came down to earth ‘with an enormous bump,’ as she puts it. ‘I think musicians in particular start from whatever it is they’re going through.’ The album isn’t religious, she says, and it doesn’t include any traditional ‘church songs’. ‘I kept thinking about this word, “hymn”, and what it reminded me of. To me, it suggests joy – a feeling of hope and light, something that is familiar and secure. And that’s something I really needed at that point in my life. Every project I’ve done has come from an emotional place.’ Hymn’s mystical, uplifting tone is set with its title track – a song by British prog-rock band Barclay James Harvest. ‘Though obscure in England and America, they are huge in Germany and everybody there can sing along to this song,’ Peterson says. ‘I’ve always thought “Hymn” was a beautiful song that should make its way throughout the rest of the world, and hopefully now with Sarah singing it, it will.’ Hymn, which was recorded over the past two years in Hamburg, Miami, London, Vancouver, Los Angeles, New York, and Budapest, includes songs by such modern composers as Eric Whitacre, Japanese superstar musician and songwriter Yoshiki and German DJ Paul Kalkbrenner. Nearly everything about Brightman’s illustrious career has been pretty epic. Known for her three-octave range and for pioneering the classical-crossover music movement, Brightman has amassed global sales of more than 30 million units. The only artist to have simultaneously topped Billboard’s dance and classical music charts, Brightman has racked up more than 180 gold and platinum awards in over 40 countries. She is also known for her iconic star turn in The Phantom of the Opera, whose soundtrack has sold more than 40 million copies worldwide. Her duet with Andrea Bocelli, ‘Time To Say Goodbye’, became an international success, selling 12 million copies worldwide. Brightman will launch The Hymn World Tour, which will include 125 shows on five continents throughout 2019. Of the tour, Brightman says fans should ‘expect the unexpected!’ CF (At the time of going to print, Creative Feel had no confirmation about a tour date in South Africa, but let’s
watch out for a possible announcement!) Creative Feel / December 2018 / January 2019 / 67
PHOTOS Jeff Goldblum ©️ Pari Dukovic
Jeff Goldblum’s feel-good jazz Known for his quirky on-screen persona, Jeff Goldblum has brought to life some of the most iconic characters in cinema since the 1970s. Now, at 66, he is passionately exploring another of his talents with the release of his debut album The Capitol Studios Sessions on Decca Records.
68 / Creative Feel / December 2018 / January 2019
– performing live. The atmosphere and energy of these shows is captured perfectly on this album, which Goldblum credits to producer Larry Klein (known for his work with Joni Mitchell, Herbie Hancock and Madeleine Peyroux). For the recording, Klein recreated the buzz of The Rockwell at the legendary Capitol Studios. The studio was transformed into a jazz club – food and drink were served to an invited live studio audience of Rockwell regulars, friends and family. This album lives in that magical area where artists and audiences meet. There is a joyful sense of anything-canhappen and a spirit of creative generosity in how Goldblum speaks to his fans, how he accompanies guest singers and soloists, and especially in how Goldblum comps. To Goldblum, his role within the context of a jazz band is a seamless connection with his acting: ‘I love improvising and that feeling of communication and interplay. It’s one of the cornerstones of my acting technique. I see my music in the same way.’ The Capitol Studios Sessions is the realisation of this idea: jazz standards presented in a manner that dares to be high-spirited and to make you feel good. The repertoire includes favourite ‘60s jazz numbers ‘Cantaloupe Island’ and ‘I Wish I Knew (How It Would Feel To Be Free)’, the 1940s classic ‘Straighten Up & Fly Right’, with guest vocals from Irish superstar singer and songwriter Imelda May, ‘My Baby Just Cares For Me’ from the
J
1930s, featuring American songstress Haley Reinhart, and the 1920s song ‘Me And My Shadow’ sung by US comedian and
eff Goldblum is known for roles in Hollywood
actress, Sarah Silverman. The band is joined by the extraordinary
blockbusters, a singular, chin-stroking comic persona
GRAMMY-nominated trumpeter Till Brönner.
and, more recently, as a fashion icon, but if he hadn’t
Some of the best moments on the album come on the
explored his love for acting, he probably would have
instrumentals that feature Brönner. ‘Don’t Mess With Mister
pursued a career as a jazz pianist. ‘I’m from Pittsburgh, and I
T’ is a moody retelling of Marvin Gaye’s classic, while their
played the piano when I was a kid,’ says Goldblum. ‘I got the
take on Rodgers and Hart’s ‘It Never Entered My Mind’ really
idea to play out and about in cocktail lounges when I was, like,
lets Goldblum’s piano skills shine. Their best collaboration
15, and got a job or two.
comes on Duke Ellington’s ‘Caravan’, which is a loose
‘These days, and for many years, I just hardly spend a day where I don’t pass a piano in my place and just play for as long as I can,’ he says. Goldblum has been playing semi-regularly since the 1990s
reinterpretation of the piece that’s sure to impress even the most hardcore of jazz fans. Jeff Goldblum and The Mildred Snitzer Orchestra deliver the feel and the swing, and they make it fun, funny,
with a band he formed, The Mildred Snitzer Orchestra (named
and familiar. Those are words not often associated with
after a family friend back in Pittsburgh). And, in more recent
jazz, though they still can be, and with this album, we are
years, Goldblum and The Mildred Snitzer Orchestra have played
reminded of that.
a weekly residency in Los Angeles at The Rockwell Table and
‘It’s thrilling,’ says Goldblum. ‘I’m just delighted and
Stage – when he isn’t busy filming. Frequented by locals and
surprised by it. It kind of just happened, not for any strategy or
A-listers alike, the weekly show intersperses Goldblum’s love of
any dream of mine over the years. We played at first under the
jazz with his passion and skills at improvised comedy.
radar and kind of evolved organically, out of the pure enjoyment
The Capitol Studios Sessions, then, is long overdue and captures Goldblum and his band in their natural habitat
of it and the pleasure of playing. It became this other thing and now it’s developed into this, which feels just terrific.’ CF
Creative Feel / December 2018 / January 2019 / 69
Introducing talent to the creative economy As part of its social missions, Vuyani Dance Theatre works within communities to develop dance talent, both at a school level and by training post-matric youth through its sought-after year-long inhouse dance training programme.
V
uyani Dance Theatre’s (VDT) training programme
allowed me to tell a story of how we communicate through
provides intense training in dance movement and
arts, heal through arts and subsequently live and breathe art.
choreography skills and is a platform for VDT to
The one thing I can share about VDT’s training programme
plough back resources into the exposure of latent
is that you learn to be an independent artist while in a
young talent. The training programme explores the synergies between the mind, body and artist over eleven months
nurtured team environment.’ Thabang Mojapelo also contributed to the
annually, challenging the preconceived notions that trainees
conversation, commenting: ‘The training programme
might have through a breakdown of body mechanics, intense
has allowed me to meet myself as an artist from another
technical study and rigorous conditioning exercises. By the
viewpoint. It has challenged me emotionally, physically
end of the year, trainees shed old habits and ideas that no
and spiritually and I have found strength and resilience to
longer serve them in order to create space for their true voice
face the constructive feedback that we receive throughout
and expression as artists.
the year. Right at the beginning of the training
The class of 2018 was part of an accelerated growth plan and the majority of the class was cast in a full-company touring production choreographed and directed by Gregory Maqoma – Cion: Requiem of Ravel’s Bolero. This cast was part of the performance at the 2018 Sibiu International Theatre Festival in Sibiu, Romania, as well as the South African tour to Artscape Theatre and the Vrystaat Kunstefees, and will continue to tour to other international festivals scheduled for the 2019 and 2020 seasons. With the year coming to an end, we caught up with trainees and asked them about their experience as a part of the VDT training programme.
“The VDT training programme has not just taught me about movement but has laid a foundation for my career as an emerging dance professional”
Lungile Mahlangu says, ‘The VDT training programme has not just taught me about movement but has laid a foundation for my career as an emerging dance professional. I have learnt how to conduct myself as an artist, how to
programme, I was a part of Gregory Maqoma’s work
work with others, and how to work through an intense
Mayhem, which was staged at Dance Umbrella. During
performance schedule. Before joining Vuyani, I was always
this process, my dance vocabulary immediately began to
in awe of the company’s cocktail aesthetic and I instinctively
broaden and I was fortunate enough to be part of very
knew that this is where I need to align myself as a young
different company performances.’
dancer. Today I am living that dance cocktail. As part of our performance assessment, I created a solo, Thou Art, which
70 / Creative Feel / December 2018 / January 2019
‘Today, I can proudly pat myself on the back and call myself a dancer, not just a street dancer as I was before
I joined VDT. When the training programme started, I
Market Theatre and performing a duet at the launch of
struggled with all of the dance moves. Compared to the
Adrienne Sichel’s book, Body Politics: Fingerprinting South
dancer I was before the training, there has been a huge
African Contemporary Dance,’ shares Musa Motha.
shift in how I execute and interpret movement. I only
VDT will be auditioning for new talent to join
used to use my leg and both crutches to dance, now I can
the company’s training programme in January – an
either use both crutches, one or none. The understanding
opportunity for young dancers to start their journey
of where the movement came from and how to be clear
towards contributing to the multilayered creative
in what I am doing has been a challenge for me but I
economy. Prospective trainees can look forward to
have since learnt these skills and how to present myself
developing their artistry by melding the technical aspects
as an artist. I have also learnt the fundamentals of
of dancing with their individuality. This is conducted
telling stories through movement and how to tap into
through the exploration of improvisational methods along
my emotions to help carry the storytelling. Some of my
with acquired physical techniques. At the end of each year,
highlights during the training programme have been
dancers develop a distinct voice and unique aesthetic
performing in Mayhem on the opening night of Dance
rooted in Vuyani’s movement vocabulary that will make
Umbrella, performing at the Living Legends tribute at
them a valuable asset to any professional setting. CF
PHOTOS Dokta Moyo
Creative Feel / December 2018 / January 2019 / 71
THE ART OF PERFORMANCE |
DAVE MANN
Mary Sibande, A Crescendo of Ecstasy, presented by The Mixed Reality Workshop (TMRW) Gallery
Live-stream performance:
Art and tech
E
arlier this year, I enjoyed the strange experience
a multi-channelled live-stream of the performance – a
of watching a live theatrical performance play out
series of standing mini-cameras situated throughout the
from multiple angles and perspectives just a metre
venue were being used to stream the performance to those
or two away from me, without even being seated in
tuned in online.
the audience. I was in the same venue as the performance but,
From behind the screen in that small side room, I could see striking, close-cropped frames of a single performer,
seated in a small room to the side of the performance
I could see a split-screen image of both the upper and
area, I was watching it through the screen of a laptop. The
lower levels of the performance area, and I could even see
play was Lindiwe Matshikiza’s Desert, a piece created for
the audience watching on if I chose. My favourite view
Season 3 of the Centre for the Less Good Idea, which took
was of the videographer’s own screen – a collage of neat,
place on the bottom floor as well as on a second-floor
digital blocks, each one alive with a different aspect of the
platform overlooking the audience. I was helping out with
performance happening right next to us. The only time I
72 / Creative Feel / December 2018 / January 2019
Lindiwe Matshikiza’s Desert at the Centre for the Less Good Idea saw the performance with my own eyes, without the intervention of a screen, was when Matshikiza herself danced off stage and into our little side room, bringing the performance to a close. The increasing convergence of art and technology has long been a point of fascination, speculation, and even outrage. Arguments that technology will be the death of art sit alongside arguments that art, as a medium and an institution, will surely die out if it fails to embrace technology. But even these hot takes aren’t too hot. Back in the 1840s, when photography became more popularised, cries about the supposed ‘death of painting’ sounded out across the world. Painting, of course, didn’t die at all. We got Realism instead. And technology continues to influence the way we view, engage with, and even conceptualise art, today. Virtual Reality (VR) exhibitions have been popular talking points in South Africa’s arts scene of late, with Mary Sibande’s A Crescendo of Ecstasy exhibition being a brilliant example of how VR can work hand in hand with sculptural and visual art mediums to enhance or even create entire worlds. During the National Arts Festival this year, I also witnessed a group of children having a spirited chat with a cartoon character on a television screen which, by way of a well-placed video camera and someone sitting out of sight, but not too far off, was able to respond and interact with these kids in real-time. On this occasion, I happily set my reservations for surveillance-based tech aside – seeing a kid talk and laugh with a cartoon character of their own making is really frikkin’ cute. Then there are the more bizarre (to me, at least) instances of art and tech colliding. In October 2018, a painting created entirely from artificial intelligence technology went up for auction. The painting was the result of Obvious, a Paris-based collective consisting of Hugo Caselles-Dupré, Pierre Fautrel and Gauthier Vernier, who commit themselves
Creative Feel / December 2018 / January 2019 / 73
to exploring the interface between art and artificial
‘What does it mean that our cultural history, like everything
intelligence. After the AI ‘analysed’ over 15 000 paintings by
else, is increasingly under the watchful eye of a giant
real people, a brand-new work was created and titled Portrait
corporation whose business model rests on data mining?’
of Edmond Belamy. The portrait was eventually auctioned off
And what are the effects of that watchful eye becoming the
by Christie’s for $432 500.
primary lens through which we view our cultural history?
2018 also saw social media being populated with selfies
Back when writing about art had me seated in an office
of a different nature – Google’s Art Selfie. Part of their
from nine-to-five, I remember having to produce exhibition
Arts & Culture app and in collaboration with a number of
overviews and descriptions based solely on a set of hi-res
Lindiwe Matshikiza’s Desert at the Centre for the Less Good Idea
museums across the globe, the Art Selfie prompted users to
images sent by the gallery. A week or so later, when the
take a snap of themselves in order to discover their painted,
exhibition would be open, I’d view the works in person
photographed or drawn doppelgänger. Naturally, the app
and gain a level of understanding about them that I found
relied on facial recognition technology and the resultant
myself unable to via a set of images clumped together in a
algorithms that would reunite you with your long-lost art
Dropbox folder. And while galleries and museums the world
twin. As the app became more widely used, some critics
over are beginning to embrace technology and the internet
praised its ability to educate people on historical moments
as a means of reaching, educating, and engaging with new
of art and culture in a smart and engaging manner, while
audiences, or even old audiences in new ways, I wonder how
others highlighted how facial recognition technology is
much meaning and detail is lost or skipped over when you
inherently skewed towards whiteness as a result of those
view an exhibition walkabout through Instagram live? I’m
who built the tech: white folk. Google has also denied using
not exactly fearing the fall of the world’s galleries in place
these selfies for any sort of surveillance or targeted ad-based
of VR exhibitions (they’re all still making way too much
schemes, but I’ll forever remain on the sceptical side. In
money to go away anytime soon), but I am interested in how
his piece The Google Arts & Culture App and the Rise of the
we navigate and experience the intimacies and intricacies
‘Coded Gaze’ in The New Yorker, writer Adrian Chen asks:
of mediums such as sculpture, painting, and performance
74 / Creative Feel / December 2018 / January 2019
through a million little pixels as opposed to taking them in
but mostly, I’m quite excited to see how the whole thing
as they exist right in front of us. And in the near or distant
unfolds, as a large portion of my (mis)education on art
future when art begins to find more of a home online than it
restoration comes from that Mr Bean film where he
does in the material world, how much other ‘content’ will we
destroys Whistler’s Mother and draws her face back onto the
have to sift through before we get to what we’re looking for?
canvas with a koki.
Dystopian cynicism aside, 2019 is already promising a
Whatever your take is on the advent of Instagram
fascinating experience by way of art and public engagement
exhibitions, paintings created by robots, or theatre
via the internet. Earlier this year, Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum
productions that reach you through the screen of your
Lindiwe Matshikiza’s Desert at the Centre for the Less Good Idea
announced a live (in the old and new sense of the word)
phone, it’s clear that we’re living through a truly interesting
restoration project set to take place in July 2019. Dutch
and uncertain time in the worlds of art and technology. But
painter Rembrandt van Rijn’s 1642 artwork The Night Watch
then art, for the most part, always seems to keep things
will undergo a live restoration, which will be live-streamed
equally interesting and uncertain. So perhaps these sorts of
across the world. The Night Watch, which has been stabbed,
things don’t change that much at all – maybe they just take
slashed, hidden in a cave in the Netherlands, and sprayed
different shapes over the years. CF
with acid over the many years it’s been in existence, will now be restored in a manner that sees performance, art, and technology coming together. ‘This research and restoration will be carried out with the world watching,’ explains a video put out by the museum.
DAVE MANN is an editor and
‘Both here in The Night Watch hall in the Rijksmuseum and
award-winning arts journalist.
online… Because The Night Watch belongs to all of us.’ Part of me thinks that snarky YouTube comments and failing WiFi connections may ruin the whole experience,
Creative Feel / December 2018 / January 2019 / 75
ARTLOOKS & ARTLINES |
ISMAIL MAHOMED
Albertina Sisulu – A spirit
that binds two countries
Women and War, Struggle and Stories event held at the Market Theatre in October. PHOTOS Michael Phasha
T
he city of Reggio Emilia in Italy may not be as
Reggio Emilia was actively involved in the promotion of
well known to South Africans as Rome, Milan or
the anti-apartheid movement abroad and went on to sign a
Venice, but its claim to fame is as the birthplace of
solidarity pact with the African National Congress (ANC) in
the Italian flag – the famous red, white and green
1977. Oliver Tambo, then President of the ANC, addressed
tricolour – and of the renowned Reggio Emilia Approach, an
delegates in the Municipal Theatre of Reggio Emilia. Tambo
educational philosophy focused on preschool and primary
and other guests were also welcomed in Rome by the
education that values the expressiveness and creativity of
then-president of Italy, Alessandro Pertini, and Pope John
each child. At least, that was the case until the South African
Paul II. In 1987, the city conferred honorary citizenship to
Ambassador to Italy, Shirish Soni, arrived in Italy and, through
Albertina Sisulu.
his hyperactive social media postings, profiled the city’s
This year marks the centenary of Albertina Sisulu’s
historical connection with South African liberation icon
birth. An excellent turnout of political and cultural activists
Albertina Sisulu.
gathered at the Market Theatre on Monday 22 October 2018,
For Ambassador Soni, the city’s solidarity and support
a day after the late icon’s 100th birthday, to celebrate her
for the South African liberation movement was far too
legacy under the theme ‘Celebrating 100 years of Albertina
important not to be celebrated through the arts. Spurred
Sisulu, A woman of fortitude’.
on by Ambassador Soni and Serena Foracchia, the Deputy
The evening commenced with a screening of the 2004
Mayor for International Affairs of the City of Reggio
documentary A South African Love Story – Walter and
Emilia, a delegation of arts producers from the city’s
Albertina Sisulu, followed by a lively panel discussion
Mamino Theatre found their way to Johannesburg. Their
that proved that Ma Sisulu’s legacy remains relevant and
journey brought them to the Hillbrow Theatre, Windybrow
well respected. The discussion was led by an all-female
Theatre and the Market Theatre Laboratory to commence
panel comprising of authors Elinor Sisulu, Sindiwe
discussions about a collaborative production that will
Magona and Joyce Sikhakhane-Rankin, photography
celebrate the city’s historical solidarity with South Africa’s
archivist Ayanda Sisulu and academic researcher
liberation struggle.
Sithembile Mbete.
76 / Creative Feel / December 2018 / January 2019
painful separation. But it is also one of patience, hope and enduring love. ‘I knew Albertina Sisulu before meeting Elinor Sisulu, who is the daughter-in-law of the Sisulus. In this book, Albertina Sisulu: Abridged Memoir, I managed to do what could not be done in a lifetime, I divorced them. This book focuses solely on the life of Albertina Sisulu. Of course, there are some parts that are still mixed up with Walter Sisulu’s life. The book highlights the activist and feminist that was Albertina Sisulu,’ says Magona. Albertina Sisulu, revered by South Africans as the true mother of the nation, was a survivor of the golden age of the ANC. Her life with the second most important figure in the ANC, Walter Sisulu, exemplified the underpinning role of women in the struggle against apartheid. In 1944, she was the sole woman at the inaugural meeting of the radical offshoot of the ANC, the Youth League, with Walter Sisulu, Nelson Mandela, Tambo and Anton Lembede in the vanguard. Her final years were spent in an unpretentious house in the former white suburb of Linden in Johannesburg. Driven by the inner-strength and the resilience of a lifetime of hardship and persecution, there’s absolutely no ‘I was totally moved by the screening of the film that
doubt that Albertina Sisulu was an extraordinary woman.
told of the adversities faced by the Sisulu family. We take
The celebratory event at the Market Theatre honoured
it for granted that there are leaders who drove the freedom
her and paid tribute to her legacy. It is the kind of catalyst
we enjoy as young people in South Africa and we have
needed to inspire the kind of moral of leadership that will
also forgotten that the families of these leaders were also
ensure that all South Africans have a better life.
suffering during this time of turmoil and upset in the
The road ahead now is to see what the Mamino Theatre,
country. I believe the screening should form part of our
Hillbrow Theatre, Windybrow Arts Centre and the Market
history lessons lest we forget where we come from,’ says
Theatre Laboratory come up with to strengthen the cultural
Lerato Masokane, a guest at the event.
ties between Reggio Emilia and the City of Johannesburg.
A celebrated author, Magona was in attendance at
Ambassador Soni and Deputy Mayor Serena Foracchia
the Market Theatre to launch her abridged version of the
have planted the seeds for cultural collaboration. It will be
biography about the struggle hero. Her book, Albertina
the spirit of Albertina Sisulu that will be the thread that
Sisulu: Abridged Memoir, was inspired by Elinor Sisulu’s
weaves itself between the two cities to inspire its creatives
Walter and Albertina Sisulu: In Our Lifetime.
to develop an original work that can critically reflect on and
In her book, Elinor Sisulu writes about the more
celebrate the past but to also re-envision the future. CF
than five decades that Walter and Albertina Sisulu spent at the forefront of the struggle against apartheid. As secretary-general of the ANC, Walter was sentenced to life imprisonment with Nelson Mandela in 1964 and spent 26
Artlooks & Artlines is a monthly column
years in prison until his release in 1989. While her husband
written by ISMAIL
MAHOMED,
and his colleagues were in jail, Albertina played a crucial
CEO of the Market Theatre Foundation.
role in keeping the ANC alive underground, and in the 1980s was co-president of the United Democratic Front. Their story has been one of persecution, bitter struggle and
Creative Feel / December 2018 / January 2019 / 77
THE OLD MAN & THE GUN DIRECTOR: David Lowery STARRING: Robert Redford, Casey Affleck, Danny Glover, Tika Sumpter, Tom Waits, Sissy Spacek The Old Man & the Gun is based on the true story of Forrest Tucker (Robert Redford): from his audacious escape from San Quentin at the age of 70 to an unprecedented string of heists that confounded authorities and enchanted the public. Tucker only ever had one occupation, but it was one he was unusually gifted at and pursued with unabashed joy. It just happened to be bank robbing. In the early 1980s, at a septuagenarian age, Tucker embarked on a final legend-making spree of heists with the ‘Over-the-Hill Gang’, a posse of elderly bandits who employed smooth charm over aggression to make off with millions. Wrapped up in the pursuit are detective John Hunt (Casey Affleck), who becomes captivated with Tucker’s commitment to his craft, and his newly found partner in Jewel (Sissy Spacek), who loves him despite his chosen profession. Tucker never stopped defying age, expectations, or rules – he made his twilight the pinnacle of his life of crime. This enthralling drama takes the audience back to Depression-era Florida, where Tucker began his life of crime at the tender age of 17 and fittingly ended it at the age of 79 after building a reputation as a high-end criminal gentleman. Academy Award® winner Robert Redford, who has confirmed his reprisal of Tucker as his last on-screen appearance, delivers a captivating performance that cements his iconic status as a film legend, alongside equally acclaimed award-winner Sissy Spacek. The Old Man & the Gun releases in select cinemas nationwide on 11 January 2019.
10-12PGL
IN CINEMAS 11 JANUARY 2019 Creative Feel / December 2018 / January 2019 / 79
LITERARY LANDSCAPES |
INDRA WUSSOW
Art and activism in ‘paradise’
Jaco van Schalkwyk with Indonesian painter Vincent Chandra
T
The final Gong Laut Festival stage
he scorching sun burns the dusty field in front of
airflow in very hot Bali. When we arrive from South Africa to
the Manik Bumi Foundation in Lovina Beach, a
install our group show Beyond troubled water(s) in two of the
suburb of Singaraja in the north of Bali. This barren
upper rooms, there is still so much building activity around
corner near the brown, sandy beach, which is
us that we cannot fathom that this dusty field between the
popular with locals, will be the space for our final Gong Laut
house and the seaside will be home to the big festival in a
Festival performance – one that is meant to be a wake-up call
week’s time.
to address our passionate concern for the state of our oceans and our planet. The Manik Bumi Foundation was founded by Balinese
Our art show is one part of the programme. We connect with Indonesian artist Made Bayak, who creates sculptures and paintings using plastic he collects from beaches and
Juli Wirahmini in her hometown to create awareness and to
the ocean. He is one of Indonesia’s most famous artists and
create community creativity related to the ecological and
he exhibits his work extensively internationally. This is an
environmental challenges the island of Bali suffers from. Juli
important encounter and we converse with him about the
is a powerhouse and has been running an annual Indonesian
purpose and limitations of the arts when it comes to political
cultural festival in Hamburg in Germany for many years.
and social awareness. He is a tireless advocate of the ocean
It is her passion for her home island that drives the Gong
and often works with schools and university students to
Laut Festival, which was created as a platform for activism
build more knowledge about ecological matters to make
and arts that deal with ecological challenges, to share and
them part of today’s art practices.
create new ideas. While this year’s festival was the first
These informal encounters enrich us all enormously but,
and it is still an experiment, it is a learning experience and
it has to be said, there was unfortunately not enough room
will inform those that follow, hopefully leading to constant
for such conversations at the festival as the Indonesian and
improvement and prosperity.
German chief curators were too engaged in organisational
The launch of the Gong Laut Festival also marks the inauguration of the new headquarters of Juli Wirahmini’s foundation – a beautiful mix of modern architecture with
issues to make the effort to connect artists, poets and activists effectively. Here in Bali, it feels like there is no time to waste
old Balinese building traditions. Huge glass doors invite the
anymore. There is plastic everywhere and we join the school
surrounding nature in while also providing much-needed
kids who are busy collecting rubbish from the beach next to
80 / Creative Feel / December 2018 / January 2019
the Manik Bumi Foundation. It is a sad experience. As soon as I put one item in my trash bag, another ten are washed ashore – a modern Sisyphean task. There is comfort in the practicality of this connection with reality though, which is highly appreciated after having spent some days with a particular group of international poets who were also part of the festival. These poets have their own agenda, and their narcissistic neediness to be heard is ridiculously juxtaposed against the needs of a nature in destruction. The ocean we visit is suffering silently while its fish and corals are dying under the surface beyond which we seldom look. The poets’ concern is the run-of-the-mill ‘the ocean connects us all’, which they repeat like a mantra. And I consider why, in this company, it sounds rather like lip service than a ‘gong’, a wake-up call to embark on the necessary transformation of our perceptions and, more importantly, our behaviours. As the Manik Bumi Foundation engages in practical ways
Chris Soal, Untitled, Mali 2018
to change environmental issues and also takes teaching very
collaboration among them. It would have been much
seriously, the Undiksha University of Singaraja is our partner
more beneficial for all of us to rather talk further with the
institution during the festival. Thankfully so. Indonesia has a
students, to develop ideas together and embark on an honest
very young population and we take part in a lot of workshops
exchange. South African painter Jaco van Schalkwyk, for
and discussions with the amazingly informed and passionate
example, had such an exchange with Vincent Chandra, a
students, and the versatile and knowledgeable staff. This is
recent arts graduate from Undiksha. This encounter has
the future and these young people are very much aware of
enabled a mentoring relationship and a residency for
the challenges they face, and what kind of a world we will
Vincent in Johannesburg in 2019. This will be the start of
bequeath them.
a long-term collaboration with South African and Balinese
American poet Carolyn Forché is a positive example of how to connect arts and activism. A human rights advocate
artists and writers. That is what incubation should enable. After ten days of experimenting with arts and activism,
and brilliant poet, she is the director of the Lannan Center
the dusty field in front of the ocean becomes the stage for
for Poetics and Social Practice at Georgetown University,
the final festival. No wake-up call yet, but a strong statement
which is a literary, critical, and pedagogical undertaking
about the state of the interrelation of the arts and an
devoted to the situation of poetry and poetics in the
activism that still needs to grow. But the promise it shows is
contemporary world and very much connects it with social
out in this world at last and will be a good fundament for the
practices. Her conversation with Helga Trüpel, a founder
next festivals.
of the Green Party in Germany and now a member of
One image will stay with me for a long time: South
the European Parliament, was one of the highlights of
African artist Chris Soal’s altarpiece with its halved
these university workshops. Both were impressed by the
plastic bottle that will never melt but will instead stay
dedication of these young people whose awareness of the
with us as a memento mori of human hubris and our
ecological disaster in their midst is much greater than in
disconnection with nature. CF
any of the Western countries whose rubbish and lifestyle are still the main culprits for the catastrophe we are heading towards. Carolyn explained that the climate collapse will be a fact in 20 years if we do not change drastically. It becomes
Literary Landscapes is a monthly column by
dramatically clear how important political decisions are in
INDRA WUSSOW, a writer, translator
the curbing of consumption and waste.
and director of the Sylt Foundation.
There was also an incubation space that, unfortunately, was mainly used to prepare for the final stage show, which featured poets, musician and artists, and to forge
Creative Feel / December 2018 / January 2019 / 81
BUSINESS & ARTS |
MICHELLE CONSTANT
Some December contemplation...
A
s we move into the final throes of what has been, for many, a true annus horribilis, most of us are looking to December as a time to pause, to assess the past year, and to prepare for what promises to
be a turbulent 2019, both globally and in South Africa. For the arts and creative sector, the risks are diverse. 2018 was striking with regards to disruption in our sector – we have seen disturbances at SAMRO, NFVF, Market Theatre Foundation, and the National Arts Council. This has caused higher levels of tension in the sector, and deepening mistrust between agencies, staffing, the sector and broader society. It talks to the need for extremely rigorous governance and interrogation as we move forward. Furthermore, the elections in 2019, the recent passing of the Environment Minister (currently Derek Hanekom is both Minister of Tourism and acting Minister of Environmental Affairs), the stepping down of the Minister of Home Affairs, potential budget cuts, government departments potentially being collided, the ongoing Zondo Commission on State Capture, the delivery of the DAC White Paper to Parliament – it seems we are moving towards a perfect storm. All align in a need to amortise costs in the public sector next year. How the creative and cultural industries respond to this, will determine how we are included in the planning. Having said that – ke Dezemba! At last. Time to slow down and allow for some contemplation. For me, contemplation comes through reading. Books open my mind to deeper, broader conversations. There are two books that you should pack into your reading pile, that talk to the challenges of past and present, the role of the personal to explain the public, of staring the future in the face. The Brazilian author Paulo Coelho is probably most well known for the book The Alchemist, which has sold 85 million copies in a diversity of languages. And yet his latest work, Hippie, described as ‘self-fiction’ comes at the most appropriate time.
82 / Creative Feel / December 2018 / January 2019
Hippie By Paulo Coelho Publisher: Penguin Randomhouse ISBN: 9781786331595
Photographs from Paulo Coelho’s Hippie Brazil has just nominated a president on the populism ticket. He has been described as ‘the Trump of the Tropics’, a man who was in the military during Brazil’s military junta The US has a president who is telling us to ‘sweep the forest floors’ after the worst Californian wildfires ever, and swathes of Europe are fast-tracking to the right wing. All of which are deeply at odds with the themes of self-discovery, exploration and a powerful challenging of the social and historical order in Hippie.
“Time to slow down and allow for some contemplation. For me, contemplation comes through reading. Books open my mind to deeper, broader conversations”
In Hippie, we criss-cross South America, and finally join Coelho’s fellow travellers on the ‘Magic Bus’ across Europe and onto Central Asia, during the ‘70s. Ostensibly it is a fictitious book, and yet it has been
telling of their story. While completely different to Coelho’s
described as his most autobiographical to date. Coelho
Hippie in style, it also offers a wonderful opportunity for
writes about himself in the third person, as Paulo –
introspection into what the psychoanalyst Christopher
distancing the author from the narrative. Early in the novel,
Bollas describes as the Age of Bewilderment. Indeed Brexit,
he describes being imprisoned during the Brazilian military
the Trump era, and the latest election in Brazil, all describe
junta, and it strikes a harsh chord with what the country is
a present that has confused many, a reverse trajectory back
potentially about to go through in 2019. This is a story of
into horrors that Coelho and Kurgan’s family were struggling
self-discovery; it is a ‘journey to the past and a map for the
to escape many years back.
future’. Actually, it is also a journey through the world, and likewise into the interior of our souls.
Bollas talks of ‘reflection and introspection’ as much needed, when currently ‘hate-based solutions are used to
It is this idea of journeys – into the past, geographies,
address world politics and problems.’ These books, and
and our heritage – that is also covered in the most wonderful
many more, should be reflected and deliberated on, in a
photographic ‘art’ book (I’m not quite sure how to categorise
time when truth, false truth and fake news are pinned to the
it) by Johannesburg artist, writer and social commentator
noticeboard of debate. CF
Terry Kurgan. In Everyone is Present, Kurgan unravels the journey of escape made by her Jewish grandparents in 1939, at the start of World War II; a time she describes as ‘multiple histories’. The extended family escape the Nazi regime in Lvov in Poland, travelling to India, then Kenya, and finally
Business & Arts is a monthly column by
finding respite in South Africa. The work is a delicate and
MICHELLE CONSTANT,
forensic dissection of Kurgan’s grandfather’s diaries and
CEO of Business and Arts South Africa (BASA).
photographs; through them the artist talks to history, and the retelling of history. The intimacy of the photographs and the diaries, are highlighted by Kurgan’s own intimate
Creative Feel / December 2018 / January 2019 / 83
EVERYONE IS PRESENT In this fascinating portrait of a family, Terry Kurgan, a well-known South African artist/photographer, uses the medium of writing for a series of meditations on photography that give us startling insights into how photographs work: what they conceal, how they mislead, and what provocations they contain. Each essay takes up the thread of the story of her own family’s epic journey across Europe as they flee – country by country – Nazi occupation and eventually reach Cape Town, South Africa. It is a powerful,
Everyone is Present By Terry Kurgan Publisher: Fourthwall Books ISBN: 9780994700964
intimate and beautiful portrait of a family,
was to become one of the greatest atrocities of the twentieth
and an important historical document of
century, my grandmother was fucking Doctor Lax. He is the
a time that should never be forgotten –
man in the photograph and that child is my – then, four years old – little mother,’ writes Kurgan. But, as her mother Leonia
both their journey and their years in South
is still alive, and was involved to an extent in the creation of
Africa, which she shared in an interview
masks a secret. A secret that is too big for this page.’
with Creative Feel’s Lore Watterson.
‘M
the book, Kurgan doesn’t reveal everything. ‘This photograph Upon Kurgan’s grandmother’s death, her mother Leonia packed and emptied her parents’ house. Among the personal objects that Leonia preserved were her father’s
y Polish grandparents never discussed their
handwritten diaries that her mother had left largely
past. There is very little evidence beyond a
undisturbed with other documents and papers in the
small, battered album of black-and-white
drawers of his desk.
photographs, each one captioned on the
‘The diaries begin with an air raid alarm, which wakes
back in my grandfather’s spidery cursive handwriting,’ writes
my grandfather from a dream at 5:20 am on the first day of
Terry Kurgan. This ‘small, battered album’ and the daily diary
September in 1939. Germany has just attacked and invaded
that Kurgan’s grandfather kept for 30 years form the basis of
Poland. The first years of the diaries describe the family’s flight
Everyone is Present and give the book a unique depth. Through
from their hometown of Bielsko, east towards the city of Lwów,
these essays, Kurgan explores family dynamics and lets us in
and then several years of their difficult, sometimes desperate
on some of the family secrets and by the end, the reader feels
journey, through and ultimately out of Europe; an unwieldy,
part of the family.
combative extended family group of ten people. Refugees,
At the centre of the family’s story is one particular image.
unwelcome every place they turned. They lived in Bucharest,
‘But this photograph in my family’s album records a day in the
Istanbul, Ankara, Aleppo, Baghdad, Basra, and sailed via the
summer of July or August 1939. And, at the very outset of what
Persian Gulf to Muscat and Karachi, then to Bombay. Then to
84 / Creative Feel / December 2018 / January 2019
“This photograph masks a secret. A secret that is too big for this page”
Mombasa, and finally, in April 1941, and quite unintentionally, to Cape Town at the bottom of Africa, their journey’s end.’ It appears that her grandfather kept these daily diaries through most of the rest of his life in South Africa. ‘They are dense and agitated volumes, with tiny cursive handwriting crowded into notebooks, which he fashioned for himself out of sheets of unlined paper pierced in the top left-hand corner with a big darning needle.’ As Kurgan explains in an interview with Creative Feel: ‘I am doubtful as to whether he intended them to be read by anyone after his death, but first my grandmother, and then my mother, attempted the task of translating the first two years; my grandmother entirely in her own favour, editing out unflattering, fractious family dynamics or any hint of criticism of herself, which only became evident when my mother took these same pages to a professional translator. My mother was hoping to find in them somewhere the firm evidence that he loved her, I think.’
Terry Kurgan is based in Johannesburg. Working across a broad range of media, from drawing, writing and photography to enlisting public participation in her production processes, her work emerges in the space between visual art and an engagement in the public sphere. Kurgan’s artistic interest over many years has been in photography: in the complex and paradoxical nature of photographic transactions. She explores this through a diverse body of artwork that foregrounds notions of intimacy, pushing at the boundaries between ‘the private’ and ‘the public’ in the South African public domain. Her projects have been sited in spaces as varied as a maternity hospital, a public library, a popular Johannesburg shopping mall, an inner-city park and a prison. CF
Creative Feel / December 2018 / January 2019 / 85
Illustrated books for young imaginations THE CHALK GIRAFFE | By Kirsty Paxton | Illustration by Megan Lötter | Publisher: Imagnary House | ISBN: 9780639934334 What sort of landscape would you like to live in? Imagine if you had the chance to tell the artist how you wanted to look? Well, the animals of Africa – starting with the giraffe – have a say in creating their own personal landscape when our artistic child draws a giraffe in chalk. When the drawings magically come to life, the characters become rather demanding art critics, and some things have to change! We all know how fabulous it is to draw with chalk and create characters that we love and then rub them clean when we want to change them, only to recreate the original picture. In The Chalk Giraffe, author Kirsty Paxton gives us all these elements along with rhyming text and a creative child with wildly messy hair and a vivid imagination. When THE BRAVE TURTLE | By BD Harris | Illustration by Megan
her creation comes to life and asks for more colourful
Bird | Publisher: Imagnary House | ISBN: 9780639934389
surroundings, she happily draws them for him.
Having collaborated with the NSRI for this innovative fundraising and awareness initiative over a number of months, the intention was to bring to life a book that would
“‘I’m alone,’ he cried out, ‘there’s just grey all around’. So I drew him a tree growing up from the ground.” But as he asks for more and more, our little artist gets
illustrate the power and magic of the ocean and its creatures.
frustrated and things start to unravel! What follows is a
In addition, the Two Oceans Aquarium has assisted with
quirky and humorous tale of creativity and perspective,
valuable information on the plight of our turtles. The result is
with the beautiful African landscape as a backdrop to this
The Brave Turtle, a beautifully illustrated story that will grip
unlikely friendship.
readers, young and old. Imagine what could happen if it just kept raining and raining and raining and the water rose and rose! For our heroine Sam, who rolls off her bed late one night and, with a splash, finds her entire room flooded, this is the beginning of a huge adventure. And it’s not just her room, the whole house is filling with water as the world floods outside. Confused and cold, Sam is rescued by a wise little turtle called Neville who takes her along the beautiful underwater highway, teaching her the ways of this watery world. Floating on driftwood, upturned cars and general flotsam, humans and sea creatures work together to search and save those lost in the floods. This is a wonderful story that carries many underlying messages, the main one being that if you’re in the water: ‘Keep calm’. Not only does the book offer lifesaving messages but it creates awareness of our turtle population. Profits from the sale of this book will be donated to the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) to extend their water safety and drowning prevention programmes.
86 / Creative Feel / December 2018 / January 2019
THE STRAW GIANT AND THE CROW | Author/Illustrator: Jess Bosworth Smith | Publisher: Imagnary House | ISBN: 9780639934310 This heartfelt and off-the-wall story about a mysterious relationship between a straw giant and a crow has you entering the magical and mysterious world that author and illustrator Jess Bosworth Smith has created around these two unlikely characters. There is a field afar that holds an incredible secret... a giant lives there who is made of straw. One winter, grumpy and miserable with his cold surroundings, the Straw Giant chases away all the other animals in his field. That is, until the Crow arrives and begins to leave him little gifts each morning. A sweet and subtle friendship emerges – but will the Crow be able to last the Winter Solstice? Will their friendship defy the cold clutches of winter and last out? FARRAH IS NOT A DALMATIAN | Author/Illustrator: Adrie le Roux | Publisher: Bumble Books | ISBN: 9780994690739 Poor Farrah. She is a small dog with a big problem. Everyone thinks she is a Dalmatian and all she wants is to be recognised for what she really is… an English Pointer. What happens when no one notices you are different? Farrah is NOT a Dalmatian was inspired by Adrie le Roux’s sister’s dog, an English Pointer, who people often mistook for a Dalmatian. A popular author and illustrator, Le Roux’s talent brings this delightful character to life and takes the young (and older) reader on a journey that reinforces that no matter how different we all seem to be, we are in fact all the same. Farrah is NOT a Dalmatian is available in English and Afrikaans. A percentage of all proceeds from sales will be donated to the Underdog Project. WHAT ON EARTH AM I? | By Lara Salomon | Illustration by Megan Bird | Publisher: Imagnary House | ISBN: 9780639934303 The curiosity of a child knows no bounds. Questions about what they are in the big world can take a child on a magical journey of self-discovery, but can also be confusing. What on Earth am I? explores complex topics such as identity, diversity, and existentialism, which all come to life through Lara Salomon’s delightful verse and imaginatively visualised under Megan Bird’s talented pen. Simply put – a dive into identity and deep world-questions posed in a fun way for kids. It’s easy to understand how a small child may become confused as to what they are. So many stories and so many characters, but where do I fit in? Salomon deftly deals with this in easy to memorise rhymes, which ask all those puzzling questions that a child may ask after being read many fairy stories. There are more questions than answers, but this is a book that will have a lasting place on a child’s bookshelf. CF
Creative Feel / December 2018 / January 2019 / 87
The Mandala Kitchen:
100 recipes to heal and restore your gut By Marlien Wright Publisher: Jacana Media ISBN: 9781431426881
T
he topic of gut health is often discussed in the media, various books have been published on the subject and there is ongoing scientific research on how our gut health can be linked to our overall good health (and on the flip side, many diseases).
The Mandala Kitchen sheds light on which foods and lifestyle choices can
either promote or damage your gut health, and offers a collection of easy, delicious and nourishing recipes to heal your gut and, as a result, strengthen your immune system, improve your mood and assist in weight loss – all the recipes have been designed to be time-saving as well as family friendly. Extras include: A Gentle Start – meal suggestions to start healing your gut; Lunchbox ideas and recipes for on-the-go gut health; Gut healing recipes for children – child-friendly meals that have been fool-proofed with the author’s children; Simple fermenting/culturing recipes; A selection of fabulous recipes from The Good Gut, and a few of the author’s favourites from Wellness (Warehouse) Café, Spirit Café and Marrow for gut-healthy food choices on the go. Marlien Wright is a food blogger, nutritional therapist, yogi and mom. She enjoys eating whole foods and creating healthy #foodporn. She believes that being healthy is sexy and that our food choices can either heal or harm us. For more healthy, nutritious and delicious recipes look up her first cookbook, The Yoga Kitchen: 100 Easy Superfood Recipes.
88 / Creative Feel / December 2018 / January 2019
CHOCOLATE BOMBS These serve as wonderful fuel for when you don’t have enough time for a proper meal or just before a workout.
PHOTOS and recipes courtesy Jacana Media
As treats go, these are pretty gut and kid friendly too. Ingredients ½ cup air-roasted cashews ¹⁄3 cup coconut oil ¹⁄3 cup pitted dates ²⁄3 cup almond butter ½ cup desiccated coconut ½ cup raw cacao powder salt to taste Method • Add the cashews to your blender jug and pulse until you have a crumbly consistency, then scoop out half of the cashew crumbs and set aside on a plate for your balls to be rolled in later. • Now add all the other ingredients (along with half of the cashews) into your blender jug and pulse until you have a fairly smooth, sticky consistency. Remove the mixture one tablespoon at a time and roll with clean hands into small balls. Lastly, roll them in the remaining cashew crumbs before transferring them to a flat and wide container that can be sealed with a lid or cling film.
FENNEL, APPLE & WALNUT SLAW
Store them in the fridge for up to two weeks.
When looking for a quick, delicious salad to help restore your gut health, settle your tummy and accompany any
Makes 12 – 16 balls
meal, this should be one of your go-to recipes. Ingredients 2 – 3 baby fennel bulbs, shredded or finely sliced 1 Granny Smith apple, grated (leave the skin on) ¼ cup walnuts, lightly toasted and roughly chopped or crushed Dressing 2½ tbsp olive oil 1 tbsp raw apple cider vinegar 1 tsp honey 1 clove garlic, finely grated or crushed salt and pepper to taste Method • Combine and shake together all the dressing ingredients in a jar. • Simply combine the apple and fennel in a large bowl, then add the emulsified dressing and toss it all together, finishing finally with a sprinkling of prepared walnuts.
Creative Feel / December 2018 / January 2019 / 89
ENCORE RUARC PEFFERS is the MD of Aspire Art Auctions. He graduated with a BA (Fine Art) from Michaelis, UCT, after which he started working in the art auction industry under Stephan Welz and Sotheby’s stewardship. Later, Peffers completed an MSc in history, curating and criticism at the University of Edinburgh. He has worked in the arts industry his whole career, between the primary and secondary markets, including at Goodman Gallery and blank projects.
Name three artworks that you love and why.
generation and nation-building, and support their
Tough question. Only three?
development accordingly. Consider, for example, Tate
Moshekwa Langa – Skins; Dan Halter – Safe as Fuck; Francis
Britain where, between the three museums, they attract
Alÿs – Bridge (Snails); Theaster Gates – Raising Goliath;
more annual visitors than the Premier League.
Richard Wilson – 20:50; Christian Marclay – The Clock. What is your most treasured possession? Name one artist you would love to meet.
The gavel I turned with my father on his lathe.
Maurizio Cattelan. What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery? What are you reading at the moment?
Corruption. Or an environment that resists meritocracy.
Georgina Adam – Dark Side of the Boom: The Excesses of the Art Market in the 21st Century.
What is it that makes you happy? Prosperity. Positivity. My friends and family.
What is in your car’s CD player? Haven’t listened to CDs for years. Chet Faker was playing
Describe a defining moment in your life.
through my phone this morning.
The morning Kevin Handelsman and Brian Joffe took me for breakfast – the first time the concept, and possibility, of
If you could change one thing about yourself, what
Aspire was broached.
would it be? More focused.
What projects will you be busy with during 2018 and into 2019?
How have the arts industries in South Africa changed
Our last project this year is our Holidays! online auction
over the last ten years?
(20 – 27 November), full of wonderful books, fine art
In many ways – apart from becoming more professional and
and collectable objects like Ardmore, whisky decanters,
globally relevant, locally they have become more inclusive,
Chinese blue and white ceramics, etc. Our first project
sophisticated and forward-looking. In the absence of
next year is the University of Stellenbosch Woordfees,
appreciable state support, we are fortunate to have the
followed by the Investec Cape Town Art Fair, during
magnanimous support of South Africans who have invested
which we will conduct two events – a talk with important
significantly in the industry in the form of public-private
woman artists, and an introduction to a new arts
institutions – Norval Foundation, The Javett Art Centre, A4
institution in the Cape – and our first Cape Town auction
Foundation, Gallery South, et al.
– Autumn 19.
Name one thing you think would improve the arts and
Name one goal you would like to achieve in the next
culture industry in South Africa.
twelve months.
State support. For the state and fiscus to acknowledge
To see our Artist’s Resale Right initiative legislated and
the cultural industries’ potential for job creation, revenue
know that artists are benefitting from their work. CF
90 / Creative Feel / December 2018 / January 2019
