Creative Feel November 2017

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SA R36,90 (incl. VAT) - November 2017

Creative Feel / November 2017 / 1

REMAINDER OF THE SPRING SYMPHONY SEASON 2017 Making music together.

THURSDAY, 2 NOVEMBER 2017, 7:30PM, DURBAN CITY HALL

031 369 9438 • www.kznphil.org.za

WORLD SYMPHONY SERIES

Conductor:

Justus Frantz

Soloist:

Rafał Zambrzycki-Payne, violin

Mozart

Le Nozze Di Figaro Overture

Mozart

Violin Concerto No. 5 in A major, K. 219 (Turkish)

Schubert

Symphony No. 9 in C Major, D. 944 (The Great)

THURSDAY, 9 NOVEMBER 2017, 7:30PM, DURBAN CITY HALL

SPRING SEASON 2017

Conductor:

Justus Frantz

Soloist:

Valentina Lisitsa, piano

Smetana

“Šárka” from Má Vlast (My Country)

Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2 in c minor, Op. 18

WITH OUTSTANDING SOLOISTS, STAR CONDUCTORS AND AN ACCLAIMED CHOIR, THE KZN PHILHARMONIC WILL PRESENT THE SPRING SEASON OF ITS RENOWNED WORLD SYMPHONY SERIES 2017 FROM 19 OCTOBER TO 16 NOVEMBER.

Dvorák

Symphony No. 9 in e minor, Op. 95 (From The New World)

THURSDAY, 16 NOVEMBER 2017, 7:30PM, DURBAN CITY HALL Conductor:

Daniel Boico

Soloists:

Aristide du Plessis, cello S’Bongile Mntambo, soprano Siphokazi Maphumulo, mezzo-soprano Thando Mjandana, tenor Mthunzi Nokubeka, bass

Choir:

Clermont Community Choir

Rossini

Semiramide Overture

Saint-Saëns

Cello Concerto No. 1 in a minor, Op. 33

Haydn

Excerpts from The Creation

THIS CONCERT MARKS THE CLERMONT COMMUNITY CHOIR’S 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF POWERFUL CHORAL MUSIC-MAKING

Bongani Tembe, Artistic Director

“The

KZN

Philharmonic

is

committed

to

Single tickets priced from R65 – R230 are available at Computicket. All concerts commence at 7:30pm at the

enriching the cultural life of South Africa’s diverse

Durban City Hall. Pre-concert talks are held from 6pm -

audiences by presenting world-class concerts

6:40pm. The City Hall precinct, including surrounding

and implementing education and community

parking garages, is patrolled by a dedicated security team.

engagement programmes.”

2 / Creative Feel / November 2017

Valentina Lisitsa © Decca/Gilbert François

S’Bongile Mntambo

Rafał Zambrzycki-Payne

ARTISTS Mthunzi Nokubeka

Justus Frantz

PERFORMING IN THE REMAINDER OF

Daniel Boico

Siphokazi Maphumulo

THE SPRING SEASON

Thando Mjandana

Clermont Community Choir

The KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic Orchestra

Aristide du Plessis

World Symphony Series Spring Season

Concert 3

CONDUCTOR

08-09

sOLOisT pROGRaMME

Marzena Diakun Liebrecht Vanbeckevoort, Piano Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: “The Impresario” Overture, K 486 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Symphony no40 in G minor, KV 550 Johannes Brahms: Piano Concerto no1 in D minor, Op. 15

NOVEMBER 2017

Marzena Diakun

Liebrecht Vanbeckevoort piaNisT

CONDUCTOR

Born in Poland, she finished with distinction conducting class under Mieczyslaw Gawronski at the Karol Lipinski Academy of Music in Wroclaw. Diakun made her professional debut leading the 17th International Percussion Music Days Symphony Gala in Koszalin.

Her previous appointments include Jerzy Maksymiuk’s assistant in Koszalin Philharmonic Orchestra, Andrey Boreyko’s assistant in Berner Symphony Orchestra and Richard Rosenberg’s assistant during National Music Festival (USA), conducting several concerts with the Festival Symphony Orchestra.

In 2010 Diakun completed her Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the Krakow Academy of Music. She currently is a conducting professor at the Karol Lipinski Academy of Music in Wroclaw leading her own conducting class since 2013.

In 2015 lasting until 2017 she won the Marin Alsop’s Taki Concordia Fellowship.

“Her sophistication, intelligence and musicality present in all her performances, made her a winner.”

- Gramophone

In summer 2015, Diakun was a recipient of Boston Symphony Orchestra Conducting Fellowship at Tanglewood Music Festival.

Liebrecht Vanbeckevoort (°1984) has been the protagonist of a new generation of Belgian pianists over the past decade. From 2002 to 2009 he studied with renowned pianists and pedagogues and in October 2014, he was appointed piano professor at the LUCA School of Arts in Leuven (B).

Liebrecht made his international breakthrough in 2007, when he became a laureate at the prestigious Queen Elisabeth International Music Competition, being awarded both public prizes from VRT/RTBF radio & television channels as well. As an official ‘Steinway Artist’, he has performed worldwide.

Up to now, Liebrecht has recorded eight albums, he was invited

Season and single tickets available through Proudly supported by:

Die Rupert Musiekstigting

to record a Liszt piano recital for the Belgian television channel ‘Canvas’ in the ‘Liszt year’ 2011.

His recordings were internationally critically acclaimed and are broadcasted by radio and television channels both in Belgium and abroad.

“A really splendid artist! Mature, imaginative and authoritative.”

– Jerome Lowenthal, Julliard School, New York

Bongani Tembe, Chief Executive and Artistic Director

Concert 4

15-16

CONDUCTOR sOLOisT pROGRaMME

Justus Frantz Gloria Campaner, Piano Felix Mendelssohn: “ The Hebrides Overture”, Op. 26 Robert Schumann: Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54 Johannes Brahms: Symphony no2 in D major, Op. 73

NOVEMBER 2017

Justus Frantz

Gloria Campaner

CONDUCTOR

piaNisT

Justus Frantz is a name that one associates with outstanding orchestras and an absolute commitment to music. Professor Justus Frantz has been an internationally successful pianist and conductor for more than thirty years. He has served classical music countless times by constantly discovering and nurturing young musical talents.

Therefore tours of the Philharmonia of the Nations Auditions (Vorpiele) in many countries take a firm place in his schedule – and for young musicians worldwide it’s an excellent opportunity at the beginning of their musical careers.

Justus Frantz is chief conductor of the Philharmonia of the Nations.

He also works regularly with

renowned orchestras all over the world such as the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, the Great Moscow Symphony Orchestra, the China Philharmonic Orchestra, the KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Sinfonia Varsovia and the Giorgian Chamber Orchestra.

“With standing ovations, the Schenefelder celebrated the pianists and conductors, whose passion is to preserve classical music as a cultural heritage and carry it forward into the next generations.”

- Schenefelder Tageblatt

Venetian born pianist Gloria Campaner is regarded by critics and public alike as one of the most interesting young pianists of the Italian new generation.

Since her debut on stage at the age of twelve with the Venetian Symphony Orchestra, Gloria has been the first-prize recipient in more than twenty national and international piano competitions.

Her rapidly advancing career as a soloist and chamber musician has led her to be a guest of some of the most prestigious festivals all over the world. Gloria is also becoming increasingly known for her versatility and interest in innovative performance and has collaborated with renowned jazz and contemporary musicians as well as ballet and modern dancers.

Gloria is a laureate of many competitions including the Paderewski International Piano Competition (Silver Medal, Los Angeles, 2010), in which she also

received special awards for the best Paderewski and Chopin performances. She is also the 1st prize-winner and ‘Prokofiev Special Award’ recipient in the 2009 Ibla Grand Prize after which she made her U.S. and Carnegie Hall débuts in 2010. In the year of Liszt’s anniversary she was awarded the ‘Prix de Jury, Franz Liszt’ at the XI Concours International de Musique du Maroc, in Casablanca and was recipient of the ‘European Prize for Culture’ by the Cultural Foundation Pro Europa (Freiburg,2011).

An orchestral debut CD was released in 2016 for Warner Classics. As an official ‘Steinway & Sons Artist’ Gloria has performed in the majority of the Steinway Halls around the world, including New York, London, Tokyo and Hamburg.

“Extremely deep musicality, remarkable fluidity, nuancing and sense of style which put her in the ranks of pianists with exceptional qualities.”

- Walter Arlen, Los Angeles Times

All concerts commence at 20h00 at the Linder Auditorium, Wits Education Campus, 27 St Andrews Road, Parktown, Johannesburg.

Cover image: Zeitz MOCAA Exterior at dusk PHOTO Iwan Baan

cover story 15

24 DOROTHY MASUKA: A LIFETIME OF SINGING AND WRITING SONGS With the 2017 ACT Lifetime Achievement Award for Music, Dorothy Masuku is recognised as one of Africa’s

ZEITZ MOCAA

all-time greatest vocalists, performers and one of its

The largest contemporary art museum in Africa,

most prolific composers, having written hits like ‘Hamba

and one of the most exciting cultural attractions

Nontsokolo’ and ‘Pata Pata’.

in South Africa, has now opened its doors to the public. The Zeitz Museum of Contemporary African

26 JAMES MATTHEWS: A DISSIDENT POET

Art (MOCAA) is the first African museum to collect,

The 2017 recipient of the ACT Lifetime Achievement

preserve, research and exhibit 21st-century art from

Award for Literature, James Matthews, has been called

Africa and its diaspora.

everything from a ‘legend’ to a ‘die-hard dissident’.

contents arts and culture 20 CELEBRATING 20 YEARS OF THE ACT AWARDS The twentieth edition of the Arts & Culture Trust (ACT)

28 ADELE BLANK: A LIVING DANCE LEGEND The 2017 ACT Lifetime Achievement Award for Dance

Awards will be taking place on Friday 17 November 2017

is presented to Adele Blank, the iconic South African

at the Sun International Maslow Hotel in Sandton. The

choreographer and dance instructor who has trained,

recently appointed ACT CEO, Marcus Desando, shared

performed, choreographed and taught extensively in

his thoughts with Creative Feel.

classical ballet and contemporary dance both locally and abroad.

22 LINDIWE MABUZA: A LIFE OF CULTURAL ACTIVISM The 2017 ACT Lifetime Achievement Award for Arts

30 BASIL JONES’ & ADRIAN KOHLERS’ MEDIUM OF PUPPETRY In receiving the 2017 ACT Lifetime Achievement Award

Advocacy is bestowed on Lindiwe Mabuza who, in the

for Visual Arts, Adrian Kohler and Basil Jones are

course of her working life, has been a college-level

being honoured for the work they have done with the

teacher, radio journalist, an editor, an ambassador, and

Handspring Puppet Company since 1981.

a much-published poet and short story writer.

34 GIBSON KENTE Supreme storyteller immortalised in song and dance

50 BERMAN CONTEMPORARY AT 11 ALICE LANE

at the Soweto Theatre.

Candice Berman will be opening a second gallery space under the title Berman Contemporary at the prestigious

36 A LOOK BEHIND THE SCENES

11 Alice Lane development in the heart of Sandton.

As one of the leading service providers in the live that events and productions run smoothly and at the

52 ASPIRE BRINGS TOGETHER THE BEST OF THE BEST

highest standard, but is also involved in sponsorship,

Aspire Art Auction’s forthcoming Johannesburg sale,

training and lessening the environmental impact

set for 12 November, features a roll call of some of the

that these events have.

best historical, modern and contemporary art in the

events industry, Gearhouse Group not only ensures

South African market at the moment. Here are some

40 PERFORMA 17

highlights from the carefully chosen and exclusive

Two major South African artists who have taken

auction lots on the sale.

part in the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative are participating in Performa 17 in New York during November 2017.

54 TOWARDS EFFECTIVE COLLABORATIVE STRATEGY EXECUTION

contents The only way strategy can be meaningful is if it is

informed by, and representative of, the public interest, writes Hartley Ngoato.

44 A GRAND NIGHT FOR SINGING Ahead of The University Of Johannesburg’s 2017 Dean’s Concert, we spoke with Professor Federico Freschi and pianist Christopher Duigan to find out how the annual Gala concert is transformative in more ways than one.

46 DREAMS, WISHES & EXPECTATIONS

lifestyle and entertainment 64

BOOK REVIEWS

contributors 32

ARTLOOKS & ARTLINES

A collection of memories built on joy and sadness.

Abesifazane – Voices of Women Museum (VoWM),

58

THE ART OF PERFORMANCE

hosted an art exhibition dubbed Dreams, Wishes

Where did the hippo go?

62

LITERARY LANDSCAPES

The MTN SA Foundation, in partnership with Durban-based non-profit organisation: Amazwi

and Expectations, as part of its community outreach programme and contribution to social dialogue.

Writers and artists strike back against nationalism in Germany.

119

Essay

On art and ambition Sisonke Msimang

I grew up in a home filled with books. We had subscriptions to National Geographic and Reader’s Digest. There was art on our walls. My parents listened to the BBC every morning. On Sundays it was mandatory that my sisters and I spent two hours reading in the bedroom we shared. So it came as a surprise to me when, at the age of 20, I realised I had never set foot inside a museum.

Instantly, I blamed this gap in my cultural exposure on the fact that I had grown up in post-independence Africa. The Africa of my childhood created a great many artists and musicians. It created doctors and lawyers who specialised in all sorts of fancy areas. Yet it failed – in the main – to produce institutions that might sustain these endeavours and turn the talents of successful individuals into national assets.

I grew up in Lusaka and then Nairobi, but I was neither Zambian nor Kenyan.

I was the child of a refugee. Africa then – as now – came with its own measure of precariousness. In the early 1960s, my father left South Africa to join the military wing of the African National Congress (ANC), becoming a certified member of the liberation struggle. In the 1970s, in Zambia, which was where the ANC was headquartered, he met and married the woman who would become my mother.

She was an accounting student from Swaziland. When I was born in 1974, I became a casualty of the British rule of primogeniture, which had been codified as law when Swaziland was colonised. As a woman, my mother was barred from passing on citizenship to her progeny. My exiled father had no citizenship rights to give me, so I was born with no real nation.

I did not know this, of course. I was a child whose parents were cosmopolitan.

This meant the first decade of my life was spent in the company of revolutionaries – women and men who were energetic and creative and whose inspiration for justice came from a wide range of sources.

Our community may have been wed to a revolutionary struggle, but we had distinctly bourgeois sensibilities. As children we occupied contained spaces. Our typical African childhoods were spent playing and avoiding rabid dogs and stealing avocados, but we were not allowed to roam wild and free across neighbourhoods.

We stayed in the compounds that surrounded the flats housing public servants and the upwardly mobile in newly independent Zambia. We played in the yards of families we visited, or on quiet streets where more established black South African families lived.

Going to the market was seldom fun. It was a noisy, necessary duty.

My mother battled through rubbish and puddles of sewage, and picked her way from one stall to another with her nose turned up. She would clutch us tightly and hurry to finish her errands as quickly as possible, so we could get back to the relative calm of the flats. She was, after all, a Swazi woman and had grown up in a distinctly smaller and more organised society.

Public space, then, was often fraught and difficult. Still, there were places where being in public was entertaining. We used to go to the Munda Wanga

Opposite, Ascension IV, 2016, by Kudzanai Chiurai. Courtesy of Goodman Gallery

EDITOR’S NOTE Oh, to be controversial

W

hile it is not our style to repeat accusations and report on sensational allegations or denunciations, it is sometimes difficult to ignore the finger pointing remarks of art critics in South Africa – those critics who seem to delight in sharing their own ‘thought-provoking ideas’ with

the public. Quite often it seems to be just for the sake of being notorious that they put debatable remarks about artists and art in general, on record.

When I researched our cover story on the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (MOCAA), I, of course, found many critical voices who have, particularly in previous years, expressed reservations about the depths of the museum’s holdings.

And, of course, what got a lot of attention was that the four public faces of the project – Coetzee, Zeitz, Heatherwick, and David Green (V&A Waterfront CEO) – are all white men; Zeitz and Heatherwick are non-nationals. Also that the new public museum is partly funded by the V&A Waterfront, which is part-owned by the Government Employees Pension Fund (Africa’s largest pension fund).

Looking at Zeitz himself, who comes from a family of physicians and had a meteoric rise in the business world, it is hard to imagine that the Zeitz MOCAA will be a financial failure. He was named Puma CEO in 1993 when he was 30, the youngest CEO of a public company in German history. The apparel brand had been operating at a loss and Zeitz took Puma to profitability and grew it into one of the top three sports-wear brands in the world.

I strongly believe that we need as many public places as possible to show our great (and big!) artists’ works, like Nicholas Hlobo’s iimpundulu zonke ziyandilenda.

What a treat to be able to see something like Hlobo’s art and others in a museum that is surrounded by a vibrant beautiful neighbourhood with many visitors, restaurants, hotels and has already become a ‘must see’ for foreign tourists – a real plus for all South African artists.

Joburg, are you taking notes? Are we going to carry on with our underappreciated art gallery that nobody goes to, and certainly no overseas visitors? The Johannesburg Art Gallery (JAG) is actually the biggest gallery in Sub-Saharan Africa. It boasts over

Sylvaine Strike 9 000 works of art, displayed in 15 exhibition halls and sculpture gardens. In fact, the collection is so large that only ten per cent of the exhibits are ever on display at any one time, the rest are kept in storage. Does it matter, though, when visitors stay away due to its location and surroundings? Sad, but true.

Lore iimpundulu zonke ziyandilenda, Nicholas Hlobo, 2011. PHOTO Mario Todeschini

Paint it forward.

In South Africa only one in 100 young people entering schooling finishes tertiary education. You can change this by supporting the Visual Arts, while helping to create tomorrow’s artists‌

Support the next generation Date: Sunday, 12 November 2017 Time: 11:00 for 11:30 am Venue: Absa Art Gallery Book: contact gallery@absa.co.za

Participating artists: Angus Taylor; Anna-Carien Goosen; Arnoldus Kennedy; Banele Khoza; Berco Wilsenach; Bevan de Wet; Caroline Suzman; Cecile Heystek; Chris Slabbert; Colbert Mashile; C o l l e n M a s w a n g a ny i ; Danelle Janse van Rensburg; Dirk Bahmann; Franli Meintjes; Gerhard Marx; Gideon Appah; Gordon Froud; Hanneke Benade; Heidi Fourie; Helena Hugo;

Henk Serfontein; Izak Fourie; Jaco van Schalkwyk; Justin Dingwall; Kai Lossgott; Kobus Spies; Liberty Battson; Maja Marx; Mandy Coppes Martin; Mandy Johnston; Mari Vermeulen Breedt; Marlise Keith; Mongezi Ncaphayi; Neil Niewoudt; Paul Edmunds; Pauline Gutter; Roberto Valcario; Ronel de Jager; Sam Nhegenthwa; Shenaz Mahomed; Wayne Mathews; Willem Boshoff.

Terms and conditions apply Authorised Financial Services Provider Registered Credit Provider Reg No NCRCP7

Absa has committed to creating more opportunities for young people to access quality education, including access to funding for studying. One of the ways we are doing this is in partnership with well-known, established artists who have donated key artworks for auction. These artists are painting it forward, with all proceeds from the sale of the artworks going towards Visual Arts scholarships.

To secure your seat at the Absa Art Auction and help support the next generation of Visual Artists, please contact: gallery@absa.co.za

Black Africa Group_4263_Absa

Make a difference. Prosper.

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PUBLISHER & EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Lore Watterson; lore@desklink.co.za

We love this!

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 SALES & MARKETING sales@desklink.co.za sales@creativefeel.co.za SALES & MARKETING COORDINATOR Zama-Africa Mkhize; zama@desklink.co.za DESIGN Leigh Forrest; leigh@desklink.co.za DISPATCH Khumbulani Dube SUBSCRIPTION & CIRCULATION subs@creativefeel.co.za Published by DeskLink™ Media PO Box 3670, Randburg, 2125 Tel: 011 787 0252 Fax: 011 787 8204 www.creativefeel.co.za www.desklink.co.za

Try me, Sam Nhlengethwa Medium: Single colour chine collé lithograph Size: 47 x 60.8cm Sam Nhlengethwa has worked on a number of prints of goats, this is the second series of goat images that he has done at The Artists’ Press. The goats are beautifully drawn, at times reducing them to almost abstract forms. Goats are a useful metaphor to describe a number of human traits and Nhlengethwa plays with this idea in the titles that he has chosen, and in the different ways in which he depicts the goats.

PRINTING Raptor Print (Pty) Ltd © Copyright DeskLink™ Media The opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent the views of the publisher.

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

Walter Battiss, Boy with a Dog, c.1950. Estimate: R380 000 - 450 000 Photograph: Nina Lieska

SPRING AUCTION IN JOHANNESBURG Historic, Modern & Contemporary Art Gordon Institute of Business Science | 26 Melville Road, Illovo, Sandton Public Preview | 9 to 12 November | 10am to 5pm Auction | Sunday 12 November | 5pm For enquiries and free art valuations contact: enquiries@aspireart.net enquiries@aspi | +27 11 243 5243 (JHB) | +27 83 391 7235 (CT) | www.aspireart.net

On stage at Casta Diva

N

estled on the northern slopes of the Magaliesberg mountain range, this stunningly beautiful hotel is hidden away from the ‘hustle and bustle’ of Gauteng. Here, people come

together to have fun and relax…

With 28 luxurious rooms, a beautiful garden, regular on-site entertainment, and a huge pool, Casta Diva truly offers an escape from the hectic cities. Explore the many little treasures that can be found spread over the property – of almost two hectares – enjoy breathtaking

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.

views and serene surroundings. One does not expect to find such a tranquil environment so nearby. Perfect for a retreat any day of the week.

Their restaurant, Charisma, serves à la carte breakfast, lunch and dinner. Charisma delivers exactly what the name implies – charm, personality, appeal, magnetism and allure. Booking for this delightful restaurant is essential.

Take that special someone, or book for one, and enjoy being away at Pretoria’s best-kept secret, and experience elegance and rejuvenation at Casta Diva Boutique Hotel.

ON STAGE – CASTA DIVA’S VISSI D’ARTE HAS TWO EXCITING SHOWS FOR NOVEMBER

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.

4 November at 19:30 – Tonya Koenderman A Night In Paris This powerful show, starring poised and powerful performer Tonya Koenderman, encapsulates the love of drama and romance as only the French can. It features songs from the ever passionate Édith Piaf: ‘La Vie En Rose’, ‘Mon Dieu’, ‘Non, je ne regrette rien’, ‘Autumn Leaves’ and ‘La Foule’. Not to be forgotten are classics from Jacques Brel such as ’Ne me quitte pas’ or Charles Aznavour’s ‘Quiet Love’. A Night in Paris is sheer entertainment, and is bound to pull at your heartstrings.

11 November at 19:30 – Lyn Locketz and Kevin Feather Brilliant Broadway ‘There’s No Business Like Show Business’ as well as the hilarious ‘Anything You Can Do’ from Annie Get Your Gun. Lyn Locketz, a versatile jazz singer, sings the famous Broadway songs to celebrate the great musicals, with no other than musical director Kevin Feather as narrator and accompanist!

For bookings email info@castadiva.co.za or call / whatsapp 081 542 4449.

16 / Creative Feel / November 2017

View of Zeitz MOCAA in Silo Square PHOTO Iwan Baan

Zeitz MOCAA

a platform for Africans to tell their own story The largest contemporary art museum in Africa, and one of the most exciting cultural attractions in South Africa, has now opened its doors to the public. The Zeitz Museum of Contemporary African Art (MOCAA) is the first African museum to collect, preserve, research and exhibit 21st-century art from Africa and its diaspora. Touted as Cape Town’s very own Tate Modern, MoMA or Centre Pompidou, Zeitz MOCAA opened at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town, and has been causing quite a stir ever since.

A

t a cost of more than R500 million, borne by the V&A Waterfront – and by extension, its investors – a 1920s grain silo has been transformed into a grand repository of African art. Once the tallest structure

in Sub-Saharan Africa, it overlooks the Atlantic on the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, an area regenerated 30 years ago for retail, real estate and tourism on the remnants of two dilapidated 19thcentury harbour basins, Victoria and Alfred.

Zeitz MOCAA is the result of the shared vision of British architect Thomas Heatherwick; its patron Jochen Zeitz, the German former CEO of Puma; and South African Mark Coetzee, Zeitz MOCAA’s executive director and chief curator.

Creative Feel / November 2017 / 17

Zeitz MOCAA PHOTO Iwan Baan

It is Jochen Zeitz’s art collection, built up since 2008 with the aid of Coetzee, that provides the core of the Zeitz MOCAA holdings – and which earned Zeitz the naming rights to the museum. ‘It’s a public museum with a private collection,’ Zeitz is on record as saying. ‘It’s not my museum or the Waterfront’s – it’s for Africa. Africans need to come on board.’

From the 1920s to the 1990s, the prominent grain silo in Cape Town stored and graded corn from all over South Africa. When it was decommissioned, its owners, the V&A Waterfront, approached the Heatherwick Studio to develop ideas for adapting the silo and its site. Although the waterfront was already a vibrant area, it lacked a major cultural institution.

At the same time, the Zeitz Foundation was seeking a permanent home for its collection of contemporary art from Africa and its diaspora. The two programmes collided and it was decided that the grain silo would be transformed into a new museum.

Heatherwick Studio began working on the project and converted 42 vertical concrete tubes into a place to experience contemporary culture. Although the concrete building looks like a single structure, it comprises two parts: a grading tower and 42 tall, cellular silos. The main challenge was to convert these tightly packed concrete tubes into spaces suitable for displaying art while retaining the building’s industrial heritage.

The centre of the museum is a huge atrium, based on the shape of a single grain that was then scaled up to span the full height of the 27-metre-high structure. Heatherwick has described the space as being ‘like a vaulted cathedral’. The challenge was to retain the spirit of this tubularity while giving functionality and creating an A-grade gallery space.

Where tubes were cut back, the edges were polished in visible contrast to the rough aggregate of the old concrete.

Laminated glass was also added to give a mirrored finish, which features a fritted pattern designed by the late African artist, El Loko. The atrium provides access to all of the exhibition spaces, which total 6 000 square metres.

Externally, the building features bulging windows, formed from faceted glass panels. Positioned within the existing concrete frame, these draw light into the atrium while offering a kaleidoscopic visual effect. By night, the building acts as a lantern for the harbour and city beyond.

Over 80 cube-like gallery spaces cluster around the central atrium. These consist of the permanent collection as well as centres for photography, performing arts and the

18 / Creative Feel / November 2017

Hanging Piece, Kendell Geers, 1993.

Bricks and rope. Dimensions variable

Zeitz MOCAA Atrium view PHOTO Iwan Baan

iimpundulu zonke ziyandilenda Nicholas Hlobo, 2011.

250 x 460 x 1000cm. Rubber, ribbon, mixed media and sound

moving image, a dedicated arts education centre, a costume institute and a curatorial training programme.

Zeitz MOCAA aims to preserve art from the African continent, like, for example, Nicholas Hlobo’s iimpundulu zonke ziyandilenda. The spectacular dragon-like sculpture, which references Xhosa mythology, is on show in the museum’s central atrium, the BMW Atrium, until 30 July 2018.

Due to its grand scale, the atrium provides Zeitz MOCAA with the space to commission and exhibit monumental interventions on a scale never before seen in a public museum in Africa. Hlobo’s iimpundulu zonke ziyandilenda inaugurates the space. This seminal work, originally created for the 54th Venice Biennale in 2011, combines rubber inner tubing, multi-coloured ribbons, an animal skull and pink theatre lights.

As light streams in from the glass-topped atrium, this massive bird hovers over us. Hlobo seduces us with the haunting lullaby, he has created for this piece. As oral histories inevitably disappear, Hlobo represents the Xhosa myth of the Lightning Bird or the witch’s servant, manifesting itself as a bird or an attractive man. Hlobo, however, morphs the myth to particular personal concerns,

20 / Creative Feel / November 2017

In the midst of chaos, there is opportunity, Mary Sibande, 2017. 800 x 400 x 20cm. Life-size sculptures: fibreglass, vinyl, metal, painted wood, 100% cotton and polyester fibrefill. On loan from the artist and Gallery MOMO.

taking into account taboos associated with masculinity and

artists can only provide a portion of the works on offer.

violence. The generosity of Hlobo’s practice allows us to

Currently, other must-sees include Zimbabwean Kudzanai

enter a fantastical world not normally accessible to us.

Chiurai’s provocative protest art and Swati artist Nandipha

Hlobo is one of a number of big South African names on display, sharing museum space with Zanele Muholi, Athi-Patra Ruga, Kendell Geers, Mohau Modisakeng and Penny Siopis.

Zeitz MOCAA has already received great support, both

Mntambo’s reckoning with questions of gender and postcolonial identity.

Placing an African art museum, a public not-for-profit institution, in the heart of what is now the most expensive real

from young African artists and internationally renowned

estate on the continent may seem to some to be fundamentally

artists like William Kentridge, who is a strong supporter

at odds with what such a museum should signify. But the reality

of the museum. His powerful More Sweetly Play the Dance,

is that the Zeitz MOCAA is a corporate project – which is what

a panoramic installation on the gallery’s second floor,

has enabled its development on such an impressive scale. The

is another ‘not-to-be-missed’ piece of African art. Just

Waterfront owns the building, and paid for its renovation, and

as In the midst of chaos there is opportunity, a wonderful

their joint venture with Zeitz underwrites its operating costs.

installation by Mary Sibande of a battalion of women in

Corporate sponsors include Bloomberg, BMW and Standard

combat gear — modelled on the artist’s mother, a domestic

Bank. The museum’s nine floors are leased free for 99 years.

worker — riding hobby horses past snarling red hounds and

The seed private collection is on loan for at least 20 years, while

vultures, has to be seen.

acquisition committees build a permanent core.

Roger Ballen, donated his entire archive. The Christie’s

At the opening ceremony of Zeitz MOCAA, Co-founder

fundraising auction, which included works donated by El

and Co-chairman Jochen Zeitz said, ‘I built my collection with

Anatsui and Yinka Shonibare, raised about £1.4m.

a museum in Africa always in mind – the fact that these works

But since Zeitz MOCAA is aiming to represent the entire African continent’s creative output, South African

will now be accessible to all is a very emotional thing for me personally and ultimately gives the art true purpose.’ CF

Creative Feel / November 2017 / 21

20 YEARS

OF THE ACT AWARDS The twentieth edition of the Arts & Culture Trust (ACT) Awards will be taking place on Friday 17 November 2017 at the Sun International Maslow Hotel in Sandton. The recently appointed ACT CEO, Marcus Desando, shared his thoughts with Creative Feel.

T

he ACT Awards have been honouring South African

Johnny Clegg, Dr

legends, stalwarts and inspirations in the South

Mongane Wally Serote,

African arts and culture sector for the last 20

Adv. Albie Sachs, Pieter-

years. The 2017 edition of this event is bound to

Dirk Uys, John Kani,

be more glamorous than ever, with special guest and emcee

Esther Mahlangu, Es’kia

Bridget Masinga from KayaFM and entertainment provided by

Mphahlele, Gibson Kente, David Koloane, Pops Mohamed,

internationally acclaimed songstress Lira.

Sam Nzima and Nadine Gordimer, to name a few.

‘We have selected the theme of celebrating South African

‘The recipients of this year’s twentieth edition of the

legends to honour not only this year’s selection of winners,

ACT Awards are yet again members of our nation who have

but also the long legacy that comes with our awards,’ says

dedicated their lives, in one way or another, to developing a

Marcus Desando. While the Arts & Culture Trust has many

creative industry that we can all be proud of,’ says Desando.

different programmes that aim to better the South African

‘And, I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the

arts and culture landscape, the ACT Awards are seen as its

important and hard work that the ACT trustees, ambassadors

flagship event. ACT has therefore decided to change the

and my team have put in to make the ACT Awards a superb

format of this year’s awards to a talk-show style presentation

and memorable occasion.’

to achieve a more intimate knowledge of the winners and the impact that they have had on our sector. Furthermore, tickets to the Awards will be on sale this year so that

THE 2017 ACT LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD WINNERS ARE:

everyone is able to partake in this momentous event.

In addition to the Lifetime Achievement Awards, an ImpACT Award winner will be revealed on the evening of the event.

The Lifetime Achievement Awards are given to those

ARTS ADVOCACY (sponsored by Creative Feel): Lindiwe Mabuza DANCE (sponsored by JT International): Adele Blank

who have consistently contributed to, sustained, grown and

VISUAL ARTS (sponsored by Nedbank Arts Affinity): Basil

defined the South African arts and culture sector over the

Jones and Adrian Kohler of The Handspring Puppet Company

course of their lives. Many of them have faced incredible

MUSIC (sponsored by South African Music Rights

personal, financial and political hardship in order to carry

Organisation [SAMRO]): Dorothy Masuku

out the work that they do.

LITERATURE (sponsored by Dramatic Rights and Literary

‘I believe that the Lifetime Achievement Awards have,

Organisation [DALRO]): James Matthews.

and continue to be, a mirror of our society and, more importantly, the arts and culture industry. This has been

Tickets for the ACT Awards are available at www.act.org.za/

shown very clearly by the kinds of South Africans who

blog/act-awards-20-year-celebration-tickets/

have been awarded the Lifetime Achievement Awards,’ says Desando. Some of the great names that ACT has acknowledged over the years include Miriam Makeba,

MAKING AN IMPACT One ImpACT winner will be announced at the ACT Awards on 17

Thabiso Mofokeng

November. The Award serves to acknowledge one young professional, under the age of 30, across all arts disciplines, who has made an impact during the first five years of their professional career.

T

he ImpACT Awards for young professionals are given annually to honour young artists that have reached a notable level in their career. Giving the masses a voice through the public nomination process, ACT proudly boasts an excellent selection of these individuals, with four being selected as finalists. One winner will be announced at the ACT Awards on 17 November.

The finalists are dancers Elvis Sibeko and Byron Klaasen, writer and publisher Thabiso Mofokeng,

and PR/Communications specialist Sello Ramosepele.

Elvis Sibeko’s love of dance began at an early age, when he began dancing as an extra-mural at

Elvis Sibeko

Phandimfundo Secondary School in Daveyton. He trained in Indian dance, African dance, Afro-fusion and contemporary dance through Tribhangi Dance Theatre before joining them as a professional dancer. Sibeko then joined JazzArt Dance Theatre’s three-year training programme, and became a member their Performance Company in 2012.

Sibeko is an award-winning dancer and choreographer, and his works have been performed at local and international festivals such as Dance Umbrella, the Baxter Dance Festival, Soweto Festival and AfroVibes in the UK and Netherlands, to name a few. He runs community development dance workshops with local communities, and is co-founder and CEO of Black Roots Foundation, an NPO centred on community development.

Byron Klaasen was introduced to dance at Eerste Rivier High in Cape Town. After he matriculated, he began training as a dance facilitator with Dawn Langdown at O’okiep High. He then spent six months training with Alfred Hinkel, before attending Dance For All under the tutelage of Philip Boyd – which led to a two-week training programme in New York at Cedar Lake Dance Company and Peridance Contemporary Company.

Klaasen continues to work with and learn from Hinkel in O’okiep. He has performed in numerous dance works at festivals and venues around South Africa, including Art in the Park, Baxter Dance Festival, Dance Umbrella, Infecting the City, and has toured to the Kalahari Desert Festival and

Sello Ramosepele

Qatar. Much of his work involves teaching and outreach and he has participated in artist in residence programmes at Vredendal High, Belhar Senior Secondary and Eerste Rivier High.

Thabiso Mofokeng started writing at the age of 15. A versatile writer, his writing has been published in English and Sesotho and some of his Sesotho books are prescribed by the Department of Education for grades 8 and 10.

Mofokeng is the founding director and publisher of Mosa Media and Book Distributors, which focuses primarily on publishing books in African languages. He is also currently the chairperson of Metjodi Writers and the founder of Thabiso Mofokeng Writing Foundation, through which he mentors young writers. He is currently studying a PhD in English at the University of the Western Cape and has just been appointed as an assistant researcher.

Sello Ramosepele has had an exciting career in the arts, public relations and digital media/marketing sectors. He has used the experience to collaborate with an array of brands as well as create platforms such as the Inaugural South African Music Marathon in 2016. The platform created a space for disadvantaged young people to showcase their musical talents within their respective disciplines. His investment in the industry extends to the mentorship of 20 professionals and administrators within the arts, which was done in collaboration with the National Arts Council and ACT. Ramosepele has used his expertise in the music industry, and passion for public relations and digital media, to create a budding business that boasts relationships with an array of South African brands – from emerging brands to the more formidable. CF

Byron Klaasen

A LIFE OF CULTURAL ACTIVISM The 2017 Arts & Culture Trust Lifetime Achievement Award for Arts Advocacy is bestowed on Lindiwe Mabuza who, in the course of her working life, has been a college-level teacher, radio journalist, an editor, an ambassador, and a much-published poet and short story writer. Her contributions in mobilising the use of arts for democracy confirm that cultural activism played a significant role in abolishing apartheid in South Africa.

L

indiwe Mabuza was born in Newcastle, KwaZulu-

Mabuza was refused the position she sought at the

Natal, in 1939 and has come a long way from her

Vryheid Teachers’ Training College and she moved to

working-class beginnings. The family struggled to

Swaziland to become a teacher of English and Zulu. In 1964,

obtain the most basic necessities of life, such as coal

she moved to the United States and enrolled at Stanford

and shoes, and often times were forced to do without. This

University where she completed a Master’s degree in English.

was in no way a reflection of her parents’ efforts, though. Her

She then obtained her second Master’s degree, this time in

father, who worked as a truck driver, and her mother, who was

history, majoring in American Studies, from the University of

a domestic worker, worked hard for their family, but the cards

Minnesota. In 1968, she became a lecturer in the Department

were not in their favour.

of Sociology at the University of Minnesota. In 1969, she

Eventually, Mabuza moved from her hometown to Soweto, pursuing her education in Johannesburg. It was in high school that she first developed her love for literature.

joined Ohio University as Assistant Professor of Literature and History.

Her personal experience of racial segregation in South

Here, she was exposed to a wider variety of poems and

Africa, which led her to leave South Africa, and her exposure

other works than the traditional works she had been

to the plight of African Americans in the Civil Rights

exposed to growing up.

Movement prompted Mabuza to join the struggle for the

After high school, in the 1950s, Mabuza decided to

emancipation of her people in South Africa and Africa as a

leave South Africa to continue her education. She first

whole. In 1975, she joined the African National Congress

attended college in the United States of America, studying

(ANC) and moved to Lusaka in Zambia in 1977. At the time

home economics at Ohio’s Grailville Community College.

she was also a radio journalist and broadcaster for Radio

Afterwards, she attended Roma College in Lesotho, receiving

Freedom, the ANC’s radio station, broadcasting from Zambia

a BA degree there.

into South Africa.

Mabuza returned to South Africa in 1961 and applied for

She became editor of Voice of Women (VOW), a journal for

an instructor’s post at a teacher training college in Vryheid.

women in the ANC, in which women were kept up to date on

But it was not an auspicious time to come home – the

the latest political and military developments of the ANC.

country was still reeling from the events of 21 March 1960,

VOW gave its readers a forum in which to express themselves

when a demonstration against the apartheid regime’s Pass

and their feelings and to tell the world about their lives.

Laws had left 69 protesters dead in Sharpeville.

Mabuza’s collaborative poetry anthology Malibongwe,

By the time Mabuza arrived, the Security Police had the

meaning ‘Let Their Name Be Upheld’, was published in 1980.

power to arrest people for 90 days without trial or access to

In 1987, she compiled and edited One Never Knows, a book of

a lawyer.

short stories written by ANC Women.

24 / Creative Feel / November 2017

While she was intent on giving these women a voice, Mabuza had another purpose in publishing Malibongwe. Poetry, she decided, could be used as a potent pro-ANC cultural weapon in its own right. ‘Poetry is part of the struggle. You use the armed struggle; you use political agitation methods...

You recite a poem. It’s better than a three-hour speech. It gets to the heart of the matter. It moves people.’

By then, the ANC had found another mission for Lindiwe Mabuza.

Experienced and well travelled, in 1979 she was posted to the office in Sweden to open other ANC offices throughout Scandinavia, which required a great deal of tact and diplomacy. By the end of 1987, when the African National Congress sent her to America, the thirteen internationally based offices had grown to 28, with Finland, Denmark, and Norway joining Sweden’s long-established operation.

Mabuza returned to the United States in 1986 as the African National Congress’ chief representative. She arrived shortly after the US government instituted sanctions against South Africa. Along with bans against buying South African minerals, agricultural products, textiles, and coal, the United States now forbade South African Airways planes to land on US airstrips.

It was Mabuza’s job to organise boycotts of South African events. She also spurred participation in anti-apartheid rallies, which attracted wellknown human rights activists like Jane Fonda, Harry Belafonte and tennis star Arthur Ashe. Most importantly, her efforts on college campuses all across America galvanised huge companies like Coca-Cola, General Electric and General Motors into withdrawing their investment in South Africa and closing their facilities. Later, Mabuza was key in organising Mandela’s first visit to America after his release.

Although Mabuza had spent many years in political exile, she feels very strongly that ‘no, there was no sacrifice. Sacrifice would have been not to do anything about apartheid.

Sacrifice would have been working and earning loads of money outside the struggle.

That would have been a big sacrifice, not to be engaged in the struggle. So, engaging in the struggle was the most natural, normal thing. After all, children were being killed and children found themselves going right into the trenches. How could I not be involved when teenagers were being slaughtered? For me, art was an essential part of our struggle. We used to say that it’s a weapon, an extra weapon of the struggle.’

Mabuza continues to write poetry and also continues to encourage other people to write. ‘I am in the process right now of editing writings by young people who were children when Oliver Tambo was the president of the ANC. They are writing a book together, their memories of the time, what he meant to them, how they lived up to his dreams and aspirations in their adult years. It’s been so inspirational reading what they wrote, what they are writing... they were children in the 1970s and ‘80s. So I am doing that and I am also encouraging artists, for example I am doing a book of poetry, my own poems written for Oliver Tambo, for president Thabo Mbeki and for Olaf Palme, the late prime minister of Sweden who was assassinated.’ CF

A LIFETIME OF SINGING AND WRITING SONGS With the 2017 Arts & Culture Trust Lifetime Achievement Award for Music, Dorothy Masuku is recognised as one of Africa’s all-time greatest vocalists, performers and one of its most prolific composers, having written hits like ‘Hamba Nontsokolo’ and ‘Pata Pata’.

B

orn in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) in

went abroad, she performed lots of my songs. So, you can

September 1935, Masuku (Masuka is actually a

imagine how much I really miss her.’

misspelling that originated with the record labels on her earliest recordings) rose to fame in the

When asked how she has managed to consistently compose great music over all these years, Masuku says, ‘Well

early 1950s after abandoning her Catholic boarding school

for me, I think it’s just what I was born to be. I was put on

education in Johannesburg to join Philemon Magotsi’s

this earth to be what I am, it’s not something that I wanted

African Ink Spots in Durban at the age of 15. She was sent

to be, it’s what God wanted me to be. You can’t stop me

back to Johannesburg, where she ran away again, this

from making music because it’s my life, it’s what makes me

time to Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, to join the Golden Rhythm

tick. Without singing, I will die. I didn’t set out to become a

Crooners jazz band.

musical star, music called me. I don’t know how to explain it;

Masuku later went on tour with the Harlem Swingers and her jazz idol, Dolly Rathebe. It was during this tour that

it’s in the blood.’

It certainly has been in Masuku’s blood for a very

she teamed up with jazz legend Hugh Masekela and close

long time. At 16, she began penning gems like ‘Hamba

friend Miriam Makeba in the African Jazz and Variety Show,

Nontsokolo’, which she wrote while on a train from

through which talent scout Alfred Herbert introduced black

Zimbabwe to Johannesburg. The song is about someone who

musicians to white audiences.

is struggling; ‘Nontsokolo’ means someone who suffers. It

As a devout Christian, Dorothy Masuku first

was about her own struggle. The song’s easy kwela rhythm

expressed gratitude to God for such an honour when

soon made it a hit on Johannesburg’s music scene and has

she was asked about her Lifetime Achievement Award.

since been used in major international films such as Cry the

She then shared how much she misses her old friend

Beloved Country.

Miriam Makeba on occasions like this. ‘I miss her very

‘Hamba Nontsokolo’ was later followed by the jazz

much because one of the things that she used to tell

classic, ‘Pata Pata’. The song was made famous the world

me when we were abroad was: “You know, Dorothy, you

over by Miriam Makeba, and reached the Billboard Top 15 in

are going to take over from me after a couple of years

the United States in 1967.

when I am gone.” And I used to say: “What do you mean,

Masuku’s status as a top pin-up and glamour girl in the

when you’re gone?” and she used to say, “I’ll be gone

1950s soon made her the principal star in Herbert’s African

before you do.” She used to sing a lot of my songs, some

Jazz and Variety Show. Many of her performances were as a

of them made her very popular. Even the first time she

soloist, accompanied by close-harmony groups and other big

26 / Creative Feel / November 2017

bands that featured in the 1950s. By composing her own songs, which were inspired by events occurring in South African townships in the 1950s, Masuku provided insight into the sociopolitical issues of township life.

For example, she penned the song ‘Khawuleza’ – a warning to the women who brewed illegal alcohol and sold it in shebeens that the police were on their way. She wrote and sang songs about life in Johannesburg, about what was happening around them – like telling the story of how women in Pimville, Soweto, where she lived with her family, dug holes in the ground to hide illegal alcohol in during police raids.

Masuku drew the attention of the apartheid government’s censors when her songs became increasingly political and spoke directly against the oppressive segregation laws that the apartheid government was introducing in rapid succession - aiming to restrict the movement and human rights of the black majority.

The Special Branch investigated Masuku and her band and forced them into exile for more than 30 years – first to her home country, Zimbabwe, and then to Zambia where she later settled. She returned to Zimbabwe in 1981, after their independence, and became a professional singer once again. She only returned to South Africa after the release of Nelson Mandela. She currently lives in Johannesburg with her grandchildren and continues to perform regularly.

‘I have a lot of material that I would like to record. I have lots of songs because of what is happening to the country right now, or to the world, as one wrote songs about events, about love, about problems… there is so much in South Africa that you can write about. I’ve written some of the material, it’s all put away in my head, or I write them down in a book, and I keep them. Some youngsters are coming to me and saying, “Mama, can we do a song of yours?” and I let them do that.’

When asked what her plans for the future are, Masuku laughs, ‘I don’t have much of the future, sweetheart, because I’m 82. I’m 82, I just carry on, no plan, just carry on. If I have to work this coming month, I’ll work. If I have to go somewhere, I’ll go. But I’m not planning; at my age, you don’t plan anything like that.’ CF

Creative Feel / November 2017 / 27

A DISSIDENT POET The 2017 recipient of the Arts & Culture Trust Lifetime Achievement Award for Literature, James Matthews, has been called everything from a ‘legend’ to a ‘die-hard dissident’. He is a profound thinker and writer who is as known for his moving poetry as he is for his wicked sense of humour, all matched by a deep regard for the world in which he lives, writes and thinks.

B

orn in Bo-Kaap 88 years ago, James Matthews’

Although his stories were initially quite varied, his work

journey has been arduous, interesting and

became more political as apartheid and its forced removals

rewarding. When Creative Feel spoke to him

unfolded. His anti-apartheid stories were conveyed in

about his ACT Lifetime Achievement Award,

his first book, The Park and Other Stories, which he self-

he explained that he suffers from epilepsy. ‘[The kind of epilepsy that I have] controls your mind to an extent.

published in 1962.

Matthews soon became a leading articulator of Black

Sometimes letters are wrongly arranged in my mind, which

Consciousness. ‘My first book of poetry came out in 1972, I

means I can’t pronounce words. Or I would have a laps,

Cry Rage, which incidentally was the first book of poetry read

which is why I also don’t sit on panels, because I would also

in parliament, and it was banned two weeks after it came out.

have a blank period. And when the blank period comes,

Now, I wasn’t angry about it, I just felt that I was successful,

people will be speaking but I won’t be hearing sound or

getting that response from the apartheid government.’

meaning of words, so I won’t be able to respond.

‘I didn’t realise, you see. And I’ve also been very selfdestructive with my drinking.’

At 14, he suffered a head injury and even though he

Most of Matthews’ works were banned under the apartheid government, and many were translated and published overseas. For 13 years, he was denied a passport and was placed in detention from September to December

was taken to hospital, ‘they weren’t very advanced with a

1976. Solitary confinement was widely used during

condition like that,’ he says. He stopped schooling for three

the apartheid years; its purpose being to disorient, to

months, but even when he went back, it was a struggle. ‘It

dehumanise, and to undermine the detainee’s sense of self-

was a disaster. I couldn’t remember dates, I couldn’t work

identity. Matthews waged a struggle against this agenda with

out algebra.’ But in high school, there was a teacher, ‘Miss

the one weapon the jailers couldn’t take away from him – his

Meridith, I’ll never forget her name’, who made the class

ability to turn words into poems.

write compositions. ‘I got 21 out of 20,’ he remembers. ‘And

Over the years, Matthews’ poetry has covered a wide

she told the class, “James did not write a composition, James

range of topics and emotions. Flames and Flowers (2000)

wrote a short story.”’

combined poems with political content (flames) with

Starting out as a newspaper street vendor, Matthews

love poems (flowers), which, he says, surprised people. At

worked his way up to head messenger for the Cape Times.

79, he brought out a collection entitled Age is a Beautiful

The stories he penned began to be published in the

Phase (2008), ‘because I had not come across poetry paying

magazine sections of the Cape Times and Cape Argus –

homage to senior citizens’ and aimed to get across that

Matthews knew he was becoming a writer.

‘while you are getting older, you shouldn’t be afraid that

28 / Creative Feel / November 2017

you are losing yourself. No, you should be happy and embrace your age.’ This was followed by Gently Stirs My Soul (2015), filled with poetry that he calls ‘meditative’. age is a beautiful phase I am at peace with my journey age is not an omen of fear terrifying in its presence age is a sanctuary that will transform itself into an oasis age is a beautiful phase When asked in 2014 how he arrived at a point in his life where he writes about love and not revolution, he answered that love is a revolution, albeit of a different kind. ‘I no longer write dissident poetry. Back then I did what I had

Freedom’s child

to do. I wrote to overthrow a racist regime. My writing was

You have been denied too long

meant for the voiceless people in the townships. Now I write

Fill your lungs and cry rage

love poems. When I write about love, I don’t bullshit.’

Step forward and take your rightful place

Now, in 2017, with two honorary doctorates, one in 2013

You’re not going to grow up

from the University of the Western Cape and one in 2016

Knocking at the back door

from Rhodes University in Grahamstown, Matthews has

For you there will be no travelling

come full circle.

Third class enforced by law

After two, long, standing ovations before and after he

With segregated schooling

was awarded his honorary doctorate in a packed Guy Butler

And sitting on the floor

Theatre at the 1820 Settlers National Monument at Rhodes

The rivers of our land, mountain tops

University, Matthews said he still plans to write more

And the shore

political poetry. ‘I am not really happy with how things have

It is yours, you will not be denied anymore

turned out. The president lives in a palace, but around him,

Cry rage – freedom’s child.

people live in poverty.’

James Matthew is still the dissident poet who has always felt the need to fight oppression and, as he wrote in Cry Rage, the first anthology of poetry to be banned by the apartheid state:

Creative Feel / November 2017 / 29

A LIVING DANCE LEGEND The 2017 Arts & Culture Trust Lifetime Achievement Award for Dance is presented to Adele Blank, the iconic South African choreographer and dance instructor who has trained, performed, choreographed and taught extensively in classical ballet and contemporary dance both locally and abroad.

O

ne of the first contemporary dance pioneers in

The company also partook in an extended performing

South Africa, Adele Blank continues to teach and

and teaching programme to the Indian Ocean islands of

choreograph. She recently directed the much-

Réunion, Mauritius and Madagascar, and was invited to

anticipated South African International Ballet

Switzerland to perform at the prestigious Basel Dance

Competition (SAIBC) International Ballet Gala that took place during September in Cape Town and Johannesburg,

Festival by the director, Peter Marshall.

Over all these years, Blank has continuously produced

showcasing thrilling ballet variations, pas de deux and

spectacular pieces that remain relevant in an ever-changing

neo-classical works, performed by a stellar company of top

world of the arts in South Africa. ‘You’ve got to keep your

professional dancers. Blank’s latest piece enjoyed its world

eyes open, you’ve got to be very lateral thinking,’ she says.

premiere at Artscape on 2 September 2017.

‘And I have to tell you, I’m in such awe of the way dancers

Her first professional piece, Cacophony, was performed

use their heads today that I learn from them all the time. I’ve

on tour in Israel in 1979 and was the first dance piece with

decided that the day I stop learning is the day I’m going to

both black and white dancers performing on the same stage

die, or I’ll be dead.

in South Africa and abroad. The group was named 8 + 1.

In her long career, Blank has created over 50 pieces,

‘I’m one of the [Department of Arts and Culture’s] Living Legends, I represent dance on the committee, and part of

including works commissioned by other companies

that includes mentoring. That’s what I do a lot, particularly

(including Cape Town City Ballet, Dance For All, Jikeleza,

when I’m teaching. I’m busy choreographing something for

Cape Town Opera and Zip Zap Circus) and for corporate

Dancers Love Dogs, I do a lot of these charity things, and

productions. She has served as the principal of the dance

the girls that I’m working with are all professionals giving

department at the Performing Arts Workshop and as artistic

their time. But as I was teaching them, one turned around

director of the Dance Theatre Company, which was affiliated

and said, “wow, you really are explaining.” And I said, “well,

with the school and was created to inspire the dancers who

that’s what it’s all about, it’s all very well just showing you

attended the academy.

the steps.” I incorporate my experience and say, “maybe you

In 1987, she formed Free Flight Dance Company, which she has directed since its inception. Under her direction,

should try this.” It’s teaching but also mentoring.’

When asked how she made the transition from being

the company has performed in Germany numerous times,

a classical dancer trained in the Cecchetti method to

by invitation from the late James Saunders, who hosted the

doing her contemporary dance training in the Graham

company under the auspices of the German Chamber of

technique, Blank explained, ‘I was very classical, I was in a

Commerce after seeing the company perform his work at

ballet company and it was just my be-all and end-all. And

Dance Umbrella.

then I got married and had two kids quite rapidly and I

30 / Creative Feel / November 2017

was teaching ballet for Sheila Warski, who was my mentor into contemporary dance. She said to me, “why don’t you come and watch a movie?” And what was the movie? Alvin Ailey’s Revelations. Well, I left the planet for a while, and I decided that I have to try. Sheila was one of the first people to bring contemporary dance to South Africa and she started teaching me. I spent three hours a day on the floor doing Graham technique, and I just loved it. I just felt how much could be explored. However, I did, and still do, believe that classical is the base of it all. So for me, when people say: “what do you teach?” I say dance. And they say, “well, what kind of dance?” And I say, “no, no, dance.” For me, it’s all dance. I mean, you dance in your mother’s womb, don’t you?

Anyway, I loved the transition, I found it so exciting to be able to explore more things.

‘I’ve worked with Zip Zap Circus since I’ve been in Cape Town and I’m currently busy helping them with something they’re doing with the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra. The one guy, who I’ve worked with for about five years, was originally a street kid and he is just sensational. I’ve curated for him a few times, and I’m busy working on something for him for the cyr wheel and working on the finale for them.

So that’s ongoing… we’ve just done a piece called I wish, which is also very exciting. We used the Zip Zap space but without curtains or anything like that, and used ex-dancers. One of the babies of one of the girls in my company, she’s about 4 years old, wanted to see videos of her mom dancing.

At the end, she was crying her eyes out. So she asked her what was wrong, and she said, “well, I’m very cross, because you took me out of your tummy too late, I wish I could have seen you dance.” So when she reported this to me, we decided to make her wish come true and created this show. It was also for charity, half of the takings were for Street Smart and the other half went towards the Zip Zap trainees, who are mainly street kids.

‘I could go on and on, I’m busy with quite a few things.

‘I do believe you’ve got to keep moving. You’ve got to square the circles, you’ve got to make the circles square. I really do believe in keeping active; I’m going to be 76 in March, and I’m teaching and I’m choreographing… and you know what, I hope to God that I can continue that.’ CF

Creative Feel / November 2017 / 31

MEDIUM OF PUPPETRY In receiving the 2017 Arts & Culture Trust Lifetime Achievement Award for Visual Arts, Adrian Kohler and Basil Jones are being honoured for the work they have done with the Handspring Puppet Company since 1981. Creative Feel caught up with them to find out more about this internationally-renowned company and its founders.

B

ased in Cape Town, the Handspring Puppet

And why Handspring Puppet Company? What attracted

Company provides an artistic home and

you to the medium of puppetry? ‘Adrian’s mother was a

professional base for a core group of performers,

puppeteer and his father was a boat builder. So his transition

designers, theatre practitioners and technicians.

into professional puppetry was almost predestined,’ says

Handspring’s work has been presented in more than 30

Jones. ‘I was a sceptic. I admired neither Punch and Judy, nor

countries around the world.

the Muppets. But Adrian seduced me with an African puppet

When asked what it means to get the Arts & Culture

he found in Johannesburg. It turned out that it came from

Trust Lifetime Achievement Award and recognition at this

the ancient Bamana puppetry tradition in Mali, West Africa.

stage in their career, Basil Jones was happy to share his

We were living in Botswana then and I was a graphic artist at

thoughts with Creative Feel. ‘It is, of course, a great honour.

the National Museum and Art Gallery. I asked Alec Campbell,

And it happily seems to invite us to reflect on our trajectory,

my boss, if we could contact Vittorio Meneghelli, the person

on our “back story”.’ Some of this important history includes

who sold Adrian the puppet. It turned out he had a whole

‘Adrian’s teenage years when he was making puppets with

collection of these amazing “moving painted sculptures”.

his mother, Thelma, in a riverside village outside Port

He loaned them to Botswana for an exhibition. We then

Elizabeth; the Puppet Space at the Space Theatre in Cape

persuaded him to sell them to the museum and I became

Town – South Africa’s first non-racial theatre; the Rasta

their curator. After that, it was just a small step for me to

puppets we made with working-class kids at the WELD

assent to Adrian’s suggestion to return to South Africa and

Community Arts Centre when we were living in Birmingham

start a puppet company.’

UK in 1977; the puppet plays Adrian devised with people

The Company has enjoyed many collaborations with

in remote areas of Botswana as part of the National

other artists and organisations over the years, but which

Popular Theatre programme; the five years of children’s

ones stand out? ‘I think my most important collaboration

productions we toured around South Africa, living the gypsy

has been with Jane Taylor and Premesh Lalu,’ says Jones.

life in a converted truck and staying in caravan parks all

‘Jane is a highly regarded academic, novelist, playwright,

over southern Africa; the giant egret with its five-metre

director and will be the founding director of the Laboratory

wingspan, which we made for the first Gay Pride March in

of Kinetic Objects (LoKO), a new postgraduate research

Hillbrow Johannesburg in October 1990; and long tours

centre based in Salt River/Woodstock in Cape Town, where

through Europe with the Kentridge productions where we

scholars from around the world will be able to pursue

drove down the autobahns and the autostradas sandwiched

puppetry arts.

into a minivan, and performing at theatre festivals.

‘It’s been a varied career.’

32 / Creative Feel / November 2017

‘Premesh Lalu is the Director of the Centre for Humanities Research (CHR) at the University of the

Western Cape. One of their three research platforms is “The becoming technical of the human”, which fits quite closely into our concept of the puppet as an emotional and intellectual prosthesis of the human. Premesh has been a close collaborator in the development of the Barrydale Parade and Performance that takes place annually on the Day of Reconciliation. He has an extraordinarily perceptive mind, magnificent people skills and an invaluable understanding of the politics of culture in South Africa and internationally.

‘It’s important to acknowledge that a good deal of Handspring’s expertise as puppeteers has to do with a toughminded questioning of our theatrical choices and mindfulness of the important role that puppetry

year, in fact, they are the lead designers. They have travelled

has to play in theatre in general. It’s easy as a puppeteer

abroad too and their giant bird was a big success at the Heart

to dumb things down. Jane and Premesh help us to raise

of the Beast puppetry festival in Minneapolis, where they

the intellectual bar and that in turn helps us to make more

have been invited to return next year. They will be part of

inspired artistic choices.’

LoKO, assisting visiting puppeteers by helping them realise

Training and mentorship are vital to the Handspring

their puppet designs. Their studio will be in the renovated

Puppet Company, to create the next generation of

LoKO building in Greatmore Street, Woodstock, and it is

puppeteers. How does one do this? ‘We are fortunate that the

from there, later in 2018, that they will be launching their

so-called “next generation” took the initiative themselves

second puppet theatre production.’

and started their own puppet company. This happened when

And finally, we had to ask what the talented duo are

Handspring had to make a whole group of our employees

busy with at present and what direction their artistic talent

redundant because the Royal National Theatre no longer

is taking them in. ‘We are still very much interested in

needed us to make further sets of War Horse puppets. So two

presenting “animal being” – that is animals as animals – at

of the people we trained left the company and were joined

the centre of a piece of theatre,’ says Jones. ‘This is always

by another two individuals, to start Ukwanda Puppetry and

a big challenge because animals don’t use human language.

Design Collective. To our knowledge, this is South Africa’s

They have their own language. So one has to discover and

first black-initiated and black-run puppet company. We are

research that language and then find a way of presenting this

very proud of them and we are affording them every support

animal language on stage in such a way that the audience

we can muster. Their first play, Qhawe, received a Standard

can understand it. We’ve done this with chimpanzees, a

Bank Ovation Award at the National Arts Festival and their

giraffe and of course horses in War Horse. Now we are at the

puppets have been central to the Barrydale Parade. This

very beginning of a new production centred on wolves.’ CF

Creative Feel / November 2017 / 33

Artlooks & Artlines Artlooks & Artlines is a monthly column written by Ismail Mahomed, CEO of the Market Theatre Foundation.

A collection of memories built on joy and sadness

A

t a reception in Newtown on Wednesday 18

of a resilient nation committed to its fight for freedom and

October, the Market Theatre Foundation and

democracy to South Africa and to the world.

the Nelson Mandela Foundation signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to place

Like the rich legacy of productions that are presented on the stages of the Market Theatre, this photographic

the photographic collection from the historic Between the

collection, now in the custodianship of the Market Photo

States of Emergency exhibition in the custodianship of the

Workshop, will also represent an important period of visual

Market Theatre Foundation.

cultural practice in South Africa.

The photographs were taken between 21 July 1985, when

‘We are honoured that the Nelson Mandela Foundation

the State of Emergency was declared in South Africa by the

recognises and trusts our efforts, our integrity and our

Nationalist government, and 7 June 1990 when it was lifted

capacity to tell South African stories through words and

in three of the then-four provinces of the Republic of South

images,’ says Brand and Communications Manager of the

Africa. In the remaining province of Natal, the State of

Market Theatre Foundation, Zama Buthelezi. ‘This MOU

Emergency was lifted on 18 October 1990.

reinforces our school’s reputation as a leader not only in

The collection consists of photographs by Anna

offering excellent teaching practices but it also affirms our

Zieminski, Guy Tillim, Joe Alfers, Gille de Vlieg, Chris

reputation as an advocate for documenting South African

Ledochowski, Juda Ngwenya, Ismail Lagardien, Jenny

history through photography,’ she adds.

Altschuler, Jillian Edelstein, Ellen Elmendorp, Greg English,

In archival terms, the custodianship, with which the

Louise Gubb, Hetty Zantman, Zubeida Vallie, Trevor Samson,

Nelson Mandela Foundation is entrusting this invaluable

Lesley Lawson, Eric Miller, Deseni Soobben, Steve Hilton-

collection to the Market Theatre Foundation, cannot be

Barber, Mike Hutchings, Jenny Gordon, Walter Dhladhla,

over-estimated. At a time when renowned South Africa

Billy Paddock and Peter Magubane. The exhibition itself was

artists are depositing their archives with museums and

curated by renowned photojournalist, Robin Comley.

academic institutions outside of South Africa, the MOU

This date on which the collection of work was handed over

between the Market Theatre Foundation and the Nelson

to the Market Photo Workshop marked 27 years since the lifting

Mandela Foundation sends out a powerful vote of confidence

of the State of Emergency. The signing of the MOU also took

in the Market Theatre Foundation and the institution’s

place on the 40th anniversary of the eve of Black Wednesday

ability to be the champions of telling and conserving South

– that sad day on 19 October 1997 when the Nationalist

Africa’s very textured historical, social and political legacy

government banned several media and publications; and which

through artistic practice.

inevitably was an attempt to silence the work of even some

‘The Market Photo Workshop’s custodianship of

of the photographers who are part of this iconic collection.

this photographic collection will also be an important

The spirit of the photographers, however, soared above the

supplement to the curriculum, training and reference

banning order and they continued to communicate the story

resources at the Market Photo Workshop. It will add an

34 / Creative Feel / November 2017

McKenzie served on the Council of the Market Theatre Foundation since 2008 and was a dynamic curriculum consultant, teacher and mentor at the Market Photo Workshop. His most recent exhibition, Theemeri – walking on a bed of flowers, closed at the Market Theatre a fortnight before his death. McKenzie was as much a lover of theatre as he was of photography.

Celebrated as a founding member of the Afrapix Collective, McKenzie has left an inspiring legacy in South Africa. His reputation as a legendary photographer will live on. He will always be celebrated for his deep passion Peter Mckenzie at the Incubator and Ngale Opening, Market Photo Workshop, 2017, PHOTO Siphosihle Mkhwanazi

for education and for his formidable activism to grow the skills of photographers from historically marginalised communities. Added to his legacy of activism is his remarkable career as a pioneering photojournalist and artist.

McKenzie was on a research and curriculum development residency at the Market Photo Workshop, collaborating on a project to decolonise the history of photography in Africa. The Market Photo Workshop will continue the legacy project through its ‘A History of African Photography – HOAP’ programme.

‘Peter McKenzie’s passing has come as a great shock to us. He played an active participatory role in the development and growth of the Market Photo Workshop,’ says Makola.

During McKenzie’s illustrious career, he was the coordinator of the photojournalism department at the Institute for the Advancement of Journalism from 1996 to 1999. He co-founded the Durban Center for Photography (DCP) at the KwaZulu-Natal Society for the Arts where

Lekgetho Makola head of Market Photo Workshop with Verne Harris acrchive and dialogues director from the Nelson Mandela Foundation

he served as Council President. He was also a member of Durban-based multi-disciplinary art collective Dala.

In 1982, Mckenzie studied towards a Diploma in Photography at the Technikon Natal (now known as the

important dynamic to our public programming activities

Durban University of Technology – DUT). He was also an

towards curating exhibitions and public engagement

alum of the Poynter Institute in Florida, USA McKenzie has

sessions that integrate and engage works produced pre-

published and exhibited both locally and internationally.

freedom and post-freedom to better understand and

His photographic assignments also took him to Lagos,

appreciate the shifts within the photography landscape of

Nigeria with the World Press Foundation. He worked as

South Africa,’ says Lekgetho Makola, Head of the Market

a chief photographer, SADC region, for the Pan African

Photo Workshop.

press agency PanaPress. His career also included stints

The signing of the MOU took place on a rather bitter-sweet day for the Market Theatre Foundation who were still trying to make sense of the passing of Peter McKenzie, a member of the

at the Sunday Tribune and The Star, as well as being chief photographer at Drum magazine.

‘We remember Peter as a fearless artist and photographer

Council of the Market Theatre Foundation. McKenzie died on

who placed people at the centre of his work. Throughout

Friday 13 October. His passionate interest in the Market Photo

his association with the Market Theatre Foundation as a

Workshop is written across the DNA of the institution. With

teacher and as a member of the Council, he always displayed

his profound interest in documenting South African history

a strong sense of social justice, especially in his commitment

through photography, he no doubt would have been overjoyed

towards supporting the underprivileged. We will always

by this important signing of an MOU to place the historic

respect his work. We commit ourselves to advancing his

collection, Between the States of Emergency, in the custody of

legacy,’ says Kwanele Gumbi, the Chairman of the Market

the Market Theatre Foundation.

Theatre Foundation. CF

Creative Feel / November 2017 / 35

GIBSON KENTE SUPREME STORYTELLER

IMMORTALISED IN SONG AND DANCE AT THE SOWETO THEATRE!

Soweto Theatre is proud to announce a tenday musical tribute to culture luminary and godfather of South African theatre, Gibson

a director, producer, playwright, music composer and

Kente, from 7 to 17 December 2017.

practitioner but he also contributed to the education and

W

choreographer of his own plays. Not only was he a theatre training space in South Africa.

Kente was born in Duncan Village, a township outside

here Robert Sobukwe, Miriam Makeba and

East London in the Eastern Cape, on 23 July 1932. He studied

Nelson Mandela left an indelible mark on our

social work, but soon abandoned it for his real love, drama.

imaginations, the late Gibson Kente played

At the age of 23, he set off for Johannesburg. Without any

an equally consequential role. Plays like How

formal training, he produced his first play, the musical

Long, I Believe and Too Late, among many others, spoke to the

Manana, The Jazz Prophet, in 1963. Both Manana and his

heart of what indigenous South Africans experienced under a

second play, Isikalo, in 1966, enjoyed huge township support.

repressive and foreign regime.

Neither were overtly political, but they dealt in the nitty-

Gibson Kente is referred to as the father of township theatre. It is from the townships that legends like him have influenced the cultural, economic and political

gritty of township existence – crime, alcoholism, love and soccer – with wit and humour.

He was prolific, producing 23 plays and three television

landscapes of South Africa and various parts of the

dramas as well as writing songs for Miriam Makeba, Letta

globe. Gibson Kente was a theatre extraordinaire; he was

Mbulu and others. Many prominent performers, including

36 / Creative Feel / November 2017

N E

Brenda Fassie and Mbongeni Ngema, passed through Kente’s Dube garage, where he taught acting, singing and dancing.

His musicals were high-energy, melodramatic and eclectic, employing mixed dance forms and a range of local languages – Zulu, Xhosa, Sotho, English and Tsotsitaal.

In 1973, he began producing overtly political plays, such as How Long, on the pass laws, and Sekunjalo, which he regarded as his pièce de résistance, a satirical warning to the black elite not to oppress the masses

after liberation. His plays were frequently banned and his actors arrested.

In September 1976, he was detained by security police. In 1989, his Soweto home was firebombed.

When he was diagnosed HIV positive, Kente began his last play. The

Call is about a man aiming to bring hope to people living with HIV. The hero, Smudza, forms a group to educate people about HIV, but then they fail to practise safe sex themselves. Smudza himself relies on muti from a sangoma instead of condoms.

Parts of it could have been autobiographical. In his heyday, Kente lived

a glamorous, fast-paced life. He drove fancy cars, partied energetically and had numerous girlfriends, some decades younger than himself.

When he was diagnosed HIV positive, he said he was not

surprised. ‘I have been a naughty boy and I knew it could happen to me,’ he said.

In a society that venerates old people and stigmatises Aids

victims, it was brave of him to come out at the age of 70, a move for which fellow senior citizen, Nelson Mandela, personally commended him. Kente passed away on 7 November 2004.

Being the cardinal storyteller illustrating black pain, love and aspiration in the time of apartheid, it is with great pleasure that Joburg City Theatres announces that he will be commemorated in a musical tribute at Soweto Theatre this festive season.

‘South Africa is at a time of great possibilities as we are on the verge of a cultural renaissance. Our audiences are in for a treat,’ says Makhaola Ndebele, Artistic Manager at Joburg City Theatres.

A Musical Tribute to Gibson Kente will be in Soweto Theatre’s main auditorium (The Red) from 7 to 17 December 2017. Tickets are now on sale at R120, with early bird tickets at R80. For corporate specials, the full house of 436 seats can be purchased at R30 000. Tickets are available at all Joburg Theatre Box Offices. www.sowetotheatre.com and participating Pick n Pay outlets through Webtickets.

For corporate bookings call Didi on 0119307461.

Catering is available on request. CF

Creative Feel / November 2017 / 37

A LOOK BEHIND THE SCENES

As one of the leading service providers in the live events industry, Gearhouse Group not only ensures that events and productions run smoothly and at the highest standard, but is also involved in sponsorship, training and lessening the environmental impact that these events have. Creative Feel spoke to the company to find out a bit more.

38 / Creative Feel / November 2017

Creative Feel: Please tell us a bit more about Gearhouse. What services do you offer and what do you specialise in?

Gearhouse: Gearhouse is a group of nine companies, each of which services the live events industry in a different way. Each company works as a stand-alone, but together we provide the widest range of services currently available in our region.

A designated project manager coordinates all the elements on our client’s behalf so that they need only contact one person to access the full range of services.

The nine companies making up Gearhouse include Gearhouse South Africa; System Solutions; INHOUSE VTM (Venue Technical Management); In2Structures; LEDVision; Sets Drapes Screens; Gearhouse Splitbeam; Havaseat and the Gearhouse Kentse Mpahlwa Academy.

With these nine specialised companies, Gearhouse is able to provide a holistic and tailored approach for clients: from lighting, audio, audio-visual,power, structures and sets, to permanent pro AV installations, to the technical requirements of conference and entertainment venues, to custom designed portable venues, to set construction, to grandstand seating, to training and learnerships.

Vision, passion, teamwork and a commitment to service excellence are the foundations on which Gearhouse Group has been built. The group has grown from a small, Johannesburg-based lighting company with an equipment inventory of R300 000 in 1991 to a countrywide, total technical solution group today.

CF: Please tell us some of the recent theatre productions Gearhouse Splitbeam has been involved in. In what way did you support the production and assist in making it spectacular?

GH: Some recent productions include Annie, Priscilla Queen of the Desert and Calling Me Home. For Annie and Priscilla Queen of the Desert, we provided full technical supply (including lighting, audio and rigging) for their runs in South Africa. In addition, for Priscilla Queen of the Desert we provided AV and technical direction/production management, we also provided all of this for its Hong Kong tour.

For Calling Me Home – a new, entirely South African musical – Splitbeam provided technical direction and product management, from development stages through to its worldwide premiere at Joburg Theatre. The production made use of lighting, audio and AV, with much of the additional technical supplied by Splitbeam.

CF: Gearhouse Splitbeam plays an important role in supporting theatre in South Africa.

Please tell us a bit more about the projects you have supported through sponsorship.

GH: Recently, we have supported Dance Umbrella, ASSITEJ-SA (the SA Cradle of Creativity Theatre Festival and ASSITEJ World Congress) and Redhill School’s Redfest 2017.

Recognising the important role that Dance Umbrella plays in the South African contemporary dance field, Splitbeam has joined forces with the festival over the past five years. Sponsorship of the festival has offered Splitbeam, as a young company, exposure to the theatre world, and initiated working relationships with industry players that continue to flourish. This year will mark the thirtieth anniversary of Dance Umbrella and we hope that the festival continues for many more years.

For the ASSITEJ Cradle of Creativity Theatre Festival, Splitbeam offered significant sponsorship in order to assist in putting on this massive, and highly beneficial, event. It was a huge undertaking to mount an international theatre festival hosting 40 cutting-edge international productions for youth and young audiences.

Splitbeam coordinated and supplied every technical aspect of the festival, which involved creating new temporary theatre spaces and supplying lighting, audio, AV, draping, trussing and personnel.

Creative Feel / November 2017 / 39

Splitbeam has developed ongoing relationships with numerous schools, and often provides technical training

follow their careers with pride. As the industry leader, this is part of our ethos of giving back to the industry.

for students. Redhill is just one of these schools. Redfest 2017, a festival mounted by the School, has grown since its

CF: Gearhouse also has several initiatives in place to

inception, and this year Splitbeam was engaged as a technical

mitigate the company’s impact on the environment and

supplier, providing lighting and audio, technical staffing

improve the sustainability of the operation, please could you

and production/technical management. Splitbeam has been

give us a bit more information on these initiatives?

involved in sponsoring numerous events at Redhill School to

GH: The live event industry is an energy-intensive one and

support the growth of the wonderful work that the school is

it is, therefore, essential to make greener event choices

doing in the arts and culture sector, specifically in theatre.

wherever possible.

Gearhouse has implemented a step-by-step greening process, starting at a grassroots level with the recycling of batteries, generator oil and consumables with energy efficient, compact procurement choices. In addition, we are streamlining our processes and systems towards reducing energy usage, manpower and transport requirements.

We do what we can to mitigate the effects, and advise clients on greener options such as using LED technology over conventional lighting to achieve the same or better lighting intensity at a fraction of the power outlay; using folding truss to save an average of four metres of truck space per load and thereby reducing transport requirements; choosing digital signage, LCD or plasma screens over printed PVC or paper banners as they are not only more environmentally

Annie PHOTO Val Adams

friendly, but more impactful; using Line Array PA systems, which require less energy, less man hours, less transport

CF: In the same vein, development of the industry is also

space and less steel construction than conventional point

obviously important to Gearhouse, as evidenced by the

source systems; using digital consoles to reduce the amount

training academy that you run. Could you tell us a bit more

of paperwork, manual planning and preparation required; and

about this?

new generation switch-mode amplifiers to deliver four-times

GH: Throughout all of our companies, branches and

the power at the same consumption.

divisions, we recognise staff as our most important asset.

In addition, Sets Drapes Screens (SDS), the Group’s set

Pride in their professional skills places them up there with

building company, has been very active in finding ways to

the best in the world. A high priority is placed on on-going

recycle the waste associated with set manufacture. Bespoke

training and skills development to keep our skilled personnel

set pieces designed for once-off use on events are a frequent

abreast of all the latest technological advancements.

request and, with storage limited to stock pieces, the

For the past twelve years, Gearhouse has been involved

reality is that many sets are destroyed and thrown away as

in training for the industry overall, and was instrumental in

soon as the event is over. The SDS branches have initiated

writing the qualification Live Event Technical Production

recycling programmes in the immediate vicinity of each of

(LETP), a SAQA Accredited National Certificate that is run

the workshops and the scrapped set pieces are donated at

annually, free-of-charge for learners at the Gearhouse Kentse

designated drop-off points for use by the community. This

Mpahlwa Academy in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town.

has been very successful and greatly appreciated by local

The twelve-month LETP course is focused on giving learners a broad-based introduction and foundation across

residents, who use the materials in their own homes.

Recently, the Cape Town branch of SDS has taken things

the various disciplines of our industry, followed by a year-

a step further and is using manufacturing off cuts to build

long work integrated learning programme where a learner

flat pack ‘Hashtag Design’ furniture pieces.

then interns in a specific discipline.

Several of the learners then take positions within the group, but the majority go out into the industry and we

40 / Creative Feel / November 2017

The pieces are creative and different and are being taken up by clients for both offices and exhibition stands. Because they are offcuts, the pricing is extremely competitive. CF

SM LL

Creative Feel / November 2017 / 41

PERFORMA “For Performa 17, William Kentridge will be performing Kurt Schwitters’ seminal sound poem Ursonate, accompanied by projections made for the piece and joined by musicians for the final cadenza. The piece is curated by RoseLee Goldberg”

42 / Creative Feel / November 2017

Two major South African artists who have taken part in the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative are participating in Performa 17 in New York during November 2017. Performa 17 takes place from 1 to 19 November 2017.

F

ounded in 2004 by art historian and curator RoseLee Goldberg, Performa is the leading organisation dedicated to exploring the critical role of live

William Kentridge

performance in the history of 20th-century art,

and to encouraging new directions in performance for the 21st century. Since launching New York’s first performance biennial, Performa 05, in 2005, the organisation has solidified its identity as a commissioning and producing entity. As a ‘museum without walls’, Performa contributes important art historical heft to the field by showing the development of live art in all its forms from many different cultural perspectives, reaching back to the Renaissance.

Celebrated worldwide as the first biennial to give special attention to this remarkable history, Performa transforms the city of New York into the ‘world capital of artists’ performance’ every other November, attracting a national and international audience of more than 200 000 and garnering more than five million website hits during its three-week run. In the last decade, Performa has presented nearly 600 performances, worked with more than 700 artists and toured commissioned performances in nearly 20 countries around the world.

Supporters of the biennial include the Ford Foundation, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Toby Devan Lewis, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Performa Commissioning Council, among many others.

For Performa 17, William Kentridge will be performing Kurt Schwitters’ seminal sound poem Ursonate, accompanied by projections made for the piece and joined by musicians for the final cadenza. The piece is curated by RoseLee Goldberg.

Kurt Schwitters was born in Hannover in 1887. Refused

by the Berlin Dadaists, he started a one-man Dada group in Hannover called Merz. He made paintings, collages and objects; he wrote poems, sound poems and plays, which he published in his own magazine, also called Merz.

In 1919, after gaining a national reputation with the absurd love poem An Anna Blume, he made contact with fellow Dadaists Hans Arp and Raoul Hausmann. In 1937, Schwitters fled the Nazis, via Norway to England, where he died in 1948.

At the source of Schwitters’ Ursonate or sonate in urlauten (sonata in primordial sounds) are

Creative Feel / November 2017 / 43

umBhovuzo: The Parable of the Sower, Nicholas Hlobo, 2016

two Plakatgedichte (Poster Poems) by Raoul Hausmann, which provide the sonata’s opening line: Fumms bö wö tää zää Uu, pögiff, kwii Ee Schwitters used phrases such as this to provoke audiences at literary salons, who expected traditional romantic poetry, by endlessly repeating them in many different voices. In the course of ten years, he expanded this early version of Ursonate into a 30-page work with a structure similar to that of a classical sonata or symphony. It consists of four

“Challenging expectations of sexuality and identity within his own Xhosa culture as well as norms in everyday life after apartheid, Cape Town multimedia artist Nicholas Hlobo expands his 2016 performance umBhovuzo for Performa 17”

movements: ‘Erster Teil’, ‘Largo’, ‘Scherzo’ and ‘Presto’.

Schwitters wrote a few pages of instructions for reciters of the Ursonate, mainly dealing with the correct pronunciation

mentor. He exhibits widely, including pieces at the Venice

of the letters; apart from that, brief prescriptions regarding

Bienniale, Biennale of Sydney, Guangzhou Triennial, and

tempo, pitch, dynamics and emotional content are scattered

solo shows at the National Museum of Art, Architecture and

throughout the sonata’s text.

Design in Oslo, Tate Modern, and Boston ICA.

Nicholas Hlobo (b. 1975, Cape Town), was the Rolex Visual Arts Protégé for 2010-2011, with Anish Kapoor as his

44 / Creative Feel / November 2017

For Performa 17, Hlobo will present an installation that is activated by nine male African/African American performers,

umBhovuzo: The Parable of the Sower, Nicholas Hlobo, 2016

four of them sitting on 7-foot high chairs. The audition

their full potential by pairing them with mentors for a year

information stated: ‘Looking for nine males, dark-skinned,

of creative collaboration. It is a philanthropic programme

max height 5.9 ft, max weight 176 lb, 30-32 waist. Not afraid

that was set up in 2002 to make a contribution to global

of heights, able to sit still for upwards of three hours.’

culture. In keeping with its tradition of supporting individual

Challenging expectations of sexuality and identity within his own Xhosa culture as well as norms in everyday life after apartheid, Cape Town multimedia artist Nicholas

excellence, Rolex gives emerging artists time to learn, create and grow.

Over the past decade, Rolex has paired mentors and

Hlobo expands his 2016 performance umBhovuzo: The

protégés in dance, film, literature, music, theatre, visual arts

Parable of the Sower, which presented several men

and – as of 2012 – architecture. In the decade since it was

incessantly working swaths of cotton and silk at impossibly

launched, the mentoring programme has evolved into an

elevated Singer sewing machines, an apparatus symbolising

enriching dialogue between artists of different generations,

industrial self-sufficiency, in order to cast doubt onto

cultures and disciplines, helping ensure that the world’s

prescribed executions and gender roles dictating

artistic heritage is passed on to the next generation.

domesticity, labour, and globalisation.

The Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative was created to assist extraordinary rising artists to achieve

Past mentors in Visual Arts have included William Kentridge, David Hockney, John Baldessari, Olafur Eliasson and Joan Jonas. CF

Creative Feel / November 2017 / 45

Noluvuyiso Mpofu

EXPERIENCE A GRAND NIGHT FOR

AT THIS YEAR’S DEAN’S CONCERT How accessible is classical music? And what

Freschi being joined by renowned clarinettist Junnan Sun,

is it about the genre that makes hearing it

rising soprano star Noluvuyiso Mpofu, and the University of

live such a unique experience? Ahead of The

Johannesburg Choir conducted by Renette Bouwer. While each artist on the programme is SA-based, they’re all world-

University Of Johannesburg’s 2017 Dean’s

renowned for their talent.

Concert, we spoke with Professor Federico

concerts, but in recent times these have become less regular,’

Freschi and pianist Christopher Duigan to find out how the annual Gala concert is transformative in more ways than one.

W

‘UJ used to host a regular series of classical music explains Freschi. ‘Following a successful concert in 2014, which featured Christopher and me, I began discussions with UJ Arts & Culture about reviving the classical music concert series, but with a newer model – no longer weekly, and at a nominal fee. From there, we wanted a grand concert

hat began as a simple idea for a fun and

at the end of the year. It would be a gala concert as well as a

informative concert back in 2014 has become

fundraising concert, we decided.’

one of the most looked-forward-to events of the academic year. The University of

For Freschi and Duigan, the objective of the Dean’s Concert is two-fold. With Freschi being an accomplished

Johannesburg (UJ) Dean’s Concert is an annual gala event

baritone in his own right, it seemed pertinent that he

that sees the university’s Dean of the Faculty of Art Design

perform for, and engage with both his students and the

and Architecture (FADA), Federico Freschi, team up with

general public through a free and expertly produced evening

renowned pianist and Music Revival’s Christopher Duigan for

of music. Secondly, the concert serves as an excellent form

an evening of spectacular, live classical music.

of fundraising for students in the Faculty of Art, Design and

This year, the Dean’s Concert takes place at the UJ Arts Centre on Saturday 4 November and sees Duigan and

46 / Creative Feel / November 2017

Architecture who are in good academic standing, but have financial difficulties.

Christopher Duigan

Prof. Federico Freschi ‘When I joined the Faculty in 2013, I established a

Junnan Sun Adding to Duigan’s point about public opinion of classical

bursary fund,’ says Freschi. ‘Whenever I do a public talk,

music in South Africa, Freschi explains that the power in

lecture or concert outside of the university, for which I am

transforming audiences into newfound classical music-lovers,

offered a fee, I ask people rather to donate the money to

lies in the experience of seeing it performed live.

my busary fund. Through that, I’ve been able to offer some

‘Classical music suffers from a bit of an image problem.

support to students during these difficult economic times. UJ

It’s seen as pompous and elitist, and, to put it bluntly, as being

itself is incredibly successful in raising funds for its students,

the domain of rich white people. What’s always extraordinary,

and my dean’s fund is a very small aspect of that, but it’s just

however, is when we have concerts like this and bring young

a great opportunity to give back to the community. So we

people in, they cannot help but be awed by the music, because

hold the concert for free, but we ask for donations.’

the music, by its nature, is not pompous or elitist. Music is

On the topic of access to classical music itself, Duigan

what it is; it knows no race or class. When young people see

explains how a concert like this one can do wonders to

it being performed live by internationally acclaimed artists

provide inspiration, and spark passion in young artists

who are not much older than they are, it is enormously

and musicians.

inspirational,’ says Freschi.

‘Classical music is a universally acknowledged

Whether you’re a long-standing fan of classical music,

and embraced repertoire, and it’s a time-tested one.

or you’re hoping to learn more about the genre, make sure

Unfortunately, it’s not universally embraced in this country,’

you book a seat for this year’s Dean’s Concert. If you’re able

begins Duigan. ‘When I’ve performed overseas, the response

to, make a donation. No amount is too small. It could end up

has been overwhelming, simply from the size of the audience

funding South Africa’s next great artist, architect or designer.

that shows up. Here, you have to fight for what you do and

A Grand Night for Singing! Takes place on Saturday

I think it’s because we don’t have as many concerts that are

4 November at the UJ Arts Centre. Booking is essential.

free and open to the public when it comes to classical music.

Please RSVP to lakinmb@uj.ac.za by no later than 2

Which is why the Dean’s Concert is so special.’

November 2017. CF

Creative Feel / November 2017 / 47

48 / Creative Feel / November 2017

Detail from Dreams, Wishes & Expectations installation, Coral Bijoux, 2017.

Plastic, embroidery, etched drawings/painting on wall

Dreams, Wishes

Expectations The MTN SA Foundation, in partnership with Durbanbased non-profit organisation: Amazwi Abesifazane – Voices of Women Museum (VoWM), hosted an art exhibition dubbed Dreams, Wishes and Expectations, as part of its community outreach programme and

T

contribution to social dialogue.

his programme is another product of the MTN SA

their content. Some of these narratives are exhibited for the

Foundation’s Art Collection Partnership programme

first time, others we have seen before.

although the partnership with the Voices of Women Museum (VoWM) itself stretches over five

Selected stories on the upper level include references to house and home; to exclusion and separation (as with

years. The VoWM curates, and holds in trust, the stories and

stories from political and social refugees) and stories of

artworks told and created by ordinary South African women.

personal encounters that unpack our own prejudices and

It also shares issues for discussion pertaining to women

insecurities. Behind it all, we hear, and can only imagine, the

through art making (hand-stitched embroideries) exhibitions

desire for peace, for a home and for a better life. It is what

and social outreach programmes.

we all recognise, not only in the narrative, but in ourselves.

The Dreams, Wishes and Expectations exhibition is

Dreams, Wishes and Expectations refers to these desires as

curated by artist and activist, Coral Bijoux, and has evolved

well as to the expectations we have of ourselves and each

from her preceding exhibition known as Conversations We

other. Promises kept and broken; desires unfulfilled and

Do Not Have. This exhibition involved the combined art

wishes that may be impacted on by powers unknown or

collections of MTN and the VoWM and has, for the last

beyond our control.

five years, been on show at venues such as the Playhouse

‘This body of work is an evolution from the five

Company in Durban, the Old Fort on Constitutional Hill

Conversations We Do Not Have exhibitions that I have curated

in Johannesburg, the William Humphreys Art Gallery in

these past few years. These exhibitions have essentially looked

Kimberley and the NWU Gallery in Potchefstroom. The

at the VoWM Collection and it’s where I have tried to gain a

curator has again selected work belonging to women who

deeper understanding of the scope and authenticity of these

have recently added their story to the VoWM Collection.

intimately embroidered works. The inclusion of selected works

These women have engaged with VoWM facilitators

by other South African and African artists from the MTN Art

who demonstrate contexts where other stories from the

Collection sets up an interesting interface within the context

Collection have been exhibited, giving participants a clear

of a South African art historical discourse. At the centre of this

idea of what happens to their work once it forms part of the

discussion are women, or issues that affect women, as well

archive. They present the conditions of participation and

as the curatorial eye (me), as I respond, reflect and reframe

the responsibilities of the participant/s, facilitator/s and the

these multiple conversations. They refer to our multi-layered

VoWM. These narratives were selected in this exhibition for

political and social discourse,’ says Coral Bijoux.

Creative Feel / November 2017 / 49

‘My focus is an interrogation of the dynamics of power –

tote flowers, fruit, landscapes and dreamscapes. Plastic

women are framed by the larger debates around gender and

flowers and ornaments meant that they would “keep”, could

identity. I have been particularly interested in the notion

be re-used or could keep a place looking beautiful without

of an “ordinary” person, framed within the larger debate

fading unless over an extended period. They could be wiped

of where power resides. This installation affirms a claim, a

and still look good. They could cheer up a dull interior.

re-assertion of “rite of passage” and an assertion of personal

‘I have worked with the VoWM Collection story cloths

power. Re-powered. It serves as a metaphorical reminder of

and narratives of many women (including my own) and am

an ever-present threat to our comfortable ambivalence – one

conscious of the way in which we live and the way in which

that we have created ourselves. The snake metaphor, which I

my mother and hers before her lived. These women have been

Alien, Minette Vari, 1998. Video stills.

MTN Art Collection

Snake, Esreal Thavana, c. 2003. Carved wood.

MTN Art Collection

quietly embed in many of my exhibitions, lies as a metaphor

considered “ordinary”. I use the word ordinary deliberately.

at the heart of the gender divide. The mythological negative

I look at what ordinary people surround themselves with.

referencing of “snake” is a convenient curatorial device that

I have been part of that ordinary group of people. As such,

frames the disempowered threat to the feminine. These

I investigate the word and realise that nothing about the

metaphors have clear and obvious precedence in the many

perceived ordinariness of our lives is, in fact, ordinary. Why

religious and cultural narratives that permeate the social,

then is that word so effective in “keeping us in our place”?

cultural and political arenas.’

Is the plastic in the Dreams, Wishes and Expectations

‘The installation includes many domestic objects rendered in packaging tape and recycled plastic. These

installation piece a material of choice? The installation

serve as reminders of the lives of many women who straddle

piece by Bijoux makes use of recycled plastic. This material

roles of professional, domestic and sometimes studious and

serves as a metaphor as well as reminders of concern. The

academic lives that may add value and depth to our lives. It

plastic is embroidered in a similar way to many of the story

is that which I have sought most of my life.

cloths on exhibition.

‘Plastic, in this instance, was the material of choice as it

‘I am not alone in this search.’

The ‘cords’ evident in the installation are sometimes

is reminiscent of the materials many women have used or

rendered in almost invisible links of fish gut or are deliberately

use in their homes,’ says Bijoux. ‘The women I refer to are

obvious as umbilical cords that permeate the installation.

often from working-class families who surround themselves with aspirational replicas such as plastic tablecloths that

50 / Creative Feel / November 2017

These cords link objects and imagery, symbol and space making meaning by their connection.

There are many metaphors here that vie for your attention.

Much like our lives as people who try to negotiate multiple roles daily, particularly working mothers, we are surrounded by so much, inundated by so much and yet must make sense of it all.

Here, the fly-away plastics that have been embroidered, are consciously connected to fly at us, or away from us – the viewer.

They appear random, but each has been deliberately placed. The chaos of the space is unmistakable, yet those who have walked inside of it have spoken about its dream-like quality.

Snake, a sculpture by Esreal Thavana from the MTN Art Collection, has been installed on a special floor created for this exhibition. It forms part of the discourse on the feminine – sexuality and fear. The work lies beneath the installation on dreams, wishes and expectations and can be viewed through the installation – and from a ‘safe’ distance.

Again here, space and access are used as metaphors. The snake metaphor permeates the exhibition and includes other works from the MTN Art Collection such as the Mami Wata mask; the Adam and Eve sculpture by Esreal Thavana and two pieces from the VoWM Collection.

Other works that significantly speak to the notion of being viewed as ‘different’ and ‘separate’ are works recently added to the VoWM Collection by refugee, Afrikaner, San-Bushman and Indian women. These works are in conversation with MTN’s digital piece, Alien by Minette Vari. Again, we consider that women from different walks of life have often similar Dreams, Wishes and Expectations… the desire to be whole, to

Mami Wata mask, Unknown artist (Baule), circa late 20th century. Carved and painted wood. MTN Art Collection

be respected, to be peaceful and to have a quality life.

The VoWM is a non-profit organisation which began as

cube” of many of our cultural spaces. The sensuality and

a project of the Create South Africa Organisation early in

warmth of this Museum interior space is also a critique of

2001. Since then, the collection of embroideries generated

this predominant European and Colonial preconception,’

and artworks collected through the project has grown to

says Bijoux.

almost 3 000 pieces, which now forms the cornerstone of

As testament to the Foundation’s commitment of

the VoWM and is shared within a public forum through

empowering the women of South Africa, MTN Foundation

exhibitions and educational programmes.

will continue its relationship with the Amazwi Abesifazane

The VoWM is situated in the heart of Durban’s CBD at

VoWM by lending a selection of artworks from the MTN

168 Palmer Street. It’s in an old building, situated in a male-

Collection for its exhibitions and providing sponsorship for

dominated environment, which was initially built in the

its outreach programmes.

1970s as accommodation for labourers who worked in the

Says Kusile Mthunzi-Hairwadzi, General Manager of

textile factory next door. Over time, while in the possession

MTN SA Foundation: ‘We are proud of our long-standing

of the artist and founder of the Amazwi Abesifazane –

partnership with Amazwi Abesifazane and believe that

Voices of Women Project, Andries Botha, it was home

working as a collective we can unlock entrepreneurial

to Create South Africa workshops for people engaged in

potential in the province, while giving women the platform

creative projects, entrepreneurial endeavours and social

to document their stories.’

development work such as HIV/Aids workshops and support.

Mthunzi-Hairwadzi adds, ‘We are excited to [have

More recently, the space was occupied by young people who

sponsored] this important exhibition which gives women

were art students and by a family who did not have a home.

a platform to tell their stories and contribute to social

The roof leaked, the floorboards needed replacing, bore ate

discourse. Art has played a crucial role as the vehicle of

through the woodwork, but still, the VoWM came into being.

resistance to institutionalised segregation in the past, and

‘The entire Museum that frames this exhibition problematises and interrogates the neutrality of the “white

we believe that it has a role to play as a conduit for social cohesion and community upliftment.’ CF

Creative Feel / November 2017 / 51

Berman Contemporary at 11 Alice Lance

BERMAN CONTEMPORARY It has been four years since Candice Berman opened the Candice Berman Gallery at the Riverside Shopping Centre in Bryanston. The space is being rapidly outgrown and the confluence of exhibitions and daily gallery operations like framing and consulting seem to have the space at maximum capacity.

52 / Creative Feel / November 2017

at 11 Alice Lane

W

ith this in mind, Candice Berman will be opening a second gallery space under the title Berman Contemporary at the prestigious 11 Alice Lane development in the heart of

Sandton. Corner 5th and Alice Lane, the location is not very far from the Bryanston Gallery, allowing Berman to commute easily between the two spaces. However, with the space being located in a rather small retail environment, Berman believes she is limited in the selection of works that she can display. In the new space, she will conduct more curated exhibitions that can run for lengthier periods of time without interruption.

The opening events will be held in the evening, creating a respite for commuters not wanting to get swallowed in the gridlocked Sandton traffic. They can come join the opening

“Berman Contemporary strives to bring art and galleries back into the Sandton CBD. The space will allow for top artists from South Africa and Pan-African countries to fully exhibit curated shows and uplift the cultural tapestry that is Sandton”

exhibition, have a glass of wine and enjoy a delicious dinner at Wishbone Café & Bistro and The Grillhouse.

The name Berman Contemporary is intended to distinguish each entity from the other. Candice Berman Gallery prides itself in great service, a custom and bespoke framing operation that pairs the latest trends with timeless and classic designs, as well as launching many emerging and mid-career artists. The exhibitions and jazz festivals held at Riverside are always exciting and a great mix of people are in attendance.

With the split-level space, the gallery interior is slick, chic and minimalist. Museum lighting will adorn the various sculpture displays and wall artworks. Owing to the incredible scale of some of the works, the space is designed

Artist Ingrid Bolton, solo exhibition coming to Johannesburg 2018

for the spectacular display of such monumental pieces. The selection will incorporate many top South African artists such as Robyn Denny; Ingrid Bolton; Natalie Field and

and fresh selection of artists introducing new and dynamic

Stefan Blom.

investments.

In the past decade, many of the fine art galleries located

The exhibitions will be invite only and the gallery will

in Sandton City itself have closed down, with the art

be host to many private and corporate events and functions

world’s primary locale being Rosebank and surrounding

such as the Allen & Overy War Child Art Auction now moved

areas. In this New York-style contemporary space, Berman

to March 2018.

Contemporary strives to bring art and galleries back into the

Candice Berman is both nervous and excited to be

Sandton CBD. The space will allow for top artists from South

working on this new project and welcomes all to the gallery

Africa and Pan-African countries to fully exhibit curated

space to come and spend some time in a space specially

shows and uplift the cultural tapestry that is Sandton.

designed to alleviate the corporate tedium with the timeless

Corporate art curators and collectors will be brought a new

expanse of ideas and aesthetic. CF

Creative Feel / November 2017 / 53

The Garden, Irma Stern, 1941

Skoolgebou Rondebosch, Pieter Wenning

BRINGS TOGETHER THE BEST OF THE BEST Aspire Art Auction’s forthcoming Johannesburg sale, set for 12 November, features a roll call of some of the best historical, modern and contemporary art in the South African market at the moment. Here are some highlights from the carefully chosen and exclusive auction lots on the sale.

T

he undoubted highlight on the show is a powerful

important work will be offered on auction at estimates of

work by JH Pierneef, The Commando Tree, on the

R2 500 000 – R4 000 000.

road to Sibasa (1930). The painting is from the period generally acknowledged to be that of the

Then, two splendid Irma Stern paintings are featured lots. A delightful gouache from 1945, depicting boats in a

artist’s greatest work, coinciding with the famous Station

cove, is doubtless inspired by the artist’s travels in Zanzibar

Panels. The painting depicts a wild fig tree with huts in

in that year. An unusual landscape is also on sale – a

the background, a space historically used for lekgotlas,

significant earlier work, an oil on canvas from 1941. Entitled

in what is now Limpopo Province. The oil on canvas was

The Garden, it is a verdant and rich oil on canvas rendering

bought from Pierneef himself in 1930 and was exhibited for

of the garden in Stern’s home in Rondebosch, the site of the

many years at the Pretoria Art Museum. This historically

current Irma Stern Museum, and is the view through the

54 / Creative Feel / November 2017

Wild Flowers, Maggie Laubser, 1958

Tesselaarsdal, Peter Clarke

French doors of her famous studio, onto the tumultuous

a rare early drawing by William Kentridge from Mine, the

camellia trees outside.

third in the celebrated film series, 9 Drawings for

Another highlight is an exceptional painting by Dutch-

Projection. The fourth film of the series won the artist his

born Peter Wenning. Skool, Bishopscourt (The School,

first major recognition and the prestigious Rembrandt

Bishopscourt) was painted in 1918 during Wenning’s visit

Gold Medal at the Cape Town Triennial held at the South

to the Cape, organised by his close friend and mentor D.C.

African National Gallery in 1991. The drawing from

Boonzaier, who praised this work as one of the artist’s

Mine depicts Johannesburg’s mining magnate, Soho

finest. Upon completion, Skool, Bishopscourt (The School,

Eckstein, in bed, about to plunge his cafetière, which

Bishopscourt) was first bought by Lady De Villiers Graaff in

transforms into a mine shaft or periscope plunging into

September 1918.

the world below. One of the drawings from this film is

Modern work in addition to the fantastic Stern paintings

in the National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian

on offer, includes Maggie Laubser’s Wild Flowers (1958), an

Institute, in Washington DC. This superb image from the

excellent example of the painter’s neo-expressionist style,

internationally renowned films will be offered on auction

with its strikingly exaggerated colour palette and bold,

at estimates of R1 500 000 – R2 500 000.

almost geometric lines. The work’s stylised pastoral flavour

Finally, hot on the heels of his highly acclaimed

chimes well with the rural surrounds of her Cape childhood.

and successful solo show of video, performance and

After the success of Figures on a Path, Tesselaarsdal,

photographs at WHATIFTHEWORLD gallery in Cape Town,

which sold for R682 080 in Aspire’s July auction, another

entitled Passage, a photographic work by celebrated South

signature pastoral work by the celebrated Cape artist Peter

African contemporary artist Mohau Modisakeng goes to

Clarke comes under the hammer in November. Again set in

auction. He was recently one of the two featured artists at

the Overberg town of Tesselaarsdal, a formative influence on

the much-praised SA Pavilion at the latest Venice Biennale,

the beginning of his difficult but celebrated career as a visual

and his current exhibition is a version of the work featured

artist, this quiet rural scene has his trademark vibrancy and

there. The photographic print Ga Etsho 1 (2015) is a unique,

palette. The work is set at estimates of R400 000 – R600 000.

one-off inkjet print, and a highly unusual piece by this

Contemporary work is well represented, and also throws up some unique examples. Prime among them is

young talent, made prior to the editioned series of the same name. CF

Creative Feel / November 2017 / 55

TOWARDS EFFECTIVE

collaborative STRATEGY EXECUTION

The only way strategy can be meaningful is if it is informed by, and representative of, the public interest, writes Hartley Ngoato.

W

hen we hear the word ‘strategy’, we often

When I was appointed as Council Chairperson of the

cringe, roll our eyes and allow our minds to

National Arts Council (NAC) at the beginning of the year,

wander far away from what has come to be

the organisation was facing serious challenges in terms of

perceived as meaningless boardroom speak.

governance, which impacted negatively on the execution

What purposes do so-called strategies serve, we ask, other

of certain policies and the effective implementation of

than making for intelligent sounding notes and ticking all the

strategies. There was also misalignment with broader

right boxes for meeting checklists? It’s true that strategies

government policies and strategies, particularly those of the

serve no purpose if not engaged with and implemented

Department of Arts and Culture (DAC), which highlighted to

effectively, and this is precisely why I’m sharing my thoughts

the NAC’s desperate need to adjust its course in order to give

with you here.

expression to its full mandate.

I feel there is a need for those in decision making roles in

Broadly, the NAC’s strategic realignment entails more

the public service to be forthcoming and open when it comes

considered and insightful marketing and arts promotion

to strategic intent, as not only are members of the public

initiatives; a stronger focus on arts development, especially

entitled to access such information, they are duly required

in terms of rethinking its current discipline-specific

to intervene where they see fit and necessary. After all,

structure; and finding innovative and sustainable ways of

public-sector strategies are formulated by public servants as

building partnerships, collaborations and linkages. More

representatives of the public, and ought to have the public

specifically, as outlined in the 2017/18 Annual Performance

interest as central and exclusive to their focus.

Plan, the NAC’s strategic goals are to: strengthen the

56 / Creative Feel / November 2017

Mr Hartley Ngoato – Chairperson

arts through focused grant funding; promote and, where possible, create equity in the arts; facilitate the development of arts organisations; develop a sustainable arts capability; increase access to markets and enable creative engagement; and increase awareness of the arts through focused advocacy.

It’s easy to view these strategic intents and goals as mere words. However, I believe that, thanks to the efforts of the NAC’s Council and members of its executive, these

“These national strategies, along with the NAC’s strategic goals specifically, cannot, of course, be thought of, implemented and achieved in isolation”

strategic goals speak directly to our mandate, which, in turn, resonate with the DAC’s and national government’s broader strategic focus on socioeconomic development, redress and transformation.

Creative Feel / November 2017 / 57

(from left to right) back row: Ms Thandiwe January-Mclean, Mr Hartley Ngoato – Chairperson, Ms Jabu Dlamini – Deputy Chairperson and Provincial Representative for Mpumalanga, Mr Masengana Jerry Mabuza – Provincial Representative for Gauteng, Prof. Sekgothe Mokgoatšana, Mr Michael Steve Arendse, Ms Avril Louise Joffe, Mr Bongani Mavuso, front row: Ms Rosemary Mangope – CEO of the NAC, Mr Edmund Mhlongo, Ms Mandie Magdalena Van der Spuy, Ms Thoko Nogabe – Provincial Representative for Free State

Good examples of this strategic realignment is the

where they intersect education, international engagement,

NAC’s participation in the DAC’s Mzansi Golden Economy

and commerce and investment. This highlights the

strategy, which seeks to create employment by recognising

potential of the arts to change and shape society in ways

the arts as South Africa’s ‘new gold’ with the potential to

that are not only innovative but highly adaptive to the

create thousands of jobs and accelerate economic growth;

context in which that positive change is achieved. It

and the National Strategy for Developing an Inclusive

is, therefore, imperative for the NAC to play the role of

and a Cohesive South African Society. Not only do these

facilitator in a developmental discourse that transcends

strategies require the NAC to be front and centre of their

our typical perceptions of arts and culture and their place

implementation, they call for action in fulfilling its mandate,

in society.

especially those aspects of it that relate to sustainable, broad-based socioeconomic development.

These national strategies, along with the NAC’s

It might seem arbitrary to suggest that what South Africa needs most – in the face of stark realities such as poverty, inequality, illiteracy, unemployment and sluggish

strategic goals specifically, cannot, of course, be thought of,

economic growth – is for its citizens to have a strong sense

implemented and achieved in isolation. Our strategies, and

of belonging in a cohesive and inclusive society, but it

those we are called upon to participate in, are cross-cutting,

is precisely what is required if we are to overcome these

interdisciplinary, multifaceted, inclusive and, most importantly,

seemingly insurmountable challenges.

collaborative. In essence, what the NAC’s strategic realignment

Part of creating this cohesion entails public engagement

and repositioning calls for is collaborative strategy execution,

with government and its agencies in the development and

where strong partnerships are formed and public participation

implementation of strategies towards the achievement of

informs the most appropriate courses of action, adjustment,

goals and sustainable outcomes. I hereby urge all South

and monitoring and evaluation.

Africans to engage and move strategy from the boardroom to

This notion of collaborative strategy execution places the NAC and the arts in South Africa in a unique position,

58 / Creative Feel / November 2017

the public sphere. CF Ngoato is an attorney at law and Chairperson of the NAC

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The Art of Performance Dave Mann is an editor and award-winning arts journalist.

Where did the hippo go?

A

s far as major South African cities go, Durban is easily one of the prettiest. Cape Town has its mountains and seasides, Joburg has its gritty charm and busy people, and Durban has just

about everything else.

I was there recently to play my part in putting together a group exhibition at the KZNSA Gallery. I anticipated spending most of my time at the gallery itself, placing and mounting artworks, running publicity, printing flyers and zines and working with the rest of the team to pull off the project. As it turns out, I also managed to take in a great deal of the city’s artistic offerings during my stay, and trust me when I say there are many.

On a balmy afternoon during my first day there, I found myself in an artsy Glenwood flat, rented out by a writer and a painter. Outside the flat, vervet monkeys draped themselves along the walls and dashed through rings of barbed wire,

Umbilo Road’s Greencamp Gallery Project

while a cool breeze moved in through the windows, fresh off the sea. Inside, we sat sipping coffee on worn couches,

venue situated in Station Drive. The place is industrial,

surrounded by canvases and sketches and long, colourful

but sharp. They’ve got good food, strong cocktails, and

materials. It was the quintessential artist’s home.

a small selection of craft beers brewed on site. On show

We got to speaking about Durban’s creative scene – one

that night was a group performance of sorts – part spoken

that’s often viewed as lacking by those who live elsewhere.

word, part physical theatre, part musical performance.

It’s a common perception, sadly. Durban, unlike Cape Town

Titled Conversations with Lovers, the show was an artistic

and Johannesburg, is said to possess a somewhat insular and

investigation into the realities of modern day love, and

slow-moving creative industry, never quite keeping up with

featured artists such as Gcina Shange, Thobi Maphanga, DJ

the pace.

Thanda and more. By the time the performers kicked off, the

‘It’s not lacking,’ says the painterly half of the duo, Mook Lion. ‘There’s loads going on here, we just move at a slower pace, you know? But we’re really tight-knit, we’re really

venue was packed. Almost everyone who came through that night came to see a friend of theirs perform.

The show was brilliant. Multifaceted, but condensed

supportive. If someone brings something new out, everyone

enough to hold attention. Thematically complex, but

will show up to support them.’

universally accessible. Raw, sad, and impassioned, but

Later that day, I joined some friends for an impromptu (because that’s how it goes in Durban) drink at S43, a new

60 / Creative Feel / November 2017

somehow still humorous. The performances took place in-between tables, next to the bar, in the corner next to the

‘

Here was an ordinary wall, bare and bland, until someone came along and roller-painted a large, bright hippo onto it. The city responded by painting over the hippo, returning the wall to its former state and most likely believing that the conversation would end there

‘

kitchen, but rarely up front near the stage. Throughout the show, no one left their seats.

Umbilo Road’s Greencamp Gallery Project

A few nights later, a group of us found ourselves at an inconspicuous watering hole called Badgers. Shared

I thought about the painter on his worn couch in his

tables and shared Black Label quarts are the only unspoken

artsy Glenwood flat and what he had said about support for

rules at Badgers, making for some great conversation with

the scene. I thought about Joburg and Cape Town and all of

total strangers. A photographer started telling us about

the overtly ‘creative’ types who live in those cities and how

a performer by the name of Nipho Hurd, Durban’s latest

difficult it can be to rally support as a young artist living

musical talking point. Rumour has it that Hurd will be the

in a so-called creative hub. Durban, for all of its haphazard

next big musician to come out of Durban.

planning and blatant disregard for time, sure knows how to draw a crowd.

‘She’s being booked by everyone at the moment and she totally killed it at Interpret Durban the other night,’ says the

Creative Feel / November 2017 / 61

Nipho Hurd

photographer. ‘The city latches onto people like that – they just focus all their time and energy on one person or act and build them up. A while ago it was Red Robyn being booked by everyone here, and now she’s starting to book gigs in Cape Town and Jozi.’

A few days later, driving through the leafy highway into the city, I passed a large blue crane painted earlier this year by a few Durban graffiti writers in long, colourful lines.

It was one of a few South African animals the group had put up throughout the city, each one in a different colour, but all of them on the expansive stretches of supporting concrete beneath Durban’s highway bridges. I remember seeing one of them, a pink hippo, during my previous trip.

It’s been buffed out since then – the diligent work of the city’s anti-graffiti unit.

Later on, during the drive, I moved past the bridge

The very next day, I walked into Umbilo Road’s Greencamp Gallery Project, a communal art hub and free space project we decided to throw a small party at, to end off

previously occupied by the hippo, curious to see if anything

our exhibition walkabout. There I met a street artist whose

had taken its place. Sure enough, someone had painted

name I can’t put in print, but who’s put up many an artwork

in big, black letters, the question: ‘Where did the hippo

around the city.

go?’ I love that about graffiti. For a medium that’s carried

‘I used to bust tags up everywhere and do a lot of

out under the cover of darkness and most often with the

bombing,’ he tells me. ‘Nowadays I’m more into the street art

utmost secrecy, the kind of public dialogue it sparks between

side of things and I mostly do stencils and bits of text.’

both artist and general public is entirely unique. Here

As it turns out, the pertinent question about the case

was an ordinary wall, bare and bland, until someone came

of Durban’s missing hippo was painted by none other than

along and roller-painted a large, bright hippo onto it. The

himself, just two nights earlier. And stranger still – one of

city responded by painting over the hippo, returning the

the artists who painted the hippo also happened to be there

wall to its former state and most likely believing that the

that day. Only in Durban, right?

conversation would end there. Later, another artist came

‘Durban’s really big, man. Creatively, it can feel small, I

along and posed a question that many may have asked

guess, but I think that’s just because we’re all really stoked

themselves whenever they drove past. Where did the hippo

to see fellow artists do their thing,’ the street artist says. ‘A

go? Your move, city of Durban.

lot of artists here get big and then move to Cape Town or

62 / Creative Feel / November 2017

Red Robyn

Joburg so when you do see someone here who’s doing really well, you show them love, man! So in that way, we all get to know each other. It’s small, but it’s thriving.’

Just before we pack things up at Greencamp, an artist and her sound crew stroll in. She greets us, warmly, and tells us to pull through to a house party she’s performing at that night.

‘I don’t even know how to explain it, but basically, this rich couple saw me perform at Interpret Durban and asked me to come and perform at their house,’ says the artist.

‘They’re paying for everything, man. Come through, it’ll be fun. Oh, and I’m Nipho by the way. Nipho Hurd.’

Only in Durban.

Now I’m not pretending that spending seven sociable

knit, or maybe I just caught Durban during an incredibly productive week.

Honestly, I think it’s the people that make Durban’s

days in the city of Durban makes me at all familiar with the

creative scene so incredible. Cheesy, I know, but it’s true.

inner workings of its creative scene, but in seven days, I did

Great art and passionate performance exist in abundance

see levels of collaboration and passion that I haven’t seen in

across all three of South Africa’s major cities, but when

all my years of living and working in Joburg and Cape Town.

it comes to a truly supportive and self-nurturing creative

Perhaps it’s the scale of the scene that makes it so tight-

industry, Durban’s got it waxed. CF

Creative Feel / November 2017 / 63

Literary Landscapes Literary Landscapes is a monthly column by Indra Wussow, a writer, translator and director of the Sylt Foundation.

T

his month I wanted to introduce the Burmese

It is in the arts that writers and artists are striking back.

human rights lawyer Robert Sann Aung but

One example is the writer and theatre director Falk Richter

considering the disastrous election results of the

from Berlin.

German general election, I decided differently.

Thirteen per cent of those who voted favoured the

right wing party AfD (Alternative for Germany) and in

Richter’s piece, FEAR, premiered at the Schaubühne in Berlin in 2016 and could be called an AfD nightmare.

What does a family look like in 2015? What can terms

some constituencies, especially in what was former East

like ‘origin’, ‘native country’ and ‘home’ mean in a globalised

Germany, they achieved up to 28% of the votes. And while

world? With which new meanings can they be filled? Western

in talk shows and political debates, people are still trying

societies live in an equal state of fear and activism. Fear is

to understand how this could happen, a party and its

taking root across Europe, reactionary parties are growing in

supporters are celebrating their success – a success that will

strength, right-wing populism, chauvinism and xenophobia

change the country for the worse.

are flourishing. Proponents of simplistic worldviews are on the

Ninety-four seats in the Bundestag – the German

up. Hard-fought-for achievements are suddenly being brought

parliament – will be occupied by AfD politicians and many

into question: the EU is being demonised, the fourth estate

of them have no political experience. Over the last few years,

defamed as the ‘gutter press’, sexual and cultural differences

the party has gained more and more supporters. The so-

are being attacked and what it means to be a man, a woman

called refugee crisis two years ago made them an alternative

or a family is being defined in the most one-dimensional

for those Germans who felt lost and disagreed with the

terms. In the struggle for gender equality, the institution of

current government. Meanwhile, some areas of Germany

marriage, in particular, is becoming symbolically charged and

became ‘no-go zones’; there are villages in East Germany

romanticised by those who defend it as a privilege that is to be

that call themselves befreite Zone (national liberated zone).

denied to certain social groups. A conservative ideal image of

This term, used by right-wing extremists, was voted the most

a way of life is being conjured up in order to discriminate and

contemptuous word in 2000 already. Its use has continued to

socially marginalise. At the same time, traditional, normative

spread in certain parts of the society.

definitions of belonging, nationality, religion, language, culture,

With the advent of Trumpism, these populists lost their last restraint. In their election campaign, the AfD openly adopted white supremacy and a nationalist agenda that does not shy away from using old Nazi slogans and ideology.

It is appalling to witness the demonstrations of their

gender and sexual identity seem to be increasingly abandoned and individually redefined.

Falk Richter’s production places humankind at the beginning of the 21st century and our ways of feeling, thinking and acting, centre stage. In procedural,

supporters and to listen to their poisoned body of thought. It

experimental rehearsal periods, working with artistic forms

is not only their furious foaming but their toxic mindset that

of expression such as choreography, performance, classical

is so dangerous and has penetrated German society so easily.

and electronic music, the writer and director explores the

It is most worrisome that the tone they use and the lies

depiction of contemporary western ways of life and emotion

they tell have become more and more accepted among their

on the stage.

followers – of whom many believe that Germany is governed by the USA and that the Holocaust never happened.

64 / Creative Feel / November 2017

Dancers and actors simulate the physical and emotional states of a fearful, hateful body. Videos and photos of the

‘

A conservative ideal image of a way of life is being conjured up in order to discriminate and socially marginalise

‘

main actors of right-wing movements in Germany and

Europe are simultaneously projected. These protagonists represent not only the AfD but also radical fringes of

mainstream parties, such as the CSU/CDU. The performers,

meanwhile, provide a counterpoint, in that they come from different cultural, racial, sexual, and queer backgrounds.

In Richter’s words, they represent ‘the new Germany – the

Germany that the populists from the far-right decry and see as evil, as a destruction of “our” culture.’

As the show progresses, Richter’s FEAR is increasingly populated by zombies and monsters – metaphors for the

undead quality of the AfD’s political arguments. ‘They are political positions rising up from the graves of the past,’ says Richter, ‘we thought they had been long buried, back in 1945, but now they are back.’

In FEAR, Mrs Beatrix von Storch, AfD Member of the European Parliament, is tormented by the ghost of her grandfather, who was a minister in Hitler’s government. The fundamentalist Christian, Mrs Hedwig von Beverfoerde – whose ‘Demo für alle’, a German version of ‘La Manif pour tous’, holds homophobic rallies in Stuttgart – is likewise lampooned. Neither was particularly happy with their onstage depictions and, together, they successfully obtained a preliminary injunction against the theatre.

FEAR provoked the far-right to the extent that it attempted to have the performance censored in a court of law.

words: ‘any audience member can recognise that this is just a play.’

The real meaning of the trial was expressed by

Thankfully, they did not succeed. This victory was not just one

Schaubühne’s artistic director, Thomas Ostermeier, who

for a single theatre, but for freedom of expression in a Europe

commented, ‘We cannot tolerate attacks on artistic freedom…

increasingly threatened by extremism.

this is a matter of defending the highest principles.’

Fear – of difference, foreigners, cosmopolitanism,

This all happened before the AfD entered parliament

multiple identities, multiculturalism, sexualities – this is the

and with all their aversion to democracy, pluralism and

poison with which the AfD scores among too many people.

liberalism, it remains to be seen how they will further try to

Their supporters flocked into the theatre and disturbed the

influence artistic freedom and social justice. It will be a long

performance with shouting and with their whistles.

fight, but the arts are ready for it and an enormous amount

Ultimately, the far-right’s case was not successful: in

of people in the arts have already signed a petition that no

December, the court ruled in favour of the theatre, lifting

AfD parliamentarian should become chair of the cultural

the injunctions against the images’ use. In the judge’s

committee of the Bundestag. CF

Creative Feel / November 2017 / 65

The Fifth Mrs Brink WORDS: Lore Watterson

In 2014, the Arts & Culture Trust (ACT) awarded André Brink with a Lifetime Achievement Award for Literature and we scheduled a personal interview for Creative Feel’s ‘ACT Awards Issue’. Being a great fan of his writing, I managed to arrange this with the help of his wife, the fifth Mrs Brink, Karina M. Szczurek, who was as charming as André Brink was grumpy – before his legendary charismatic personality took over during the interview.

W

hen André Brink married Polish-born Karina Szczurek, he was 71 and she was 29. They were together for ten years before he died in February 2015 on a return flight from Belgium

where he had received an honorary doctorate from the Catholic University of Louvain. Now, two years later, Karina Szczurek is on tour to promote her recently released memoir The Fifth Mrs Brink where she chronicles her life before, during and after her marriage to André Brink. She writes about their relationship, from their first encounter in Vienna, Austria, and moving across continents to be with each other, to finding calm and stability in their married life in Cape Town, and finally facing the challenges of André’s deteriorating health in the last year of his life.

We meet over coffee (actually water) to discuss her very personal and intimate memoir. Karina is frank when answering questions and together we share her portrait of André and my admiration for his writing. When asked what happened to her original manuscript, she clarifies, ‘I finished the first draft of The Fifth Mrs Brink in July. In September, I asked for the rights to my book back. I had to leave; I had no way of staying. If I wanted to truly take care of my and André’s stories, I had to find a home for them elsewhere. I submitted my memoir to another publishing house. They made me an offer. My new publisher at Jonathan Ball gave me a book she thought might interest me: Second-Hand Time by Svetlana Alexievich, an account of how people

The Fifth Mrs Brink

survive, and make sense of, tyranny and massacres – by

By Karina M. Szczurek

weaving tapestries of stories to keep us safe at night.

Publisher: Jonathan Ball Publishers

The words of Second-Hand Time live in my bones.’

ISBN: 9781868428038

It is not easy for Karina to talk about the time after André’s death and she has obviously tried hard to put her feelings into words without crying; not crying with self-

66 / Creative Feel / November 2017

Karina Szczurek

Andre P. Brink, Sandra Prinsloo, James Ngcobo and Kerneels Breytenbach at the 2014 ACT Awards

pity, but crying for not having had more time to achieve things with André. She speaks about how they used to maintain honestly while critiquing each other’s work. During his last year, she started to help André keep track of his simultaneous writing in English and Afrikaans as he always did with his books. When he found the actual tracking of the chapters difficult, she printed the pages for him and made different piles for comparison of pages to ease his stress. She helped him with his decreasing mobility and his increasing pain while writing herself, discussing her work with André,

“I remembered how much the Arts & Culture Trust Lifetime Achievement for Literature had meant to André when it was awarded to him in November the previous year”

keeping him positive and his mind active.

We remember our first encounter and Karina is again thankful to the Arts & Culture Trust for awarding André this Lifetime Achievement at a crucial time. In her memoir, she writes: ‘Because of the shingles, the trip to Belgium

The Fifth Mrs Brink is an honest memoir about their love

hung suspended. Everything was in place – tickets,

for each other and she openly admits to me and in other

bookings, programme – but we were taking it a day at a

interviews, ‘I understand the curiosity completely. It is an

time. The doctor said it should be good for André to travel,

unusual relationship. Especially because of the age gap, it’s

to be recognised for his achievements. I remembered how

huge. I could have been André’s grandchild. But what made

much the Arts & Culture Trust Lifetime Achievement for

it so much easier was that anybody who encountered us as

Literature had meant to André when it was awarded to him

a couple realised within minutes that there was nothing

in November the previous year. At that stage he had so little

unusual about it after all, that we were just two people being

belief in himself as a writer that the recognition came just

happy together. So we were very fortunate that way.’

in time to save André from utter despair. The fact that it was

While Karina signs my copy of her memoir – with André’s

handed over to him by friends whose work he treasured and

pen – we talk about her future, her planned writings and her

admired – Sandra Prinsloo and Kerneels Breytenbach – also

work of looking after the literary estate for the André Brink

meant a lot to him. The money that came with the award

Trust. I actually could not wish for a better person to keep

alleviated pressing financial worries which had been making

André Brink’s writing safe for posterity, with the fifth Mrs

our life onerous for years.’

Brink his work is truly in good hands. CF

Creative Feel / November 2017 / 67

THE WAY I SEE IT – A MEMOIR

BY JÜRGEN SCHADEBERG

Photographer Jürgen Schadeberg was the man behind the camera of many of the photographs which are as familiar as they are iconic: Nelson Mandela gazing through the bars of his prison cell on Robben Island; a young Miriam Makeba smiling and dancing; Hugh Masekela as a schoolboy receiving the gift of a trumpet from Louis Armstrong; Henry ‘Mr Drum’ Nxumalo; the Women’s March of 1955; the Sophiatown removals; the funeral of the Sharpeville massacre victims.

But Jürgen Schadeberg’s personal story is no less extraordinary. His affiliation with the displaced, the persecuted and the marginalised was already deep-rooted by the time he came to South Africa from Germany in 1950 and began taking pictures for the fledgeling Drum magazine. In this powerfully evocative memoir of an award-winning career spanning over 50 years – in Europe, Africa and the US – this behind-the-scenes journey with a legendary photojournalist and visual storyteller is a rare and special privilege.

Jürgen Schadeberg, Hamburg, Germany, 1948

(Left) Sharpeville Funeral, 1960 ‘I chartered a light, fixed-wing plane and photographed the funeral from the plane as I felt this was the best way to show the magnitude of the event. This assignment was done on a freelance basis.

‘In March 1960, there was a countrywide campaign organised by the PAC (Pan African Congress) to defy the pass laws by publicly burning them in front of police stations. All Africans had to by law carry a Pass Book at all times, which limited their movement and therefore employment. In a small town called Sharpeville, the police fired on a fleeing crowd and 67 civilians, including women and children, were shot in the back and 150 were wounded.’

The Way I See It A Memoir

By Jürgen Schadeberg Publisher: Pan Macmillan ISBN: 9781770105294

Nelson Mandela, Treason Trial, 1958 ‘The then editor of Drum came rushing out of his office and requested a photographer to urgently rush to Pretoria… “something is going to happen… go yourself,” he said to me… just as I arrived in front of the Synagogue, the doors burst open and the accused emerged, lighting cigarettes. This took place on October 13th, 1958, when Mr Pirow, leader of the Crown team, withdrew the indictment against the accused. The Treason Trial had begun in 1956. A few months later, 30 of the 91 people were put on trial again, which lasted until March 29th, 1961, when they were all acquitted. In the picture, Mandela emerges beaming from the court, to his left is Moses Kotane, an ANC leader at the time.’

Nelson Mandela in his law office, 1952 ‘He shared it with Oliver Tambo, in Chancellor House, opposite the Magistrate’s Court in Johannesburg. I went to photograph Mandela for Time Life with the writer Ted Hughes. Mandela was on his way out and had files under his arm and I asked if he could wait for a minute… he gave me two minutes and we talked on the way out.’

Mandela’s return to his cell on Robben Island, 1994 ‘We believe it was Mandela’s first official visit after his release from prison in 1990 and obviously an emotional visit when he returned to the 2 x 2.5-metre cell where he spent 18 years of his 27-year sentence.

‘This was where he studied, did pushups and reflected on the goal of the liberation of his people.

‘He looked out of the bars and when he thought I had finished taking pictures, relaxed somewhat, and turned around to smile.

‘This assignment was done on an independent basis.’

While JĂźrgen Schadeberg was chief photographer, picture editor and art director with Drum magazine in the 1950s, he captured key personalities and events in the jazz and literary world.

These included some of the greats of the Sophiatown jazz scene like Dolly Rathebe, Miriam Makeba, Hugh Masekela and Kippie Moeketsi. The photographs show a young Makeba in a tight orange dress standing at a microphone. Taken in 1955 for Drum magazine

Creative Feel / November 2017 / 71

Africa Modern Creating the contemporary art of a continent Edited by Ekow Eshun

Cover_MOCAA final.indd 2

18/08/2017 12:38

AFRICA MODERN Creating the contemporary art of a continent On 17 September, the KT Wong Foundation launched its publication of Africa Modern: creating the contemporary art of a continent. The brainchild of Thomas Heatherwick, visionary British architect, and Lady Linda Wong Davies, chairwoman of the KT

I

n the foreword to Africa Modern: creating the contemporary art of a continent, Lady Linda Wong Davies writes: Thomas Heatherwick first called me from

London in April 2017 to discuss the idea of a book that would not only present his ideas and design for the new Museum of Contemporary Art

Wong Foundation, the book is a celebration of the

Africa in Cape Town, but would also introduce

creative wave sweeping Africa, with a generation

readers to the burgeoning art scene and cultural

of artistic talent rising to prominence across the

landscape of South Africa.

The project piqued my interest. It became

continent and internationally.

72 / Creative Feel / November 2017

clear that Thomas and I both harboured a similar vision to explore and share the excitement of a

Essay

On art and ambition Sisonke Msimang

A

Ascension IV, Kudzanai Chiurai, 2016

I grew up in a home filled with books. We had subscriptions to National and Reader’s Digest. There was art on our walls. My parents listened to th every morning. On Sundays it was mandatory that my sisters and I spen reading in the bedroom we shared. So it came as a surprise to me when, of 20, I realised I had never set foot inside a museum.

Instantly, I blamed this gap in my cultural exposure on the fact tha grown up in post-independence Africa. The Africa of my childhood crea many artists and musicians. It created doctors and lawyers who specialis sorts of fancy areas. Yet it failed – in the main – to produce institutions sustain these endeavours and turn the talents of successful individuals i national assets.

I grew up in Lusaka and then Nairobi, but I was neither Zambian n photograph by Pieter I was theHugo child of a refugee. Africa then – as now – came with its own m precariousness. In the early 1960s, my father left South Africa to join th wing of the African National Congress (ANC), becoming a certified mem the liberation struggle. In the 1970s, in Zambia, which was where the A headquartered, he met and married the woman who would become my She was an accounting student from Swaziland. When I was born in 197 My father gave me an old Pentax for myrule 12thofbirthday.

It allowedwhich had been codified a casualty ofcamera the British primogeniture, me to explore the world around me: I remember seeing the police evict when Swaziland was colonised.

As a woman, my mother was barred from a group of homeless people from an empty church and I had my first on citizenship her progeny.

Mywhich exiled father had no citizenship rights urge to take photographs.

The policetoremoved my film, instantly so I was with no real nation. made me realise theme, potential andborn power of photography.

This overt didmynot know of course. was a child whose parents were cosm activist aesthetic lingeredI in first blackthis, and white workIfor some time ; I recall going to themeant inner city Cape Townof after Hani’s This theoffirst decade myChris life was spent in the company of revolu death to photographwomen the detritus that remained similar impulse and men who were(aenergetic and creative and whose inspiration probably drew me tocame Rwanda a decade later). from a wide range of sources.

The first print I ever made was of a homeless person, although many Our community may have been wed to a revolutionary struggle, bu of my first photos were portraits of my family and friends. They were distinctly bourgeois sensibilities.

As children we occupied contained spa very performative images and, looking back, I start to realise that I have typical African childhoods spent playing essentially been taking the same few pictures.

My were methodology remainsand avoiding rabid dogs a avocados, wethrough were not to roamforest, wild and free across neighbo the same: as a teenager I used tobut walk theallowed city, graveyard, stayed the rolls compounds that surrounded the flats housing public se with friends and myWe camera andin a few of film, and photograph with them. Often the images had a mobile very collaborative sensibility, the upwardly in newly independent Zambia. We played in the y a combination of myfamilies suggestions and their spin onstreets it. So perhaps we visited, orown on quiet where more established black Sou I am an eternal teenager… families lived.

Going to the market was seldom fun. It was a noisy, necessary dut My mother battled through rubbish and puddles of sewage, and picked h from one stall to another with her nose turned up. She would clutch us and hurry to finish her errands as quickly as possible, so we could get ba relative calm of the flats. She was, after all, a Swazi woman and had gro in a distinctly smaller and more organised society.

Public space, then, was often fraught and difficult. Still, there were where being in public was entertaining. We used to go to the Munda W

Lady Linda Wong Davies PHOTO Glenn Gratton

new cultural expression that would continue long after the

cultures and disciplines. In the case of opera, productions

museum had materialised.

take nearly two to three years to become reality – this book

Having witnessed the recent rise of Chinese contemporary art and the concomitant proliferation of

had just four months !

Passion and zeal can only take you so far. The

state and privately owned museums in China, I find it an

determination and sheer hard graft of our unflappable

incredibly exciting time to be in Cape Town. South Africa,

editor Ekow Eshun led the way, and he was ably supported

and indeed Africa itself, is poised on the brink of its own

by his deputy Lucy MacGarry and by Sarah Douglas, creative

‘great leap’ forward.

director of Wallpaper* magazine.

Creating and publishing such a book about Africa may

On behalf of my co-conspirators, Thomas and Tony

seem a departure from the KT Wong Foundation’s usual

Chambers of Wallpaper*, I would like to thank all our friends

trajectory of the last ten years. The commissioning and

and associates, including the artists, writers and galleries

production of music, dramas, films and performance arts

who, through their enthusiasm and support, helped to make

are fundamental to our mission of bringing together diverse

this book happen. CF

Creative Feel / November 2017 / 73

encore Coral Bijoux works in the art and heritage sector, currently for the Mazisi Kunene Foundation. She acts as curator for the Voices of Women Museum and has an

emerging career as an artist after many years in arts training and development

in urban and rural areas. Embracing a collective experience of 29 years, she has conceptualised, developed and implemented several arts-based and heritage-based projects and programmes.

Name three artworks that you love and why.

Name one thing you think would improve the arts and culture

The Museum of Innocence by Orhan Pamuk – I see it as a work of art – a museum

industry in South Africa.

based on a fictitious (and obsessive) love story that encapsulates the author/

Patronage – where artists can do what they do best without having to

designer’s love of his favourite city, Istanbul.

compromise, resulting in mediocre offerings of our collective possibility.

Kwesi Owusu-Ankomah’s Soft Gentle Depths – it’s a masculine work that is

Creative work is hard enough without still having to find means to

unashamed about its femininity. It fills me with hope.

survive financially.

Wangechi Mutu’s Suspended Playtime because she uses materials I recognise and am familiar with having lived for a while in a rural area.

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?

It makes me feel a sense of connection with the artist while it also is a

When I look in the mirror and I can’t see myself, who I am.

poignant reminder of our disparate worlds.

What is it that makes you happy?

Name one artist you would love to meet.

Being still. Being in love. Being out in nature on a mountain, in a bush

One? I have met most of the South African artists I would love to meet – barring

or in the desert.

Nicholas Hlobo. I would like to meet Orhan Pamuk to question some of his ideas… and because he is arrogant, I believe. Shirin Neshat. And Yayoi Kusama.

Describe a defining moment in your life.

I’ve had many. Deciding to give birth naturally, without drugs or

What are you reading at the moment?

paraphernalia, the way our grandmothers and those before them

Many books and essays… all at once… Anthem of the Decades by Mazisi

did – even though I was told I was ‘quite old’ at the time – without a

Kunene; Liliane by Ntozake Shange; The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mira

gynaecologist and instead with two midwives in attendance. Realising

Nair; My Name is Red (again) by Orhan Pamuk

that I was my own worst enemy. Realising that apportioning blame all the time to my detractors took so much away from me, gave them too much

What is in your car’s CD player?

power and made me a victim. Instead to take some of the responsibility

Salif Keita… I know almost all the words even though I can’t speak the

for my failings also allowed me to take the credit for my successes.

language, simply because I keep the same CD in my player until my daughters force me to change it. But when I do, Bach’s Cello Suites;

What projects will you be busy with during 2017 and into 2018?

Zamajobe; Pavarotti; and Hugh Masekela.

I continue to work on the Voices of Women Museum as not only a project, but a heartfelt intimate work to hold in trust all these narratives

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

that are true to so many women I know, have met and have yet to meet.

There was a time when I would give you a list of things I would change, now…

They speak to me about everything that is not fashionable, but classic

I mostly like who I am – warts and all; and the parts I don’t like, I will take my

and real, locating us at the heart of our who we are. It’s a reminder – as I

time to refine or work on them. Mazisi wrote that perfection/completion ‘is but a

say, the stories are not reflections of pain or tragedy, but rather echo the

decoration for display… it has no pulse… Its power of life has ceased. It no longer

desires we have for peace.

can stretch itself beyond itself.’ I get that. ‘A work in progress,’ a close friend often remarks. Why would I want to change anything then?

I am working towards an installation piece which could be considered an extension of the idea of the Dreams, Wishes and Expectations work. This work will once again use recycled plastic and

How have the arts industries in South Africa changed over the last

will consider how we abuse the things we love and that nurture us: the

ten years?

earth; women like mothers, wives/partners; our living and working

There is a greater diversity in the ‘offering’ in terms of art making; who is

spaces; our cities. And curating the next Conversations We Do Not Have

making art and for what purpose… I think we are developing a keen sense of

exhibition in Cape Town, which will be in part defined by context as all

who we are, which is diverse, wrestling with change (sometimes we are afraid

the others have been.

to change). We sometimes conform, but we can innovate (I look to rural areas

I’m also working on some research for another work which I

for that) and we have set trends in the global market. That said, I really believe

hope to submit for an installation in a sculpture garden. And of

that we have tended to commodify almost everything. We have forgotten that

course, to complete my Master’s degree if the university finally

to make art is also to reflect on who we are. To challenge ourselves.

allows me to do so. CF

e MTN/WHAG Schools Outreach Programme Supporting the creative economy

Through the Arts, the MTN SA Foundation celebrates Africa and its numerous and wondrous cultures. The MTN Art Collection serves to encourage and develop our nation’s artistic talent and entrepreneurial skills, thereby encouraging sustainable economic growth. As part of the MTN Foundation’s Art Collection Partnership Programme, the Foundation once again joined forces with a trusted collaborator, the William Humphreys Art Gallery (WHAG) in Kimberley. The MTN/ WHAG Schools Outreach Programme enables small art exhibitions, consisting of approximately 20 original artworks from both the collections of MTN and the WHAG, to travel to some of the most disadvantaged and distant rural schools in the Northern Cape where the WHAG’s dedicated team of art education specialist presents art making workshops and provide art materials and art books to learners and teachers, allowing them to tap into and express their own creativity. MTN’s investment has also enabled the WHAG’s Mobile Children’s Library to promote a love for reading amongst younger learners through reading sessions and providing each learner with a book to take home. Since the introduction of the MTN/WHAG Schools Outreach Program in 2016, the positive and creative impact on the lives of over 818 learners and 40 teachers from 8 beneficiary schools have been far reaching.

Creative Feel / November 2017 / 75

76 / Creative Feel / November 2017