Creative Feel September 2017

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

RMB Private Bank and Everard Read have collaborated to present Blessing Ngobeni’s extraordinary installation at FNB Joburg Art Fair 2017.

The arts form an inseparable part of our cultural fabric and the contemporary arts landscape across Africa is richly interwoven with our history and identity. We’re committed to supporting and growing the arts because we understand the intrinsic importance of creativity to our growth as a nation.

After all, what other medium can simultaneously spark discussion, embrace emotion, create understanding - and even move people to action? It’s why RMB Private Bank are proud to participate in the FNB Joburg Art Fair because becoming a part of art, means helping build Africa’s creative economy.

RMB. Solutionist Thinking.

EARLY SPRING SYMPHONY SEASON

CALL 031 369 9438 TO SUBSCRIBE & SAVE UP TO 20%

Making music together.

THURSDAY, 24 AUGUST 2017, 7:30PM, DURBAN CITY HALL

031 369 9438 • www.kznphil.org.za

Conductor:

Wolfram Christ

Soloist:

Kyoko Takezawa, violin

Mendelssohn Ruy Blas, Op. 95: Overture

WORLD SYMPHONY SERIES

Tchaikovsky

Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35

Dvorák

Symphony No. 6 in D major, Op. 60

THURSDAY, 31 AUGUST 2017, 7:30PM, DURBAN CITY HALL Conductor:

Wolfram Christ

Soloist:

Ben Schoeman, piano

Weber

Turandot: Overture and March

EARLY SPRING SEASON 2017

Mozart

Piano Concerto No. 20 in d minor (K466)

Schumann

Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, Op. 97, “Rhenische”

WITH OUTSTANDING SOLOISTS, STAR CONDUCTORS AND AN INTERNATIONAL TRIO, THE KZN PHILHARMONIC WILL PRESENT THE EARLY SPRING SEASON OF ITS RENOWNED WORLD SYMPHONY SERIES 2017 FROM 24 AUGUST TO 14 SEPTEMBER.

THURSDAY, 7 SEPTEMBER 2017, 7:30PM, DURBAN CITY HALL Conductor:

Daniel Boico

Soloists:

Fidelio Trio: violin, cello and piano

Beethoven

Coriolan Overture, Op. 62

Beethoven

Triple Concerto for Violin, Cello and Piano

Beethoven

Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 36

in C major, Op. 56

THURSDAY, 14 SEPTEMBER 2017, 7:30PM, DURBAN CITY HALL NATIONAL YOUTH CONCERTO FESTIVAL Conductor:

Lykele Temmingh

Soloists:

Various Young South African Performers

Vivaldi

Concerto for 2 oboes in d minor: Mvts 1, 2 and 3

Mozart

La Clemenza Di Tito, K. 621: “S’altro che lagrime”

Mozart

Piano Concerto No. 20 in d minor, K. 466: Mvt 1

Hüe

Fantasie

Stephenson

Introduction and Allegro: Mvt 1

Verdi

Macbeth: “Come Dal Ciel Precipita”

Arutiunian

Trumpet Concerto in A flat: Mvt 1

Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2 in c minor, Op, 18: Mvt 3 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.”

Ben Schoeman

Kyoko Takezawa

Wolfram Christ

Sponsored by

SOME OF THE ARTISTS FEATURED IN THE KWAZULU-NATAL PHILHARMONIC’S Fidelio Trio © Hugo Glendinning

EARLY SPRING

Daniel Boico

SEASON

NYCF soloist Thomas Mohlamme

The KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic Orchestra

NYCF soloist Shaheel Kooverjee

NYCF soloist Yolisa Ngwexana

est. in 1947

2017 WINNERS ANNOUNCED As the longest running art competition in South Africa, Sasol New Signatures has been a platform for promoting emerging artists and their work to the art-loving public at large.

Art plays an important part in the cultural fabric of our nation and competitions serve to encourage greater creativity across age, gender and education, as well as to acknowledge the wealth of talent that we have in our country.

OVERALL WINNER

Lebohang Kganye (Johannesburg) Ke sale teng Animated film 202 seconds

Lebohang Kganye from Johannesburg was selected as the overall winner of the competition for her work entitled, Ke sale teng. She wins R100 000 and the opportunity to have a solo exhibition at next year’s event. Sthenjwa Hopewell Luthuli from Durban is this year’s runner-up and was awarded R25 000 for his work entitled, Umbango (Conflict).

Five merit awards of R10 000 each were awarded to: Francke Gretchen Crots, Goitseone Botlhale Moerane, Carol Anne Preston, Emily Harriet Bülbring Robertson, and Cara-Jo Tredoux.

The Sasol New Signatures exhibition is held at the Pretoria Art Museum and runs from 31 August to 8 October 2017. This exhibition of compelling artworks, created by South Africa’s best emerging talent, is not to be missed.

For more info visit www.sasolnewsignatures.co.za #SasolNewSignatures

RUNNER-UP

Sthenjwa Hopewell Luthuli (Durban) Umbango (Conflict) Superwood cut block 130cm x 184cm

MERIT AWARDS

Goitseone Botlhale Moerane (Pretoria) Mosadi o tswara thipa ka bogaleng Mixed media Installation: 200cm x 200cm

Francke Gretchen Crots (Johannesburg) Doctor Crots’s fucked up anatomy Ceramic tiles 13,5cm x 10cm x 6cm

Emily Harriet BĂźlbring Robertson (Cape Town) Emergency procedure for dinner with family Linoleum print and collage on board 109,5cm x 52cm

Carol Anne Preston (Pretoria) Cocoon Metal shavings, mechanism and stand 240cm x 180cm x 85cm

In case of surprise visit from parents Linoleum print and collage on board 98,5cm x 45cm

Cara-Jo Tredoux (Pretoria) Wandering Oil on wood 42cm x 59,5cm

Cover image: Nondumiso Tembe as Joyce in King Kong: The Musical

42 THE THREE SOUTH AFRICAN TENORS The Three South African Tenors, Siyabonga Maqungo,

cover story 34 KING KONG: OUR KNOT OF TIME AND MUSIC It took Eric Abraham, the founding producer and

July Zuma and Sunnyboy Dladla, will return to South Africa for this year’s RMB Starlight Classics at Country Club Johannesburg.

44 CELEBRATING 50 YEARS! The world-famous Drakensberg Boys’ Choir is celebrating

owner of the Fugard Theatre in Cape Town’s District

its fiftieth year in real style at their school in the beautiful

Six, nearly 20 years to bring the legendary South

Champagne Valley in the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg mountain range, a World Heritage Site.

contents African musical, King Kong, back to the stage.

arts and culture 38

HITTING YOU RIGHT IN THE HEART

Zolani Mahola is an artist – in every sense of the word.

She sings, she dances, she acts, both onscreen and on stage. Art, quite simply, is the way she lives her life.

Mahola will join Lynelle Kenned, Karen Zoid, Trio

46 GLIDE ON THE PEACE TRAIN In celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the release of his debut album Matthew and Son in 1967, Yusuf / Cat Stevens will perform in South Africa this November as part of his Peace Train Tour. Creative Feel spoke to the illustrious artist shortly before his sixty-ninth birthday.

NeuKlang, The Three Tenors and the Drakensberg Boys’ Choir for the much-anticipated RMB Starlight Classics on 9 September.

41

TRIO NEUKLANG Three outstanding young musicians founded the ensemble Trio NeuKlang (‘New Sound’) in 1998 and they will now be performing for the first time in South Africa during RMB Starlight Classics on 9 September and at the Linder Auditorium on 16 September.

50 LONDIWE KHOZA MAKES HER MARK IN ISRAEL South African dancer Londiwe Khoza – one of seven

talented young artists from around the world to participate in the 2016-2017 Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative – was selected in the dance category by Israeli mentor Ohad Naharin, Artistic Director of the renowned Batsheva Dance Company of Tel Aviv.

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.

52 INTERNATIONAL GIANTS & JAZZ LUMINARIES

68 WARHOL UNSCREENED Wits Art Museum’s (WAM) exhibition of the work

TA legion of international giants and luminaries

of the iconic pop artist, Andy Warhol runs until 8

of the jazz world, as well as leading lights of South

October 2017 and is a must-see for all.

African jazz, will descend on Johannesburg to celebrate the momentous 2017 Standard Bank Joy of Jazz, marking its twentieth anniversary, at the

72 PRESENT IN ABSENCE

Sandton Convention Centre for three days from

Present in Absence, an exhibition of monotypes by Louise Almon, will show at the Candice Berman

September 28 to 30.

Gallery in Johannesburg from 28 September to 12

54 A TRANS-GENERATIONAL MUSICAL COLLABORATION This spring, two South African mavericks will collide for a never before seen exchange on the road to the twentieth edition of the Standard Bank

October 2017. Lucinda Jolly spoke to Almon.

lifestyle and entertainment

contents Joy of Jazz.

56 GELEZA KLEVA & LEARN Peter Feldman looks at the Geleza Kleva & Learn free music business workshops.

58 PHOTOGRAPHER/FILMMAKER LEBOHANG KGANYE WINS SASOL NEW SIGNATURES 2017

74 76

contributors 26

record results at auctions both locally and

affirms art for socio-political action.

28

about including art in one’s investment portfolio.

66 HOW VALUABLE IS YOUR ART? A free, no-obligation, expert and up-to-date valuation of your works of art can be obtained from the art specialists at Aspire Art Auctions.

LITERARY LANDSCAPES

Indra Wussow looks at the unbearable uncertainty of waiting.

30

BUSINESS & ARTS Michelle Constant pays tribute to Johnny Clegg.

internationally, Creative Feel spoke to James Arnold, Wealth Manager at RMB Private Bank

ARTLOOKS & ARTLINES

Susan Sarandon visits the Market Theatre and

THE ART OF WEALTH 64 In light of South African art achieving

CD REVIEWS BOOK REVIEWS

32

THE ART OF PERFORMANCE Dave Mann questions how much we demand of performers.

COMING SOON...

EDITOR’S NOTE Investing in art Detail of N’wana a hi wa un’we Intaglio by Phillemon Hlungwani.

Workshop proof, 2010

S

outh African art has been achieving record results at auctions both locally and internationally, while South African performers have gained great success nationally and internationally.

Creative Feel decided to have a look at what it means to actually invest in art.

It was the late Stephan Welz who taught me much about South African art. He was

always ready to sit down and share his unique knowledge, but he would also call a spade a spade when it came to appraising art. He, the auctioneer, was the first to point out that when buying art, choose a piece of art that you would be happy to live with, but also consider the implications of upkeep and protection.

Stephan also looked at young and upcoming artists, investing in the future of the arts in South Africa. For him, investing in art was always a long-term investment: either buy an artwork by an established artist and wait to sell it at a real profit, or invest in an unknown artist and wait for fame to make it a great investment.

Investing in young artists is something that Rand Merchant Bank, for example, has been doing for a considerable number of years, through their support of platforms like Artist Proof Studio, the Fresh Produce exhibition and buying artwork for their corporate art collection from some outstanding young artists. Looking at some of the current values of artworks in their collection by artists like Phillemon Hlungwani, Lucky Sibiya, Colbert Mashile and Willie Bester, it just proves that investing in art is more than buying a piece of art that is valuable, it can be a vision for the future.

Another innovative way to invest in the arts is collaborating with artists. In Business of Art, Art of Business, Carolynne Waterhouse of RMB Corporate Marketing spoke about their memorable collaboration with William Kentridge’s The Magic Flute: ‘Innovative ideas is the business philosophy core to RMB’s thirty-plus-year history of success. Kentridge’s version of The Magic Flute is a critically acclaimed showcase of the traditional medium of classical opera innovatively re-interpreted

by South Africa’s most famous living contemporary artist, making it an irresistible sponsorship opportunity for the RMB brand. An added benefit of branding the arts is the availability of original artwork for media and marketing. The Magic Flute television commercial – which was also projected in cinemas – is the perfect example of the business of art complementing the art of business. This

intriguing cultural event enabled RMB to play a part in attracting wider audiences to high art with Sylvaine Strike the reward being a globally inspired “brain” rather than “brawn” experience. At Rand Merchant Bank, banknotes are not the only notes that attract our attention.’

But ultimately, Stephan Welz was right. Invest in a piece of art because you like it, because it gives you joy and because you are helping an artist achieve a sustainable lifestyle and, hopefully, this piece of art will prove to be a good financial investment. RMB Private Bank Wealth Manager, James Arnold, gave us his view on investing in art, as well as the technical aspects of Capital Gains Tax for when it comes to leaving this much-loved, and now valuable, piece of art to your dependents.

Lore 12 / Creative Feel / September 2017

12315/CF/RMB/CE/FP

This sticker means Sold. More, it’s a burst of ecstasy. Acknowledgement, acceptance even. A rebirth of confidence, the beginnings of success maybe? At last someone sees what they see. Happiness and determination to carry on creating new things.

RMB believes in unlocking artistic potential across the continent and transforming the sector through equitable access. By increasing participation and partnership in the creative economy, RMB is helping to build Africa’s unique place in the art world.

Rand Merchant Bank is an Authorised Financial Services Provider

We love this!

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PUBLISHER & EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Lore Watterson; lore@desklink.co.za COPUBLISHER & PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Chris Watterson; chris@desklink.co.za DEPUTY EDITOR Tamaryn Greer; tammy@desklink.co.za DIGITAL CONTENT CURATOR Angelia Muller; angelia@desklink.co.za ADDITIONAL EDITORIAL CONTENT: Ismail Mahomed Michelle Constant 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 PRINTING Raptor Print (Pty) Ltd

Retroquire xiGubu Jaco Van Schalkwyk in collaboration with Allen Laing 1150 x 1540 x 1850 mm Mixed media installation This artwork forms part of Jaco Van Schalkwyk’s solo exhibition Arium, which is being exhibited at the Barnard Gallery, Cape Town from 22 August to 19 September 2017.

‘Jaco Van Schalkwyk is an avid photographer of life around him, including people, landscapes, oddments and things that he encounters. He is a collector of such visual material, partly physical objects, but mostly through photography, and it is from the results of these collections that his latest exhibition has emerged. It is a collection of note, a Wunderkammer, a “curiosity cabinet” of oddments and items gathered on his travels. But they are not just presented as trophies. These items and images have been carefully considered, reconfigured and manipulated, either in painted or physical juxtapositions, to create a “Theatrum Mundi” – a theatrical reimagining of his experiences as both omniscient recorder and subjective participant.’ – Prof. Karen Veh

© 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.

JH Pierneef, The Commando Tree, on the Road to Sibasa, 1930

INVITING CONSIGNMENTS FOR OUR SPRING AUCTION IN JOHANNESBURG | 6 NOVEMBER 2017 Historic, Modern & Contemporary Art For free art valuations contact JHB | 011 243 5243 | 071 675 2991 | enquiries@aspireart.net CT | 083 391 7235 | emma@aspireart.net www.aspireart.net ww

UNISA NATIONAL VOICE COMPETITION ENDS ON A HIGH NOTE The second Unisa National Voice Competition was held from 8 to 15 July 2017 at the ZK Matthews Great Hall on the Unisa main campus in Pretoria.

Winner Jazz Category Tshepo Tshabalala

S

Winner Classical Category Palesa Malieloa

imilar to the 2014 National Piano Competition, the Unisa National Voice Competition included parallel jazz and classical categories with independent juries for each category. The juries were comprised of some of South Africa’s leading jazz

and classical teachers and performers, including Amanda Tiffin, Nicky Schrire, Prof. Mageshen Naidoo, Nthabiseng Motsepe and Debbie Mari on the jazz jury and Hanna van Niekerk, Lize Coetzer, Dr Hanli Stapela, Dr Conroy Cupido and Thami Zungu on the classical jury. Prof. Karendra Devroop was the chairperson of the jury for both categories.

The event was a tremendous success that showcased some of the country’s incredible young jazz and classical vocalists who performed with the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra under Brandon Phillips as conductor and a rhythm section comprised of Roland Moses (piano), Victor Masondo (bass) and Peter Auret (drums). The winners were Palesa Maleiloa (classical voice) and Tshepo Tshabalala (jazz voice) with Cecilia Rangwanasha (classical) and Daniella Hart (jazz) voted as second place winners. All four finalists gain automatic entry into the sixth Unisa International Voice Competition that will take place from 23 January until 3 February 2018 at ZK Matthews Great Hall.

In his closing ceremony address, Artistic Director Prof.

Karendra Devroop indicated that the level of performance for all candidates was exceptionally high and on par, if not higher, than some of the competitions he has adjudicated internationally. In attendance at the final round was His Excellency, Dr Thabo Mbeki, Chancellor of the University of South Africa and former President of the Republic of South Africa. Dr Mbeki is also the president of the Unisa International Music Competitions and will play an important role in the upcoming international voice competition.

In a first for Unisa, this entire competition was streamed live on YouTube with all rounds currently available online. The competition was also recorded and broadcast by SAFM and will be broadcast on KykNet (DSTV channel 144) in early September. CF

16 / Creative Feel / September 2017

CELEBRATING THE EXTRAORDINARY RECORDED LEGACY OF THE WORLD’S GREATEST TENOR. 3 hours of all your favourite highlights from an incredible recording career on a 2CD set.

18 ROMANTIC LOVE SONGS IN ITALIAN, FRENCH AND ENGLISH. plus a bonus disc of popular classical arias

The most

beautiful place

to come home to

T

he above statement is most frequently made by guests who stay at Casta Diva Boutique Hotel, nestled on the northern side of the Magaliesberg mountain; they are hardly ever disappointed.

As summer is on its way, relaxing at the half-Olympic

size swimming pool will give you a sense of paradise as you enjoy the sunshine with a glass of wine while gazing at the Magaliesberg mountain range. Their beautifully maintained

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.

garden (just under two hectares) offers an almost fairy-tale escape as you wander through the tropical vegetation.

With the excellent on-premises Charisma Restaurant, you can conveniently take a culinary adventure without driving far to find great food. Serving a variety of dishes, the general consensus is that the food is ‘excellent’. Not to mention the attentive service provided by the hosts. For wine lovers, there is a selection of delicious wines to choose from.

Their intimate theatre, Vissi d’Arte, has a number of exciting upcoming performance by the South African stage diva, Tonya Koenderman, who has been hailed by critics as ‘one of the hottest properties on the cabaret circuit’, and ‘a pint-sized dynamo’.

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.

DATES CURRENTLY PLANNED ARE: September 2nd – The Botox Party October 7th – Lalaland And all That Jazz – a tribute to the movies The Botox Party is a light-hearted look at getting older in a youth-obsessed world and all the challenges that it presents. Here, you are free to Botox your face to a standstill, over-medicate on whatever the doctor is prepared to give you, and drink until all those wrinkles blur away. Cabaret singer and entertainer, Tonya Koenderman, takes you on a journey of physical and mental rejuvenation. Join her as she puts her own spin on classics such as ‘I’m All About That Bass’, ‘Memories’, ‘My Favourite Things’, ‘Feeling Good’, ‘New York, New York’, ‘Big Spender’, ‘That’s What Friends Are For’, as well as a host of others. You are bound to walk out embracing your ‘maturity’ with at least one more laugh line... but nothing a little botox can’t fix. After all, in the words of our diva, Tonya, ‘Life can be challenging as we get older, and we could do with all the help we can get.’

Visit their website at www.castadiva.co.za for more information, and keep an eye on their Facebook pages [Casta Diva the Place to | Casta Diva’s Charisma | Casta Diva’s Vissi d’Arte] to stay updated with the events and special offers.

18 / Creative Feel / September 2017

So treat yourself to a getaway like no other. Visit Casta Diva – The place to… simply be. CF

A pint-sized

DYNAMO Who is Tonya Koenderman, the cabaret star who will be performing at Casta Diva in September and October?

T

onya Koenderman has been hailed by critics as ‘one of the hottest properties on the cabaret circuit’, and ‘a pint-sized dynamo’.

After 23 years in show business, there is no

stopping her now, as she continues to wow audiences both locally and abroad.

Koenderman started her career fresh out of drama school with Kevin Feather’s cabaret, The Dooh Wah Girls in 1990, which ran on and off for four years.

Other cabarets under her belt are We 3, Juke is King, Jive to the Juke, Wurlitzer, All of Woman and Shake Your Bootie, all of which have performed to packed houses throughout South Africa.

Her solo cabarets include the hits, Tonya unwrapped, Makin’ Whoopee, Liza with a T, Age of Aquarius, Divas to a T, Around The World, When Jazz Was King and Born To Diva.

Koenderman performed in the look-alike, sound-alike show, Stars in Your Eyes, impersonating her favourite artist, Liza Minnelli, which ran for two seasons at the Carousel.

Koenderman has worked extensively for Sun International in numerous extravaganzas throughout

“Her solo cabarets include the hits, Tonya unwrapped, Makin’ Whoopee, Liza with a T, Age of Aquarius, Divas to a T, Around The World, When Jazz Was King and Born To Diva”

South Africa.

Koenderman had the great honour of being the only local artist to star in the Sun City sensation, Beyond Belief, which

Most recently, Koenderman has been very much in

ran for 16 months at the Sun City Extravaganza in which she

the corporate function scene, performing for the likes of

again impersonated the legendary Liza Minnelli.

Investec, Standard Bank, Nedbank, Appletizer, Gillette, S.A.

In 2007, Koenderman co-directed and starred in Convent Girls with fellow performer and friend, Lisa Bobbert, which was nominated for three Durban Mercury Awards: Best

Breweries, Avis, Adcock Ingram, World Travel, VWV, Absa, Discovery, Virgin Active, to name but a few.

In addition to dazzling Saudi Arabian ‘royalty’, she has

Production, Best Direction, and Best Lead Actress (for which

performed in countries such as Australia, Italy, Mauritius,

both Bobbert and Koenderman were nominated).

Seychelles, and Morocco. CF

Creative Feel / September 2017 / 19

The Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra (JPO) relaunched with

The JPO relaunches with a new vision

T

an expanded mandate and mission at a special concert featuring the internationally renowned virtuoso pianist Olga Kern as soloist.

he Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra (JPO)

urban and rural residencies to be undertaken throughout the

announced its relaunch with a revitalised vision, a

province of Gauteng.

new brand identity and a diverse board of directors which is comprised of credible business and

‘The JPO will continue to play a key role in enriching the cultural life of the citizens of Johannesburg. It

community leaders, chaired by Justice Dikgang Moseneke

will also contribute to nation-building and aims to

with Bongani Tembe as the Chief Executive and Artistic

meaningfully contribute to the improvement of the

Director. The relaunch of the JPO affirms the organisation’s

quality of life of all communities in Gauteng,’ says Justice

aspiration to be internationally recognised for its artistic

Dikgang Moseneke.

excellence, innovation, education initiatives and community engagement programmes.

‘I’m excited about the relaunch of the Johannesburg

Established in May 2000 by a group of committed musicians following the demise of the National Symphony Orchestra, the JPO grew to be an orchestra of choice for

Philharmonic Orchestra and the new resources which will

state functions and featured in highly recognised sports

allow us to share music with a broader audience. Our vision

events, including the provision of recordings for the opening

is based on the affirmation of the value and transformative

and closing ceremonies of the FIFA Confederations Cup in

power of music to inspire, engage and build connections

2010. It presented successful and well-attended symphony

among diverse communities,’ says Bongani Tembe.

concerts at the Linder Auditorium which were mostly funded

As one of South Africa’s leading orchestras based in

by the National Lotteries Board. Unfortunately, it later

the largest and most vibrant city, Johannesburg, the JPO

experienced some financial and management challenges and

positions itself not only as an essential asset to the City of

went into business rescue. However, in August 2015, the JPO

Joburg and Gauteng Province, but also as a national asset.

entered into a strategic relationship with the KwaZulu-Natal

As part of the orchestra’s new vision, projects and

Philharmonic Orchestra and thus began its recovery under

initiatives that encourage the development of talented

the tutelage of an enlarged board of directors with Bongani

young musicians, will be established through the National

Tembe as the joint Chief Executive and Artistic Director

Cadetship Programme, collaboration with music centres and

of both orchestras. The JPO has successfully resolved all

local universities, conductors’ workshops and partnering

legacy issues and has recently received substantial funding

with youth orchestras and choirs. Education and community

and sponsorships; it is now poised to announce a major

engagement programmes will also play an important part

symphony season which will take place in October and

in the Orchestra’s annual schedule, with school concerts,

November 2017 in Johannesburg. CF

20 / Creative Feel / September 2017

OppiKoppi PHOTO Michael Schmucker

Me Now, The Mango Picker Now in its twenty-third year, OppiKoppi has announced it is here to stay. Ranked the fourth best music festival in the world, this October will see the festival continue

Koos Kombuis and few hundred people in the small bar. It has since grown substantially, with the addition of many new stages and thousands of people turning up each year.

to do its part to change the country and

The festival is regarded by some as the primary influence in

bring people together in a spontaneous

the late 1990s. Thousands of people still flock to the farm to

and natural way.

T

jump-starting the South African rock music movement in camp out in the bush and enjoy simultaneous performances on seven stages.

Although the festival started off focusing mostly on rock

he theme for this year, ‘Me Now, the Mango Picker’

music, more genres were soon added and the festival now

is inspired by a strangely beautiful tune by Carlo

plays host to roughly 160 sets of international and South

Mombelli, the bass jazz maestro who many claim

African music and entertainment acts of all genres including

is one of the world’s finest. ‘The name comes from

rock, hip hop, hardcore, punk, ska, folk, blues, drum ‘n

a Carlo Mombelli song, “Me, the Mango picker”,’ say festival

bass, big beats, kwaito, jazz, funk, traditional, world music,

organisers. ‘We decided to update it by adding “NOW”,

comedy, metal, indie, house and other genres.

making it present and in a way, a bit persistent.’ Mombelli

‘South Africa’s only festival with a heritage site’ takes

says, ‘The song was born when I was living in Germany in the

place on 5, 6 and 7 October this year. General Admission

1990s, teaching at the conservatory in Munich. My wife and

to the three-day festival is only R930. ‘General Admission’

I missed home and wanted to get back and finally, I felt that

is a dated term. Like cardigans and beards and many more.

the mangoes were ripe and Me, the Mango Picker needed to

There it is again. This rock-bottom ticket price includes

go home to taste them. That we did in 1998 and it was the

24-hour camping on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Tented

best thing we ever did. It’s just a simple song but somehow

hotel accommodation, from smart to super outrageous, is

it has now been recorded in New York, in Belgium, last year

also available and ranges from R1 000 to R3 400 per person,

someone in Paris recorded it, and at the 2015 Montreux Fest

depending on your fondness for luxury. Or the lap thereof.

Jazz Academy, they picked that song to workshop with Al

Plus! Included in your bargain ticket are well over 150 live

Jarreau. So basically, it’s a positive song about tasting the

performances by countless (we’ve tried) artists, bands, DJs,

fruits of South Africa and the beautiful place we live in!’

actors, comedians, chefs and other crew members from all

In keeping with the the gruff rock inspired festival’s

over our amazing universe. CF

support for the fine arts, this year they chose an artwork

by Banele Khoza. ‘A painting to launch a ship with. Or, of

Tickets are available at Plankton.mobi and Computicket.

course, a sun-drenched rock festival.’

OppiKoppi is the biggest multiple-day music festival

The OppiKoppi Me Now, The Mango Picker line-up includes

held in the Limpopo Province of South Africa, near the

Carlo Mombelli, Black Coffee, The Muffinz, The Brother Moves

mining town of Northam. The first ever band weekend at the

On, Two Door Cinema Club, Francois Van Coke, Albert Frost,

OppiKoppi farm took place in May 1994 with Valiant Swart,

The Naked + Famous, Mafikizolo, Beatenberg and Snakehips.

22 / Creative Feel / September 2017

Creative Feel / September 2017 / 23

OK_Heritage_Poster_2017.indd 1

2017/08/03 12:25 PM

THE 2017 BAXTER DANCE FESTIVAL Don’t miss the 13th Baxter Dance Festival, which will take place from 5 to 14 October 2017.

T

he programme includes performances by

The Baxter Theatre Centre provides a comprehensive

Moving Into Dance Mophateng, Charlie van

production package to participants, including lighting,

Rooyen (runner up on Season 3 of So You Think

sound, technical assistance, publicity, box office facilities,

You Can Dance SA on SABC1), DesirĂŠ Davids

printed programmes and pre-show rehearsal arrangements,

(The Floating Outfit Project) and choreography by Kirvan

making it an efficient experience for contributing dance

Fortuin, Mthuthuzeli November. The commissioned

groups and companies.

choreographer for this 13th instalment of the Baxter

Previous choreographers of the commissioned work

Dance Festival is Themba Mbuli (NAF 2016 Standard Bank

are Ebrahim Medell (2005), Marlin Zoutman (2006),

Young Artist for Dance).

collaborators Yarisha Singh and Celeste Botha (2007),

The festival is the premier dance event of its kind in

Levern Botha (2008), Mamela Nyamza (2009), Carolyn

the Western Cape and has become a must-see platform for

Holden from La Rosa Spanish Dance Theatre (2010), Grant

studios, companies, choreographers and dance-enthusiasts.

van Ster (2011), Ananda Fuchs (2012), Steven van Wyk

Notwithstanding its limited funding, the festival continues

and Thalia Laric in 2014, and Louise Coetzer of Darkroom

to grow significantly every year, making it the ideal festival

Contemporary in 2016. These choreographers have

to experience the diversity and enormous dance talent in

continued to make their mark in the world of dance, both

the province.

locally and abroad.

The Baxter Dance Festival aims to create opportunities

Since its inception in 2004, more than 500 local

for emergent and recognised dance companies and

choreographers have showcased their work at the festival,

choreographers to present their work, while nurturing and

featuring some 4 000 dancers from more than 400 studios,

promoting the diverse dance talent in the Western Cape. The

dance schools, projects and professional companies from

festival creates the ideal environment to experience and see

across the Western Cape, presenting an array of dance

work by established professionals, as well as exciting up-

styles and genres including contemporary, classical,

and-coming dance practitioners.

African, modern and Spanish. CF For more information visit www.baxter.co.za.

24 / Creative Feel / September 2017

Evita Pieter Toerien & David Ian present the original West End and Broadway production of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s iconic musical, Evita, directed by legendary Broadway director, Hal Prince.

A

ndrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s seven-time Tony Award-winning musical Evita charts the rags-to-riches rise of the First Lady of Argentina, who won the love of her countrymen after marrying military leader-turned-

president Juan Perón. Set in Buenos Aires between 1934 and 1952, the musical follows Eva Duarte Perón on her passionate and tragic journey from her humble beginnings as a fatherless child to ambitious actress to the most powerful woman in Latin America – and, eventually, to a saint-like figure after her death from cancer at age 33.

With more than 20 major awards to its credit, and an Oscar Award-winning film version starring Madonna and Antonio Banderas, Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Evita is iconic.

Featuring some of the best-loved songs in musical theatre, including ‘Don’t Cry For Me Argentina’, ‘On This Night of a Thousand Stars’, ‘Oh What a Circus’, ‘High Flying’, ‘Adored’, and ‘Another Suitcase in Another Hall’ together with ‘You Must Love Me’, the Oscar-winning hit from the film, Evita is a must-see!

Hal Prince has won 21 Tony Awards, more than any person in history. As well as Evita, his directorial and producing credits include Candide, West Side Story, Sweeney Todd, Show Boat, A Little Night Music, Follies, Cabaret and Fiddler on the Roof. ‘I am absolutely thrilled to be directing this original production of Evita.

I believe that it is Andrew and Tim’s finest work and audiences in South Africa are truly in for a treat,’ says Prince.

Evita will star South Africa’s own Jonathan Roxmouth (Grease, Beauty and the Beast, Phantom of the Opera, Sunset Boulevard, Sweeney Todd) as Che and Emma Kingston (In the Heights, Les Misérables), who has been personally chosen by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Tim Rice and Hal Prince, to play Eva Perón. Robert Finlayson will make a welcome return to the stage as Juan Perón.

The show will be choreographed by the original West End and Broadway choreographer Larry Fuller and be designed by original designer Timothy O’Brien.

Evita will show at The Teatro, Montecasino in Johannesburg from 14 October to 26 November 2017 and at Artscape Opera in Cape Town from 1 December 2017 to 7 January 2018. Tickets range from R150 to R500. Book your tickets at www.pietertoerien.co.za or www.computicket.com or by calling the Montecasino Box Office on 011 511 1818 or Artscape Dial-A-Seat on 021 421 7695. CF

BUSKAID 20TH ANNIVERSARY CONCERT

LINDER AUDITORIUM

SAT 2

SEPTEMBER

7:30 PM

P R O P E R T I E S

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

Susan Sarandon visits Market Theatre and affirms art for sociopolitical action

‘W

hen you can imagine the change you want,

When she stopped at the Brett Goldin pillar at the

you can work towards the change you want

entrance to the Brett Goldin Boardroom at Market Square,

to bring,’ is the message that celebrated

she did not hesitate to ask more about homophobic violence

Hollywood actress and renowned social

in South Africa and to hear about the young actor who was

activist, Susan Sarandon, brought to artists during her

tragically murdered in April 2006, weeks before he was

whirlwind visit to the Market Theatre on Friday 4 August.

to travel to the UK to perform in the Royal Shakespeare

Sarandon was accompanied by her nephew Kai, her niece Nia and sister-in-law Kanika Tomalin. The actress’s visit to

Company’s Hamlet.

As word spread like wildfire on social media about

the continent started in Kiryandongo, Uganda, to honour her

Susan Sarandon’s visit to the Market Theatre, curiosity in

late brother Terry Tomalin, the outdoor editor of the Tampa

the arts sector began to mount about the reason for her

Bay Times. He died on 19 May after suffering a fatal heart

visit. The acclaimed actress and social activist’s visit was

attack while taking a lifeguard test with his son, Kai.

to endorse the Market Theatre’s partnership with Dramatic

In Uganda, Sarandon also stopped by Hope North, a

Need, a creative arts charity helping vulnerable children in

foundation for which she is an advocate. The Foundation

South Africa and Rwanda to build hope and self-belief in the

provides a safe space for victims of Uganda’s civil war. The

face of conflict, trauma and hardship.

celebrated actress, known for her social activism, is globally

Sarandon will perform in Dramatic Needs’ annual

respected for combining her dramatic talents and personal

fundraiser production, The Children’s Monologues, along

convictions to speak out on many issues.

with an all-star US cast that includes, amongst several

At the 1993 Academy Awards ceremony, where she

others, Trevor Noah and Charlize Theron. The one-night

appeared as a presenter with Tim Robbins, she took the

production, directed by Danny Boyle, will be staged at New

podium to create awareness for the plight of Haitian

York’s famed Carnegie Hall on Monday 13 November.

HIV-positive refugees. In 1999, she received the Amnesty

The US premiere of The Children’s Monologues will

International USA Media Spotlight Award for Leadership

feature an all-star cast performing groundbreaking stories of

and was appointed a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador that

young children growing up in Africa, adapted for the stage

same year.

by some of the world’s finest playwrights. In addition to a

Welcoming her to the Market Theatre Foundation, I

growing list of international talent, students from Carnegie

said to her in my brief address, ‘We are blessed, honoured

Hall’s Weill Music Institute will perform music throughout

and inspired by your visit to the Market Theatre. Our own

the performance.

institution has a 41-year legacy of being at the forefront

A concurrent South African production with an all-star

of creating access to the arts and for being a voice for

South African cast directed by James Ngcobo will be staged

social justice.’

at the Market Theatre on the same day. Ngcobo secured the

28 / Creative Feel / September 2017

rights for The Children’s Monologues last year to coincide with the Market Theatre’s fortieth anniversary.

This is the second year that Danny Boyle will direct The Children’s Monologues in New York and that James Ngcobo will direct the South African version of The Children’s Monologues on the same day. For the 2016 production at the Market Theatre, Ngcobo assembled the cream of South African theatre, which included Jamie Bartlett, Robert Whitehead, Lesedi Job, Sonia Radebe, Masasa Mbangeni, Sello Maake kaNcube, Lebo Toko, Nokukhanya Dlamini, Gugu Shezi and Nomfundo Dlamini, with live music from Tshepo Mngoma. Ngcobo will announce the Market Theatre’s 2017 star-studded cast next month.

James Ngcobo’s 2017 production of The Children’s Monologues will bring to life the true stories of South African children as they try to come to terms with moments that have changed their lives forever. For some of these children,

‘

In 1999, she received the Amnesty International USA Media Spotlight Award for Leadership and the same year was appointed a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador

‘

Mfundi Vundla. He is a Patron of Dramatic Need and the

that means searching for answers in the aftermath of rape,

producer of the South African production at the Market

death and injustice. For others, it is about trying to hold on

Theatre. By partnering with Dramatic Need and presenting

to a memory that still inspires happiness.

the South African production on the same day, the Market

The South African production of The Children’s

Theatre’s artistic director, James Ngcobo plays a vital role

Monologues and Susan Sarandon’s visit to the Market

in strengthening the Theatre’s links and shared vision with

Theatre were facilitated by theatre and television producer,

international spaces such as the Carnegie Hall.CF

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

The unbearable uncertainty of waiting The starting point is the sensation of waiting – waiting for what?

A waiting that is filled with expectation, or with fear?

S

arah Biggs won the 2015 Turbine Art Fair & Sylt

seems to make us inferior more than anything else is the fact

Emerging Artist’s Residency Award (TASA) and

that we have been born rather than made.

spent some months in Germany. Her new exhibition, called Waiting for Rain, depicts our human universal

The destruction of humanity goes hand-in-hand with the destruction of nature and Biggs’ figures no longer

anxiety when it comes to climate change and weather

inhabit a landscape, they are barely connected to anything

phenomena. The absence of rain, the increasing lack of water,

anymore and seem to occupy a lonely wasteland of their own

is one of the major threats of our time and climate change is

imagination and creation. How do we keep pace with the

an uneasy fact that leads us to stumble and despair when we

technical monsters we created when we do not understand

think about our future.

the enormous consequences of them? The desertification

The drought we experienced in South Africa and its devastating effects on nature and people, is only the starting point for Biggs’ exploration of how transformation and

of our land is increasing and there are still those (even scientists) who see no connection to man-made destruction.

Biggs’ landscapes are waiting too – either for rain or for

change play their roles in our lives, our perception of nature

destruction. Like a botanist who wants to explore the lives

and our ability to cope with it.

of the plants, she renders the inner soul of the landscapes.

The alienation of humans from nature is a long-deplored

These inner forms may be atomised depictions of landscape,

fact and the juxtaposition of the landscape and the human

might be the evocation of the ephemeral through dissolving

beings whose hopes seem to have shattered is an integral part

structures. Nature is changing, is transformed too by our

of our contemporary conception of the world we are living in.

human striving for perfection and thus destroyed. The vortex

In the 1950s, German philosopher Günther Anders wrote his

of reality results in a torn consciousness as well. Ashes fall

famous book The Obsolescence of Man in which he deals with

from the sky, fires of destruction tell us of a spiritual twilight

the impossibility of man to keep path with his creations.

in which the abuse of nature has been turning its reliance

The gap between the apparent perfection of the

into an ecological dystopia. We have made nature our enemy.

machines that we create and the apparent imperfection

This faceted consciousness of man today is his curse,

and deficiency of our own vulnerable, mortal and messy

and often goes with an orientation to the mythological

bodies (and accordingly, since we cannot detach ourselves

and traditional certainties in the search to understand this

from our bodies, of ourselves) is hard to accept. In fact, it

unprecedented dystopia of his own creation.

is a permanent source of a particular kind of shame, which

Biggs’ portraits are found in this ambiguous realm of

Anders calls ‘Promethean shame’ and which he defines as

not understanding and still trying to apply patterns of

the ‘shame for the embarrassingly high quality of the things

knowledge that we still know. She scrutinises the alienation

we make.’ It is the frustrating and humiliating recognition

of those lonely men, the anxiety of waiting and their futile

of our inferiority when compared to our products, and what

approach to their situation. It is not a waiting room where

30 / Creative Feel / September 2017

Sarah Biggs in her studio

There is a portrait of a crow. A foreboding for those who are waiting? Waiting for rain? Waiting for destruction?

Waiting for death? The cultural history of man has been observed by crows. They came close to us because they lived off the fields of our corpses. Their reputation as death messengers is deeply rooted in our cultures and our arts. This portrait plays with our myths, our perception of nature and is simultaneously a homage to one of the most intelligent animals that might, therefore, survive in a dystopian new world. One almost hears the quiet laughter of Waiting for Rain, Sarah Biggs, 2017. Oil on paper.

the winning crow, or is there a sign of pain in its croaking?

It is the pain and the lost beauty of creation that remain

one can expect something that is to come. No, Biggs’ waiting

after we are done with our hubris. Anders’ three main principles

room plays with the fact that this waiting might be futile,

that ‘we are no longer adequate to our products, that we

that the world we have known will come to an end in a

produce more than we can imagine and take responsibility for

dystopian nightmare that can no longer be inhabited.

and that we think that we are allowed to do everything we can

The obsolete souls of the depicted, the different expressions of waiting, of anxiety, of futility composed masterly next to the images of the transforming landscapes.

Biggs plays with our culturally formed ideas of

actually do’ are more relevant today than ever.

And it is in Sarah Biggs’ paintings that our fight for transforming our social, political and ecological landscapes to rescue the world becomes a visual memento

nature and how it should react. But can we still trust our

mori. An evocative appellation that it is us who need to

perceptions here? And, as obsolete man seems to be today,

change – the viewer becomes the very subject of each of

he uses the technique and the knowledge he has been using

the images and therewith is object and subject at the very

to deal with the world throughout time.

same time. CF

Creative Feel / September 2017 / 31

Business & Arts Business & Arts is a monthly column by Michelle Constant, CEO of Business and Arts South Africa (BASA).

J

ohnny Clegg’s latest and final world tour, The

hobbit. He comes onto the stage with his guitar and cackles,

Final Journey, is a tribute to the artist and the

‘Oh that Johnny – he is so lazy, he only has one wife.’ He

extraordinary friends he has made along the way. It

then proceeds to perform two rocking tracks with Clegg

is also a master stroke in storytelling, paying tribute

from their early Juluka days.) Addressing the present and the

to our country, its valleys of highs and lows, and its people.

South Africa is the land of irony, he notes somewhere

future, Clegg notes how the crate dancers that we currently see performing at traffic lights and street corners are an

in the show – it is the understatement of the year from

offshoot of the classic pantsula dancers, using their bodies

one of our country’s great raconteurs. Having interviewed

as a ‘communicative device, highlighting the complexity

Johnny many times over the years, I am in awe of his ability

of dance in the most surprising of places.’ It is this eye for

to weave the storylines together – as was highlighted in the

detail; through the big story in the smallest moment, that he

amazing documentary series A Country Imagined. His need

captures the world with passion and empathy.

to understand who he is in the context of our country, in the

In an article on Clegg, the author and journalist

context of his music, pays credit and tribute to his mentors

Marianne Thamm describes eloquently how ‘Clegg’s deep

and friends of bygone times – including Sipho Mchunu and

respect for the vision of fellow artists, his ability to attempt

the dancer Dudu Zulu – while constantly questioning our

to see the world through the eyes of others, which is his

changing, shifting new world. (Sipho Mchunu is a wizened

greatest gift – a gift he has shared for more than 40 years

32 / Creative Feel / September 2017

‘

Clegg’s deep respect for the vision of fellow artists, his ability to attempt to see the world through the eyes of others, which is his greatest gift – a gift he has shared for more than 40 years and with those of us who needed to learn to see and listen across political divides

‘

and with those of us who needed to learn to see and listen across political divides.’ During the 1980s and 90s, it was people like Johnny, and his partnerships with Sipho and

Dudu, that, like the title of the documentary series, planted the seeds toward the reimagining of our country. (The Bell

Pottinger team would have done well to enter into our world a little more closely, in their arrogant attempt to ‘reimagine our country’.)

In The Final Journey performance, I am also struck by another Johnny. His well-recorded clash with cancer, and indeed our mortality is clear, not just in his raw moments

This show, however, proves different with a duet. It is an extraordinarily tender moment, shining a light on the ageing lion and the upcoming lion cub.

As I said, I’ve interviewed Johnny many times, and it’s

of breathlessness, but in the lyrics of songs that allude to

always a pleasure and an honour. Most recently he came

the passing of time and life. But it is in the live performance

into the SAFM studio. I had forgotten my glasses at home

that Johnny makes his most critical comment about

and could barely read the info off the computer screen in

society today. He describes how we have lost ourselves

front of me. (Talking of the passing of time…) Johnny leaned

in technology, that ironically (and obviously) it is in the

over and gave me a pair of readers. ‘Keep them,’ he said.

veracity of the live performance that we truly engage. In the

It was deeply appropriate that I put them on and my view

passing of the baton, he describes how his singer-songwriter

and vision of the world became clearer and more colourful.

son, Jesse, swore never to perform on stage with him.

Thank you. CF

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

Performance on demand

H

ow much do we demand of performers?

This is a question I’ve often thought about,

but a month or so back, when timelines and front pages and magazine covers were awash with the

plays through the remainder of a smooth jazz song. There is a terrible tension in the room. Nobody knows if Phiri is coming back.’

Later, de Greef details the rest of Phiri’s performance,

news of South African mbaqanga pioneer Ray Phiri’s death,

which was carried out before a shocked but entertained

it held more weight than usual.

audience. It is a difficult read but it captures, brutally, the

Ray Phiri, while being best known for his music, his

insatiable relationship between performer and audience.

career, and his charisma, will always be remembered, above

Phiri is gone now, but his memory lives on through his

all else, as a performer. Videos, photographs, and vibrant

countless performances, both the inspiring and the

pieces of writing have documented this many times over.

concerning ones.

There is an image by the photographer Niamh Walsh-Vorster

But this is not a piece about Ray Phiri. This is a piece

that I love. It was taken at Durban’s 2017 Zakifo Music

about how much we really ask of performers, how much we

Festival, just a few weeks before Phiri left the world. In the

demand from them and in turn, how far they’ll go to respond

image, there is light and smoke and a series of sharp, yellow

to our calls for more, more, more.

spotlights cutting through the frame. At the bottom right-

To look at the relationship from a financial perspective,

hand corner is Phiri, hunched over and turned away from the

it hardly seems equal. Most performers struggle to fill up

mic. His one hand is hovering above the other and he wears

a venue these days and even if they do, most of the cover

a look on his face that seems to ride a line between passion

charge goes to the venue itself. From a more corporeal

and weariness. It is a beautiful image and, in retrospect,

perspective, it makes little sense too. Most performers

perhaps it is a telling one.

spend a large part of their careers just trying to get to the

Then there is a piece of writing by long-form, freelance

point where people will pay good money to see them, and

journalist Kimon De Greef about a particularly memorable

those performers who do make it big are subsequently so

Ray Phiri show at the 2015 National Arts Festival. The piece,

overbooked and over-toured that they hardly have the

as heart-wrenching as it is captivating, is titled ‘Phiri on

energy to put on a performance. It’s a nasty and complex

Demand’ and takes the form of a review detailing Phiri’s

give-and-take and maybe I’m just looking at it a bit too

performance just days after the musician had broken three

cynically, but it doesn’t seem too healthy. Perhaps it has

ribs, but took to the stage regardless. Here’s a taster:

always been this way. I haven’t been around long enough to

‘Around three songs in, Phiri tells us about his injury, lifting his shirt to reveal swathes of bandages. “I wouldn’t wish this pain on anybody,” he says. “If you’re a smart Alec,

say, but I have been to a fair amount of shows in my lifetime and to me, at least, it has always been this way.

I think I first noticed it in the local punk scene. I

or a smart Alice, you might take a picture, record tonight.

remember going to see a show at Cape Town’s Wynberg

Maybe this old man trapped inside a young man’s body is

Sports Club. This was where all the scraggly punks and

giving you a message. Maybe he’s just a visitor. Maybe he

slick-haired scene kids would go to see whichever new act

won’t be around for much longer, you know.” In tears, Phiri

was brave enough to take the stage. There was one band (I

leaves the stage, and his band, looking deeply anxious,

forget their name now) that was brand new to the scene.

34 / Creative Feel / September 2017

‘

This is a piece about how much we really ask of performers, how much we demand from them and in turn, how far they’ll go to respond to our calls for more, more, more

Ray Phiri PHOTO Niamh Walsh-Vorster

‘

About three songs in, though, the crowd just couldn’t get

left the stage completely and the whole set was cut short.

enough. They were a wild, noisy, fierce act to witness and

There are many stories like this, some of them funny, some

despite the sweat and the gradual lumbering around on

of them bizarre, some of them a little unsettling.

stage, they played with a seemingly inexhaustible energy.

Is it because we deify performers to a degree? And

Towards the end of their show, the bassist swung his

in turn, poke and prod at them to see if they really are

instrument around in a swift and sudden motion, hitting

capable of getting angry or failing, or simply reacting?

the vocalist in the centre of his forehead. Blood came

Or maybe this strange dynamic lies in the fact that most

streaming out his face and this, strangely enough, drove

often when we are seeing a show, we have paid money to

the crowd into nothing short of a frenzy. The vocalist,

see that show and as a result, we want to get the absolute

a good crowd-reader, saw this and chose to play on,

most out of that transaction, even if it is to the detriment

despite his slow loss of blood and his now jelly-like legs.

of the performer.

Drumsticks counted down the intro and the band launched

And, look – maybe. But it could also be that all of these

into their next song. Now looking a shade paler than when

instances simply serve as an example of what a room full of

he had first stepped onto the stage, the vocalist began to

people under the influence of too much alcohol is capable of.

howl into the microphone in a way that I can only liken

Either way, it can’t be a very beneficial relationship for the

to the sound a wounded and dying animal makes. It was

performer or the audience member. Perhaps it’s this element

an unsettling thing to witness, made more unsettling by

of performance that makes it so wonderful to experience –

the crowd around me who continued to scream for more. I

the ability of a live, human performance to reveal all of these

didn’t stick around to see how the show ended.

wonderful, awful human contradictions and actions.

At one stadium-sized show I attended, the lead singer of

So whether you’re in the middle of a sweaty, bloody punk

a well-known international band was speaking to the crowd

show, or you’re standing front row at a concert by a musical

about his experience of travelling to South Africa for the first

legend, you’re still a part of some collective experience filled

time when someone pelted him with a full can of beer for no

with euphoria and excitement and pain and anger and all of

good reason. At another, smaller show, I remember how the

these very human things. And as bizarre as this performer-

guitarist of a locally famous indie band kept having to move

audience dynamic may be, if that’s the single thing that

to the corner of the stage because someone in the front row

keeps it sustainable – that shared human element – then

grabbed his leg each time he moved forward. Eventually, he

perhaps that’ll do for now. CF

Creative Feel / September 2017 / 35

KING Our knot of KONG: time and music Andile Gumbi (King Kong) performs with the cast of King Kong

It took Eric Abraham, the founding producer and owner of the Fugard Theatre in Cape Town’s District Six, nearly 20 years to bring the legendary South African musical, King Kong, back to the stage. The ‘All African Jazz Opera’, with the music of Todd Matshikiza, became a smash hit in 1959 and launched the international fame of many South African jazz legends like Miriam Makeba and Hugh Masekela.

36 / Creative Feel / September 2017

Nondumiso Tembe as Joyce

I

t was Eric Abraham who encouraged Pat Williams, King

Williams writes about her collaboration with musician

Kong’s original lyricist, to write her very personal memoir of

and composer Todd Matshikiza. Her admiration of

the first ever South African musical to coincide with the stage

Matshikizas’s music, after Irene Menell introduced them

revival. KING KONG: Our knot of time and music was written

and set designer Arthur Goldreich. She writes about her very

on Abraham’s suggestion to ‘set the record straight as the real

close friendship with Matshikiza and his wife Esme. Later

heroes of the musical have not been sufficiently recognised.’

they were joined by Leon Gluckman as stage director; Ian

Eighty-three-year-old Pat Williams’ KING KONG: Our

Bernhardt as the impresario; choreographer Arnold Dover;

knot of time and music takes us from behind-the-scenes in

Robert Loder, who managed the fundraising; and of course

the 1950s to the present day. It is so much more than an

Harry Bloom who tried so hard to be the known as ‘the man

account of a musical production, it is a wonderful narrative

behind the musical’.

of a time of total racial integration in South Africa during

Williams recalls the growing King Kong community of

the 1950s, a time of deep-seated cruelty, restriction and

musicians, performers, organisers, costume makers and

humiliation of the apartheid era.

supporters. ‘Most of us were in our early 20s, young and

The African idiom of ‘a knot of time’, Williams

inexperienced… we came from disparate segments of our

describes as: ‘When people, place, the moment itself,

segregated and unhappy country, and for the most part had

and other ingredients and forces one isn’t even aware of,

no pretensions or even ambitions to be in show business…

come together as if in a chemical eruption, and produce a

we knew, and at the same time could hardly be bothered to

phenomenon of a dimension and consequence far beyond

know, that as the weeks went by we would be flying in the

what was originally conceived.’

face of precedent, ignoring social and conventional rules,

Creative Feel / September 2017 / 37

The cast of King Kong and breaking the actual laws of the land as well. We couldn’t

‘But if you were black, then you were legally oppressed;

avoid it. This was probably the first time black and white

no stranger to injustice, violence and brutality. You had no

people had ever worked so openly together on a project

vote, no material advantages, few chances. Virtually your

which was not in any way political or “subversive” – though

every move was controlled by the State.’

of course many people saw what we were doing as both those things, and they didn’t take kindly to it.’

Williams so brilliantly ‘signals the atmosphere of the

But here was a multiracial team that worked together with passion to bring the ‘All African Jazz Opera’ to the stage. King Kong was based on the true story of Ezekiel

times, which these days is mostly forgotten, indeed perhaps

Dhlamini (also known as King Kong), the South African black

never even known by most of the young. We were very

heavyweight champion who was convicted for the jealous

isolated: the outside world had not even begun to notice the

murder of his mistress and drowned himself in a prison dam

distortions within which we lived. South Africa was slugged

in April 1957.

almost senseless by the infection which was apartheid. It was

The best of Johannesburg musicians was approached:

like trying to live well without quite enough air. If you were

The Manhattan Brothers, Miriam Makeba and her Skylarks

white, life was cut and styled for comfort and convenience...

(including Letta Mbulu and Abigail Khubeka), The Trevor

most of us whites were spoiled, in the exact sense of that word

Huddleston Jazz Band members (Hugh Masekela and Jonas

– conditioned by upbringing, to a greater or lesser degree, to

Gwangwa), musicians from the Union of South African

think that the separateness was a law of nature, not merely

Artists (Gwigwi Mrwebi, Mackay Davashe and Kippie

restrictions brought about by unjust political laws.

Moeketsi) and Dorkay House players.

38 / Creative Feel / September 2017

The team was held together by the music of Todd

And suddenly Todd Matshikiza’s music was

Matshikiza who had known King Kong personally and had

everywhere. Within a week there was not a single seat

covered his trial for Drum magazine. The beautiful lyrics by

left for any of the performances and people were being

Pat Williams are the result of the rapport that developed

turned away, eventually playing to 200 000 South Africans

between her and Matshikiza. ‘one of the most difficult to

of every colour before transferring to London’s West End

find a clear melody line for was the “Death Song”, which

where it ground to a halt at the Princess Alice Theatre at

King Kong sings from his prison cell while awaiting trial

the end of 1961.

for murdering his girlfriend. The “tune”, as Todd played

Williams’ memoir takes the story up to the present day.

it, seemed to weave up and down, and in and out, a sea of

How she left her husband and left for a life in England.

sound, as if the melody line surfaced first in the one place,

She talks about the South African performers who came to

then in the other. So it had to be written in fragments and

England, many never to return to South Africa.

phrases. Looking back, though, I realise that it was the most heartfelt of all the lyrics.’

We here at Creative Feel were fortunate enough to catch up with this remarkable lady and were able to ask about the current King Kong:

I see clouds floating by…

‘I think it is totally brilliant in every respect. It’s very

A face… a name… a place…

different from ours but, three generations have passed… and

Drift on,

the audience is different… Television has happened, all kinds

The thing that mattered so…

of things have happened… but all the elements of the old

My girl… long ago…

show have been taken on and treated with exactly the same

Has gone.

love between the creative team and the cast that existed the

The whole world fades away,

first time round and I’ve seen it happen between them. Every

Melts away.

time I went down there I thought, “my god, the same thing

Sun is dull… grass is grey…

has happened, they’re all pouring everything into it, they’re

Nothing real.

all so generously giving everything they’ve got in the name

My world has shrunk away

of this extraordinary story and this wonderful music.” So it’s

Colour gone… people gone.

the same in that, though it’s different in respect and I just

I’m alone… I’m alone.

think it’s phenomenal.

‘Another big difference is this group... they’ve been to

King Kong opened at the Great Hall at the University of

university, they’ve been to drama school, they had very

the Witwatersrand on 2 February 1959, the only place that

interesting accomplished lives, it’s so different, for them

agreed at the time to a multiracial audience while other

acting is the day job, for the original people it was squeezed

theatres and universities refused to host the opera. Mandela,

in after everything else.’ CF

a keen boxer, was there with his then wife, Winnie. They ended up seeing the show four times.

King Kong - Our Knot of Music and

It was an instant hit, bursting through the barriers of

Time | By Pat Williams | Publisher:

apartheid and eventually playing to 200 000 South Africans

Portobello | ISBN: 9781846276538

of every colour before transferring to London’s West End. The opening lyrics to King Kong’s biggest hit song,

King Kong will show at the

‘Back of the Moon’, about the famous Sophiatown shebeen,

Mandela at Joburg Theatre from

were described by Bloke Modisane in his review for Drum:

12 September to 8 October 2017.

‘Usually when the music is good, lyrics are so-so, but not

Tickets range from R190 to R400

so here... The lyrics are so close to the real thing one can

and are available through Webtickets

almost smell the shebeen – the cold sweat, the stench of

or by calling Joburg Theatre on 0861

stale liquor.’

670 670 or 011 877 6855.

Creative Feel / September 2017 / 39

HITTING YOU RIGHT IN THE HEART

Zolani Mahola is an artist – in every sense of the word. She sings, she dances, she acts, both onscreen and on stage. Art, quite simply, is the way she lives her life. Mahola will join Lynelle Kenned, Karen Zoid, Trio NeuKlang, The Three Tenors and the Drakensberg Boys’ Choir for the much-anticipated RMB Starlight Classics in September.

Z

olani Mahola, perhaps best known as the singer of

Mahola also sees her high school experience as a

South African Afro-fusion band Freshlyground, has

fortunate one, saying how too many South African pupils

been busy lately. She’s just wrapped up a thrilling

simply aren’t afforded access to arts-centred curriculums

new theatrical venture, Calling Me Home, in which

and as a result, never consider a career in the arts.

she plays the courageous Lindiwe. Now, after a rigorous

‘On the one hand, there are so many more opportunities

rehearsal and performance schedule for the Magdalene

for young people but I think we would really be doing the

Minnaar-directed production, Mahola is cooling down and

youth and ourselves a huge service if we could have arts

spending time with family. But being on stage again is a

of some kind be a mandatory part of the curriculum in our

feeling she says she’s missed.

schools,’ explains Mahola. ‘You hear over and over again

‘The process has been challenging and that’s exactly

that there is so much talent in this country but we need

what I needed in my life at the time this opportunity came

more ways to discover and develop it and I think a large part

along,’ explains Mahola. ‘I loved being part of a cast, I loved

should be institutionalised. We just need the political will to

exploring my voice, singing every day and, of course, I

see arts as necessary and valuable.’

absolutely love being told what to do! Dreams!’

And Mohala’s dreams have been in the works for a good

Having later studied drama at the University of Cape Town, Mahola was soon cast in her first major acting role,

while. Long before she became a South African household

playing the part of Boniswa in the SABC1 show, Tsha Tsha.

name and headlined the 2010 FIFA World Cup, she was a

Around the same time, Freshlyground was really coming

Bisho-born girl who found her passion in the arts by way of a

to life, making their way into the public eye and laying the

high school curriculum. It was in her matric year at Trinity High

foundations for what would soon become an internationally

School that she knew she wanted to make a living with art.

renowned musical act.

‘I suddenly realised I was good at English, I liked history

Being on stage, on television and performing to packed

and I loved being onstage and that was kind of it; I was

out venues takes its toll on a person, however, and Mahola

terrible at anything else,’ she explains. ‘My drama teacher

soon learned that leading a balanced life was crucial.

convinced me to go for a degree in theatre and performance and that’s what I did.’

40 / Creative Feel / September 2017

‘Most things have become easier with age and balance or the quest for balance is one perfect example,’ she

Lynelle Kenned (Grace) and Zolani Mahola (Lindiwe) in Calling Me Home.

PHOTO Oscar O’Ryan Photography

Zolani Mahola of Freshlyground fame plays Lindiwe in Calling Me Home. PHOTO Oscar O’Ryan Photography

“Art can and should hit you right in the heart. There is power in it that is hard to quantify, but that is, at the same time, undeniable.

South Africa is one of the most complicated places to live in on the planet and I think it always has been”

explains. ‘When I was younger I wanted to give it all away to audiences and the general public. I’ve learned that I need to keep some of me and my own life and loved ones closer to my chest, so to speak.’

It’s no easy task being an artist in contemporary South Africa. It can come with a lot of pressure. Artists are said to be facilitators of learning, unlearning, and even fostering a form of healing amongst their audiences. Mahola knows this.

She considers it to be one of the most important facets of everyday life.

‘Art can and should hit you right in the heart. There is power in it that is hard to quantify, but that is, at the same time, undeniable. South Africa is one of the most complicated places to live in on the planet and I think it always has been. Through music, dance, the visual arts and theatre we can hold up a mirror to our society and look each other in the face saying things we can’t say in ordinary life,’ she says.

So what’s next for Mahola? Well, a whole lot of travelling, she says. Both in the literal and figurative sense.

‘Freshlyground is about to release their sixth studio album and seventh release. We will tour that around the country and the world next year. Otherwise, I’m enjoying my kids and family life after Calling Me Home. It’s an amazing journey in itself to parent and be part of a family unit... a trip, one might say!’ CF

42 / Creative Feel / September 2017

TRIO NEUKLANG Three outstanding young musicians founded the ensemble Trio NeuKlang (‘New Sound’) in 1998 and they will now be performing for the first time in South Africa during RMB Starlight Classics on 9 September and at the Linder Auditorium on 16 September.

R

ight from the beginning, Trio NeuKlang

including Georg Katzer, Jeffrey Ching, Klaus Lang and

set themselves the objective of bringing a

Il-Ryun Chung.

different musical experience to the concert

In recognition of its musical work, the Trio has won

hall, linking familiar music with new sounds

numerous awards, including the Artist Grant from the city

and bringing with it a renewed sense of excitement.

of Berlin, the Brandenburg Chamber Music Award from

To achieve this objective, Trio NeuKlang work with

Banzendorf and the Ensemble Prize of the city of Moers. Two

well-known contemporary composers but arrange the

of their popular concert programmes include Lost in Tango

compositions themselves.

and Goodbye Astor, both in the Tango tradition.

Nikolaj Abramson (clarinet), who was born in Moscow

Trio NeuKlang also perform works of the classical

and acts as guest soloist with several orchestras and

composers. For this part of their repertoire, they have

ensembles, is a sought-after arranger for radio and

received excellent reviews and enthusiastic praise from

television. Arthur Hornig (violoncello) is the principal

their audiences. Trio NeuKlang has successfully performed

cellist of the orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin and

at numerous festivals, including the International

Jan Jachmann (concert accordion) focuses his musical

Ludwigsburg Castle Festival and the Schleswig-Holstein

creativity in collaborating with contemporary composers,

Musik Festival. CF

Creative Feel / September 2017 / 43

T

he Three South African Tenors are all currently based in Germany, like so many of South Africa’s top singers, and their engagement lists read like a tour of Germany’s opera houses: Oper Köln, Oper Stuttgart, Staatsoper Hamburg,

Oper Leipzig, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Oper Stuttgart and other European opera houses like Opernhaus Zürich.

Siyabonga Maqungo has been singing all his life. Born in Soweto, Gauteng, he studied at the North West University where he won the singing competition for three consecutive years. Since completing his studies at the Cologne University of Music, Europe’s largest academy of music, he has performed all over Europe.

Maqungo is currently participating in the 2017 Queen Sonja International Music Competition in Norway and we wish him all the best. This year, 241 singers from 49 countries applied and only 40 singers from 21 countries have been invited to the preliminary rounds in Oslo, all hoping to win a prize in one of the world’s leading voice competitions.

When asked in Norway what inspired him to become a singer, Maqungo said, ‘Singing has been a part of my daily life for as long as I can remember. Thanks to my late mother, I grew up in a church where it all began – singing in a Sunday school choir.

Sunnyboy Dladla

The Three South African Tenors The Three South African Tenors, Siyabonga Maqungo, July Zuma and Sunnyboy Dladla, will return to South Africa for this year’s RMB Starlight Classics at Country Club Johannesburg.

All opera singers with successful solo

It never dawned on me that one day I could sing professionally.

It was only at a later stage in my life that I realised it was something that gave me satisfaction, joy and happiness, but most of all it was something of value and purpose. What inspired me the most was the power of music to elevate the human soul and spirit to a place where no one can explain, but only feel.’

Through his participation in the Queen Sonja International Music Competition, Maqungo hopes to grow as a young singer. ‘I hope it will be a place where I can learn, whether about singing or show business, and build a network and gain some new contacts. I hope to interact with other singers from all around the world and perhaps learn more about different cultures. To win a prize in any category would be the cherry on top of the cake, but I think in a way we have all won by being invited to this prestigious competition.’

July Zuma was born in and grew up in Durban. He obtained his Performer’s Diploma in Opera from the The South African College of Music’s Opera School at the University of Cape Town (UCT) under Prof. Angelo Gobbato. He continued his operatic studies at the Conservatori Superior de Música del Liceu in Barcelona, Spain doing a postgraduate programme in Vocal Studies and Repertoire/ Honours Degree with Prof. Eduardo Gimenéz.

Zuma is currently performing the role of Pedrillo

careers, this special occasion is a rare

in Mozart’s Entführung aus dem Serail with the

opportunity to see them singing together.

he sang the part of Count Almaviva in Rossini’s The Barber of

Kammerphilharmonie Graubünden in Switzerland. Recently, Seville in a production of the Opera Vox Cultural Association

44 / Creative Feel / September 2017

Siyabonga Maqungo (Tamino) and Wolfgang Resch (Papageno) at the premiere of The Magic Flute © Podolsky.jpg

in Uster, Switzerland and performed the role of Gastone in Verdi’s La traviata at the Monschau Festival in Germany. He appeared as a tenor soloist in Schubert’s Mass in B-flat and Mozart’s Regina Coeli at the St. Maria Rosenkranzkirche in Kassel, Germany. Zuma still returns to sing in South Africa and recently performed a staged version of Handel’s Messiah at the Playhouse Theatre in Durban, directed by Ralph Lawson. His debut with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen was at the Summer in Lesmona Festival opera gala and he is one of the winners of the International Singing Competition Schloss Rheinsberg.

Zuma has attended numerous international singing masterclasses, including the Montserrat Caballé Singing Masterclass held in Zaragoza, Spain. He is also one of the protagonists in the film documentary Cape of Good Voices by awardwinning director Ralf Pleger.

Sunnyboy Dladla was born in the townships of Piet Retief, Mpumalanga and originally wanted to be a nurse, according to his German Wikipedia page. Encouraged by schoolmates Pretty Yende and Given Nkosi, who also grew up in Piet Retief, he went to Cape Town and studied with Sidwill Hartman at the South African College of Music at UCT and began performing in operas during his studies.

In 2009, Dladla graduated from the Zurich University of the Arts having studied under the American lyric tenor, Scot Weir, and he completed a masterclass with Renée Fleming at the Musikhochschule Lübeck.

Dladla is a classical lyric tenor, a Tenore di grazia, and thus destined for the bel canto parts of Donizetti and Rossini. During his time in Zurich, he performed in Lucia di Lammermoor, as Dorvil in La scala di seta, as Paolino in Il matrimonio segreto, and as Nick in Puccini’s La fanciulla del West.

Since 2014, Dladla has enjoyed great success in Europe in The Barber of Seville at the Stuttgart State Opera, at the Hessian State Theatre of Wiesbaden and at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, where he also took over the role of Gobin in Puccini’s La rondine.

Internationally, Dladla has been contracted for a number of sacred works and has sung numerous bel canto programmes. On Human Rights Day 2016, he gave a gala concert at the Cape Town Opera with his school friend, soprano Pretty Yende. CF

July Zuma

Celebrating 50 years!

The world-famous Drakensberg Boys’ Choir is celebrating its fiftieth year in real style at their school in the beautiful Champagne Valley in the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg mountain range, a World Heritage Site.

T

he Drakensberg Boys’ Choir School had a humble

Africa annually, and the choir currently has an enrollment of

beginning of 20 students when it was opened

about 100 boys, varying in age from 9 to 15. The boys don’t

by John Tungay in 1967. Tungay, who was a

only sing and fine-tune their musical talents but also get a

choirmaster at the Trinity Congregational Church,

first-class academic education.

approached his parents to take over their farm and turn it

Their acclaimed performances have taken them to

into a choir school. The goal was to create a multiracial,

the United States on numerous occasions, one of which

multicultural choir school that could rival the Vienna Boys’

saw them receiving a special award from Disney’s Magic

Choir. Today the school boasts international acclaim and is

Kingdom. The choir has performed in Canada, France,

widely regarded as one of the best boys’ choirs in the world.

Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Portugal, England,

Extremely competitive auditions are held throughout South

Finland, Switzerland, Turkey, and were even requested to

46 / Creative Feel / September 2017

sing for the Pope in the Vatican City. Additionally, they have toured Australia, various Asian countries and much of Africa, including Botswana, Egypt, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, and Zimbabwe.

The choir regularly perform concerts and music festivals featuring some of the country’s most popular artists in the school’s 600-seater auditorium, often filled to capacity. The first portion of each show is strictly reserved for classical music and features the works of greats such as Bach, Handel, Mozart and Beethoven. The second half of

“If I thought the first half of the concert was amazing, the second half has the audience on its feet, clapping, cheering, ululating, stamping”

the performance almost always includes a hidden surprise or two – maybe jazz, folk music, or something by Freddie Mercury; a magnificent musical variety truly appreciated by enthusiasts. This is not simple music by any means, the boys take on complex melodies and difficult rhythms and

customary white shirts, grey trousers and blue waistcoats

are known for their excellence in performing music from a

and are now in traditional dress. There’s a Zulu warrior; over

variety of genres.

there is a Basotho draped in blanket, conical straw hat on

Kate Turkington describes her concert experience as such: ‘The lights dim, then go out. When they blaze on, there they are – dozens of boys in all shapes, sizes and colours,

head. Here is an Afrikaner boy in scarf, felt hat and leather trousers; there a snappy dresser from a Cape Town township.

‘The range of costumes (and the boys obviously love

standing in tiers, truly representing our Rainbow Nation and

wearing them) is as diverse as the music, because this is

ready to sing their hearts out. Award-winning director of

when the choir really goes back to its roots with a fabulous

music Johann van der Sandt raises his baton, and a cascade

collection of South African folksongs, from lullabies and war

of pure young voices rings out “Glory to God” from Handel’s

cries, to songs of hope and even gumboot dancing.’

Messiah. It’s a breathtaking and emotive moment.

‘If I thought the first half of the concert was amazing, the

A visit to this remarkable choir is a must. If you’re a music lover, plan a visit in your itinerary. If you’re in

second half has the audience on its feet, clapping, cheering,

KwaZulu-Natal at any stage, make it your mission to hear

ululating, stamping. The boys have abandoned their

them – it’s an experience you will never forget. CF

Creative Feel / September 2017 / 47

Glide on the Peace Train

48 / Creative Feel / September 2017

In celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the release of his debut album Matthew and Son in 1967, Yusuf / Cat Stevens will perform in South Africa this November as part of his Peace Train Tour. Creative Feel spoke to the illustrious artist shortly before his sixty-ninth birthday.

I

n his five-decade career, Yusuf / Cat Stevens has

Islam. In 1968, he had experienced a potentially fatal bout

successfully established himself as one of the most

of tuberculosis, and in 1975 he was almost swept out to sea

influential singer-songwriters of his time.

while swimming in the Pacific Ocean off the Malibu coast.

Yusuf / Cat Stevens achieved early success in the

Changing his name to Yusuf Islam, he amazed the world by

late-1960s with hits like ‘I Love My Dog’ and ‘Matthew and

walking away from his career as a music star to start a family

Son’, both off his debut album. His songs ‘Here Comes My

and dedicate himself to charitable work.

Baby’ and ‘The First Cut Is The Deepest’ would go on to

Over the next few decades, Yusuf / Cat Stevens would

become international hits for other artists, with the latter in

dedicate his time to charitable endeavours and humanitarian

particular a huge success for multiple artists.

relief. In 2003, he received the ‘World Social Award’ in

The period between 1970 and 1974 saw Yusuf / Cat

Germany from an international awards jury for ‘dedicating

Stevens become an international household name. Tea for

his life to the needy and the ill.’ And in 2004 he was presented

the Tillerman was certified gold in the US and contained

with the Man of Peace award by Mikhail Gorbachev on behalf

the classics ‘ Wild World’, ‘Hard Headed Woman’, ‘Where

of a committee of Nobel Peace Laureates.

Do The Children Play?’ and ‘Father and Son’. With Teaser

Yusuf / Cat Stevens began his return to music in the

and the Firecat, Yusuf / Cat Stevens became a true megastar.

aftermath of 9/11. ‘When 9/11 happened, I’d been recording

Songs such as ‘Morning Has Broken’, ‘Peace Train’ and

only minimally for children and producing songs mainly for

‘Moonshadow’ resonated with audiences worldwide and were

the Muslim community,’ he says. ‘And then came 9/11, and

embraced by generations as anthems of peace and unity.

that just changed everything. They asked me to sing “Peace

In 1978, after facing two near-death experiences, Yusuf / Cat Stevens put fame and stardom aside and converted to

Train” for one of the shows that was taking place in New York with Paul McCartney, David Bowie and

Creative Feel / September 2017 / 49

Yusuf Islam PHOTO Danny Clinch everybody. I joined in with “Peace Train” and did a version

re-recording some of my old songs again, and it was that that

with just my voice. It’s just so powerful and I realised that

gave me ignition… You get three South Africans in a room

this is the time to come back and do something more. Music

and they start a harmony together, it was amazing. I think

brings hearts together because music becomes a bridge; we

Paul Simon found something similar when he was recording

start to become human again when we start singing.’

Graceland. It’s got such a buzz, and that’s what can bring it

The artist’s’ long-time association with South Africa

together. It was great, I’m looking forward [to this tour].’

began in the early 1970s, and the country continues to hold

He also performed ‘Peace Train’ with the Incwenga Voices at

a special place in his heart. The global hit, ‘Can’t Keep It In’

the Market Theatre in Johannesburg, as part of the broadcast via

held the number one spot on the South African national hit

satellite to a Stop the War Coalition event in London, that also

parade for six weeks in 1972. Because of this, he says fans

featured Coldplay and Ronan Keating. In November 2003, Yusuf /

might even have the opportunity to hear it live during his

Cat Stevens returned to South Africa again, this time to perform

tour. ‘I don’t normally sing “Can’t Keep It In”, but I might

“Wild World” with his former session player, Peter Gabriel, as

even do that one too because I haven’t sung it in a long time,

part of the Nelson Mandela 46664 concert in Cape Town.

I think I might enjoy it.’

In 2001/2, Yusuf / Cat Stevens added African harmonies

‘That was the first show I had done in about two decades,’ he says. ‘It was my first public appearance and

and traditional sounds to two of his major hits, ‘Wild World’

singing “Wild World” again with Peter Gabriel was a massive

and ‘Peace Train’, which he recorded with a local choir, the

moment for me actually, it opened up the world again for me

Incwenga Voices. ‘It was really in South Africa that I started

and it started to make me want to make more music.’

50 / Creative Feel / September 2017

His association with, and love for, South Africa goes even further back. ‘One of my all-time favourite musicals was King Kong. It came out in 1961 and it played across the road from my front door, the Shaftesbury Theatre, the same theatre where I did my “Cat’s Attic” show in November 2016.

I used to hang around the stage door almost every night, just listening to the beat and the songs and the chorus of that musical. So I grew up with South African soul, jazz soul and traditional music. It was part of my journey.’

He couldn’t contain his excitement when we let him know about the current King Kong revival. ‘It would be out of this world to just go back and see that show again, and this time I will not stand outside the stage door!’

Yusuf / Cat Stevens’ full return to music-making came in 2006 with the release of An Other Cup. The album was enthusiastically received, delighting audiences who had dreamt of hearing his soft voice, compelling melodies, and poignant lyrics once again. Three years later another new album, Roadsinger, cemented his reconnection with the music industry. The ‘Guess I’ll Take My Time’ tour followed, which saw Yusuf / Cat Stevens perform songs from both his new and old catalogue throughout the UK in 2009, Australia in 2010, and the rest of Europe in 2011.

His return to music has been greeted with joy and excitement across the world but nowhere more so than in the US. The emotional reaction to his performance at the

simply pop songs… I appreciate that a lot of people want to

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction in New York on the 10th

hear some of those early songs again, and I can understand it. I

of April 2014 showed the love and appreciation that exists

like them, I like to sing them. It’s never the same.’

within the music industry for a legendary singer-songwriter and one of their own.

The Peace Train Tour is like a journey through Yusuf

2017 is a busy year for Yusuf / Cat Stevens. In addition to his touring schedule, he will be releasing the live recording of his ‘A Cat’s Attic’ performance that he

/ Cat Stevens’ five-decade career, for himself and the

did at Shaftesbury Theatre, he is currently working on

audience. ‘I go through quite a lot of the history of my

a children’s animation series based on his songs and

journey - my musical journey as well as my life journey.

finishing his autobiography.

There are moments where I talk and open up and let people

It has been 50 years since the start of Yusuf / Cat

understand what was going on in my life at that time; they

Stevens’ illustrious career. In that time he has charmed

come along with me.’

people’s hearts, entertained millions, and brought hope

Can fans expect the classic hits or music from his more

and assistance to those in need. He has had the courage

recent releases? ‘It’s a good mixture. Obviously, I’ve had a long

to follow his convictions and the result has been a life of

track record of producing songs that are very contemplated,

extraordinary adventures which he continues to share

some of them are protest songs and some of them can be called

through his captivating songs. CF

ROLEX ARTS INITIATIVE PROTÉGÉ

South African dancer Londiwe Khoza – one of seven talented young artists from around the world to participate in the 2016-2017 Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative – was selected in the dance category

by Israeli mentor Ohad Naharin, Artistic Director of the renowned Batsheva Dance Company of Tel Aviv.

A

n apprentice with Batsheva’s The Young Ensemble since May 2016, Londiwe Khoza has recently been offered a contract by Ohad Naharin to perform with The Ensemble, officially taking up her position in August 2017.

This appointment marks a personal milestone for Khoza who, although her artistic

training in South Africa was centred on ballet, has always demonstrated an interest to build on her creativity and versatility. As part of her year-long mentorship with Naharin, she has been broadening her horizons further by immersing herself in Gaga, the innovative movement language he developed.

From the outset, Naharin recognised Khoza as a standout talent. ‘Dancers, good dancers, all share something that is beyond our school, which has to do with coordination, groove, explosiveness, the ability to connect with their imagination and their clear form. People like that like to reflect on ideas and the things that we discuss here. They are able to go beyond their familiar limits on a daily basis and give up old ideas for better new ones.’

For Khoza, it was the beginning of a period of self-discovery.

‘I walked into this year knowing that this was a “once-in-alifetime experience” and I am overwhelmed on a daily basis at how much truth that statement holds. The things I have learned about myself, both professionally and personally, are things that have opened up doors and channels to my journey as an artist.’

The Rolex Mentor and Protégé programme was an opportunity to harness, challenge and refine Khoza’s talent.

Naharin explains how he as a mentor also grew from the experience. ‘It was very interesting for me to... open up [Londiwe’s] imagination and her physicality to many new other possibilities without cancelling what she [had done in the past].

Rather, I wanted to include what she did, but to really give her a much larger range. And because she is talented, curious and loves to dance, I knew that we would be able to do that in a short time, a year.’

52 / Creative Feel / September 2017

Khoza took the challenges in her stride, learning about

Khoza is definitely making something out of her year as

her body and her craft in the process. She explains that, in

a protégé in the Rolex programme and is flourishing in Israel.

many ways, it felt like learning to walk again. As she studied

She is also pursuing personal goals and starring in every one

under Naharin, everything she knew was turned upside

of the company’s performances this season. These include

down. She had to teach her body a new way of speaking

four works: DecaDance, Kamuyot, Virus and Mamootot.

while finding a way to merge all the principles it already

‘I feel like there are endless possibilities. However,

knew. She adds, ‘I think one of the hardest things for me

in terms of the near future, I begin my contract with the

was to learn to listen to my body rather than just telling it

Batsheva Young Ensemble in August 2017 and hopefully that

what to do. Learning to listen to the weight of my body, the

will be the beginning of many wonderful things,’ she says.

natural curves and path and rhythms of my body. It sounds

As an artist, Khoza is grateful for the opportunity that

really simple, but when it’s something that hasn’t been the

Rolex has provided her with to help her hone her craft and

norm, it’s something that can be challenging.’

give her international exposure. The support from such

Once her body had adjusted to its new language, the result

initiatives ensures that creativity thrives within the arts and

was beautiful. Commenting on the artistic development of his

that talents such as Khoza are nurtured. She encourages

protégé over the past year, Naharin says, ‘Lately, when I see her,

other artists to pursue their passions: ‘Never lose your

I get moved. I feel happy to see what she is researching, what

passion, your identity, your groove; because that’s what

she is achieving, her choices. When this happens, it is huge

makes you unique. And it’s hard to hold on to all of that at

because not everybody moves me. And not everybody takes the

times, but without your passion and your identity, you’re just

[Gaga] toolbox and makes something happen with it.’

doing steps.’ CF

Creative Feel / September 2017 / 53

INTERNATIONAL GIANTS

&

JAZZ LUMINARIES A legion of international giants and luminaries of the jazz world, as well as leading lights of South African jazz, will descend on Johannesburg to celebrate the momentous 2017 Standard Bank Joy of Jazz, marking its twentieth anniversary, at the Sandton Convention Centre for three days from 28 to 30 September.

54 / Creative Feel / September 2017

S

ix-time GRAMMY Award nominee Nnenna Freelon, who has earned a well-deserved reputation as a compelling and captivating live performer, will be one of the stars on the opening night of Standard Bank Joy of Jazz. She will share the honours on the Dinaledi Stage with celebrated

South African jazz vocalist Tutu Puoane; Thandiswa Mazwai Belede Jazz Project which features Nduduzo Makhathini, Herbie Tsoaeli, Ayanda Sikade, Mthunzi Mvubu; and an interesting musical concept, Ramsey Lewis versus Roy Ayers.

The line-up includes three-time GRAMMY Award winner Branford Marsalis, who has continued to exercise and expand his skills as an instrumentalist, a composer, and the head of Marsalis Music, sax maestro Joshua Redman and his Quartet, The Clayton Brothers, Jeff and John, and the MAC Power Trio with David Murray, Geri Allen and Terri Lyne Carrington from the US. Other big international names in the jazz world include five-time GRAMMY Award winning American virtuoso bassist Christian McBride, one of the most recorded musicians of his generation, appearing on more than 300 recordings as a sideman; the popular Mali superstar Salif Keita; Uganda’s Somi; Lesotho’s Tsepo Tshola; Maleh and Bhudaza Mapefane.

South African greats billed for this year’s edition are legends Abdullah Ibrahim, Hugh Masekela, Jonas Gwangwa and Caiphus Semenya, while younger generation artists such as Zoë Modiga the SAMRO Overseas Scholarship Winner; Benjamin Jephta the 2017 Standard Bank Young Artist for Jazz; Brenda Mtambo and the Madiba Bay Jazz Orchestra, with special appearances by Phinda Matlala Mtya and Sisonke Xonthi.

Dutch superstar Peter Beets will be performing with his trio (Marius Beets and Gijs Dijkhuizen), featuring saxophonist and vocalist Alexander Beets.

Jazz pianist Beets has shared the stage with musicians that include Chick Corea, Wynton Marsalis, Dee Dee Bridgewater and George Coleman during his illustrious career.

American singer and songwriter Musiq Soulchild (Taalib Johnson) will also feature prominently, dispensing his own brand of music that blends R&B, funk, blues, jazz and gospel fused with hip hop. He has received a number of awards from Billboard, BET, ASCAP, BMI, and Soul Train. He has also earned award nominations from MTV, the American Music Awards, the NAACP, and eleven GRAMMY nominations, including three for his 2007 album Luvanmusiq.

French-born Elisabeth Kontomanou is a vocalist with seven albums to her credit and has performed around the globe with some of the biggest names in music, including Michel Legrand, Darryl Hall and Toots Thielemans. She moved to New York in the 1990s and then on to Stockholm where she was based for a while, later returning to the US. She has performed at a number of major jazz festivals and comes to Standard Bank Joy of Jazz with a fresh repertoire.

Other highlights will include performances by the Standard Bank National

Benjamin Jephta

Youth Jazz Band and Selaelo Selota, the noted South African guitarist, composer, producer and teacher. CF

Creative Feel / September 2017 / 55

A trans-generational

MUSICAL COLLABORATION This spring, two South African mavericks will collide for a never-before-seen exchange on the road to the twentieth edition of the Standard Bank Joy of Jazz.

56 / Creative Feel / September 2017

L

egendary trumpeter and composer, Hugh Masekela and chart-topping producer and rap-star, Riky Rick will come together for an epoch marking collaborative project.

This rare, cross-generational creative

conversation and collaboration brings jazz and hiphop together to unfold a new chapter in the history of South African music making.

The collaboration will see the dynamic rap-star, Riky Rick taking on some of Masekela’s mostloved hits to reimagine and remix them from his generational vantage point. The inimitable Masekela will also have a go at some of Riky Rick’s most memorable hits when the pair meet on stage on 30 September 2017, before an exclusive audience of music lovers invited to witness this special transgenerational creative exchange.

At the heart of the collaboration is the idea of the two iconic artists working to transcend genre and generational divides; this way displaying our perennial belief: jazz is closer than you think.

The collaboration also represents a coming of age for South African hip-hop. The symbolic force of having a rising rap star like Riky Rick with a creative colossus that is Masekela is about reclaiming South Hugh Masekela and Riky Rick

“At the heart of the collaboration is the idea of the two iconic artists working to transcend genre and generational divides; this way displaying our perennial belief: jazz is closer than you think”

Africa’s contribution to the creation of hip-hop as a global pop culture phenomenon.

The genre was born in New York where South African music geniuses like Masekela were creatively active as expatriate citizens in exile. Masekela’s hit records like Don’t Go Lose It Baby showed him up as more than a great jazz musician. Released in 1984, just when hip-hop was finding its voice, Don’t Go Lose It Baby features a rap verse by Masekela ‘dropping bars’ in the classic style of the age; comparable to pioneers like the Sugar Hill Gang.

Further, the exchange is about highlighting the depth palpable over the work of young creatives like Riky Rick who are constantly mining the gems of our heritage to find fresh songs of the future. CF

Creative Feel / September 2017 / 57

GELEZA KLEVA & LEARN Peter Feldman looks at the Geleza Kleva & Learn free music business workshops.

T

he annual Standard Bank Joy of Jazz, which takes

Learners received advice and were exposed to various

place at the Sandton Convention Centre from

music disciplines such as songwriting, music composition,

28 to 30 September, is not only about music.

arrangement, playing music communally (bands and choirs),

Importantly, it is also about giving back to the

live performances, marketing their music, organising and

community, with business workshops designed to help emerging talent gain invaluable help from music experts held in June and July.

Geleza Kleva & Learn are free music business workshops that form part of the jazz festival, and took place in July around Gauteng. These workshops are specially designed

managing musical events, and the business of music.

A number of workshops took place during the June/ July school holidays, targeting townships and providing opportunities for young musicians to learn their craft.

Anybody with a musical interest could attend.

For Standard Bank, the educational workshops are

to show how the music industry works, and help would-be

a cornerstone of its sponsorship of the broader festival,

artists gain a foothold.

running programmes that focus on building a firm financial

Under the banner of youth development in the arts,

structure for businesses, general financial fitness and

these music business workshops have been an integral part

literacy. ‘It is important for us to be able to provide a solid

of the broader jazz festival initiative for the past three years

base and knowledge for the next generation of music

and are highly successful enterprises.

industry businesses,’ says Hazel Chimhandamba, Head of

Concord Nkabinde, mentor and well-known South African musician and composer, has been running these initiatives with remarkable success.

The project was started in 2014 when Standard Bank Joy of

Group Sponsorships Standard Bank.

Nkabinde believes one has to attract these musicians when they are young and still at school. ‘Quite a lot of the people we get onto these programmes are still at school

Jazz organiser, T Musicman, saw a need to educate emerging

and some of them are already playing in bands and getting

artists. A programme was developed that would help them.

involved in the music industry,’ he observes.

Nkabinde says that artists are great when it comes to

He also pointed out that many young musicians who

performing, but are always lacking when it comes to the

attend the workshops begin to think that maybe this is not

all-important business side of things. Many don’t know what

what they want to do with their lives. ‘They get more of an

to do from a business aspect. The Geleza Kleva & Learn

insight into the realities of the music industry. We invite

projects help to address these issues.

artists who are already part of the industry and who have a

58 / Creative Feel / September 2017

“It is important for us to be able to provide a solid base and knowledge for the next generation of music industry businesses” ‘Luyanda arrived every day before the rest of us and ran around frantically learning everything he could and doing everything he could to help the production. We were so impressed we recommended him to the Gearhouse internship programme where he passed through the interview process with flying colours. He is now working for a stipend at Gearhouse while he learns whatever he can about staging events.

‘Another young man named Smenga asked if he could spend some time with us – as he had his own company in lot of experience to speak to these young people and share

Soweto and he just wanted to see how things were done. He

their personal experiences. They see a side of the business

also came to the concert and loved his time there and said

that they would not normally get to see.

that it was very useful. So your programme is working… and

‘A number of workshops were organised during the July school holidays and it’s been found that some of the

I am always grateful to be a part of it.’

In an interview, Luyanda Bangca (24), said, ‘I have

teachers are so generous that, even though they are on

always had an undying and burning ambition to become a

holiday, they are prepared to bring their learners to the

sound engineer. Eventually, in 2014 a mogul in the African

workshops. It’s a good sign.’

entertainment industry heard from a friend about the Geleza

Nkabinde says that these musicians are encouraged to find a purpose in their lives and enjoy what they do.

‘It is through a deliberate effort to develop our youth

Kleva workshops. It was a turning point in my life.’

Bangca comes from a working class household and has suffered hardships in his young life, but he was determined

that in years to come we will reap a bountiful harvest of

to attend the workshops. ‘I had to walk a long way to get to

musical greats. We are delighted to have artistic luminaries,

Diepkloof Community Hall because my mother couldn’t help

government and institutional support to make this

me with transport money for taxis. But I forged through just

programme a reality,’ concluded Festival Executive Producer,

to hear what the legends of the business had to say.’

Mantwa Chinoamadi.

The one-day music workshop covered topics such as

Here he met McGrath, whom he described as an ‘amazing’ woman, and she took him under her wing. ‘She connected

‘How the Music Industry Works and Careers’, ‘Composing and

me with some of the best in the industry. It was during the

Songwriting’, ‘Performing and the Live Music Scene’, Concerts

concert that I met up with Marius Marais, the chief sound

and Events’, ‘Production and Management’, ‘Technical

engineer of Audiologic, who exposed me to the sound side of

Production’ and ‘Composing Music for TV and Film’.

events. He took me along to some of their local gigs, working

A leading speaker at the workshop was author, musician and Wits lecturer Jonathan Shaw, who wrote The South African Music Business.

Another speaker discussed financial fitness and

as a stagehand where I could learn about rolling cables, striking down equipment and doing maintenance.’

As a 2017 intern, Bangca worked at many gigs and reports he is learning on a day-to-day basis. ‘Recently, I had

illustrated how different investment options worked and

to run a show alone with no senior technician to look over

how to put together a firm financial structure for a business.

me. It was great.’

Sam McGrath, who is an event producer, was a speaker at

Bangca adds jokingly: ‘I’m an up-and-coming live event

the workshop. She was full of praise for a trainee named

technician and am steadily rising in the ranks to become a

Luyanda Bangca. She met Bangca in Soweto last year and

music mogul one day.’

offered him a brief internship. ‘I gave him my card and he

These heartwarming stories justify the needs for

nagged and nagged and nagged until I asked him to join us

workshops and how emerging talent can benefit from Geleza

on the RMB Starlight Classics set-up.

Kleva & Learn and all it has to offer. CF

Creative Feel / September 2017 / 59

Stills from Ke sale teng by Lebohang Kganye

PHOTOGRAPHER/FILMMAKER

LEBOHANG KGANYE wins Sasol New Signatures 2017 Johannesburg-based artist Lebohang Kganye, 27, has been announced as the winner of the 2017 Sasol New Signatures Art Competition.

60 / Creative Feel / September 2017

K

ganye won the coveted award for her animated film Ke sale teng, which means ‘I’m still here’ in

Lebohang Kganye won the coveted award for her animated film Ke sale teng

Sesotho. The film confronts how family photo albums no longer have a fixed narrative but instead

open up the past to reinterpretation. It interrogates our need to preserve a certain narrative.

‘Sometimes we rely on the family photo album as a way to understand what family is meant to be,’ says Kganye. ‘What we often land up with is a grouping of images that have been constructed, and perhaps do not account at all for the histories and memories that are connected to that album.’

Through the use of silhouette cutouts of family members and other props in a diorama, Ke sale teng confronts the conflicting stories that are told in multiple ways, even by the same person – memory combined with fantasy.

Creative Feel / September 2017 / 61

Second place: Sthenjwa Hopewell Luthuli for Umbamgo (conflict)

As the winner of Sasol New Signatures, Kganye walks

African artists are capable of,’ says Charlotte Mokoena,

away with a cash prize of R100 000 and the opportunity to

Sasol Executive President for Corporate Affairs and Human

have a solo exhibition in 2018 at the Pretoria Art Museum.

Resources. ‘Noteworthy this year has also been the diversity

Acclaimed artist, judge and Sasol New Signatures

of the submissions received. This demonstrates that Sasol

Chairperson, Dr Pieter Binsbergen, says most of the finalists’

New Signatures is making progress in reaching emerging

works harnessed materials of a multisensory nature, ‘holding

artists from all walks of life.’

the viewer captive for longer periods of time, thus driving

Coming in second place was Sthenjwa Luthuli from

home the pressing social, political, and environmental issues

KwaZulu-Natal. He wins for his woodcut work titled

South Africa grapples with.’

Umbango, which means ‘conflict’ in isiZulu. The work reflects

This year’s Sasol New Signatures theme was ‘be discovered’. The theme sought to challenge artists to come to the fore, and showcase their talent to the country’s art-

the cultural politics within traditional Zulu rituals and customs in a contemporary family setting.

The five Merit Award Winners are: Francke Gretchen

loving public. ‘The works of the 2017 Sasol New Signatures

Crots (Johannesburg) for her ceramic tile booklet Doctor

winners and finalists have lived up to the history and

Crots’s fucked up anatomy; Goitseone Botlhale Moerane

intention of the competition, and showcase what South

(Pretoria) for her mixed media work Mosadi o tswara

62 / Creative Feel / September 2017

Merit Award: Carol Anne Preston for Cocoon

Merit Award: Francke Gretchen Crots for Doctor Crots’s fucked up anatomy

thipa ka bogaleng; Carol Anne Preston (Pretoria) for her work Cocoon, an installation made out of metal shavings; Emily Harriet Bülbring Robertson (Cape Town) for her works Emergency procedure for dinner with family and In case of surprise visit from parents; and Cara-Jo Tredoux (Pretoria) for her oil on wood painting entitled Wandering.

Each Merit Award winner received a R10 000 cash prize.

Last year’s Sasol New Signatures winner Zyma Amien will be hosting her solo exhibition, “Real” lives and “Ordinary” objects: Partisan art-making strategies with garment workers in the Western Cape... continuation, alongside this year’s winning works at the Pretoria Art Museum. All 119 shortlisted artworks will be exhibited alongside the winners at the Pretoria Art Museum from 31 August until 8 October 2017. CF

Creative Feel / September 2017 / 63

Intellectual Poverty, Blessing Ngobeni. PHOTO Bob Cnoops

RMB Private Bank and Everard Read have collaborated to present Blessing Ngobeni’s extraordinary installation at the FNB Joburg Art Fair, taking place at the Sandton Convention Centre between 8 - 10 September 2017

In light of South African art achieving record results at auctions both locally and internationally, Creative Feel spoke to James Arnold, Wealth Manager at RMB Private Bank about including art in one’s investment portfolio.

A

rnold says that art is one of many asset classes one can invest in. ‘In recent times, art has become more popular as a go-to asset class compared to the uncertainty that exists in the more traditional classes such as cash bonds, equity and property.

One of the benefits of investing in art is that it adds an additional level of diversification to one’s portfolio. Art doesn’t provide an income stream though,’ warns Arnold, ‘as it can be very illiquid – so the timing of when you buy and sell is often not defined.’

He adds that ‘people are generally investing in art as a lifestyle investment choice, using excess funds available outside of a retirement fund. In such scenarios, you are buying art simply because you can, as opposed to you must or you have to. We’re seeing art form part of an overall portfolio, as opposed to a building block in a more retirementorientated funding portfolio.’

What to consider when investing in art ‘In any asset class, one must fully understand what’s involved. If you were to buy a piece of art, the obvious thing to do would be to display it and enjoy it instead of keeping it locked up. However, you also need to understand the potential impact that humidity, heat and direct sunlight could have on your investment(s). Then there is the important issue of insurance costs, as well as the costs associated with buying and selling the actual art,’ says Arnold.

66 / Creative Feel / September 2017

On Sheriffs Arrival, Blessing Ngobeni. PHOTO Bob Cnoops

‘RMB Private Bank is a trusted source for those seeking

industry,’ says Arnold. ‘In terms of art, it might be auctioneers,

advice who have inherited wealth or a trust. If art forms part

a particular collection, gallery owners or art curators. It is

of an estate, depending on the individual circumstances,

important to do your homework when it comes to art – to

that will determine whether art forms a component of that

understand the value of art and what constitutes a big name,

portfolio. If you, for instance, inherited an art portfolio but

such as an Irma Stern or Pierneef. It is also worth knowing why

require an income for purposes of living, some of that art

sometimes attaching a big name to a certain piece of art does

would need to be sold,’ says Arnold.

not necessarily mean you are going to make money out it.’

He adds that ‘in the case of inherited assets, many of

Arnold says the role of a wealth manager is to

the assets fall under a dutiable estate where you pay estate

understand an individual’s particular investment

duties and if there’s effectively leakage in terms of value,

standards, their needs, goals and objectives. The wealth

that is then paid in tax. Artworks, in certain instances (if

manager then puts a plan together that ensures that those

deemed as personal use assets), are then exempt from

objectives can be met and achieved over a period of time.

Capital Gains Tax (CGT). So, the odd Rembrandt or Van

‘In doing that, we leverage off the greater FirstRand Group

Gogh in your lounge is okay. However, if you are deemed to

by pulling expertise in certain areas. For instance, if there

be an art dealer or professional collector, ie. it is a business;

are family trusts involved, we call upon our fiduciary

then it gets more complicated. I would encourage clients in

specialists, stock brokers, portfolio managers and so on.

this instance to get a formal opinion.’

In terms of building the solution, we aim to take a lot of the noise out of the system by packaging some internal

Seek sound advice

and external research in a frame that’s dynamic and

‘The advice that we give clients when talking about

disciplined to give us a broad-based investment process.

any investment is: look at the professionals, talk to the

Our primary task is to make sure that we are growing and

professionals, people who are involved in a particular

protecting our clients’ wealth.’ CF

Creative Feel / September 2017 / 67

A view across Fisherman’s Cove, Seychelles, JH Pierneef, 1955. Oil on canvas. 76 x 91.5 cm.

PHOTO Nina Lieska, Repro Pictures

A free, no-obligation, expert and up-todate valuation of your works of art can be obtained from the art specialists at Aspire Art Auctions.

HOW VALUABLE

T

here has been exponential growth in the art

South Africa currently has no royalty or copyright legislation

market recently, especially for works by top South

in place that covers the art industry. Artists whose work

African artists. Aspire Art Auctions, despite being a

sells on the secondary market, often for much higher prices

relatively new player on the SA art auction market,

than the original sale price, don’t receive anything from

already has a proven track record of excellent sales results

these sales. Aspire has taken it upon itself to pay artists

at auctions. It is a specialist auctioneering company formed

royalties from auction sales, in line with common practice in

to respond to the requirements of the country’s rapidly

European markets.

growing art industry. Specialising in historical, modern and

In terms of its track record of sales performances, Aspire

contemporary art, the company is headed by a group of

already has much to be proud of. Its inaugural Johannesburg

partners with formidable collective knowledge and expertise

auction in October 2016 saw an important South African

– together representing the longest combined secondary art

work fetch the top price. Alexis Preller’s exceptional Profile

market presence in South Africa.

Figures (Mirrored Image), sold for over R7 million, eclipsing

With collective art industry experience of more than 80

all other amounts earned for the artist in 2016. Further

years, Art Specialists Emma Bedford, Jacqui Carney, Mary-

top sales included William Kentridge’s Untitled (Colonial

Jane Darroll, Ruarc Peffers and Marelize van Zyl produce

Landscape), achieving over R2 million, and Irma Stern’s

curated auctions of top-quality international, African and

gouache, Congolese Woman, selling for over R1.9 million.

South African art.

In addition, Aspire is the only auction house in the country that pays Artist’s Resale Rights to living artists.

68 / Creative Feel / September 2017

Aspire also set various significant records at its second sale in Cape Town in March 2017: at estimates of R2 500 000 – 3 500 000, JH Pierneef’s A view across Fisherman’s Cove,

Profile Figures (Mirrored Image), Alexis Preller, 1967. Oil on canvas. 91.5 x 101.5 cm. PHOTO Nina Lieska, Repro Pictures

Seychelles sold for an astonishing R4 547 200, reaching over

on a Path, Tesselaarsdal, which sold for R682 080. Auction

four times the previous record for a non-South African subject

interest in historic art by the famous Everard Group was

matter. Vrystaat Reën achieved R2 046 240, four times its low

very high, with Bertha Everard’s Yellow Fields with Cloud

estimate of R500 000. Equally noteworthy was Hugo Naude’s

and Shadows, selling for R250 096, almost three times its

lovely Kammanassie River, Oudtshoorn, repatriated from

high estimate, and on par with the world record price.

Germany for this auction, fetching R704 816.

Bertha’s daughter Rosamund Everard-Steenkamp’s painting

The recent Winter auction on 17 July in Johannesburg offered a superbly curated selection of some of the best works produced by local and international artists

entitled Fugue in Colour, sold for R409 248, or over double its high estimate.

Significant international sales and bidding interest

available on the local market. Significant sales of South

also marked the recent auction. The top lot on auction,

African works included an incredible drawing, Children

by one of the world’s foremost contemporary artists, sold

under Apartheid, by exiled artist Dumile Feni, which

for R1 448 200. Marina Abramović’s Golden Mask (2009)

fetched R1 250 480, an auction record for the artist. An

is an hypnotic photographic print from one of her famed

extraordinary sculpture by Edoardo Villa, African Mask IV,

video performances. There were other major international

sold for R966 280, in a hotly-contested bidding war. These

successes, such as the work by Chilean artist, Eugenio

headline sales took their place alongside the sparkling

Dittborn, entitled 14th History of the Human Face, which

successes of works such as Maggie Laubser, Landscape

fetched a remarkable R522 928, more than five times its

with Huts, Tree, Figure, Cow and a Bird, which sold for

high estimate, while the Cameroonian-born, Belgium-

R1 023 120. This painting represents a sought-after

based artist, Pascale Marthine Tayou’s work Das Kapital

period in the artist’s career, when she broke away from

sold for R136 416.

the depiction of Cape farm and fishing scenes in favour

If you would like to have your artworks assessed and

of these boldly coloured Free State rural views. Another

valued, at no cost or obligation, for possible inclusion on

local highlight was the painting by Peter Clarke, Figures

future auctions, Aspire’s art specialists are available. CF

Creative Feel / September 2017 / 69

ARTWORKS FROM THE BANK OF AMERICA MERRILL LYNCH COLLECTION

Marilyn Monroe, Andy Warhol © The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.

70 / Creative Feel / September 2017

Wits Art Museum’s (WAM) exhibition of the work of the iconic pop artist, Andy Warhol runs until 8 October 2017 and is a must-see for all.

T

he exhibition comprises over 80 of the

education programme that includes bus sponsorship for

artist’s major screen prints including Flowers,

under-resourced schools; a publication for school learners

Endangered Species, Campbell’s Soup Cans,

and support of the museum’s Teen_Connect workshops for

Muhammed Ali, Marilyn Monroe, Mickey Mouse

neighbourhood teenagers.

and Superman. In addition, Warhol’s celebrated Rolling

Warhol collapsed the boundaries between high art

Stones Sticky Fingers record album, a selection of Interview

and popular culture, and art and business, laying the

magazine covers, and the renowned Birmingham Race

groundwork for subsequent generations of artists. He was

Riot image will be on exhibition.

also one of the first to bring silkscreen printing, traditionally

While WAM’s collections and mission revolve primarily around African art, the museum embraced this exhibition for the unprecedented opportunity to provide access to the

used in advertising, into the domain of fine art, making it considerably more accessible.

Warhol was a highly enigmatic character who understood

work of one of 20th-century western art’s most important,

the power of the media to confer celebrity status, or deaden

ground-shifting and anti-establishment artists.

human empathy for disturbing images, and fully exploited this

The pieces are from the Bank of America Merrill Lynch

power to build his own personal brand. This supported his lofty

Collection and the bank is bringing them to WAM at no

ambitions for an artistic career that took him from the run-

cost to the museum as part of its Art in Our Communities®

down tenements of post-World War II Pittsburgh to the glossy

programme. The firm is also supporting an extensive

high society and counter-culture of New York in the 1960s.

Installation view of Andy Warhol Unscreened at the Wits Art Museum. © The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc

Creative Feel / September 2017 / 71

Clam Chowder, Andy Warhol © The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. When the artist presented such disparate subjects as

All these ideas have great relevance in today’s social,

soup cans, 20th-century icons such as Muhammed Ali and

online and traditional media – where gossip magazines and

Marilyn Monroe, and endangered animal species in a similarly

reality TV dominate – and within a culture that understands

simplified, flattened, colour-drenched and close-up view, he

the world primarily through images that we simultaneously

seemed to be conferring equal status on them all. Evoking

consume, create and disseminate.

commodities on the supermarket shelf, he simultaneously

Richard Gush, country executive for Merrill Lynch South

participated in, and critiqued, aspects of 20th-century

Africa, said: ‘We recognise the important contribution that

western, industrial culture.

organisations like WAM make to society; both in terms of

Warhol was also a pioneer of the multimedia music

the stimulus they offer the local economy and the cultural

performance and his films were ground-breaking in the

enrichment they provide. The arts speak to us in ways that

documentation of the banality of personal activity.

provide pathways to greater cultural understanding and

72 / Creative Feel / September 2017

Cantaloupes, Andy Warhol © The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.

Installation view of Andy Warhol Unscreened at the Wits Art Museum. © The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc

appreciation; and we know that they matter more than ever in this time of global, economic and political change.

‘Here in South Africa, with its rich cultural mix and unique heritage, art exhibitions like this can help individuals to connect across different cultures, to educate and enrich societies, and to help the economy develop. We are therefore delighted to collaborate with WAM to provide access to Warhol’s iconic masterpieces from the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Collection.’

The exhibition will be accompanied by an exciting public education programme that includes events on First Thursdays, Talkabouts for adults, and families, and artmaking opportunities.

Muhammed Ali, Andy Warhol © The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.

A generous grant has also been made available by Business Arts South Africa (BASA), who support and

WITS ART MUSEUM

encourage mutually-beneficial partnerships between

Address: Corner Bertha (extension of Jan Smuts Avenue) and

business and the arts. Black Africa, a leading Johannesburg

Jorissen streets,

creative agency has developed the visual identity for the

Braamfontein, Johannesburg

exhibition pro-bono. CF

Opening hours: Wednesdays to Sundays 10h00 - 16h00

Creative Feel / September 2017 / 73

Present in

ABSENCE Present in Absence, an exhibition of

monotypes by Louise Almon, will show at the Candice Berman Gallery in Johannesburg from 28 September to 12 October 2017.

Lucinda Jolly spoke to Almon.

74 / Creative Feel / September 2017

‘W

hat is the city but the people?’ Coriolanus asks in the tragedy, Coriolanus by William Shakespeare.

Although Louise Almon trained as a

painter, she is currently working primarily with monotype prints. Both mediums use pigment – and both are unique one-offs. Although painting can incorporate the element of

chance and spontaneity to a certain extent, the monotype is

forced many people to find work and safety within the

considered the king of spontaneity and combination. Many

South African borders.

famous artists have chosen this method, including the 18th-

Despite this, the human brain is apparently not structured

century mystic William Blake – who is considered one of the

for living in city environments. Studies have shown that

most important artists to use this medium – as well as Pierre

urban living raises the risk of anxiety and mood disorders. ‘If

Bonnard, Pablo Picasso and contemporary artists such as

social density and social isolation come at the same time and

Tracey Emin, South African icon Robert Hodgins, and Cape

hit high-risk individuals … then city-stress related mental

Town-based artist Georgina Gratrix.

illness can be the consequence,’ says German clinician and

In a nutshell, the monotype print technique involves a non-absorbable inked or painted surface which is transferred onto a piece of paper, the outcome of which is not repeatable.

While Almon is never sure of ‘how it’s going to work out’,

researcher Mazda Adli in the Guardian article, ‘Sick cities: why urban living can be bad for your mental health’.

Almon contextualises her title Present in Absence by suggesting that the figures in cityscapes may be present but also disconnected, even the ones shown embracing. In a

she still has the control of being able to ‘rework the image

sense, presentness always carries its opposite, absence. ‘You

again and again’, often working on both sides of the print

might be present in the city,’ she explains, ‘but your heart

until it meets her specifications. She uses high-quality, 200-

lies in another country or in the rural areas. You may have

gram paper that can cope with the weight of the ink and the

left someone behind or have lost someone.’

“It is in these in-between spaces that the energy is most keenly felt, and most present in its absence” pressure of being worked upon. The monotype is a sensual

The subject matter of Present in Absence finds a parallel

medium which draws attention not only for its particular

in the monotype print technique. For Almon executes

mark-making but also the inks themselves.

lines, marks and manipulations in the absence of the initial

In the monotypes that make up Present in Absence,

colouring and design. And it is these negative spaces which

there’s a sense of Almon’s slow shift from the specifically

hold or contain the figures. Almon believes that ‘it is in these

political paintings and murals of the 1980s through to the

in-between spaces that the energy is most keenly felt, and

hot, bloody tones of the Marikana series, and a less overtly

most present in its absence.’

political, generalised approach to humanity. The busy,

There is also a sense of paring down in these monotype

congested atmosphere seen in her Paris series has given way

prints, where the artist has moved from the clutter of detail

to a simplified, cooler, more spacious rendition of people

to bare essentials. She cites this as possibly being part of her

and their relationship with the city. Almon’s figures are

maturing process of needing less and saying less.

often shown from above, suggesting an even greater sense

Almon is very clear, however, that the subject matter

of detachment. This depiction was partly informed by the

of Present in Absence is not only about the negativity of

elevated situation of her Fordsburg studio in downtown

alienation but the inclusion of a particular stillness. There is

Johannesburg, which provided a bird’s eye view of the

also another level to this presentness; although Almon may

cityscape below. Interestingly, Fordsburg with its shops and

not depict herself in these works, she is profoundly present

factories was originally built as a home for miners working

in them, as their creator.

on the Johannesburg gold reef.

Whether the relationship with the city manifests as a

In keeping with the wish of most artists, Almon hopes that the viewer will resonate with the work in Present in

search for work from abroad and rural areas or the search

Absence so that they will have a sense of or a feeling of

for an identity, it is very much part of the historical South

recognition of this aloneness and the stillness that comes

African experience. The Natives Land Act of 1913 forced

with it.

black South Africans off the land of their forefathers to

Although she has no concrete sense of future work, she is

serve in the mines, factories and homes of the ruling

very drawn to the quality of the light in Cape Town and how

white minority. As a result, they started to populate the

it differs from the light in Gauteng, from where she moved

cities and outlying urban areas. Wars and famines in the

at the end of last year. Almon is currently exploring and

surrounding countries of the African continent have also

engaging with it. CF

Creative Feel / September 2017 / 75

CELEBRATING THE EXTRAORDINARY RECORDED LEGACY OF THE WORLD’S GREATEST TENOR.

acclaimed performances, as well as the great story teller in popular Neapolitan songs such as ‘Funiculì, funiculà’, ‘ ‘O sole mio’ and ‘Turno Surriento’.

Experience the sheer emotional range of his voice

in Bizet’s ‘La fleur que tu m’avais jetée’, its intelligence,

delicacy and splendour in critically-acclaimed performances

3 hours of all your favourite highlights from an incredible All your favourite highlights from an incredible recording career on a 2CD set. career. The biggest recording operatic hits, including his trademark from La Bohème with Karajan and an unmatched ‘Ingemisco’ from Verdi’s Requiem with Sir Georg Solti.

‘Nessun Dorma’, plus selected highlights from the best-selling classical record of all time, The Original Three Tenors Concert.

On 6 September 2017, to mark the tenth anniversary of Luciano Pavarotti’s death, Fondazione Luciano Pavarotti will host an event at the Arena in Verona in his honour.

IN CELEBRATION OF THE PEOPLE’S TENOR

To commemorate ten years since Luciano Pavarotti’s death on 6 September 2007, Decca has released a collection of his best songs; a documentary on his life is in the

18 ROMANTIC Universal Music Group (UMG), have announced a special tribute concert dedicated to LOVE SONGS the celebrated late tenor, with part of the proceeds going to charity.

IN ITALIAN, FRENCH AND ENGLISH. works; and Fondazione Luciano Pavarotti and Friends & Partners, with support from

L

uciano Pavarotti was born in Italy in 1935, made his

Opera stars confirmed for the event are Plácido Domingo

professional debut in 1961 and gave his last concert

and Josè Carreras, who with Pavarotti won legions of fans

the year before he died in 2006 at the Winter Olympic

the world over as The Three Tenors, bringing new audiences

Games in Turin, Italy. He was a tremendous talent

to opera and changing the public perception of opera as an

who managed to create drama on and off stage and seemed to

art form. A host of opera and pop stars will join Domingo

always be driven by his love of music and humanity.

and Carreras.

plus a bonus disc of popular Celebrating the extraordinary recorded legacy of the classical arias world’s greatest tenor, Decca presents a snapshot of his

Award-winning film director Ron Howard will begin working on a major documentary about the opera

best-loved recordings in their latest release: Luciano

superstar. ‘I didn’t know that much about opera, but

Pavarotti: The People’s Tenor. This double disk offering will

always found Pavarotti a charismatic figure, whom I’d

present Pavarotti’s most iconic and endearing moments:

met in the 1980s,’ says Howard. ‘Like with many people,

his 25 best opera moments and 25 best Neapolitan

he was my introduction to opera as something that was

songs. Three hours of all your favorite highlights from an

accessible, moving and emotional. Probably the only

incredible recording career.

opera albums I bought were by Pavarotti.’

This is Pavarotti as we best remember him: the voice that defined so many operatic roles in commanding and critically

76 / Creative Feel / September 2017

It promises to be a tour de force celebrating the 20th century’s greatest tenor. CF

18 ROMANTIC LOVE SONGS IN ITALIAN, FRENCH AND ENGLISH.

us a bonus disc of popular classical arias

An intimate homage to

Anna Netrebko celebrates the highs and lows of love and explores a new stylistic universe with Yusif Eyvazov on Romanza, scheduled for release on Panorama on 1 September.

R

omanza is not only Anna Netrebko’s first album

Netrebko’s previous album, Verismo, saw her venture

of duets with husband Yusif Eyvazov, but also her

into the soprano repertoire of the late 19th and early

debut crossover release. Alongside a disc of love

20th centuries, a move that earned her a GRAMMY

duets penned by renowned Russian composer

nomination in the Classical Solo Vocal Album category,

and producer Igor Krutoy, the double album also includes an

an ECHO Klassik award for Female Singer of the Year,

anthology of some of the soprano’s finest performances of

and France’s Diapason d’Or de l’Année. Her versatility

classical songs and operatic excerpts.

and range are evident once again in Romanza – an

Anna Netrebko and Yusif Eyvazov are perhaps the most

exploration of uncharted territory for the soprano. Her

famous and vocally prodigious couple in the opera world:

distinctive radiance and warmth shine through solo

the Russian soprano and Azerbaijani tenor met in early 2014

numbers such as ‘Tango mio’, ‘Unico’ and ‘L’Amour russe’,

during rehearsals for Manon Lescaut at the Rome Opera,

tracks which also reveal her maturing vocal range – from

became engaged shortly afterwards, and married in Vienna

blazing heights to darkly vibrant depths – while the

in December 2015 amid a whirl of publicity. Now the couple’s

duets with her husband bear witness to the symbiotic

first album of duets, Romanza, will appear on Deutsche

connection between these two stellar artists. They

Grammophon’s crossover label Panorama, celebrating their

breathe as one, their voices intertwining with velvety

intense emotional connection and the radiant power of love.

smoothness in duets such as ‘Cantami’ or ‘Musica con

Igor Krutoy, one of Russia’s most acclaimed songwriters, has worked with Netrebko and Eyvazov for several years and, as a close friend of the couple, has watched their own

noi’, as they revel in the gift of love and the power of their feelings.

Disc two of this album contains a complementary

love story unfold. His songs, rich in contrast, and brimming

selection of operatic and other classical favourites,

with emotional and sensual appeal, are stylistically allied

including Puccini’s ‘O mio babbino caro’ and Offenbach’s

to opera, with a haunting quality bound to attract a wider

‘Barcarolle’, as well as excerpts from Madama Butterfly

audience as well. His moving and unforgettable melodies,

and Don Giovanni, among others. From these evergreen

sumptuously orchestrated and given depth by richly

favourites to a lyrical and expressive collection of

coloured harmonies, enable the singers to create a unique

contemporary love songs with the potential to become

world of romance – a reflection of the bond between

classics of the future, Romanza takes us on a wonderfully

Netrebko and Eyvazov, and a homage to love itself.

romantic musical journey. CF

Creative Feel / September 2017 / 77

Safaris & Spices: An African Food Journey

‘A

frican food is hugely underrated, and modern South African cuisine is far removed from boring old bobotie and pale milk tart. I hope through Safaris and Spices we can share some much-

needed culinary inspiration.’ – Nico Verster This is an African cookbook that takes inspiration from all over the world, highlighting specific African regions and food cultures. The book features North, East, South and West African cuisine as well as the Middle Eastern, Southeast Asian and European recipes that have influenced and sculpted the food scene in South Africa over centuries.

Nico Verster compiled this recipe book to capture the essence of African food. He was inspired by traditional recipes but has added his own signature twist to each dish.

This book highlights the modern diversity in the current gastronomic scene and reminds you why you love Africa.

With stunning photography from award-winning Joe

Safaris & Spices: An African Food Journey

By Nico Verster

Dreyer, the recipes will inspire you to make your own stocks,

Publisher: Jacana

spice mixes, chutneys and sauces that can be used with

ISBN: 9781431425327

78 / Creative Feel / September 2017

an array of local dishes, as well as give you simple tips on making the most delicious cakes and desserts.

Nico Verster has spent the past 15 years as a professional chef in some of the most breathtakingly beautiful locations throughout the Middle East and South Africa. He has worked in some of South Africa’s top boutique hotels, mastering his craft of modern African cuisine. Hotels include the Royal Portfolio Birkenhead House, Royal Malewane and LaResidence as well as some of Africa’s leading safari lodges like Phinda Private Game Reserve and Jamala Madikwe in

“African food is hugely underrated, and modern South African cuisine is far removed from boring old bobotie and pale milk tart”

Madikwe Game Reserve where he is currently a part owner and the permanently based head chef.

Over the past two years Nico has been travelling and studying North, East and West African cuisine to create his

Based in Strand in the Western Cape, Joe Dreyer

new book, Safaris and Spices. Destinations include Morocco,

completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, specialising in Fine

Mozambique, Tanzania, Zanzibar and Madagascar, to name

Art Photography at Rhodes University in Grahamstown. He

a few.

has been freelancing for about five years. CF

Museum and Johannesburg Art Gallery, South Africa; and many others.

For more information: www.natalieknight.co.za www.knightgalleries.net

The Big Picture

By Natalie Knight

The Big Picture is Natalie Knight’s Art-O-Biography – part memoir, part art history filledJacobson with beautiful With–Lana art images, society photos of the time the stories Launch Julyand 2017 behind many of the pieces she Price sold. R 400

H

er resume is impressive, but that’s not really what

Format: Soft cover with flaps – 224 Pages, full colour

has impressed me. Natalie Knight seems to have

The Big Picture: An Art-O-Biography,

had it all. Modern women are warned that you can’t

By Natalie Knight Price R400: plus shipping

have it all, or at the very least, you can’t have it all

at once. But Natalie seems to have done just that: she’s had a

Enquiries- Batya@batyabricker.co.za

Portrait 220mm x 260mm

Publisher: Batya Bricker 9780620757331 Weight: 1.83 ISBN: lbs – 0.85 kilos Orders: nataliegknight@gmail.com

full career; she has a full family life; a full spiritual life.

Recipient of the Lifetime Achiever Award for Africa for contribution to Arts and Culture, Natalie Knight is renowned as a collector and documenter of Ndebele and Shangaan art. At the Natalie Knight Gallery in Hyde Park (1980 to 1995), a cultural institution, she exhibited international art and promoted little-known black artists who have now made names for themselves. She has written and/or edited several art books, curated several shows to celebrate Nelson Mandela and served as art curator at Wits on the West Campus for four years.

The Knight/Priebatsch Ndebele collection has been

or one part suffered for the sake of another. In remembering, Natalie has most likely romanticised those sacrifices, or

sourced for major international exhibitions and catalogues.

dismissed the things that might have suffered. There is an

Items are represented all over the world from the Wits Art

opportunity cost for everything. But in the final reckoning, and

Museum, South Africa; British Museum, London; Israel

over a stretch of time, you want to be able to say that overall,

Museum, Jerusalem; Canada and the USA.

looking at the big picture, the result is harmonious and of the

In 2014, Natalie and Suzanne donated their extensive collection of slides which documented their travels in Kwandebele research to the archives of the African Art Museum

best possible quality. You want to look back at your life with satisfaction, and if you are lucky, with awe. Natalie can do that.

And perhaps that’s the other secret. Get Natalie talking

in the Smithsonian Institution. There were 1 300 slides from

about art and the career that became her vocation, and

the mid-1970s and these have been installed on their website,

Natalie gets an almost child-like twinkle in her eye. In

accessible to academics and lay people all over the world.

her book Thrive, Arianna Huffington, the co-founder and

By her own admission, Natalie is not a perfectionist. And

editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post, and one of the most

perhaps this insight is the key. Try your best, do your best,

influential women in the world, cites ‘wonder’ as one of the

and if the result is not perfect, it doesn’t really matter. You

fundamental ingredients to a happy and fulfilled life. And

are only human. It means that you will try and fail. But it

wonder is contagious. You can’t help but get swept up in

also means that you could very well try and achieve.

Natalie’s enthusiasm, and you leave her company inspired and

Not being precious about perfection is liberating. Freeing

excited to transform your life’s work into a masterpiece. By all

you from the anxiety of getting it right the first time means you

accounts, Natalie could now be content to ‘wind down’, and

can try your hand at almost anything. You can view everything

yet she exudes a sense that the best is yet to come.

as a learning experience. It’s not all that serious! For Natalie, that approach has meant some serious achievement.

There must have been times in her life where one aspect – career, self-fulfilment and family – outweighed all others,

80 / Creative Feel / September 2017

It has been a privilege collaborating with Natalie on this project of words, art and meaning, and we know that you, the reader will relish every page.

Introduction to The Big Picture, Batya Bricker, March 2017

You can get a discounted Gramophone magazine every month from Creative Feel.

Creative Feel

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

Yusuf / Cat Stevens INVESTING IN ART: a practical strategy www.creativefeel.co.za

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W W W. C R E AT I V E F E E L . C O. Z A

PHOTO Bjoern Kommerell

encore Nondumiso Tembe is an award-winning actress, singer-songwriter and dancer. She is currently appearing as Joyce in the Fugard Theatre’s

acclaimed production of King Kong – The Musical. Her extensive list of credits includes HBO’s Golden Globe and Emmy-award winning True

Blood and SABC’s Generations. She won the Naledi Theatre Award for Best Actress for her performance in David Mamet’s RACE. Her debut album Izwi Lami – My Voice received a Metro FM Music Award for Best Music Video.

Name three artworks that you love and why.

international level, and that is really exciting to see and be a part of! I

The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill – that album was so deeply inspiring to

also believe South African-made content is at an all-time high in terms

me as a young singer-songwriter. I Write What I Like by Bantu Steve Biko

of local television now, which is really promising!

– that book profoundly impacted me and helped shape my sociopolitical consciousness and awareness and activism at 15 years old. Sophie’s

Name one thing you think would improve the arts and culture

Choice – I watched and studied Meryl Streep’s iconic performance in that

industry in South Africa.

film when I was a young acting student in New York in my late teens.

Proper unionising for all artists and reviewing of salary standards.

Something really resonated there. I knew that was the kind of actor I wanted to be. I wanted to always work from a relentlessly deep, grounded

What is your most treasured possession?

and truthful place.

My mind. Is that an annoying, artsy-fartsy answer? Ha ha! Ok, how about – my relationship with my parents. Sorry, but I don’t have a

Name one artist you would love to meet.

physical possession that I really treasure above all else. Anything

I’ve met him twice in passing, very briefly, but I would love to sit down

material is replaceable to me – it’s the other stuff, the deeper stuff, that

with Denzel Washington and pick his brain! I also secretly dream of being

I really cherish and protect.

best friends with Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie!

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?

What are you reading at the moment?

Suicide.

A book called Don’t Settle For Safe by the First Lady of my church (One Church LA), Sarah Jakes Roberts. Next up is Daring Greatly by one of my

What is it that makes you happy?

favourites, Brené Brown.

Ballet class.

What is in your car’s CD player?

Describe a defining moment in your life.

Thandiswa Mazwai’s newest album, Belede. This is what South Africans who

Possibly the one I am standing in right now. Joyce is one of the boldest,

live in Los Angeles listen to when they are missing home!

bravest and hardest roles of my entire career and it has required EVERYTHING in me to craft this performance and truly step up to the

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

plate. But now that I am on the other side of the creative process and

That I wasn’t so sensitive, that I didn’t feel things so deeply. At the same time,

we are actually running the show now, I feel proud, grateful and deeply

I believe that is part of my gifting as an artist. It is precisely what makes me

fulfilled beyond measure because the greatest gift of this experience has

good at what I do. Being deeply emotionally connected, being open to feeling

been my personal GROWTH through it!

things, to being affected by things. Being able to connect and empathise deeply with people, being fully present, having the courage to be vulnerable in

What projects will you be busy with during 2017 and into 2018?

front of strangers. But it can also make life and living in the world challenging

Aside from touring with King Kong, I have a movie coming out soon, a

sometimes. So I have to work twice as hard as most people to guard my heart,

really charming romantic comedy starring myself and Darrin Dewitt

because I know it is so open and the world can be a hard place. It’s funny this

Henson, called Zulu Wedding. I can’t wait to share it with the world – it

is coming up, because it connects so perfectly with the fundamental theme

is something different and special. So stay tuned for upcoming details

of our show, King Kong, which is really a cautionary tale: the idea that ‘one’s

on the film, folks!

greatest strength can also be one’s greatest weakness.’ So I suppose the lesson is, (and this is what I am constantly working on) understand your power, own

Name one goal you would like to achieve in the next

it, but then take responsibility for it and use it wisely.

twelve months.

I’d like to get back into the recording studio. There are some new

How have the arts industries changed in the last ten years?

songs that have been living in me for a while that really need to

The film industry in Cape Town has really blossomed and bloomed on an

be expressed. CF

e

Creative Feel / September 2017 / 83

84 / Creative Feel / September 2017