9 771607 519004
05015
SA R36,90 (incl. VAT) - May 2015
incorporating
CREATIVE AFRICA: THE HIDDEN ENERGY Creative Feel / May 2015 / 1
2 / Creative Feel / May 2015
An Exhibition of Fashion and Photography
MOAD 16 April - 18 June 2015 281 Commissioner Street Johannesburg Opening Night: 16 April 2015 - 6:00 PM Artist’s Talk: 18 April 2015 10:30 - 11:30 AM Creative Feel / May 2015 / 3
EDITOR’S NOTE
Light on a continent
I
t just had to happen, didn’t it? Weeks of preparation went
Thank heavens for small mercies, the rain held off and
into our ‘re-branding’ event – changing from Classicfeel to
we could keep the fire burning – both for warmth and much
Creative Feel – and we had it all under control.
needed light After much delay, our guests managed to fight
We secured an amazing, intimate venue – the Darwin
their way through the grid-locked traffic and among much
room on top of CIRCA Gallery in Rosebank – with a spectacular
laughter – squinting in the dark ‘is that you?’ – we got to
view over Johannesburg. The food had been ordered and La
the actual revealing and toasting of the new Creative Feel
Motte, who supplied the wine and champagne, sent their
magazine by Ismail Mahomed started and we could shine
Cellar Master to make sure our guests appreciated their chosen
lanterns on our new covers!
vintage. Anthea Moys had set up her ‘Red Box’, ready to engage
Actually, the most amazing experience that evening
with the guests to experience a one-on-one art performance
was that nobody was grumpy, frazzled or bad tempered.
and to receive their ‘Free Portraits’.
Everybody just made the best of it and enjoyed the night. As
We had mounted a huge Samsung TV screen to show off
tough as the christening of Creative Feel was, the party again
highlights from 15 years of publishing Classicfeel magazine.
showed how resilient South Africans are! But then it was
On a screen, the ‘traffic’ on Twitter was projected when
right at the beginning of the now routinely scheduled load
suddenly, out of nowhere Eskom announced unplanned
shedding of today – are we still so easy going about it? Not
load shedding starting at 18:00 – a mere 30 minutes before
so sure?
the guest would arrive. This was just about the first load
Welcome to our second issue of Creative Feel, our Africa
shedding of the present routinely scheduled ones and we
issue to celebrate the hidden energy of the continent
simply never considered the possibility of being in the
– no not the oil, the minerals or the electric power, we
dark. We had only worried about rain, had watched the dark
are celebrating the energy of the people, the artists, the
clouds very carefully and worked out that most weather apps
performers, the sponsors – the amazing creativity of the
are actually quite useless.
people of the African continent.
A mad scramble ensured, rushing off – actually more
Art in Africa has never been more important! Artists
at snail’s pace with all the traffic having come to a stand
and performers are the people who talk to each other across
still around us – and securing a generator. Locating a very
nations and borders, who collaborate, who learn from each
long extension cable to get power from the ground to the
other and perform together. They are the ones who will
roof of CIRCA, re-plugging all equipment from the mains to
make a difference to end the shameful xenophobic attacks in
the generator, finding lanterns, candles and restarting the
our country and they will need all the support they can get
rolling digital displays.
to shine light on the continent. CF
Creative Feel / May 2015 / 9
T
We love this creation:
E
A
M
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 FEATURES EDITOR Natalie Watermeyer; natalie@desklink.co.za SALES AND MARKETING sales@desklink.co.za sales@creativefeel.co.za BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGERS Nthabiseng Jonas; nthabiseng@desklink.co.za Mariapaola McGurk; mariapaola@desklink.co.za DESIGN Mxolisi Gumbi; mxolisi@desklink.co.za FINANCIAL DIRECTOR Debbi Gregory; debbi@desklink.co.za RECEPTION Angelina Ramano DISPATCH Khumbulani Dube SUBSCRIPTION & CIRCULATION Debbi Gregory; debbi@desklink.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
W
hen our ever-fashionable (and mostly-self-tailored) designer walked in wearing this beautiful Simon and Mary hat, we just fell in love with their creation.
About Simon and Mary, as per their website: ‘Simon and Mary
comes from a background of over 70 years experience in headwear, with inspiration born through the generations, to tell the story of what a simple hat can bring. ‘Simon and Mary is based on a family bond within the hat factory. Using machinery bought in the 60s and continuing the legacy created by the original milliner, Simon Pozniak. ‘The milliner title has been passed down from generation to generation. Hats are in our blood, it is more than a clothing item, but rather a way of life.’ CF
PRINTING ColorPress (Pty) Ltd © Copyright DeskLink™ Media The opinions in this publication do not necessarily represent the views of the publisher. CONTRIBUTORS: Nondumiso Msimanga; nondumiso.msimanga@yahoo.com Ismail Mahomed; ismail@nationalartsfestival.co.za Michelle Constant; michelle@basa.co.za Mark Strathmore; mstrathmore@outlook.com
Creative Feel / May 2015 / 11
Photograph by Chris Saunders in collaboration with stylist
HANDSPRING AT ARTIST PROOF STUDIO
Francois Ferreira.
Collaborating on a print to celebrate War Horse
cover story
led the Handspring team to a highly productive
artists’ residency at Artist Proof Studio.
56
SON OF AFRICAN SOIL
Award-winning ceramic artist Andile Dyalvane
draws upon a rich palette of African tradition,
balancing artistry, entrepreneurship and soul.
Cover image:
30
CHRIS SAUNDERS & FRIENDS
Chris Saunders is a multiple-award-winning
photographer, filmmaker and director.
arts and culture
34 THE AFRICAN ART OF HAIR BRAIDING
54
60
DESIGN FOR THE FUTURE
Kiara Gounder is a Durban-based fashion designer,
and was part of the Design Indaba’s 2015 Emerging
Creatives programme. Creative Feel’s Tamaryn
Greer spoke to the young, talented designer.
62
THE 11TH ANNUAL NALEDI THEATRE AWARDS
Aubrey Sekhabi’s Marikana – The Musical, swept
contents
A distinctly (but not uniquely) African tradition,
the art of plaiting one’s hair has symbolised many
things over time.
40
CREATIVE ICON
William Kentridge proves great minds don’t think alike.
42
CREATIVE SPONSORSHIP
the boards at the 11th Naledi Theatre Awards
We asked Hazel Chimhandamba, Senior Manager of
in Johannesburg with six awards. War Horse walked
Group Sponsorship at Standard Bank, a bit
off with the first-ever World Impact Award.
more about their role in the arts in Africa.
44
CREATIVE ECONOMY
64
A SPARTACUS OF AFRICA
After years of planning and preparation, A
In the 1980s, Nigeria’s economic woes brought
Spartacus of Africa takes to the stage in
its film industry to a standstill. Then an enterprising
Johannesburg and Cape Town this June.
businessman made a movie...
TURBINE ART FAIR 2015
66
STATE OF THE NATION IN DANCE
50
Dance Umbrella 2015 provided audience members
The Turbine Art Fair (TAF15) returns to the iconic
with a variety of questions, from society to dance
Turbine Hall in Newtown for a third year.
itself, as dancers wove in elements of Theatre of
12 / Creative Feel / May 2015
Excess and the Absurd, writes Nondumiso Msimanga
for Creative Feel.
70
AN AFRICAN CELEBRATION
Held at the Durban City Hall, the KwaZulu-Natal
Philharmonic’s Winter Season comprises six eclectic
and exciting concerts.
74
AN AFRICAN WAY
‘It’s time we do things the African way,’ says
Standard Bank Young Artist Nduduzo
Makhathini in conversation with Creative Feel’s
Nondumiso Msimanga.
78
JOSH GROBAN RELEASES STAGES
In April, Josh Groban released his new album via
Reprise Records. Entitled Stages, the album is a
collection of some of the greatest musical theatre
songs of all time.
84
WINDS OF SAMSARA
Wouter Kellerman’s latest album, a collaboration
with Ricky Kej entitled Winds of Samsara recently
won the GRAMMY award for best New Age album.
in Zambia and Victoria Falls area, has recently
undergone a major refurbishment.
88
CINEMA NOUVEAU
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A MOST VIOLENT YEAR
Jessica Chastain stars as Anna Morales alongside
Oscar Isaac as Abel Morales in writer/director J.C.
Chandor’s A Most Violent Year. The multiple-award-
winning actress speaks about her character’s role in
the film.
92
BOOK REVIEWS
93
CD REVIEWS
contents contributors 24
ARTLOOKS & ARTLINES
Artlooks & Artlines is a monthly column
by Ismail Mahomed, Artistic Director of the
National Arts Festival.
26
BUSINESS & ARTS
Business and Arts is a monthly column by Michelle
lifestyle and entertainment
Constant, CEO of Business and Arts South Africa.
28
LITERARY LANDSCAPES
Literary Landscapes is a monthly column written
86
ROYAL CHUNDU
by Indra Wussow, a writer, translator and director of
Royal Chundu, the first Relais & Châteaux property
the Sylt Foundation.
Creative Feel / May 2015 / 13
CASTADIVA Boutique Hotel
A Unique Experience
C
asta Diva Boutique Hotel, nestled on the northern slopes of the Magaliesberg, is like no other hotel. Her guests are met at the parking area and shown
to reception with a warm, welcoming smile. The property itself (just under two hectares of lush green garden) is breathtakingly beautiful. The rooms are individually decorated without any clutter and the on-site restaurant
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.
CHARISMA 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.
guarantees a culinary adventure. Ask your host about the Special of the Day, or order one of the signature dishes from the à la carte menu, such as the Dutch Style Beef Fillet. There is also an intimate theatre/art gallery where guest can enjoy a performance by some local talent. The establishment prides itself on art and cultural development by hosting young, up-and-coming talent as often as possible. Recently they have hosted an instrumental performance by some of the music students from ‘Affies’ (Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool) and these performances are planned to continue through the year. Situated in the delightful Charisma Restaurant, guests are entertained by some very talented young men playing instruments such as the french horn, guitar, trumpet, clarinet and piano, to mention but a few. During the intermission, guests are treated to a snack bite from the kitchen that is always delightfully delicious, providing entertainment for the ear as well as the taste buds. Future concerts will be advertised on the Facebook pages, ‘Casta Diva’s Charisma’ and ‘Casta Diva, The Place To…’ (Be sure to book your tickets, as seats are limited.) Spoil yourself with a weekend away in a magical environment, or simply enjoy a delicious dinner with someone special under the fig tree. Enjoy the amazing view of the mountain slopes from the deck of their most exclusive room, The Dam. Relax in the tranquil setting of
Functions Conferences Concerts Restaurant Theatre Art Gallery
The Village – five guest rooms joined by a quaint courtyard decorated with lemon trees and a water fountain. You are guaranteed to be amazed and made to feel special at Casta Diva Boutique Hotel. It truly is the place to just… be. For booking information visit their website at www.castadiva.co.za and keep an eye on their Facebook pages for updates on events. CF
67 Albatros Street, Ninapark, Pretoria Tel: 012 542 4449 | Fax: 012 542 3085 info@castadiva.co.za | www.castadiva.co.za 14 / Creative Feel / May 2015
New Stages
T
he sheer quality and variety of theatre on offer at The Playhouse Company’s annual New Stages Festival in Durban seems to get better and better every year and the new series beginning in May is
certainly no exception. Audiences can look forward to an absolute feast of creative, original and thought-provoking productions, as well as a hit comedy, each one focusing on issues facing our nation today. It’s a theatrical extravaganza of music, dance and drama, featuring some of the country’s best known talents on stage including such household names as Dr John Kani, Atandwa Kani, Nat Ramabulana and Susan Danford as well as a host of Aaron McIlroy and Lisa Bobbert in The Seven Deadly Sins. Photograph by Val Adamson
professional artists in various art forms.
Apollo Ntshoko, Susan Danford and John Kani in Missing. Photograph by Oscar O’Ryan
Some of the must-see productions on offer this year include Atandwa Kani, Warren Nebe and Nat Ramabulana’s Hayani; Tony Award winning actor and writer, Dr John Kani at his very best in his latest play Missing; 2011 Standard Bank Ovation Award winning dance collaboration Bhakti (choreographed by Lilane Loots and featuring dancers from Flatfoot Dance Company and the Playhouse Dance Residency); and The Seven Deadly Sins, the latest comedy offering from duo Aaron McIlroy and Lisa Bobbert. Tickets for all productions are available through Computicket. For amazing specials and block booking discounts call 031 369 9596 / 031 369 9540 / 031 369 9456. CF
The New Stages festival is unique and relevant because most of the productions carry a profoundly powerful message for South Africans, touching on such pertinent themes like transformation, race relations, social cohesion and the experience of exiles returning to new challenges in our nascent democracy. As Playhouse CEO and Artistic Director, Linda Bukhosini explains, special emphasis was given to identifying productions that are of high artistic quality, had enjoyed acclaim and recognition in the wider performing arts industry and were relevant to the theme of the country’s new dispensation.
16 / Creative Feel / May 2015
Bhakti
The Geneva Ballet debuts at Joburg Theatre
T
he world-renowned Geneva Ballet (Grand Théâtre de Genève), under the direction of Philippe Cohen, opens on June 17 with Roméo & Juliette at The Mandela, Joburg Theatre and runs until June 21 2015.
During its Johannesburg season the company will
celebrate the anniversary of the 100th performance of this production of Roméo & Juliette. Established in Switzerland at the start of the 19th Century, the Geneva Ballet is known for its rich repertoire of neoclassical and contemporary dance styles featuring highly skilled classically trained dancers and top choreographers. Joëlle Bouvier, one of several guest choreographers invited by the Geneva Ballet to enrich its repertoire, has with this production of Roméo & Juliette, re-imagined Shakespeare’s classic tragedy as a contemporary piece, revisiting the ballet in an inventive way. It is driven musically by the strong, stirring music of the composer Prokofiev. The elegance of the costumes and the stage decor is offset by the vitality of the fight scenes, as the 22-dancer strong company creates a dynamic energy and an eyecatching aesthetic. As a major component of its two-week visit to Johannesburg, the Geneva Ballet company, with a focus on choreography in a variety of forms and expression, will be involved in a collaborative project with South African choreographers and dancers. This unique project
Roméo & Juliette performed by the Geneva Ballet
will involve four local choreographers, Gregory Maqoma, Mamela Nyamza, PJ Sabbagha and Fana Tshabalala
Council Pro Helvetia. The Johannesburg season is as a result
with Nathanaël Marie from the Geneva Ballet and will
of the close collaboration between the Joburg Theatre and
take place at the Soweto Theatre, the Dance Space in
Geneva Ballet and with further support from the Embassy of
Newtown, University of Johannesburg Arts and Culture
Switzerland in South Africa and the collaborative effort of
and at the Hillbrow Theatre from June 8 to 14. The
the Swiss Chamber of Commerce in South Africa.
creative result of this collaboration will be showcased in
Roméo & Juliette tickets from R180 to R350 are on sale
partnership at the Soweto and Wits Theatres on June 13
via the Joburg Theatre website www.joburgtheatre.com
and 14 respectively.
or by calling the theatre’s direct ticketing line on 0861
The Geneva Ballet Johannesburg 2015 visit has been made possible thanks to the support of the Swiss Arts
18 / Creative Feel / May 2015
670 670. Discounted rates for groups of ten or more are available by calling 011 877 6853. CF
Creative Feel / May 2015 / 19
Young jazz stars to shine at Gauteng Big Band Jazz Festival Once again, St Mary’s School in Johannesburg will be swinging and jiving to the sweet sounds of youth jazz bands when the fourth annual Gauteng Big Band Jazz Festival takes place over the weekend of 15 and 16 May 2015. St Mary’s Waverley Senior Jazz Band, conducted by Ceri Moelwyn-Hughes, aims to foster a love of jazz among pupils while teaching the girls valuable music skills. Pretoria Boys’ High Big Band, conducted by Matthew Lombard, boasts full saxophone, trumpet and trombone sections. St John’s College Big Band employs a standard format of five saxophones, four trumpets, four trombones, guitar, piano, bass and drums, conducted by Jan Lategan. St Alban’s College Band TUT Little Big Band
T
performs a variety of styles such as jazz, rock, disco, pop and South African popular styles, conducted by Karin Groenewald.
his regional music festival, which showcases high
Cornwall Hill College Big Band
school, college and community jazz bands, is the
is a young, innovative big band from Centurion with an
‘little sister’ to the long-established Cape Town Big
adaptable flute section, under the direction of Eddie Clayton.
Band Jazz Festival.
Johannesburg Youth Jazz Ensemble,
Supported by the SAMRO Foundation, the Gauteng
under the leadership of jazz trombonist John Davies, plays a
festival has grown by leaps and bounds in stature since it
variety of jazz styles and also improvises.
began in 2012.
Pridwin P’zazz Jazz Band
Says founder Ann Barr: ‘We are thrilled that the Gauteng
is a constantly evolving group of young musicians aged
Big Band Jazz Festival is bringing the magic of jazz to the
between 11 and 13 years, conducted by Angie Elliott.
youth and is providing a platform for performance, as well as
André le Roux of the SAMRO Foundation says: ‘It’s an honour
creating a forum where jazz is enjoyed at school level in an
for us to play a role in cultivating an appreciation of jazz
atmosphere that encourages exceptional musicianship.’
music among young South African musicians. As an event committed to cultural diversity while providing top-drawer
The participating big bands:
entertainment, the Gauteng Big Band Jazz Festival is destined
Tshwane University of Technology Big Band,
for great things.’
under the mentorship of Louis Drummond van Rensburg,
Audiences are invited to come and witness the next
mainly comprises second- and third-year jazz majors.
generation of big band jazz musicians in action at The Edge at
Saxes of Note from St Stithians Girls’ College
St Mary’s in Waverley at 19:30 on Friday, 15 May and Saturday,
is a six-piece, all-girls saxophone ensemble of saxophone
16 May 2015. Tickets cost R100 for adults and R50 for students
players who are pupils of Shirli-Anne van Vledder.
and senior citizens, and are available at Computicket. CF
20 / Creative Feel / May 2015
Creative Feel / May 2015 / 21
Celebrating South African National Orders Kopano Theatre Club, an initiative that was started up as a means to revive a sense of moral regeneration amongst South Africans, is running an exciting educational dance project in the North-West province celebrating the South African National Orders.
T
he Orders, that were instated by Thabo Mbeki through the Presidency of South Africa to celebrate significant figures in our country’s heritage, include The Order of the Baobab
awarded to citizens with distinguished service in the fields of business and economics, The Order of Luthuli awarded for contributions in the struggle for democracy, The Order of Mendi for bravery, and The Order of the Companion of OR Tambo that is awarded to heads of state and other dignitaries for promoting peace. The Order of Mapungubwe is awarded to South Africans for excellence and exceptional achievements, as well as The Order of Ikamanga for excellent achievements in the field of Arts, Culture, Literature, Music, Journalism and Sport. ‘The production is a pilgrimage towards the reawakening of our patriotic spirit and promoting cultural intelligentsia discourse in South Africa. The production also celebrates the wisdom of an African intellectual, Thabo Mbeki, the founding father of SA National Orders,’ choreographer Boitumelo Mokwene says. Kopano Theatre Club was established on 8 April 2002 by Mokwene in Mamusa in the Ipeleng Township near Schweizer-Reneke. The team is made up out of 15 dancers, four musicians, and two narrators who are all committed and passionate about the initiative. Kopano Theatre Club also uses the medium of poetry through dance in telling the story of the Orders. The opening performance for the public will be held in Potchefstroom in the Sanlam Auditorium on the NWU-Pukke
visit their site at kopanoclub.com or like their Facebook Page
Campus on 28 April 2015. There will also be performances and
‘Kopano Theatre Club’. School groups are especially welcomed
workshops in Taung, Schweizer-Reneke, Vryburg, Mahikeng,
to these performances and to the workshops that will be based
and Rustenburg up to the end of July 2015.
on principles of sharing dance discipline, dialogue about
Tickets go for a generous R25 and can be booked prior to the events or at the doors. For more information on this project
22 / Creative Feel / May 2015
funding for dance, and provincial dance forms and network opportunities in the dance sector. CF
Creative Feel / May 2015 / 23
Temporary but Permanent: Projects
M
OAD is proud to present Hobbs/Neustetter’s new multi screen video installation based on their performance piece for the Across The Board – Public Space / Public Sphere –
Tate Modern programme for the Sud Triennial, Douala, Cameroon, in December 2013. In addition the basement gallery will showcase a range of works reflecting on their concerns with public and building environment conditions: The act of being present, and following the construction of a permanent work of art within a public space, is for Stephen Hobbs and Marcus Neustetter a complex and political condition where one is literally exposed to myriad forces and opinions. A temporary action on the other hand – while no less complex or political, unfolds with a different sense of time in relation to development and production, and often displays more social dexterity regarding audience and site. The works presented in Temporary but Permanent: Projects through their exploration of xenophobia, forced migration and urban degeneration, stand as particular instances of these symbolic translations. Developed in countries as varied as Martinique, Norway and Mali, Hobbs/Neustetter employ photography, video, mapping and participatory processes in order to test notions of the record, relative to the event and the perception of social and urban transformation. Directed by South African artists Stephen Hobbs and Marcus Neustetter, The Trinity Session is a contemporary art production team defined by exchanges within the city of Johannesburg, in relation to various developed/ developing contexts. Given the Trinity Session’s extensive practice of public art curation and implementation, Hobbs and Neustetter have developed an archive of particular knowledge and experience in parallel to the commissioning process though much of this information is not always present in
Bessengue B’Etoukoa by The Trinity Session 2013
the final outcomes they manage. As a result, these artists’
Acknowledgement:
collaborative artistic practice as Hobbs/Neustetter serves to
Bessengue B’ Etoukoa by The Trinity Session.
record and translate in other forms their engagement with
As originally conceived and commissioned for Across the
place making, ultimately conveying the ephemeral nature of
Board: Public Space/ Public Sphere, 2013. Organised by Tate
social enquiries and user experience.
Modern and Doual’art. Supported by Guaranty Trust Bank Plc.
24 / Creative Feel / May 2015
Life-Line-Knot: Six Object Biographies
Isiaiah, Good Morning Gentlemen Give me a CUT, date unrecorded, mixed media on metal, (h) 49 x (w) 60 x (d) 1.6 cm. Standard Bank African Art Collection (Wits Art Museum). Photographer: Megan Kidd (2014).
L
ife-Line-Knot is both an exhibition and a book. The exhibition, which is on at the Standard Bank Gallery from 11 April to 20 June 2015, is centred on six objects from the Wits Art
Museum (WAM) collection and the Standard Bank African Art Collection. These were selected and researched by
Fanlo Mkhize, Chicken, c. 1985, wood, fur, metal, beads, (w)
postgraduate History of Art and Heritage students, in the
62 x (h) 40 x (d) 17 cm. Standard Bank African Art Collection
context of a course on Object Biographies.
(Wits Art Museum). Photographer: Laura De Becker (2014).
Underpinning the project is the desire to know more, and to know more specific details about objects in the WAM collection. In a sense, the students were tasked to recover, as
The objects researched are a clay pot, a painting, a wire
far as possible, the complex biographical trajectories across
and fur sculpture of a chicken, a pair of charms and two
time and place of the object they had selected.
political photographs.
Each of the objects to be displayed is accompanied by an extraordinary story captured in the book – though each essay or research journey yielded different kinds of
The editors and curators are Joni Brenner, Laura De Becker, Stacey Vorster and Justine Wintjes. Life-Line-Knot is the sequel to Lifelines: Object biographies
information, each one offers fascinating insights into the
from the Standard Bank African Art Collection, a book and
processes of research, and the recovery and construction of
exhibition that Wits History of Art and WAM presented in
knowledge and histories.
2014 at the Standard Bank Gallery. CF
Creative Feel / May 2015 / 25
Artlooks & Artlines Artlooks & Artlines is a monthly column written by Ismail Mahomed, Artistic Director of the National Arts Festival.
S
ince the founding of the Organisation of
will certainly create a meaningful pathway for South
African Unity with a charter that was signed by
African artists to tap into African markets that have clearly
32 independent African states on 25 May 1963,
demonstrated an interest in South African artists.
Africa Day has been commemorated informally annually to highlight the achievements made
Across the border from the Limpopo, the Harare International Festival of Arts (HIFA), started in 1999 as a
on the continent and to unite the African diaspora in a
six-day annual festival, has often staged South African work.
common vision.
The Festival showcases the very best of local, regional and
As from this year, May is going to be Africa Month! This
international arts and culture in a comprehensive programme
announcement was made by the Minister of Arts and Culture,
that incorporates theatre, dance, music, circus arts, street
Nathi Mthetwa. It is a welcomed initiative that can only
performance, fashion, spoken word and visual arts.
advance the way in which South African arts organisations
Robert Grieg writing in the South African Sunday
can explore ways through which they can establish and
Independent said, ‘in the current socioeconomic situation
strengthen their networks with the many festivals on the
HIFA has come to be seen as an important symbol of
African continent.
something positive about Zimbabwe.’
From Cape to Cairo, festivals in Africa range in size,
In Malawi, the annual Lake of the Stars Festival has
style and expression. The possibility of new networks that
earned an international reputation of its own. Styled as a
can be established with festivals on the continent through
exciting music event held on the shores of Lake Malawi, it has
initiatives that are supported by government’s commitment
generated tourism to Malawi and stimulated many economic
Brent Meistre’s Analogue Eye
26 / Creative Feel / May 2015
opportunities for the country. Along with the benefits
in this year’s festival, which included artists from Columbia,
that accrue to local artists and the hospitality industry,
Armenia, India, Togo, Uganda, Cameroon, Guinea, Greece,
neighbouring villages have also reaped the benefits from the
South Korea, Thailand, the Maldives, England, USA, Algeria,
event, which the Guardian has listed as one of ‘the world’s
Tunisia, UAE, Jordan, Kazakhstan, and Sudan.
most spectacular music festivals.’ The Zanzibar International Film Festival (ZIFF) is a
All across the African continent, there are bustling festivals. Some small and some large. Some are programmed
melting pot for talents from all over the world. Each year,
by highly skilled curators. Others have an open access
some of the most captivating and cutting edge cinema
programme drawing in artists that range from the emerging
from Africa and beyond is screened in venues across the
to the professional. A unique aspect of each festival is how it
island. From world-premiers to local shorts, the Zanzibar
ties in with the many cultural tourism opportunities offered
International Film Festival has a long history of showcasing
by the warm hospitality of its people and by its fascinating
the highest quality films from all over the world.
environmental landscapes.
Established in 1996 and devoted to promoting
There are several South African artists who have toured
contemporary African art, the Dakar Arts Biennale has since
from Cape to Cairo. Often the artists have embarked on these
then taken place every two years, enjoying the full support of
tours raising funds on their own or by being supported by
the Senegalese government.
international foundations. At the time of announcing the
In Benin, the Voodoo Festival is held every year. It is the
launch of Africa Month, the Minister of Arts and Culture
West African country’s most vibrant and colourful event. It
highlighted how Africa Month will create opportunities for
features voodoo dolls and devotees in animal skins chanting
cultural exploration from Cape to Cairo.
and dancing to drumbeats, as well as horse racing on the
It is a visionary proposal but as all proposals for the arts
beach and a variety of food and drink stalls. The Festival
go... It will require visionary leadership with an understanding
attracts large European audiences looking for an exotic
of African festivals and African cultural markets to drive
African experience.
the Minister’s vision to map out a two way street on which
In Egypt, the Ministry of Tourism has sponsored the
African artists can travel, network with artistic directors and
third International Festival for Drums and Traditional Arts
strengthen an African market for the diverse art forms that
under the slogan ‘Drums Dialogue for Peace’. The Festival
originate in Africa.
is presented in cooperation with the Hewar Foundation for Peoples Arts and Cultures. Twenty-four countries participated
Let Africa Month inspire you to experience the CREATIVE FEEL of the African continent! CF
Creative Feel / May 2015 / 27
Business & Arts Business and Arts is a monthly column by Michelle Constant, CEO of Business and Arts South Africa (BASA).
W
riter Tom Eaton wrote an extremely
and powerful story. The first were the murals in South
interesting opinion piece on his blog
Africa House in Trafalgar Square, London, showing ‘Jan
site callingthroughthefog.wordpress.
van Riebeeck hoisting the Dutch East Indies flag; another
com, about the Rhodes statue debate.
depicted a bucolic wine farm – no slaves, no workers paid
By now, the story line and debate may
with bottles of wine’ – a complete ‘whitewash’ so to speak,
very well have changed – given the time lines required in
and indeed a misrepresentation of history. As Sachs then
delivering a column to a magazine. But what is healthy
describes – the answer was to have an artwork of Willem
about the debate nevertheless is that it is happening. It’s
Boshoff – transparent Perspex placed directly over the
a conversation that should have happened a long time
murals, with the names of all the indigenous people and
ago, given the purported transformation agenda in South
slaves whose ‘voices had been silenced in the past’ literally
Africa. But it was Eaton’s blog, and later the writing of both
engraved over the offending images. Whilst I have never
Justice Albie Sachs and arts journalist Mary Corrigall, that
seen the transformation, I’m sure that the murals are now
suggested perhaps there is an opportunity and role for an
extremely thought-provoking – challenging an historical
artist or artists to engage with the sculpture in order to shift
status quo and opening real debate.
the paradigm and the conversation.
Likewise, Sachs describes the transformation of the Old
In an opinion piece in City Press (Sunday 29 March)
Fort Prison into the home of the Constitutional Court. For
Justice Sachs described two historically offensive cultural
anyone who has been there, the transformation is dynamic.
spaces that were reversioned (as it were) to tell a different
It addresses the appalling history of this country with a
Constitutional Court of South Africa
South Africa House
28 / Creative Feel / May 2015
narrative that powerfully looks to the present and indeed the
concentration camp, remains to remind us again and again,
future of our beloved country.
of the horror of genocide. The Navy and Military buildings
Whilst I would support the removal of the sculpture if
where many Argentines simply disappeared, as part of the
there were no other option to shift the paradigm, I would
Dirty War in Argentina, remain to remind us of what took
argue that placing it in a dusty corner of a museum does no
place, and what was lost in the process – a nation’s identity.
service to anyone. We need to confront it; we need the story of
As Business Day editor Songezo Zibi, recently wrote, ‘We
Rhodes to be addressed; the story of a man, bizarrely described
have to develop urgently a national framework on the
by writer Prince Mashile as ‘an avowed racist’ who ‘seems to
preservation of history and memory.’ The loss of a sculpture
have imagined a nonracial future.’ Perhaps he did imagine a
is one thing, the loss of our history and memory as change
nonracial future, but he also planted the seed and watered the
maker, is surely another? CF
plant that became the history of Apartheid as we know it today. The question remains whether this history can be addressed, whether the story can be repositioned by some of this country’s finest sculptors and public artists. I know that the wrapping of the Rhodes sculpture in black plastic is a temporary measure to have it covered, by the university, but it tells a powerful story of the sculpture – far more so than the sculpture as it sits uncovered. Perhaps it could literally be ‘wrapped’ in a more permanent material, covering the man’s brute power and reminding us of a changed future. I keep thinking of how Willie Bester, who is celebrated through the Order of Ikhamanga Silver, might make something extraordinary out of the sculpture. Using scrap and recycled materials, Bester addresses and shapes the concept of history and ownership. I have no doubt he would shift and shape the debate differently here as well. The importance of memory in relation to history and ownership must be highlighted. Auschwitz, the
University of Cape Town Statue of Rhodes
Creative Feel / May 2015 / 29
Literary Landscapes Literary Landscapes is a monthly column written by Indra Wussow, a writer, translator and director of the Sylt Foundation.
I
t is cold in Hanoi in March. Many propaganda posters
the framework for creating a home out of an amalgam of
and socialist manifestations appear along the way from
communism, capitalism and colonialism all at once.
the airport to the venue of the conference, the ‘Army
These layers of architecture and history are also very
Hotel’, built on the premises of military barracks and
much part of Vietnamese literature and explain the areas of
run by the Vietnamese army.
conflict in which writers and poets are operating today.
Vietnam as a country is already 4 000 years old, with
The Vietnamese Writers’ Association invited more than
Hanoi being its capital for the past 1 000 years. Travelling
250 writers, poets, translators, editors, publishers and other
through Hanoi, one experiences the contradictions it so
activists to Hanoi to attend a mammoth conference on
easily brings together: the city conserves the legacy of Ho-
literature and its terms and topics. The 2nd Asian and South
Chi-Minh, and his dead body, in its gigantic mausoleum,
Pacific Writers’ Conference in Hanoi engaged with literature
seemingly from an era long gone. Vietnam is the last
in a way reminiscent of the times of the Soviet Union, with
preserve of a spirit since vanished from the rest of Asia, lost
literature as a weapon of class struggle, serving the purpose
with progress, and buried among masses of people. In Hanoi
of those in power. This socialist realism contrasts with those
this spirit has been preserved, paradoxically thanks to a long
poets and writers who understand the role of literature in
socialist standstill that embedded it in a crystal ball.
another way – and were fortunately part of the festival, too.
This socialist image is only one layer of the city, which
Gavin Bowen is a former American soldier in the
simultaneously embraces the legacy of colonialism and
Vietnam War, a poet of note, and founder of a collective of
the new era of capitalism, forming a very Vietnamese way
Vietnamese and American writers. He supports residencies
of coexistence. Hanoi seems to be a master of prolonging
in the US and in Vietnam, enforcing a very important
the decay of fleeting time, one manifested not only in the
dialogue among former enemies and pushing the borders
conservation of Ho-Chi-Min’s body, but also in the old
of how war should be written about. An initiative beyond
colonial buildings whose splendour seems long gone, though
government control; while there are still soldier writers like
they have not lost any of their beauty. Although the city
the one who wrote about the Vietnamese war against the
cannot stop the march of time, it seems at least to have briefly
Cambodian Khmer Rouge.
suspended it. Hanoi is a place of melancholy and elegance, of Asian
In a country where all books and art shows still have to be approved by the party and its propaganda ministry,
gracefulness and decaying splendour. A city that perfectly
it is not easy to get heard while subject to censorship. But
merges its contradictions: suppleness and persistence, the
younger poets and writers are challenging the party and its
cruelty of war and the gracefulness of everyday life. This is
doctrine, and pushing forward into dissident territory.
30 / Creative Feel / May 2015
Hanoi street scene
While the official Vietnam celebrates the revolutionary
Hanoi Künstlerin
forging an exciting literature that is an amalgam connecting
legacy of its most famous poet Cao Ba Quat, who challenged
all the different historic times and influences, just as Hanoi
authorities in the 19th century, his descendants have
does. And all the while, Uncle Ho is lying in his mausoleum,
embarked on a journey to revolutionize Vietnamese
dreaming of a burial in his beloved Vietnamese soil. Maybe
literature and push boundaries just as he once did.
his dream will one day come true. CF
Spoken Word and Hip Hop Poetry performed in the back yards of old colonial buildings, and samisdat magazines that are distributed privately and find a vast readership, especially
On 7 May at 19:00 well-known Nigerian writer Helon
among the young and the educated Vietnamese, are becoming
Habila will be a guest of the ‘Literary Crossroads’ at the
more and more popular, a vibrant part of the literary
Goethe Institute on Jan Smuts Avenue in Parkview.
landscape of Vietnam. Mobile literature is another important tool in a society in which 70% of its people are under 30 years
Literary Crossroads, curated By Pumla Gqola and Indra
old. It is the first generation whose world is not shaped by
Wussow is a new series of talks where South African
war and economic standstill. Poems and texts are sent from
writers meet colleagues from all over the continent and
mobile to mobile, evading the public space the old writers
from the African diaspora to discuss trends, topics and
and poets still inhabit, and offering an intermediate realm in
themes prevalent in their literatures today.
which to negotiate topics that are otherwise ignored, such as sexuality, social injustice or pop culture. While the Vietnamese Literature Museum still celebrates
Theme of this eve is: ‘From Faction to Fiction’ - how does reality inform the art of writing
the writers as heroes of war and revolutionary resistance, modern Vietnamese writers have already transcended this,
Creative Feel / May 2015 / 31
Chris Saunders & Friends Chris Saunders is a multiple award winning photographer, filmmaker and director. Photographs by Chris Saunders
Not X CS - collaboration with Floyd Avenue
32 / Creative Feel / May 2015
Installation from Not X CS at Wallplay in New York
C
. reative Feel recently fell for the work of
has worked for nearly a decade) or taking part in the
photographer Chris Saunders via a photo-
current SA-UK seasons, from whom he recently received
shoot undertaken by himself and stylist
funding for Ghost Diamond, ‘a Zulu Samurai story, told
Francois Ferreira, with whom Saunders often
on the streets of Joburg,’ describes Saunders. ‘It’s an
collaborates. The shoot featured items created
interpretive dance piece with Manthe [Ribane, a dancer
by Ferreira, ‘taking cultural references from Africa and
known for her work with Die Antwoord], and a six-track
translating them to South African culture and style, mainly
EP created by an electronic musician Gervase Gordon,
as seen on the streets of Joburg,’ says Ferreira. One of those
otherwise known as OKZHARP. The music that he makes is
images became CF’s May cover: ‘Hair has such a powerful
very much inspired by South African dance music, as well
meaning in African culture’, says Ferreira of the image.
as Japanese culture; so we made a very experimental set of
‘Image Junkies and I collaborated in the making of this mask.
six short films to music, that are interpretive dance pieces
The man is in an overall from House of Ole. The idea was to
on the streets of Joburg.’
show the worker... The mask shows the complexity of the
Saunders seems to have projects on the go all over the
country and the mask helps the character not be specific, but
place, collaborating with artists, designers, ‘culture crews’
that we all can relate to.’
and academics, both local and international. Small wonder
As it turns out, Saunder’s work has often featured on
he once or twice mentions feeling a little ‘over-burdened’
our pages – be it documenting the work of artists such as
on the day of our interview: in addition to a forthcoming
Athi-Patra Ruga and Anthea Moys (with whom Saunders
exhibition, a coffee table book on pantsula, and any number
Creative Feel / May 2015 / 33
of other enterprises in progress, he has a Facebook page,
In 2008, Saunders began photographing The Smarteez,
Twitter handle, blogs, Instagram and Vimeo accounts that all
a young, Soweto-based group of designers who have since
need to be fed and watered. His desk is filled with stacks of
appeared, along with Saunders’ photographs, in blogs
local and international magazines that have commissioned
and magazines from around the world. In 2010, Saunders
his photographic skills (Saunders cut his teeth doing
headed over to Italy to take up a year’s artistic residency
commercial and fashion work). Presently the magazines are
with Benetton’s creative research facility Fabrica, further
being used to flatten out prints, recently arrived from the US,
entrenching his interest in street style and fashion, and
and set for exhibition at Museum of African Design.
deepening his interest in his own country. One of his
Amid the SA doomsayers and gloom purveyors,
projects led him to the Real Actions, a pantsula dance
Saunders and his collaborators and photographic subjects
group based in Orange Farm. (His photograph ‘Dressed Up’,
manage to convey a sense of irrepressible optimism; not by
taken for the Benetton Colors Magazine, consequently won
ignoring problems, so much as treating them as background
him the 2010 ACP Courier photo competition). Since then,
to the bright, the colourful, the individually stylish. In the
Saunders has continued his work in documenting pantsula,
midst of decay, creativity rules. Through Saunders’ lens,
teaming up with University of Johannesburg post-doc Dr
Johannesburg is a wellspring of fascination, a place to be
Daniella Goeller to document the dance culture, which,
mined for cultural gold.
says Saunders, arose from the forced removals of apartheid,
Ferreira describes his own references and inspirations
and originally drew its inspiration from the look and feel of
as ‘one day a sunset, one day people waiting at a taxi rank,
the American gangster of yesteryear – ‘hats, shoes, double
and then another would be just waking up, looking down
breasted jackets,’ he describes. ‘The modern pantsula
from Newtown and seeing a mix of cultures blended into the
dancers have taken pieces from this... with the modern
uniqueness of Joburg street style – from the fashion kids, to
guys, it’s work wear – because everybody had it. Everybody
business people, to the hobos and just all around. If you are
had an overall, [or something similar]... Now they go and
not inspired in this magical city then I say look at the shadows
buy it, but then it was easy to access, and cheap enough to
on buildings, the ground beneath you. There is so much that
buy a uniform for your crew.’
one can draw from...’ Saunders, Jozi-born and bred, expresses a similar excitement regarding the in progress
Not X CS - collaboration with Macdonald Mfolo
34 / Creative Feel / May 2015
Along with a style and moves of its own, pantsula developed ‘tsotsi-taal’ – ‘essentially street talk from the
Not X CS - collaboration with Vernac
townships... signalling what’s happening on the corner,
and Smarteez member); Dennis Chuene of Vernac Bags
through a whistle [for example]. A hustler’s language, a
in Cape Town; ‘vintage clothier’ Dr Pachanga; Macdonald
language that the cops, and the people on the street don’t
‘Macdee’ Mfolo, a creator of giant puppets and clothing for
understand, which became their language,’ explains Saunders.
pantsula, based in Orange Farm; and Manthe Ribane.
‘It’s amazing how pantsula has transformed itself into
Lai worked intensively with each designer to
a very different culture,’ he notes. ‘It started off with a kind
recreate an item from her collection, re-imagined and
of criminal vibe, and became more of a dance culture. It’s
reinvented through collaboration, a process shadowed
a job, a career. During apartheid, it showed the underworld
and documented by Saunders. Finally, Saunders art-
of the townships; dance culture, history, storytelling, night
directed, filmed and photographed the final products,
Installation from Not X CS at Wallplay in New York
Installation from Not X CS at Wallplay in New York
life... now it shows almost an escape from poverty, finding
modelled/performed by Ribane: A raincoat constructed
something that’s more positive for your future... it’s a very
from the ubiquitous ‘china bag’, and other one-of-a-kind
hard, professional dance form to be part of.’
garments, variously described by Lai as ‘a hat made by
According to Saunders, joining a pantsula crew now
a local milliner, the joints of a puppet hand ingeniously
keeps kids off the street: members must be disciplined and
created from overlapping recycled water bottles, a
hard-working to earn their place as professional dancers, and
reengineered garment from 2nd hand clothing donated
involvement in crime or drugs can see a member expelled.
from the West’. This formed part of an indiegogo proposal
Half a world away, Saunders’ work documenting the likes of The Smarteez, Real Actions and other local dance/ fashion sub-cultures attracted the online attention of
that successfully raised nearly $6 000 in support of the project’s New York exhibition debut last September. Now Not X CS, which features the final pieces,
Jenny Lai, a New York designer specialising in experimental
photographs and a short film, is showing in Johannesburg,
fashion and custom-made performance wear for dancers.
where its opening marked the reopening of MOAD
Like Saunders and Ferreira, Lai discovered a South Africa
following several months of renovations. The exhibition
rich in creative inspiration. After several months of digital
has been accompanied by a series of workshops, and will
communication, Lai and Saunders decided to embark upon
run until mid June.
an extensive project of multiple collaborations. Through
After which, Saunders will presumably turn his attention
Saunders’ network, Lai teamed up with local artists
back to his work on pantsula, culture crews, music videos
including Floyd Manotana, aka Floyd Avenue (a milliner,
and (many) other things. Watch this space...CF
Creative Feel / May 2015 / 35
The African Art of Hair Braiding A distinctly (but not uniquely) African tradition, the art of plaiting one’s hair has symbolised many things over time: from status to resistance, a rite of passage to exploration of fashion.
S
itting cross-legged between a mother’s legs while she carefully and deftly braids her daughter’s hair is an intimate place to share stories and the tradition of braiding hair. In Africa, this practice may last hours or days
depending on the style that is being constructed. But, braiding as a cultural practice is not secluded to the African continent. In today’s contemporary society, the art of the braid is celebrated widely in fashion as celebrities sport the latest trend of masses of braiding atop a woman’s head. In fact the European French, Dutch and German braids as well as Native American pig-tails and their even more complex fashions have become mixed with the various types of African styles to create a growing sector known as hair art. And, as the popularity of braiding gains new ground in the
36 / Creative Feel / May 2015
modern world it also still holds its place as a covert kind of resistance to the domination of straight-haired notions of beauty. Whether plaits are worn by black celebrities celebrating the diversity of the African Diaspora or as a commemoration of the ‘back to our roots’ medium of PanAfricanism that saw experimentation with cornrows and other forms of plaits by African Americans in the 1960s, it stands as a form of everyday resistance that braiding has re-emerged again. The hairstyle, which can be seen worn by all races living in Africa today, is an affirmation of Africanness in a refreshing way. Of course, it is not only relegated to females – today or in its long history – as males popularly show off intricate geometric patterns of cornrows on their heads. The Masai in Kenya traditionally had male initiates spend hours getting their hair plaited into ornate patterns that differentiated each initiate. The Sphinx in Egypt also had a tight braid carved into the back of its head. Braids were also a useful means of discerning warriors from disparate factions in ancient Africa. But the social significance of the ritual of spending hours doing hair in experimental geometrical blueprints reaches further than the practicalities of showing
Creative Feel / May 2015 / 37
status, ethnicity, age or even availability for marriage (as
closeness that is bred through the process. Today, Plummer,
were some of the elements communicated through hair). The
who had wished to become a fashion designer, now fashions
painstaking custom was a rite of passage and it continues to
clothing out of plaited synthetic hair and adorns heads with
be so in a modern context.
innovative loops of braid-patterns. The practice of braiding
Hair artist Angela Plummer, who has recently won the
also holds the usefulness of keeping hair from splitting at
‘Best Artistic Braids’ award at the Black Styles affair in the
the ends and promotes growth; but the social consequence
Netherlands, recalls how she started doing her mother’s
cannot be downplayed.
braids, at ten years of age, when she fell ill. This inversion
In her latest bestseller Americanah, writer Chimamanda
of the ritual, which usually passes down from mother to
Ngozi Adichie begins her protagonist’s story at a hair
daughter in everyday society, still helped to maintain the
salon where she has come to braid her hair. The character
38 / Creative Feel / May 2015
is a blogger who writes about the experiences of being an ex-patriot from Nigeria to America. She writes a blog entry about the importance of celebrating her natural hair even though it seems undesirable in the Western business sector. Whilst getting her braids done she vitally finds that she has an opportunity to get to know her braider and the other women at the salon through the conversations that ensue during her hours there. It is indubitable that African braiding still features as a site of resistance in the global world. But, as it continues to develop through the ages, it also creates a new space for art that travels with the person in styles that can be changed every day. In a New York exhibition, Beninese artist Meshac Gaba displayed a large mass of adroitly plaited braids that
were a marvel of craftsmanship. At Dance Umbrella 2015, performance artist Chuma Sopotela stood defiantly naked under a massive chandelier of braids. And Yellow Fever, a stark short-film by award-winning Kenyan Ng’endo Mukii also featured the braiding process as a key space to begin the conversation on seeming self-hatred through the valorisation of light-coloured skin. Anecdotally, the Huffington Post – on the return of braids – wrote in 2012: ‘the braid is The Great Unifier, people!’ So when a mother sits and braids her child it is part of a meaningful history. CF
Creative Feel / May 2015 / 39
STANDARD BANK YOUNG ARTIST AWARD WINNERS NEVER STOP MOVING FORWARD
Anthea Moys at CIRCA for Creative Feel launch
A
giant red door stands in front you and above it are the words ‘Free Portraits’ aglow in the evening sky. On a dark day as the sun sets and South Africa is once again under the gloomy spell of load-shedding, it is pure
magic to experience a one-on-one performance of art with Anthea Moys. The inaugural Standard Bank Young Artist Award (SBYAA) winner for Performance Art hid in a quiet corner of CIRCA Gallery for her first performance of Free Portraits at the re-branding of Classicfeel to Creative Feel. It was a night made for the busy creative CEOs, managers and artistic directors that drove up to the gallery on another stressful evening of traffic jams. As the guests circled into the wonderland of CIRCA Gallery with its winding pathways embracing them in its warm architecture, it was easy to begin forgetting the hullabaloo of another day at work in Johannesburg city. African drumbeats melted away the hum of traffic as robots went dark. And, sweating glasses of cocktails dropped cooling beads of water as the guests swirled up to the balcony. It was under the sunset’s shadow that a fire crackled at the centre of the floor; beyond the flames stood a giant red door with an invitation for Free Portraits. The name Anthea Moys, for the many that are getting to know it, is synonymous with crowd interventions. She became popular with the Grahamstown audience, and National Arts Festival goers, when she created Anthea Moys versus the City of Grahamstown for her SBYAA performance. She played against groups of people in the city, including an infamous game against a soccer team. She stood alone facing the soccer players and, even though some audience Photographs by Matthew Jordaan
40 / Creative Feel / May 2015
members joined her side, she hilariously lost. Free Portraits is unfamiliar territory for the artist who declares it is,
“‘Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.’ Anthea Moys quotes Picasso as her influence for the form of the piece. It is a gesture towards unknowing in order to see anew. With the acknowledgement of how artists and creatives judge themselves – to the point where the work is no longer fun and the artist becomes despondent – this is an invitation to let go.”
larger and more freeing. It also means that they are facing themselves. This is the real gem of the participation with Moys, who is tucked away in a nearby corner. She becomes a sage to guide the experience and a voyeur of a journey through time, because her quirky lead directs the guests to see themselves without judgment, as they would have when they were but children. ‘Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.’ Anthea Moys quotes Picasso as her influence for the form of the piece. It is a gesture towards unknowing in order to see anew. With the acknowledgement of how artists and creatives judge themselves – to the point where the work is no longer fun and the artist becomes despondent – this is an invitation to let go. Appropriately, as what was Classicfeel flies out of its nest to chart new territories as an unknown name – Creative Feel – the work speaks to the need for taking risks
‘Always good to try new things!’ Her aim for this encounter
in order to grow. The risk is being alone. And Moys takes
was to create a work of art that people could actually
that risk with her guests. She is also alone, but without
participate in the making of. It is a bold undertaking that
the comfort of the warm booth. She reflects that, ‘The
is as daring as her signature use of the colour red. Any
performance was about 3 hours long for me. It was really
undertaking by Moys heralds the theme of fearlessness. So,
intense! Each person was so different.’
when Gerald (Roberto Pombo), the doorman, holds out his
Moys’ work is always a game that mirrors life. Her self-
hand to help the first fearless guests into the scarlet booth
reflexivity is imbued in giggles. One’s drawing is Munchian
and then helps them out to reveal gleaming smiles on
blurs, another’s: a Picasso-like mess of shapes. The best
childlike faces, it is pure magic.
part is stepping into a world where mistakes garner
Businessmen and women of the creative sector enter
surprising laughter. CF
this industry with some artistic talent. The piece asks each person to enter and go through a process with Moys that sees them leaving with their own portrait in hand.
The Young Artist Awards were started in 1981 by the National Arts
The trick here is that in the booth they are alone but not.
Festival to acknowledge emerging, relatively young South African
Moys views them from a smart phone and she guides the
artists who have displayed an outstanding talent in their artistic
individual toward their eventual drawing through a set
endeavours. These prestigious awards are presented annually to
of headphones. The interaction is intimately removed
deserving artists, affording them national exposure and acclaim.
but also humorously personal. There is a mirror facing the guest that incidentally allows for the space to feel
Standard Bank has sponsored these awards since 1984.
Creative Feel / May 2015 / 41
Creative Icon William Kentridge is not only known for his distinct charcoal drawings and prints, but also for his unique animated films, his theatre work with the Handspring Puppet Company, his tapestry collaboration, as well as his public art, his sculptures and of course video and sound installations. His collaboration with Rand Merchant Bank on The Magic Flute proves that, although great minds don’t always think alike, when like minds come together, magic can happen.
W
illiam Kentridge created the stage
Kentridge’s filmed drawings, or drawn films, according to
design and acted as a theatre director
Lilian Tone, inhabit a curious state of suspension between
for his opera work. The first opera
static to time-based, from stillness to movement. These
staging by Kentridge was of Il ritorno
‘drawings in motion’ undergo constant change and constant
d’Ulisse in patria - The Return of Ulysses
redefinition, while the projection of their luscious charcoal
with the Handspring Puppet Company. In this rendition of
surfaces somehow retains an almost tangible tactility. Smoky
Monteverdi’s work as a chamber piece, Ulysses is no longer
grounds and rough-hewn marks morph into an incessant,
in Ithaca. Lying in a Johannesburg hospital, he is a frail man
though not seamless, flow of free association that evokes the
hanging on to life and remembering the epic of the Greek
fleeting hypnagogic images that precede sleep. Bodies melt
hero in his dreams.
into landscape; a cat turns into a typewriter, into a reel-to-
His production of Mozart’s Magic Flute in 2007 was
reel recorder, into a bomb; full becomes void with the sweep
brought – with great success – by Rand Merchant Bank to
of a sleeve. The allure of Kentridge’s animations lies in
South Africa and is still considered one of the best South
their unequivocal reliance on the continuing present, in the
African stage productions ever. The production was hailed as
uncanny sense of artistic creation and audience reception
an exuberant dialogue between drawing and music, a three-
happening at once.
dimensional work of art with video projected across and around the human figures onstage. Kentridge’s first collaboration with The Metropolitan
The result is a projected charcoal drawing where the line unfolds mysteriously on the screen, with a will of its own, the artist’s hand unseen.
Opera in New York was Shostakovich’s The Nose in 2010 and
Kentridge’s theatre work with the Handspring Puppet
the Met has just announced that they will be staging Alban
Company includes Zeno at 4am, where Zeno has perfect self-
Berg’s Lulu in November 2015, ‘Acclaimed artist and director
knowledge but is ineffective in applying this.
William Kentridge applies his unique theatrical vision to
Confessions of Zeno explores the worlds of work and of
Berg’s notorious femme fatale who shatters lives, including
erotic pleasure that sustain the life of the modern European
her own. Musically, the masterful score is in the sure hands
bourgeoisie in the years before the outbreak of World War
of Met Music Director James Levine. Soprano Marlis Petersen
I. Ubu and the Truth Commission is based on the hearings
has excited audiences around the world with her portrayal of
of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission
the tour-de-force title role, a wild journey of love, obsession,
and combines puppetry, performance by live actors, music,
and death.’
animation and documentary footage. Faustus in Africa is
42 / Creative Feel / May 2015
based on the legend of Faust, 16th-century learned scholar who squandered his fortune and then sold his soul to the devil in exchange for additional time to search for the meaning of existence through travel and indulgences. Woyzeck on the Highveld is an adaptation of German writer Georg Buchner’s famous play of jealousy, murder and the struggle of an ordinary man against an uncaring society which eventually destroys him. William Kentridge: Tapestries – A Collaboration with Stephens’ Tapestry Studio is an extraordinary collection of tapestries, created in conjunction with Marguerite Stephens’ weaving studio and shown recently at The Wits Art Museum. Stephens and Kentridge have been working together on tapestries for the past 24 years. About 40 tapestries have emerged from this longstanding collaboration between the two studios, in which Stephens translates and upscales the artist’s collage drawings for the very different materials and techniques of tapestry-making. Looking at just some of the announcements around Kentridge, it looks as though 2015, which started with the Design Indaba and The Refusal of Time in Cape Town during February, is another very busy year for the artist. In the Netherlands, EYE presents If We Ever Get to Heaven (April – August 2015), an extensive exhibition featuring a number of installations by Kentridge and the newly developed More Sweetly Play the Dance, a frieze of moving images measuring some 45 metres in length. William Kentridge’s latest project, according to Artnet, will transform the banks of Rome’s river Tiber into a crazy-long work of art. Drawings for his 550 metre mural, Triumphs and Laments will be opening with live music composed by Philip Miller and videos projected onto the facade of the museum. The frieze will include more than 90 figures, each up to 9 metres tall, narrating the city’s 2 000year history in a silhouetted succession that will span from Ponte Sisto to Ponte Mazzini on Piazza Tevere. The images will be formed by erasing the accumulated dirt from the embankment walls and will subsequently become gradually obscured once again by the renewed build-up of grime. Throughout the duration of the piece, from 2015 to 2016, there will also be multi-disciplinary public performances using the frieze as a backdrop. All by an artist who thinks differently and, in doing so, has built a brand that is continually associated with
William Kentridge. Images
innovation, creativity and the highest of standards. CF
© Marc Shoul/Goodman Gallery
Creative Feel / May 2015 / 43
Creative Sponsorship In celebration of our Africa theme, we asked Hazel Chimhandamba, Senior Manager of Group Sponsorship at Standard Bank, a bit more about their pioneering role in the arts in Africa.
S
tandard Bank’s brand and its marketing activities support the realignment of our resources to focus exclusively on our customers on the African continent. We aim to tap into Africa’s energy and the
Our approach to selecting projects in the arts and music space is indicative of this. Africa is a continent whose multitude of cultures has influenced the world. Our music, fashion and art are expressions of our diverse and rich cultural heritage. Not
entrepreneurialism that is the continent’s commercial life
only are these an expression of our creativity, they also
force, to show the role we play in moving Africa forward.
play a critical role in promoting positive expressions of the
Our sponsorships aim to invest in initiatives integral to
African story. It’s this positive impact of the arts that saw
realising Africa’s growth aspirations and speak to our
us take a decision to seek out and promote initiatives which
commitment to playing a role in contributing to the
serve as platforms to showcase the arts. Our investment in
development of our continent.
the arts across the continent represents a legacy that spans
Hugh Masekela © Brett Rubin
44 / Creative Feel / May 2015
over 30 years. We are proud to have supported initiatives that have grown to become key highlights in the cultural calendar across the markets in which we operate. ‘Standard Bank is committed to developing the arts as we recognise the important role it plays in society. The ultimate aim of our support is to nurture and promote the development of both the visual and performing arts on our continent, encouraging engagement and social interaction,’ says Hazel Chimhandamba Senior Manager of Group Sponsorships at Standard Bank. We are also committed to the development of artistic talent and to this end we support a number of projects which focus on acknowledge emerging talent such as the Standard Bank Young Artist Awards. These prestigious awards are presented annually to deserving artists, affording them national exposure and acclaim. ‘We have successfully hosted flagship events such as the Standard Bank Joy of Jazz festival and have hosted similar jazz festivals in Ghana, Zambia and Malawi which continue to grow in popularity. We look forward to our continued role as a leading supporter of the arts in Africa and using our extensive footprint on the continent to promote the arts,’ says Chimhandamba. Standard Bank Joy of Jazz Standard Bank’s involvement in jazz started in 1997 with the Jazz Festival in Grahamstown. Fifteen years on Standard Bank is regarded by all in the music industry as the leading sponsor and supporter of jazz. The Standard Bank Joy of Jazz festival has provided a platform for African artists to join the world stage along with global icons. The festival is a highlight on the Jazz calendar attracting thousands of jazz enthusiasts from across the continent. Stanbic Ghana Jazz Festival The Stanbic Ghana Jazz Festival celebrated its second edition in 2015, which has seen it grow into one of Ghana’s most anticipated music events. Local jazz artists shared the stage with global jazz legends at the festival, which provided jazz enthusiasts with an unforgettable experience in Accra. Plans are to grow the festival to showcase the best in local and international jazz talents as it assumes its place amongst Africa’s top jazz events. Stanbic Misty Festival – Zambia The inaugural Stanbic Misty Festival was held in Lusaka, Zambia in 2014. Headlined by jazz legend Hugh Masekela, the event attracted thousands of jazz fans from across the country and the region. CF
Zonke Dikana. Image courtesy of Sony Music
Creative Feel / May 2015 / 45
Creative Economy In the 1980s, Nigeria’s economic woes brought its film industry, developing since the 1960s, to a standstill. Violent crime and poverty dissuaded potential audiences from attending cinemas in the city, and imported videos filled the gap. Then an enterprising businessman made a movie...
K
enneth Nnebue – then a dealer in electronic
‘We woke up, a few months after, and it was like the
goods – produced Living in Bondage in 1992,
theme song of every home, the wake up call of every
allegedly as a means to shift imported blank
occasion: “have you seen Living in Bondage?”’ recalls
video cassettes. The film tells the story of a
Kanayo. ‘It caught like wild fire.’ Half a million copies of
man who joins a wealth cult, and consequently
the film sold within weeks. Nnebue followed this up with
murders his beloved wife in a ritual sacrifice. His evil
a film in English, Glamour Girls, in 1993, and the rest is
deed brings him all the wealth he desires, but leaves him
Nollywood history.
tormented by his wife’s ghost. Living in Bondage was the start of something big.
Nollywood is not immediately synonymous with Nigerian film. Rather, it is an industry of made-for-video
According to lead actor, Kanayo O Kanayo in an interview
films, shot on a shoestring budget in a matter of weeks (or
with the BBC, the production broke the mould in that ‘we
less – Chico Ejiro, aka ‘Mr Prolific’ has claimed to be able to
were able to tell our own story, in our own language [Igbo],
wrap a production in three days), with many productions
to our own people, in the way they understood... It told a
filmed in English, thereby allowing for a wider audience
story that people had always heard of, that people could
reach. It is estimated that between 2 000 and 2 500 films
relate with.’ Amid the grinding poverty of Lagos, rumours
are produced every year, making Nollywood the second
abounded of people who had become rich through the
largest film industry in terms of output (after Bollywood)
intercession of dark occult forces; Living in Bondage brought
and the third largest according to income (estimated at
this to vivid reality. Within weeks, half a million copies of
around $200 million a year, and bested only by Hollywood
the film had sold.
and Bollywood). Nollywood films have flooded Africa, and
46 / Creative Feel / May 2015
Nollywood movie posters
its stars are recognised across the continent. The industry
an underlying battle between High Art, education and
is said to be an important source of employment in Nigeria:
rationality vs. urban pop, mass ignorance and superstition.
according to Mfonobong Nsehe, writing for Forbes, it
‘I keep trying to explain to people, it’s not about the
provides jobs for some 300,000 people. All of which has
quality at the moment,’ says producer and director Peace
been achieved without government support, foreign aid, or
Fiberesima in This is Nollywood. ‘The quality is coming –
the work of NGOs.
there are those films that people are making for quality. But
The industry now makes use of digital technologies,
the first thing you have to remember about this society, is
through which ‘we have the tools to tell our own stories,’
that Africa still has people who live on one dollar a day, and
says Tunde Kelani (aka TK), one of the industry’s more highly
these are the people who really watch these films.’
regarded directors, in an interview with historian Marissa
‘It’s a kind of subsistence filmmaking,’ echoes producer and
Moorman. ‘The chemical process of celluloid films was a
director Mahmood Ali Balogun, ‘...It’s not the fancy filmmaking,
medium of exclusion. There was no way we could control the
where you want… to put all the razmatazz of Hollywood, where
means of production. But the reverse is the case in this era
you have big budgets. Here you make this film, it sells, you
where with a modest investment, we could actually own the
jump on location again to make another film.’
means of production and use that to let us be heard...’ ‘Our films have stories that our people can relate to
But according to Nsehe, today things are changing: ‘The quality of our movies is much better than ever before,’
themselves. They are stories about our people, for our
he writes, ‘our actors are better financially compensated;
people,’ says director Lancelot Imasen, in Franco Sacchi’s
directors and other professionals in the industry are
documentary This is Nollywood.
travelling overseas to institutions like the New York Film
Not everyone is a fan, however; Nollywood is frequently
Academy to hone their skills; investors and businessmen
decried for its enshrinement of quantity over quality.
are pouring more substantial financial resources into the
Soap opera melodrama and penny-dreadful plot lines,
production of better quality flicks.’
poorly acted and badly filmed, are common. In the 2007
‘Nollywood is like finding out you have a voice; today
documentary Nollywood Babylon, the battle of good and
everyone has a voice, so there’s a lot of shouting!’ says
evil, typically represented as a struggle between the occult
Kelani. ‘But it’s better than being silent. It’s a powerful force
and the church in many Nollywood films, appears to echo
that cannot be negotiated.’ CF
Creative Feel / May 2015 / 47
Walter Whall Battiss, Untitled R400 000 – 600 000
Important South African & International Art AUCTION IN JOHANNESBURG, MONDAY 1 JUNE 2015 The Wanderers Club, Ballroom, 21 North Street, Illovo Preview: 29 - 31 May, 10am to 5pm | Walkabout: 31 May at 11am 011 728 8246 | 079 367 0637 | www.straussart.co.za Strauss & Co is the global leader in the South African art market
Alexander Calder, Spiral R1 200 000 – 1 600 000
South Africa’s most substantial Arts and Designs competition announces 2015/2016 competition intake
U
n-established artists and designers stand a
The PPC Imaginarium Awards are open to South African
chance to change their careers through financial
citizens, resident holders as well as foreign students with
support, recognition, mentorship and guidance
study permits, who are not professionally established
by entering the 2015 PPC Imaginarium Awards.
in their respective fields. Entries may be submitted by
After a successful inaugural competition in 2014, the PPC
individuals or team collaborations, and artists and designers
Imaginarium Awards is back; and is still South Africa’s
may enter multiple categories, with an original artwork for
richest arts and design competition.
each category. Entries close 31 August 2015.
Having evolved from the long-standing PPC Young
The winners in each competition category will be
Concrete Sculptor Awards, the PPC Imaginarium encourages
announced 4 February 2016 and their work will be on display
artists and designers to create and express their abilities using
at YoungBlood Art Gallery in Cape Town. The exhibition
Portland cement-based concrete as a primary base or material.
will form part of the popular Cape Town ‘First Thursdays’
The competition will feature six disciplines in the arts and
event. Thereafter the winning designs will be on display at
design fields. These disciplines are sculpture, jewellery,
the Design Indaba in February 2016. The overall competition
architecture, film, industrial design and fashion design.
winner announcement will take place at the University of
Boasting prize money to the value of half a million rand, each category winner stands a chance to win R50 000;
Johannesburg in Auckland Park on 31 March 2016. Enter the PPC Imaginarium Awards before 31 August
while runner-up contestants receive R15 000. The overall
2015 and stand a chance to launch your career. For more
competition winner will receive the grand prize of R100 000
information about the PPC Imaginarium Awards, visit
at the winners’ exhibition in 2016.
www.ppcimaginarium.co.za. CF
50 / Creative Feel / May 2015
Creative Feel / May 2015 / 51
Turbine
Art Fair
2015 The Turbine Art Fair (TAF15) brought to you by The Forum Company, returns to the iconic Turbine Hall in Newtown for a third year from 16 to 19 July 2015.
T
AF15 is a platform for galleries, curators and
Managing Director of The Forum Company, the main
other art organisations to promote emerging
sponsor and organiser of TAF15.
and established talents in an accessible and
Visitors will also be able to take part in a programme
enjoyable way. In doing this TAF aims to
of daily talks, which will be interactive, with influential
promote new work and talent and to create a
speakers in the world of art, collecting and design.
new art audience and collector base. Exhibitors whether galleries, collectives or dealers have
been invited to exhibit contemporary artwork priced below R40 000.00. Individual artists are able to participate either
STAEDTLER will again host TAF’s children’s area, allowing young budding ‘artists’ to be creative whilst their parents enjoy the TAF. Turbine Art Fair together with VANSA host Fresh Produce
as part of a collective or by applying to one of the special
2015. Curator Zanele Mashumi will be selecting work by
projects. TAF15 is a notable event and all applications have
young artists from around South Africa, to be exhibited as
been carefully considered to ensure compliance with the
part of the Fresh Produce Exhibition at the Turbine Art Fair.
core values of TAF15 and its organisers.
Young artists selected will also participate in professional
‘Visitors to TAF15 can expect to see over 50 galleries and exhibits showcasing the best contemporary and
education and mentoring facilitated by Assemblage. The Graduate Show is an exhibition curated especially
emerging African talent. TAF is not just an art fair!
for the Turbine Art Fair 2015 and features some of the
Visitors to the fair can expect live music daily, artisan
best post-graduate painting from fine arts departments
food and drink, books and publications, a children’s
across South Africa. The following departments are being
programme and much more!’ says Glynis Hyslop,
represented: Michaelis Art School (UCT), Rhodes University,
52 / Creative Feel / May 2015
career ahead of them – the perfect moment to invest in a
“Visitors to TAF15 can expect to see over 50 galleries and exhibits showcasing the best contemporary and emerging African talent”
promising young artist’s work at an affordable price. Following on the success of many years of engagement with South Africa and South African artists, the Sylt Foundation has sought to extend its residency programme by enabling emerging artists who will go through a selection process to be awarded this unique opportunity. This exciting new residency programme is a collaboration with the Turbine Art Fair (TAF) and is granted once a year for an emerging artist exhibiting at TAF. Galleries are invited to present their selected emerging artists for possible selection to the TASA selection panel.
Stellenbosch University and Wits School of Arts (WSOA).
The Johannesburg Art Gallery together with TAF15
This will be the first time since 1988 that a collective
are in talks with one another to establish an extensive
graduate exhibition is being done.
multiples exhibition supported by Strauss & Co and
There is currently a resurgence in painting as the
ArtInsure (TBC). More information to follow shortly.
medium of choice in art schools across the country with
‘Turbine Art Fair is not just an art fair but a lifestyle
some of the most interesting and engaging works being
event! A fabulous showcase of the talent we have in South
produced in this medium on both graduate and post-
Africa and a great way to start collecting art in a unique
graduate level. This exhibition is an attempt to track this
and un-daunting way, bringing the best galleries and
current phenomenon in South African art departments.
artists under one roof. Enjoy great food, live music and
This is an exhibition of young emerging painters whose work is mature and powerful and with a promising
meet new and interesting people. All in all a great day out in Jozi!’ adds Hyslop. CF
Creative Feel / May 2015 / 53
Venice Biennale
John Akomfrah b. 1957 Ghana, lives and works in London. Karo Akpokiere b. 1981 Nigeria, lives and works in Lagos and Berlin. Sammy Baloji b. 1978 Democratic Republic of Congo, lives and works in Lubumbashi and Brussels. Marlene Dumas Curator Okwui Enwezor
All the World’s
b. 1953 South Africa, lives and works in Amsterdam. Kay Hassan b. 1956 South Africa, lives and works in Johannesburg. Invisible Borders: Trans-African Photographers
Futures T
an artists’ organization founded in 2011, based in Lagos.
will be open to the public from Saturday, May 9th to Sunday,
b. 1970 Sierra Leone, lives and works in Freetown and the
November 22nd, and with its inauguration Venice celebrates
Netherlands.
the 120th anniversary of the first Exhibition in 1895.
Wangechi Mutu
Samson Kambalu b. 1975 Malawi, lives and works in London. Gonçalo Mabunda b. 1975 Mozambique, lives and works in Maputo.
his year’s International Art Exhibition at la Biennale di
Ibrahim Mahama
Venezia ‘All the World’s Futures’ is curated by Okwui
b. 1987 Ghana, lives and works in Tamale.
Enwezor and organized by chaired by Paolo Baratta. It
Abu Bakarr Mansaray
The International Exhibition will expand from the Central
b. 1972 Kenya, lives and works in New York.
Pavilion at the Giardini (3 000 sq.m.) to the Arsenale (8 000
Cheikh Ndiaye
sq.m.) and, in addition, to external areas. The extensive array
b. 1970 Senegal, lives and works in New York, Dakar and Lyon.
of foreign participant countries (89, compared to 58 in 1997)
Emeka Ogboh
will virtually gather around our curator’s great International
b. 1977 Nigeria, lives and works in Lagos and Berlin.
Exhibition; 29 of them will be in the historic pavilions in the
Joachim Schönfeldt
Giardini, 29 in the spaces dedicated to the various national
b. 1958 South Africa, lives and works in Johannesburg.
participations within the Arsenale (where restoration work
Fatou Kandé Senghor
continues on 16th century buildings) and the rest in other
b 1971 Senegal, lives and works in Dakar.
buildings in Venice, accompanied by 44 Collateral Events.
Mikhael Subotzky
This year’s curator Okwui Enwezor chose 17 African
b. 1981 South Africa, lives and works in Johannesburg.
artists among his international selection for his main
Barthélémy Toguo
exhibition, All The World’s Futures:
b. 1967 Cameroon, lives and works in Paris and Bandjoun. CF
54 / Creative Feel / May 2015
Candice Berman John Vusi Mfupi
Greening the Future I, John Vusi Mfupi
Greening the Future II, John Vusi Mfupi
Greening the Future III, John Vusi Mfupi
Greening the Future IV, John Vusi Mfupi
Look out for the Candice Berman Fine Art Gallery at TAF15 (16 – 19 July at Turbine Hall, Newtown). Candice Berman Fine Art Gallery Shop 8, Riverside Shopping Centre, 319 Bryanston Drive, Bryanston, 2191 011 463 8524 / 084 843 8302 / info@candiceberman.co.za / candicebermangallery.com
Chimpanzee print by Adrian Kӧhler
Adrian Kӧhler during the print-making process
Handspring at Artist Proof Studio Collaborating on a print to celebrate War Horse led the Handspring team to a recent, highly productive artists’ residency at Artist Proof Studio.
L
ast year, in celebration of the arrival of War Horse
‘It’s the first thing I’ve done since leaving art school,’
in South Africa, RMB commissioned an artwork,
says Jones of a large work combining chine-colle and lino
a print created through a collaborative effort
cut, and depicting a Karoo landscape, crested by a sky full
between the Handspring Puppet company – the
of odd clouds – the shapes of Joey’s inner components. ‘The
creators of Joey – and Newtown’s Artist Proof
most important thing for me, is to start from where you left
Studio (APS), whose professional print shop has a long
off, not try and do something completely unrelated,’ says
history of working alongside some of the country’s most
Jones. ‘So I’ve started with the War Horse shapes. I’m not
celebrated artists. The commission resulted in two prints
working from a completely new iconography, I’m using the
featuring Joey and Topthorn.
War Horse iconography, and changing it.’
RMB’s subsequent sale of these works raised more than
Kӧhler’s images likewise ‘start where he left off.’ According
half a million rand for the Handspring Trust, a not-for-profit
to Jones, Kӧhler has around 2 000 drawings, ranging from
venture which supports and nurtures the development of the
artist’s impressions through to working drawings, from
puppetry arts in Barrydale in the Western Cape. It also led
which a puppet-maker will carve out the features of a given
Handspring’s Adrian Kӧhler and Basil Jones to undertake an
character. Together, APS and Kohler selected a variety of these
artists’ residency at APS, bringing the duo full circle: now
to be recreated in print by the APS team of master printers:
famed for their work in theatre and puppetry, the pair first
Sara-Aimee Verity, Pontsho Sikhosane, Bevan de Wet, Charles
met while studying sculpture at Michaelis.
Kholobeng and Nathi Ndladla – a master paper maker from
56 / Creative Feel / May 2015
the Phumani Archive Mill, which makes the paper used for many of the prints. The team handles the preparation, polishing the brass and copper plates, etching, inking the tiles, proofing and editioning. ‘As a print technician, you’re involved in a very close collaborative exercise with an artist or artists,’ says Verity, who is also manager of the pro-print shop. ‘Print is known as a collaborative art... most of the time, the artists that printers work with are not necessarily print-makers. They may have studied print or dabbled in it to a certain extent, but they’re usually sculptors, painters, draughtsmen. It’s the printer’s hand and technical know-how that has to guide
“It’s been really joyous for us. These are people who really know what they’re doing, and have been encouraging – to the point of being bullying! – and also providing a lot of assistance, and really good advice”
the process. So the artist will come to us with drawings, and
Artwork by Basil Jones
Linocut (detail)
then we have to say “right, this is the technique we think
results have been outstanding. ‘I’m blown away... I knew it
is best suited to get something alike” – not exactly, but
was going to be a productive time, but I think the outcome
similar.’ Verity is quick to point out that prints, or multiples,
is a real reflection of a lifetime’s work and knowing the
as they’re sometimes referred to, are artworks in their own
working process. We’ve heard back-stories to the puppets
right, not simply reproductions of source material.
and puppeteers – stories about seventh generation
‘So [for example] a crumbly drawing could turn into a
puppeteers from Bamako who Adrian trained with; puppets
lithograph or a soft ground etching; if you want something
that never made it to productions, and puppets whose arms
that is a lot more painterly, it could be a monotype, or
failed in working.’
a spit bite aquatint. If you want something that’s quite
Kӧhler and Jones likewise speak highly of the
graphic, with a tactile quality, we would go with wood cut,
experience – the proceeds of which will once again go
relief or perhaps a silk-screen; and then, the photographic
towards supporting the work of the Handspring Trust. ‘It’s
methods are photo lithography and photopolymer gravure,
very exciting for us to be in a space where we are being
where you can take an image, have it scanned and then
assisted to make this,’ says Jones. ‘It’s been really joyous
expose it and develop it to a plate. So [the final image] is
for us. These are people who really know what they’re
always a step removed from the source material.’
doing, and have been encouraging – to the point of being
According to Verity, Jones and Kӧhler ‘have been particularly good in understanding that process;’ and the
bullying! And also providing a lot of assistance, and really good advice.’ CF
Creative Feel / May 2015 / 57
Son
of
African
Soil Africasso Thabo Vase,
Andile Dyalvane, 2014
Award-winning ceramic artist Andile Dyalvane draws upon a rich palette of African tradition, balancing artistry, entrepreneurship and soul. Here, he talks Creative Feel through some of his collections and other projects. Non Vessel Exclusive Collection, Andile Dyalvane 58 / Creative Feel / May 2015
Creative Feel: Would you describe yourself as an ‘African’ artist?
Andile Dyalvane: Yes, my heritage, expressions, upbringing and birth are factually rooted in the African, Xhosa culture and traditions. The sources of my work are drawn from those very real African highlights in my living, from African artefacts, ancient practiced traditions and fractal patterned messages, to who was inspired by some of those aesthetics, and relaying the African elements in what I create.
CF: Your latest collection... AD: ...is a very spiritual collection called the Non-Vessel Collection. The initial idea was to create sculptural works from the imagery and motifs from the five-year-old ‘Views from the Studio’ Collection. This was inspired by the current gentrified Woodstock skyline and harbour dockyards, with juxtapositions of residential halved industrial scabs – as observed from where the gallery and studio is based. (Imiso ceramics, of which Dyalvane is a founder, is based at the Biscuit Mill in Cape Town). The Non-Vessels collection was first explored as works made tangible within a residency period in the New Yinnge District, Taiwan, Taipei (Terra Nova Exhibition) in April 2014. It is inspired by the idea that vessel forms need not be represented as functional only, but rather as sculptural gestures, with form as its focus. The idea stretches further, suggesting the NonVessel contents be left up to the imagination... perhaps time is captured in the making and sealing of each piece, or perhaps part of the essence of the kiln gods (ancestors), who blessed the clay firing of these pieces, remains willingly present inside... Imaginings of the contents could be as far-fetched as individuals wish for them to be. For me, this is an unlearning of the expected vessels, into the freedoms of spirituality. In a time where searching for an African identity through design has highlighted a need to return to African traditions, beliefs and practice, to translate them into futuristic design concepts that can be appreciated, transmitting those core African ideals, values, views and principles to the next generation(s).
CF: Spirituality seems to be an important value in your work... AD: Spirituality is what connects me to clarity; when seeing becomes a partnership between my source, ancestors and their god relations and myself. The ability to give over to not knowing, but trusting what my work will become, and practicing by setting it free is an everyday lesson. Those who view my work more often than not feel the connection through design or knowledge that every piece is handmade detail by defining detail.
Andile Dyalvane
Creative Feel / May 2015 / 59
Non Vessel Collection, Show Stopper by Andile
Non Vessel Exclusive Collection White, by AndileDyalvane
Dyalvane, 2014
CF: What ideas informed the ‘Scarified’ and ‘Africasso’
artefacts during the cubism era and apart from drawings,
collections?
also created works in ceramics in Valauris, France. This
AD: The Scarified Collection touches on the ancient tradition of body scarification still practiced today, pun intended. Africa is filled with textures and feeling in
collection brings those similarities to light, that Africa was and is a source of inspiration for great and influential works.
the crafting of masks, cloth, eating utensils, musical
CF: Did the Taipei residency impact on your way of
instruments and building methods. This collection
working, the subject matter, and if so, how?
highlights a practice that’s communicative purpose had
AD: Before heading to Taipei’s Yinnge district to work
its reasons – spiritual, clan identification, beautification,
at the New Taipei Yinnge Ceramic Museum in April 2014,
medicinal and tribal status.
I had been playing with the idea of simplifying the Views
The flesh of my clay is scarified with one or many linear
Collection imagery even further. The sharp angles and
curved designs that join with patterned motifs applied
patterns of cranes mixed with the structural curves of the
with found objects such as bolts and nuts picked up in the
spaghetti highway fly-overs tempted me to explore further,
Woodstock area.
while the bare structural skeletons of buildings dilapidated
The collection gives a sense that signifies the merging of old traditions into new environments. The Africasso Collection took flight with a request to
in surgery in Woodstock, enticed me to act on my interests and appreciation for architecture. The invitation from Wendy Gers, curator of the
take part in the Picasso in Africa Standard Bank national
museums 2014 Ceramic International Biennale provided
exhibition in 2006 at the Iziko National Gallery of Art in
a platform for exploring the relation between ancient
Cape Town. I had been sketching with pastel chalks and
medium and current globalization and how a universal
charcoal on paper, and this opportunity gave the platform
language through design is created with common
to showcase my work on ceramics. The link between Picasso
cultural links. I found the very structural red bridges and
and myself is that he was inspired by African figures and
contrasting lush green natural environment in Taipei
60 / Creative Feel / May 2015
Scarified Medium once-off Vessel, by AndileDyalvane
Views From the Studio Collection, by AndileDyalvane, 2013
intriguingly familiar – where I come from in rural Eastern
that my father, as a migrant worker from the Eastern Cape,
Cape mixed with where I live in Cape Town. The thick
worked at Globe International (no longer exists) as a welder
smog, humidity and masked scooter drivers (masks and
in those very dock yards, an aspect of my upbringing that
outfits matching to look fashionable) along with the
had him absent for most of my younger life, experiencing
promotion of positive communal attitudes, musical refuse
his presence only at Christmas time.
trucks and happy funeral tents, were informative of a The ceramic gardens showcased the spirit of play and
CF: What projects do you have coming up? AD: An exploration in collaboration with Gone Rural
learning very well, which gave comfort for exploring what I
of Swaziland and Swazi Ceramics this April; launching
had in mind.
a collection of conceptual and functional works at the
culture of optimism which encourages greater possibilities.
CF: You’re currently being exhibited as a part of an exhibition of leading African design in Germany...
AD: Southern Guild Foundation for the past seven years
end of May, appropriately during House of Fire’s Bushfire festival in Swaziland, which will then go on to 100% Design JHB in August. June is Design Miami in Basel, Switzerland showcasing an exclusive retake on the Dock
has internationally hosted and continues to promote works
Table. July Santa Fé, New Mexico for the launch of a new
by a selection of South African designers. I am one of them.
Leather Collection inspired by all current collections.
This presented the opportunity to travel under the gallery
July-August sees a workshop and exhibition in California
umbrella to Basel, Switzerland to showcase at the Design
at the Palo Alto Art Centre; and September to October I
Miami, Basel design fair in 2014. Vitra House noted my
am attending a residency at the Wu Xing Design Studio
‘Docks Table’ there, and commissioned it for this year’s
in Taipei, Taiwan, which allows me to explore my sketch
Africa design focused exhibition.
book ideas.
The ‘Docks Table’ was inspired by the Views from the Studio Collection, yet with a touch of personal history in
Participating in the Imbadu Collective is another passion, making ‘paying it forward’ real through design. CF
Creative Feel / May 2015 / 61
Design for the future Kiara Gounder is a Durban-based fashion designer, and was part of the Design Indaba’s 2015 Emerging Creatives programme. Creative Feel ’s Tamaryn Greer spoke to the young, talented designer.
G
ounder has a Bachelor Technology degree in Fashion from the Durban University of Technology and is currently working towards obtaining her Masters degree. Inspired by Dutch designer Iris
van Herpen’s fall couture collection featuring 3D printing, Gounder has been exploring 3D printing and developing a capsule range of garments that showcases the potential of 3D printing in fashion. Gounder’s fashion range, Digital Nature, uses 3D printing to explore the concept of symmetry in nature. The silhouette and design of each piece combines the various organic and structured elements that can be found in a natural environment.
Creative Feel: Was working with technology an important part of your studies or did you only begin exploring this after your studies?
Kiara Gounder: I was always encouraged to work
Developmental 3D printed neckpiece and components Renders courtesy of graphics and animation company Nuushaus
with various design-orientated technological applications throughout my studies. I developed an interest in 3D printing technology during my first year at college. Iris van Herpen’s
moment. Although they can be worn I have only displayed
2011 3D printed collection has just debuted at Paris Fashion
them as exhibition pieces. I am currently planning to
Week. I was fascinated by the capabilities of 3D printing
experiment with more flexible and wearable 3D printed
and the way van Herpen applied the technology to fashion.
materials, which will form the basis of my Masters study.
Since then, I was determined to stay up-to-date with the
It will hopefully lead to the creation of a fully flexible,
technology’s progress within the fashion industry. 3D printing
commercially viable range of garments.
technology has been breaking new ground in the international fashion industry, but remains relatively unknown within
CF: What printer did you print these designs on and
South Africa. I used my B-tech study as an opportunity to
how did working with that specific printer change what
explore my own curiosity about 3D printing technology and
you had originally come up with, if at all? Were there
to introduce the concept of 3D printed fashion on a local
limitations or did you encounter problems you didn’t
platform, with the aim to motivate more South African
anticipate? Is there a specific printer you would ideally
fashion designers and students to incorporate innovative
like to work with in the future?
technologies into their design practice.
CF: What materials did you print with in order for these
KG: I worked with the KZN Midlands based 3D printing company, Rapid 3D Printing. The main neckpiece was printed with the Z Printer using a process called Selective
objects to be flexible and wearable? Are these designs
Laser Sintering. The Z Printer is an incredibly precise
functional or more conceptual at the moment?
machine that accurately re-created the fine-line work and
KG: My work is more developmental and conceptual at the
62 / Creative Feel / May 2015
detail of the main piece.
The remaining pieces were created using Fused Deposition Modelling on the Up! Plus 2 printer. This printer has a 350 mm x 350 mm print bed – which was a challenge as I had to design each piece to fit within this space. I was mostly limited by the range of printable materials; flexible 3D printed materials are not widely accessible in South Africa. I designed various hinge mechanisms to allow each piece to open and close. I am definitely hoping to experiment with machines that can print with more flexible materials this year.
CF: Do you think that we’ll be seeing a lot more of 3D printing in the fashion industry?
KG: 3D printing technology has the unrestrained ability to create virtually anything a designer imagines, the only limit being the boundaries of your imagination. The technology gives designers a new freedom and flexibility in the design process. 3D printing technology is still maturing and growing in sophistication, but there have been on-going developments in the international fashion industry that have produced fully flexible, machine-washable 3D printing materials. 3D printing technology would allow designers to create clothing that can be customised to the consumer’s individual specifications without the added cost. 3D printing is a form of additive manufacturing, which means that the technology only uses the required amount of raw materials, effectively reducing product wastage. There are obviously negatives that are associated with the technology, but the same can be said for any form of product manufacturing. Nevertheless, the forthcoming years will be a very exciting time for fashion and innovative technological advancement.
CF: Did you find that designing for 3D printing was quite different? Was the software easy to use?
KG: It was a completely different process from traditional garment creation, very technical and exciting. I had to think about the limitations of the machinery and the composition of the materials when designing each piece. You have to be very precise, down to the last mm. I worked with the Durban-based graphic design and animation company Nuushaus to render my designs on the 3D modelling software 3D Max 14.
CF: What kind of fashion do you create on a day-to-day basis? Do you focus primarily on 3D printing? Or do you work with material?
KG: At the moment I am trying to do both. I plan to fully integrate flexible 3D printed components with fabric based garments. CF The full 3D printed neckpiece Photographer: Devon Naidoo Model: Jessie de Valence’ Creative Feel / May 2015 / 63
Marikana – The Musical cast
The 11th annual Naledi Theatre Awards Aubrey Sekhabi’s emotive production, Marikana – The Musical, swept the boards at the 11th Naledi Theatre Awards in Johannesburg with six awards. War Horse (represented by Topthorn) walked off with the first-ever World Impact Award.
F
or the first time two performers, Jonathan
At the glittering ceremony at the Lyric Theatre,
Roxmouth and Brendan van Rhyn shared the
Gold Reef City, attended by the Who’s Who of the
honours in the Best Performance Musical: Male
entertainment world, Paul Slabolepszy’s Pale Natives
category for their inspired roles in Call Me Lee
received three awards; Best Production of a Play (director
and The Rocky Horror Show respectively.
Bobby Heaney), Best Supporting Actor (Antony Coleman),
Now in its 11th year, the Naledi Theatre Awards,
sponsored by Auto & General and BASA, reflect the
and Best Performance in a Play (Lionel Newton). Awards were also given in the Best Musical Director
vibrant and diverse nature of the South African theatrical
category to Charl-Johan Lingenfelder and Stefan Lombard
landscape that exists today. These are the premiere
for their musical contribution to The Rocky Horror Show
awards for theatre excellence in South Africa.
and the production also shone in the Best Sound Design
64 / Creative Feel / May 2015
War Horse Handspring Puppet Company RMB and Pieter Toerien, Photo by Zoom Photography
category and Best Lighting Design where Akbar Khan and Daniel Galloway took the honours respectively. Veteran playwright and actor Athol Fugard emerged
The emcees on the night were popular TV presenter, poet and actress Lebo Mashile and the famous Chester Missing, a puppet whose curt comments on matters
from the shadows and shone on the night with an award
political have sent the Nation into stitches. Mr South
for Best New South African script for The Shadow of the
Africa, Armand du Plessis and runner up, Sibusiso Sibanda
Hummingbird which he shared with co-writer Paula Fourie
brought on the trophies.
and Neil Coppen’s inventive take on Animal Farm received
Celebrity presenters included Kgomotso Christopher and
the nod in the categories, Best Production for Young
Jack Devnarain from Isidingo; Aubrey Poo (nominated for
Audiences and Best Ensemble.
his performance in Marikana – The Musical); award winning
The big winner on the night, however, was Marikana – The
director, Sylvaine Strike; top TV celebrity, Zuraida Jardine and
Musical, an emotive and heartfelt tribute to those who gave
Dali and Rachel Tambo. Miss South Africa, Liesl Laurie, was a
their lives. It reaped no fewer than six awards in the categories
guest of honour at the awards.
Best Production of a Musical (The South African State Theatre),
The arrival of Topthorn from War Horse caused a
Best Director (Aubrey Sekhabi), Best Performance in a Musical:
sensation as he galloped out onto the stage for his special
Female (Emma Mmekwa), Best Set Design (Wilhelm Disbergen),
award. The gigantic horse puppet, operated by a team of
Best Score (McKenzie Matone, Zakele Mabena and Aubrey
talented puppeteers, was created by South Africa’s own
Sekhabi), and Best original Choreography (Thabo Rapoo).
Handspring Puppet Theatre and was brought home by
There were stunning performances on the night from
Rand Merchant Bank to sold-out theatres. It has a life of
ShooWop Shop, the Vuyani Dance Company, who enthralled
its own and audiences world-wide have connected with
the audience with a new item direct from their tour of Europe,
Joey’s emotional journey through the horrors of World War
and renowned performers Keith Smith, Timothy Moloi , Janelle
1 – and it certainly connected with the Naledi audience. It
Visagie (nominated for her stirring performance as the Mother
received the first World Impact Award.
Superior in The Sound of Music), PJ Powers (also a nominee)
The ceremony will also be transmitted on Ikazi Open
Jonathan Roxmouth in an impressive rendering of ‘Boogie
View Channel on Etv on 25 April, with a transmission
Woogie’ from Call Me Lee and Michael Riff Themba performing
scheduled later in the year for SABC3.
the rollicking song, ‘Happy’. There was also a segment from Swan Lake performed by the Joburg Ballet.
To view the full list of winners visit: creativefeel. co.za/2015/04/naledi-theatre-awards/ CF
Creative Feel / May 2015 / 65
A Spartacus of Africa After years of planning and preparation, A Spartacus of Africa takes to the stage in Johannesburg and Cape Town this June.
S
partacus (113 B.C. – 71 B.C.) was a Thracian who was made a slave, and later, due to his impressive strength, a gladiator. In 73 B.C., he was one of a number of gladiators to plot their escape. According to Wikipedia, ‘the plot was
betrayed’; nevertheless, Spartacus and about 70 others armed themselves with ‘kitchen implements, fought their way free from the school, and seized several wagons of gladiatorial weapons and armour.’ These events would ultimately lead to the Third Servile War, a battle between Roman forces and a vast band of rebelling slaves and other ‘recruits’. They also earned Spartacus a near legendary status, forever enshrining him as a champion of freedom (although his actual motives remain unclear). Armenian composer Aram Khachaturian, who in 1954 composed the score for a ballet about the Thracian hero (albeit with a story line only vaguely related to historical events), wrote that he thought of Spartacus as ‘describing the mighty avalanche of the antique rebellion of slaves on behalf of human rights.’ Khachaturian’s Spartacus premiered in Leningrad in 1956 with choreography by Leonid Yakobson and was
LaraTurk as Phrygia in A Spartacus of Africa. Photograph Helena Fagan
66 / Creative Feel / May 2015
revised with new choreography by Yuri Grigorovitch in 1968. The ballet was looked upon with favour by the
Russian authorities, and awarded the Lenin prize. However, Betsy Schwarm for the Encyclopedia Brittanica suggests that while the authorities may have interpreted the work as reflecting the Russian proletariat’s overthrow of the ‘their tsarist oppressors’, Khachaturian himself may have intended it as a call to action against the repressive Soviet leaders of the time, as ‘Khachaturian... had spent much of his life under the watchful eye of Joseph Stalin, and... seen friends and colleagues disappear into the night.’ Veronica Paeper’s take on the ballet, which she first choreographed for Capab in 1984 using Khachaturian’s score, thus continued a legacy of interpreting the ancient hero’s story as an allegory for the struggle of oppressed against oppressor. Thirty years later, she has returned to the subject. A Spartacus of Africa is set in mythical Africa, and according to a press release, ‘mirrors the oppression that various African countries have fought to overcome, and presents an excellent opportunity for a large cast of classical ballet and contemporary dancers to give the story 21st century relevance.’ A Spartacus of Africa tempers Khachaturian’s score with the sound of African drumbeats, while Paeper’s classical ballet choreography is blended with the contemporary dance choreography of David Krugel. All of which is performed by a cast of around 100 dancers – 35 professionals, and some 60 student dancers, all chosen through a rigorous audition process across three cities – as well as a number of international stars. The Washington Ballet’s Brooklyn Mack and Andile Ndlovu (originally from South Africa) along with South African Casey Swales all take on the role of Spartacus, while Lara Turk, a South African soloist with the Royal Ballet in London, Elzanne Crause and Kristen Wilson perform in the principal female roles. The dancers will be accompanied by an orchestra of some 70 musicians (poetically echoing the number of slaves involved in the original escape!). The costumes, designed by Dicky Longhurst, have been brought to
Elzanne Crause as Aegina in A Spartacus of Africa. Photograph by Claire Gunn
fruition under the guidance of Penny Simpson, and Cape Town’s KHM architects have specially designed
Dance Trust), formed in 2009 with Veronica Paeper, Mike
progressive sets, while a community project of
Bosazza and Robyn Taylor as trustees. SANDT acquired
Masiphumelo women have created vines to form part of
funding from the National Lottery Distribution Fund, the
the set from recycled plastic bags that have been plaited.
National Arts Council and the Arts and Culture Trust,
(According to historical accounts, Spartacus succeeded in
along with private funders and trusts, thus making a
foiling the Roman attempt to starve the escapees down
production of this magnitude possible – no mean feat.
from Mount Vesuvius by climbing down an unguarded part of the mountain using plaited vines). The realisation of A Spartacus of Africa has been made possible by the efforts of SANDT (South African National
Thus, after years in the making, A Spartacus of Africa will finally debut at the Joburg Theatre on 4 June 2015, followed by a Cape Town première at Artscape’s Opera House on 27 June. Don’t miss it! CF
Creative Feel / May 2015 / 67
State of the Nation in Dance Dance Umbrella 2015 provided audience members with a variety of questions, from society to dance itself, as dancers wove in elements of Theatre of Excess and the Absurd, writes Nondumiso Msimanga for Creative Feel.
68 / Creative Feel / May 2015
Mamela Nyamza in Wena Mamela at Dance Umbrella 2015
T
o ‘live in interesting times’, is infamously
that the world, country and audience of dance listened.
known as a phrase that conjures up the notion
What is to be heard is a story that is rooted in personal
of a cursed life. The inverse notion – that
experiences to speak quite directly about Nyamza’s life
interesting times are also a gift – is often
as a ballet-trained dancer; and in this context provide
forgotten in its simultaneous implication
significant commentary on the state of South Africa as a
whenever the philosophical expression is used. At the
whole. Wena Mamela begins with a nonstart and a number
largest dance festival in Africa, the Dance Umbrella held
of faux-beginnings. The audience walks into a preset with
annually in South Africa, it was both sides of the coin that
the performer already moving quietly in a corner of the
were reviewed through the medium of dance. Disparate
stage. She has begun before the visitors enter. The score
dancers and performance artists presented a slice of the life
consists of classical versions of vernacular songs including
of the country’s dance with a number of surprising insights
protest era music to which she slowly gyrates and twists
into the state of the nation in 2015. It was the ‘State of the
her face; sometimes sticking out her tongue. The drama of
Nation in Dance’ when notable, as well as up-and-coming,
the classical adaptation of the national anthem is undercut
performers took to the stage to pose questions about
by the diurnal movements of the dancer when she begins to
the country’s form – in dance and in politics. What was
place pot-plants onto a small proscenium arch stage at the
The Architecture of Tears choreographed by Andrea Fuchs
Tossie ‘Nobonke’ van Tonder in Cthonia
startling to most festivalgoers was the lack of dance in the
centre. She moves without ceremony to the call. Gathering
main programme of the Dance Umbrella this year. And yet,
more and more pot-plants she appears from behind a
with so much food for thought, it was an indelibly satisfying
curtain with additions to her yellow bikini costume.
experience to witness the beginnings of a new movement.
Humorously, she materializes wearing beach flip-flops,
‘Protesting was another form of activity that was part of
which create a slack contrast to the grandiose score. In
our lives with songs and rhythm - all of that has inspired me
this autobiographical re-authorship of history it is a sharp
as I grew up in the most interesting years in South Africa
passivity that makes the performance unsettling.
where history was right underneath our noses; and now we
The Theatre of Excess meets a dance that refuses to
are using our bodies to rewrite this history using movement
dance in a passive aggressive new form of protest art. Using
that was part of our daily lives.’ Mamela Nyamza, who
a kitsch aesthetic of tourist packages, each piece redefines
delivered one of the stand-out performances of the
what it means to be African and questions the gaze. Where
Dance Umbrella this year, reflects on the reasons for her
Nyamza adds more and more plants to the stage, Nelisiwe
experimental solo Wena Mamela (You Listen!). The work’s
Xaba creates an excess of vignettes in her Fremde Tanze
direct translation is the audacious statement that it is time
(Foreign Dances), Sello Pesa multiplies memorabilia and
Creative Feel / May 2015 / 69
Gavin Krastin piles up layers of sanitary towels. All this accumulation of objects – which includes visual and aural bits and pieces – is done in an illogical structure that defies linear narrative. Stories were dissected and pieced together like collages of statements rather than discernible tales. Xaba’s dance-less dance was a series of sketches that she accurately described as ‘silly’. While it was disappointingly clear that Xaba resisted performing the piece, it was still poignant to observe the similarities that the strange dance had to the style of work presented at the Festival. In her now-signature multimedia format, she showed the result of her residency at the Theater Freiburg. Based on 1920s dancer Sent M’ahesa, Fremde Tanze is several vignettes that parody the German icon’s appropriation of movements from ‘exotic’ cultures without understanding the rituals. Xaba, shown in silhouette in a tent plays with perception when a German song saying, ‘My black forest girl’ undertones her placing her hands between her legs, opening and closing her hands like an exaggerated vulva. The passive style of nonperformativity becomes poignant when the audience claps after every sketch. South African audiences are infamous for giving standing ovations as a matter of course rather than a true fight, flight, feathers, f***ers, a collaboration between Moving into Dance Mophatomg Sunnyboy Motau and Rachel Erdos
reflection of their pleasure. Xaba herself spoke of resisting the performance. The audience waited for a moment to clap after Nyamza’s piece, as it did not provide a finite ending. Krastin’s On Seeing Red was an echo of the swallowed anger that he sees South Africans as possessing throughout history. This non-dance pushed non-performance to the point where audience members walked out. But, the elements of a Theatre of Excess were also juxtaposed with the passive-aggressive refusal to perform here. Pads strewn across the floor greeted guests who had to find a place to sit somewhere on the floor as though they were intruding on the late-night singing of two performers who were killing time as they waited to close the garish cabaret bar. They (Krastin and Alan Parker) sing ‘The day she died the neighbours came to snicker… She was the happiest corpse I’d ever seen’ in an imaginary world where people come to sing and drink and forget that they are living in a war zone outside. Krastin drags in a jumping castle and builds a gate using a pile of pads. Parker yells lethargically that ‘This is my house. Get out of my house’ in reference to the State of the Nation Address. The lack of plot is reminiscent of an Absurd play. The Sisyphean nature of the everyday activities depicted on the Dance Umbrella stage speaks of a state of docile distress. The reflection on the country in this strange protest
Jay Pather’s Rite
70 / Creative Feel / May 2015
art is an indictment of the passivity it depicts. The resistance
is performed antithetically to previous protest theatre in the country because the landscapes are internal; even as the performers do not shy away from facing their audience and speaking to them in direct address. Tossie ‘Nobonke’ van Tonder sees it as a Jungian perspective: ‘A place of the interior in Africa.’ She worked with actress Jennifer Steyn to ask, ‘What does South Africa do to the body?’ Also using autobiography as a starting point, she poses questions in her piece that question the constitution of dance. She stands still on stage and says, ‘Dancers. What is it with dancers? What kind of people are we? Why do we move around going nowhere?’ In Ngizwise (Let Me Hear), Sonia Radebe has her all male cast sit casually and chat to each other as the audience arrives and then they begin to toyi-toyi (march) while singing gently. They move crates constantly and aimlessly. Sello Pesa’s Simunye: We are One is a kitsch parody of the idea of togetherness intoned by a channel on the public broadcaster; at the dawn of democracy. He pushes Sisyphean non-performance to the extremes of the Absurd. Again, it is unclear when the work begins, as with Nyamza’s. Again, the national anthem is heard on the festival stage. And again, it is a Theatre of Excess. At this site-specific work that takes place in a marquee the setting is as for a celebration. South Africa is what is being celebrated. With an existential tome of nothing happens, no one comes and no one goes – as in Waiting for Godot – Pesa sits just outside the marquee nonchalantly packing and unpacking T-shirts with a woman to whom he inaudibly speaks. A group stands in a line and holds up certificates of citizenship, Pesa tells the technicians to start the music and he switches on a separate boom-box with a collage of songs including the national anthem and Arthur Mafokate’s ‘Don’t call me Kaf***’. It is a ceremony without ceremony as Pesa stands and places small flags in his mouth and hair and a couple in red drag themselves across the floor with a cake (with the flag on it) on the man’s belly. When the pair stuffs themselves with the cake it is an agitating casualty. Something else is needed to feed the emptiness that pervades. The State of the Nation in Dance is an unorthodox self-referential questioning of history, performance and nation. With other notable pieces like Nora Chipaumire’s Story of Myself as my Father, Thabo Mbuli’s Ashes and Jay Pather’s Rite, the festival of dance stood as a testament to a new movement in dance performance in the country and the African continent. The theatre is of excess as indicative of emptiness, the style is nonperformative absurdity, the form is a collage of fragmentation and the kitsch aesthetic tells of a need for redefinition. Nyamza asks, ‘What kind of dance was that?’ And it is a new world for South Africa’s contemporary dance. It is resistance. CF
Mpho Ramogase and Siyabonga Ndaba perform as part of Street Beat
Creative Feel / May 2015 / 71
An African Celebration
T
Held at the Durban City Hall, the KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic’s Winter Season comprises six eclectic and exciting concerts.
he opening concert of the KwaZulu-Natal
String Orchestra from Bloemfontein, in the second concert
Philharmonic’s Winter Season, part of the 2015
of the Winter Season. Since 1998, the Mangaung String
World Symphony Series, takes place on 21 May.
Programme has served as an after-school music course
This presents audiences with an opportunity to
for the Bloemfontein area. Founder Peter Guy created the
celebrate Africa and cultures from around the
Bochabela String Orchestra, named after the Bochabela
world, when the KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic welcomes the
Township, for the top players in the programme. Since 2012,
Bernard Woma ensemble from Ghana for an unforgettable
the talented members of this orchestra have joined forces
performance of traditional African music mixed with ethnic-
with the KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic for an annual event
themed classical music from Europe and America.
wherein student musicians sit alongside the professionals
Conducted by Bernhard Gueller, the concert opens with the first four of Antonín Dvořák’s Slavonic Dances. The orchestra is then joined by the Bernard Woma Ensemble,
during rehearsals, and are able to take lessons and master classes through the week. Resident conductor of the KZN Philharmonic, Lyk
which consists of two Ghanaians, Bernard Woma and
Temmingh leads the combined orchestra in a concert that
Kofi Ameyaw, and one American, Mark Stone. The group
presents two musical perspectives on Shakespeare’s Romeo
performs on the traditional Ghanaian instrument, the gyil
and Juliet. It begins with a Scherzo: La Reine Mab, reine
– a pentatonic-tuned xylophone with resonator gourds
des songes (Queen Mab, the queen of dreams) from Berlioz’s
underneath the keys, an instrument rarely heard outside
choral symphony Roméo et Juliette. The orchestra is then
of Western Africa. The ensemble will perform two short
joined on stage by American pianist Awadagin Pratt to
concertos written by Bernard Woma: the Gyil Jumbie Concerto
perform Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major; a
and the Gyil Yeru Concerto.
joyful, virtuosic interlude between the two orchestral works
The evening closes with Leonard Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from West Side Story, encompassing all of the elements
on the programme. Finally, the concert closes with excerpts from the Sergei
of music that Bernstein was exposed to living in New York City,
Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet, a grand musical setting for a
from African-American jazz to Latin sambas to rock and roll.
large orchestra, full of action, drama, sensuality and romance.
Then, on the 28 May 2015, the KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic continues its partnership with the Bochabela
72 / Creative Feel / May 2015
On 4 June, Daniel Boico, the newly appointed Associate Guest Conductor of the KwaZulu-Natal
Philharmonic, leads the orchestra in a concert of epic
The orchestra then welcomes pianist Ben Schoeman to
masterworks, beginning with Paul Dukas’ symphonic
perform the fantasy for piano and orchestra, Africa, Op. 89,
poem The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.
by Camille Saint-Saëns. To close the first half Anzel Gerber
South African piano duo Nina Schumann and Luis
joins Schoeman for the Durban premiere of Bushman
Magalhaes then join Boico and the KZN Philharmonic to
Prayers by recently deceased South African composer
perform Francis Poulenc’s Concerto for two pianos in D minor.
Stefans Grové. The work features an orated prayer prior
Written for two pianos and chamber orchestra, this vibrant
to each of its three movements: Prayer to the Sun, Prayer
work features the exotic and sometimes unusual sounds of the
to the Moon and Prayer to the Brightest Star in the Sky, and
early 20th century, mixed with romantic and even, at times,
employs elements of South African melody and rhythm as it
classical elements of early piano concertos.
musically depicts the three prayers.
In the second half of the concert Daniel Boico and the
The concert closes with the rustic and cheerful Symphony
KZN Philharmonic present Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 in
No. 8 in G major by Antonín Dvořák, featuring the typical
E minor, Op. 64., a work filled with all of the lush melodies and
nationalistic writing of the composer as he employs Slavonic
harmonies that the composer is known for.
and Bohemian themes throughout.
The 11 June sees opera return to Durban in grand fashion,
Finally, on the 25 June, the KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic
when Durban-born soprano Bronwen Forbay performs a
closes its Winter Season in unique style, when conductor
concert of opera highlights alongside her American colleagues
Carlos Izcaray returns to the Durban podium to lead a
– mezzo-soprano Jamie van Eyk, tenor Randall Umstead and
programme of musical masterworks. This begins with Claude
baritone Christian Bester.
Debussy’s symphonic poem Prelude to the Afternoon of a
The all Mozart programme opens with two rarelyheard works: Symphony No. 26 in E-flat major and Piano
Concerto No.9 with Kaju Lee as the soloist. The second half features arias and ensembles from Don Giovanni. Then on the 18 June, the proudly South African KZN
Faun, based on the poem by Stéphane Mallarmé; before continuing on to the 38th Symphony, ‘Prague’ by Mozart.
Concertmaster of the KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic Joanna Frankel then steps aside from her leadership role for the evening to perform Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto
Philharmonic presents a concert of South African soloists
No. 1., a violin concerto repertoire fraught with Soviet
and music. University of Stellenbosch faculty cellist
expression, themes and virtuosity. Frankel has been touring
Anzel Gerber and internationally renowned pianist Ben
South Africa regularly with pianist Christopher Duigan
Schoeman join forces with Venezuelan conductor Carlos
and with the KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic String Quartet,
Izcaray to present a concert of unique repertoire.
and has received unanimous praise for her musicality and
The Cape Town based composer Allan Stephenson wrote six overtures − one for each major city in South
innovative programming. With the end of the Winter Season then at hand,
Africa; This concert opens with A Johannesburg Overture,
the KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic will be heading to the
an exciting, fiery work depicting the busy central hub of
National Arts Festival in Grahamstown to perform a series
South Africa.
of concerts. CF
Creative Feel / May 2015 / 73
Marcus Miller presents Afrodeezia 74 / Creative Feel / May 2015
‘T
he power of music has no limits. Through
connections fascinate me. After all, as Taj Mahal said, “New
spirituals, jazz and soul we were able to
Orleans is just the most northern part of the Caribbean.”
preserve our history, because all the rest
Over there we played all night in a studio, it was wonderful.
had been erased. I did a lot of research
So many things happened that I hadn’t counted on when we
before starting to record Afrodeezia,
started... I met Alune Wade, a bassist from Senegal, at a jazz
and made at least as many discoveries during the record-
festival in Poland; one thing led to another and he ended up
sessions! What I wanted most was to go back to the source
singing on Afrodeezia.’
of the rhythms that make our musical heritage so rich, to
‘It’s my music you can hear in Afrodeezia, it reflects what
follow them like footprints from their beginnings in Africa
I am today: a musician who’s open, always on the alert, and
all the way to the United States. That journey took us from
who discovered his real personality around ten years ago.
Mali to Paris, from New Orleans to São Paulo and across
But I have to keep evolving. I’m proud of my group of young
the Caribbean. I had the good fortune to work with Malian
musicians: Alex Han on saxophone, Adam Agati on guitar,
musicians, Burkinans, Brazilians, Trinidadians...
Brett Williams on keyboards and Louis Cato on the drums.
‘It was after visiting the House of Slaves on Gorée
They form the nucleus of Afrodeezia, with soloists from all
Island that I composed ‘Gorée’, which was on my previous
the countries we’ve crossed gravitating around them. All
album Renaissance. Onstage I quickly felt the need to
their contributions create new dynamics in my music. There
say what I had been feeling in Senegal. I wanted people
are sounds you’ve never heard, a kora, a gimbri, a lot of
to understand that this tune didn’t only talk about the
percussion instruments...
slave tragedy but, through the music especially, that
‘A new era is opening up for Black Americans. There
these people who suddenly found themselves at the
are more and more sophisticated DNA tests which
bottom of a ship’s hold had discovered a way to survive,
now allow us to say that we didn’t originate in North
and transformed all their distress into joy. Shortly after
Carolina or Virginia or at best in the Caribbean. Thanks
that, UNESCO named me Artist for Peace, and made me a
to these tests I know that I have Nigerian blood. Those
spokesperson for the Slave Route Project; that was when I
connections are tangible; they’re in my blood. Afrodeezia
started thinking about Afrodeezia.
is the most exact reflection of the person I am today. With
‘In São Paulo, I was playing a samba with local
this new repertoire there won’t be any differences any
percussionists and I realised that I’d heard the same
more between who I am in real life, and the musician you
rhythm in Morocco played by a Gnawa musician! All those
see onstage. And that changes everything.’ CF
Creative Feel / May 2015 / 75
An African Way ’It’s time we do things the African way,’ says Standard Bank Young Artist Nduduzo Makhathini in conversation with Creative Feel’s Nondumiso Msimanga.
76 / Creative Feel / May 2015
Nduduzo Makhathini. Photographs by Adam McConnachie
I
ngoma nobungoma (The song and the calling) find synchronicity in the music of Nduduzo Makhathini. As the Standard Bank Young Artist Award winner for Jazz 2015, Makhathini is set to continue on a path laid before him by his ancestors as he listens
to the future melodies of the African continent. He is an accomplished pianist who plays as an accompanist and improviser to draw together the past, present and future in a book that only he could score. His first and second albums were released simultaneously as ‘two chapters of the same book’. Mother Tongue and Sketches of Tomorrow musically illustrate the pluralities that coexist in the Africa that Makhathini dreams, experiences and imagines. He dedicated Mother Tongue to his own mother but dreamt it as a means of reconnecting with a past that he does not remember. It was inspired by the story that his grandmother told him of how he learned to speak through songs. And so, his mother tongue is music. Sketches of Tomorrow was his means toward imagining the future music of his three children. He improvises a future-jazz that would define the language with which he would communicate with his children; when he has become their ancestor. So, for the National Arts Festival this July, he has been working on completing the book with a third chapter: Listening to the Ground. Through a process that begins with his initiation as a sangoma he will cultivate a performance that allows him to experience a connection to his fatherland and father. He will be treating his spectators to a ritualistic experience that can be described as African avant-garde. The root word for sangomais ngoma. Ngoma in Zulu – which Makhathini is – is ‘music’ or ‘song’. The word alludes to being called to something higher. Makhathini was raised in uMgungundlovu and grew up surrounded by music. His parents were religious Christians who did not practice Zulu customs. So when he woke up one day – at 13 years of age – after a vision of his ancestors hitting him, covered in blisters at the very points where they had hit him in his dreams, he could only speak to his grandmother. When she informed him of the meaning of his trance she also helped him to hold off on the summons and keep it secret from his Christian mother Nomajerusalema. But as any artist who has heard the supplication toward their vocation, Makhathini found himself immersed in a life of song. Nomajerusalema, the mother who would inspire Mother Tongue, played the piano; and taught him to play from an early age. His father played the guitar. Together his parents sang. And, as his grandmother told Makhathini the story, Makhathini struggled to learn words unless they were infused in song. ‘Ugogo ubengitshela ukuthi (my grandmother
Creative Feel / May 2015 / 77
was telling me that) it took so long for me to learn a new word that when they wanted to teach me a new word they’d make up a song.’ This is why Mother Tongue is also a dedication to his first language of music as well as his first music teacher, his mother. He attributes his love of piano partly to his mother. He says, ‘I would really get fascinated with the movement of her fingers on the piano.’ But neither of his parents had ever pursued music professionally and they never would. When he matriculated his mother hoped that he would become a doctor; a medical doctor. This was not his calling. Makhathini had forgotten about his ancestral summons though and went to work at a bank until he could no longer stand his boredom at his job. He then impulsively decided to go to Durban and take his chances in the city. When he got off at the bustling market centre he was drawn to a group of young men who were dressed distinctly differently to the rest of the crowd. He asked them what they did and, as though he were being casually reminded that he had a higher purpose to fulfil, they told him that they studied jazz at the now Durban University of Technology (DUT). The root word of ubungoma (the calling) is also ngoma. This word holds a significant place for all Bantu speaking Africans from Southern Africa and also Kiswahili speakers from East Africa as well as Kikongo language Congolese people. The Oxford dictionaries denote that it is ‘a dance; a night of dancing and music.’ Etymologically it originates from the Kiswahili term for ‘drum’. This extends in its use to encompass music and dance. Makhathini had an internal understanding of this when he walked into DUT to audition. He had grown up with music and was home-schooled in piano but he had always taken these as spiritual hobbies that fulfilled the needs of a loving home. What he had imagined when he heard his parents play love songs and saw them kiss afterwards was to create a home like that for his family. He had never conceived of a career in the creative industry. Fate drew him to audition and he began with singing. This did not ring true and he was advised to try an instrument because his musicality, from being trained as a young boy, was obvious. Casually he says, ‘Eventually, I landed on the piano and they said maybe let me try piano.’ He trained at the instrument until he realised he was ‘falling in love with an instrument.’ He was surprised when he found out, last year, that he had been chosen as the Standard Bank Young Artist for Jazz. ‘It took me a long time to get it into my system!’ he admits. As a pianist, he observes that he ‘is always facing the other side of the stage’ whereas the singer makes direct contact with the audience’s gaze. This is not a problem for the self-confessed shy person. What the award means to
78 / Creative Feel / May 2015
him is the opportunity to share his story and the story is
intuition,’ Makhathini’s nomadic family is another one of his
the music. He sees himself as a channel for the narrative
dreams come true. A great vision that he has not yet realised
of healing which melodies represent for him. ‘I believe
is his formal initiation as a sangoma. He wants to perform to
that the music doesn’t belong to me. It belongs to the
his fullest potential by the time he steps onto the stage at
people. So anything that helps with that is beautiful.’ His
the National Arts Festival. It is a new kind of performance
music, his story, is indeed beautiful; from the discordant
for him and for the international audience that comes to see
harmonies of Mother Tongue to the abstract descants of
what is new in Africa’s artistic scene. He is grateful to the
Sketches of Tomorrow.
award for ‘they opened up new avenues.’
Makhathini has literally started sketching as he prepares
In the African avant-garde that Makhathini portends,
for his Standard Bank Young Artist performance. The
he will continue to ask people to bring water bottles to his
creative spirit has discovered an app on his smart phone
shows. The water acts as a means to cradle that which he is
that allows him to play with his inventiveness. He enjoys
a channel of: healing. The water maintains the vibrations of
expression in a colourful and fresh African way. He wears
the music and allows for the transfer of energy through the
a beaded Zulu neck piece with a graphic T-shirt when he
space to whet the thirsting musical appetite. It is set to be
does his interview in his new Eastern Cape home. Having
an experience that will stay with its spectators beyond the
just moved in to the home that the family of five will
entertainment of viewing an excellent pianist. ‘The main
inhabit when they are not in their Johannesburg dwelling,
aim for me is to improvise and to heal; whether I am healing
or residing somewhere else whilst on tour, he is surrounded
myself, or the space or the people.’ He is working from
by boxes. But, he already has ideas full of bold hues and his
initiation to performance, in this African avant-garde jazz.
unique stylish flair to spruce up the new dwelling. His wife
It is important to him to investigate the language of Africa’s
Omagugu Makhathini will be sharing the stage with him in
jazz of the past, present and future. Ingoma is the language of
Grahamstown. And, their three children Nailah (12), Thingo
musicianship that envisions a new kind of musical tongue for
(6) and Moyo (4) will be there to see Makhathini’s dreams
Makhathini. It is this exploration of where the African song is
come true. As the older two are currently training in classical
going that he adumbrates. It is why this latest project is called
piano and Moyo ‘plays more freely and [is] really led by
Listening to the Ground. He believes in an African way. CF
Creative Feel / May 2015 / 79
Josh Groban
releases Stages In April, Josh Groban released his new album via Reprise Records. Entitled Stages, the album is a collection of some of the greatest musical theatre songs of all time.
80 / Creative Feel / May 2015
J
osh Groban describes the songs on his latest album,
one for me with this song. There’s a tenderness to the way
Stages, as ‘gorgeously arranged songs that have
he sang it that is just the essence of Wilder. It’s something
stood the test of time,’ which he was drawn to
in his soul that will never be duplicated.’
because of their combination of ‘incredible melody with an incredible story.’
‘Nothing has inspired me more in my life than the
According to Groban, this is a project that has long been on the cards. ‘Stages is an album I’ve wanted to make since I signed to Reprise/Warner Bros Records during my
energy that is shared in a theatre when great songs and
freshman year as a Musical Theatre student at Carnegie
great art are on the stage,’ he says. ‘I wanted this album to
Mellon,’ Groban says. ‘I knew in my heart that, at some
pay tribute to those inspirations and memories.’
point, I would visit the songs I love from that world as an
Recorded with producers Humberto Gatica and Bernie
album. Having lived in New York City the last few years,
Herms in both Los Angeles and London’s Abbey Road
seeing as much theatre as I could see, and having so many
and featuring a 75-piece orchestra, Stages features much
great friends in the theatre community, it became really
loved songs from Les Misérables (‘Bring Him Home’);
inspiring to take this on. It was time.’
Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Carousel (‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’); Stephen Sondheim’s Sunday in the Park with George (‘Finishing the Hat;), Sweeney Todd (‘Not While I’m Around’), and Into the Woods (‘Children Will Listen’); The Fantasticks (‘Try to Remember’); A Chorus Line (‘What I Did For Love’); Andrew Lloyd Weber’s Phantom of the Opera (‘All I Ask of You’), The Wizard of Oz (‘Over the Rainbow’), and others.
“All of these duets have great meaning to me and I’m honoured to have them on this album”
Another highlight is ‘Pure Imagination’, originally sung by Gene Wilder in the film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, which though best known as a film, is also a West
Groban says the title was inspired by his lifetime love
End musical entitled Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. ‘It’s
for the musicals represented on the album, as well as ‘the
a tiny bit of a cheat because it was from a film originally,
countless stages, both physical and metaphorical, it has
but I really wanted to sing it,’ Groban says. ‘The fans
taken for me to get to a place where I have the opportunity
wanted me to as well. It’s one of my most requested songs
to record an album like this in the way we did it, with the
to record ever. I am a huge fan of the original film, it was a
great orchestra at Abbey Road. It was an extraordinary
part of my childhood. Gene Wilder will always be number
“pinch me” opportunity. There was a great freedom to go big with these songs because the world of musical theatre welcomes that. It’s all about big stories, big emotions, and big vocals. Every arrangement on this album is its own work of art. Standing in the room and listening to the orchestra was just breath-taking. And both Humberto and Bernie are producers who think about the warmth and clarity and emotion of the voice. What I love about them is the vocal, the arrangement, the quality is key.’ Stages features three duets. Of Kelly Clarkson, who is featured on ‘All I Ask of You’, Groban says ‘she can, quite simply, do anything.’ Audra McDonald sings with Groban on ‘If I Loved You’, which, he says, was an exercise in wish fulfilment: ‘in my head I heard her on this and to sing it in the room with her was a dream come true.’ Finally, trumpeter Chris Botti plays on ‘Old Devil Moon’, a performance that Groban praises: ‘he plays with such control and expressiveness.’ ‘All of these duets have great meaning to me and I’m honoured to have them on this album,’ Groban says. CF
Creative Feel / May 2015 / 81
Simphiwe
Dana
A
Launches ‘Campaign of Healing’ ward-winning songstress Simphiwe
‘The campaign seeks to create a safe space for those
Dana has embarked on a ‘campaign
who have dealt with severe heartbreak.It is a campaign to
of healing’ for herself and her fans
show solidarity and start the process of healing. Oftentimes
to commemorate the release of the
we feel all alone in our experiences, and we start to see
third single ‘Killjoy’ off her critically-
fault in ourselves… that maybe we are not good enough for
acclaimed latest album Firebrand. As preparation for the music video for ‘Killjoy’,
Dana saw it fit to include her fans in the creative
love, until we realise many others have been where we are and made it out,’ adds Dana. Through the tone and manner of the discussions Dana has
exercise behind the creation of this music video, and
with the participants of the #Killjoy campaign, a dominant
is doing this by calling her fans and followers to share
theme that comes across is that of being able to laugh about
their ultimate #Killjoy experiences, which will result in
one’s #Killjoy experiences, and breaking the power-hold that
the most profound stories or funniest anecdotes being
heartbreak often has on those who experience it.
selected for inclusion in the music video creative.
Simphiwe Dana – who is typically media-shy and
‘The song “Killjoy” is about heartbreak; the
protective over her private life, also used this exercise to
depression that comes with it and what happens after you have blamed yourself for the inadequacies of your
share her own personal story. ‘Sharing my personal story was also very therapeutic, it
lover. The song is also about the pain that comes with
was like I had put a painful episode in my life inside a bubble
the realisation that it is not your fault and that you now
and blew it away!’
have to walk away,’ explains Dana. The first phase of the campaign was launched
In addition to the #Killjoy campaign, Dana is also in the process of planning a tour around South Africa, as well
concurrently on Facebook and Twitter, where Dana
as putting final touches to an upcoming celebration of her
herself shared her own personal story of having been
ten years in the music industry, details of which will be
through what she now terms a ‘relationtrick’.
announced in due course. CF
82 / Creative Feel / May 2015
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Creative Feel / May 2015 / 85
Winds of Samsara Wouter Kellerman’s latest album, a collaboration with Ricky Kej entitled Winds of Samsara recently won the GRAMMY award for best New Age album.
S
ome time ago, Indian composer and producer
and Gandhi. We really enjoyed working together, so we
Ricky Kej contacted local musician Wouter
just kept on creating. It sort of just grew organically... and
Kellerman, ‘out of the blue, and asked if I would
when we looked again, it was this epic project.’
add flute to... this track, that was so incredibly beautiful... I really loved it, so I spent a lot
‘This epic project’ was to become Winds of Samsara. According to Wikipedia, Samsara refers to ‘the repeating
of time to add something special’. This initial meeting
cycle of birth, life and death (reincarnation),’ although
of minds led to further collaboration between the two,
Kellerman notes that, ‘when I heard the word Samsara, I
much of it conducted via the Internet. ‘We started talking,
thought of an exotic planet... it’s more about what kind
and realised that Mahatma Gandhi spent 20 years of his
of ideas and feelings the music evokes in you when you
life in South Africa, and developed his ideas of peaceful
listen to it.’ The album incorporates the skills of some 120
resistance here – and Nelson Mandela was very influenced
musicians from several continents, including choirs and
by those ideas. So we wanted to write a song for Mandela
extensive string sections.
86 / Creative Feel / May 2015
Winds of Samsara recently won the GRAMMY award for Best New Age album. While in South Africa or Australia the album would be described as World Music, the United States is somewhat more purist about these things: as the album combines both Indian and South African musical influences, rather then only one or the other, it is classified as New Age. Also, ‘New Age music is very peaceful, and generally has a positive message,’ explains
“Not only do you have to make a beautiful album, but you also have to do enough promotion to make sure that people are aware of it”
Kellerman. ‘This album is more peaceful than any of my previous albums; and the focus of the album is Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi and their ideals of peace, love and tolerance. So there’s a very positive message.’ Winning a GRAMMY is quite process, it seems. Having
the Billboard charts, and number one on the radio charts, and we toured. It took that triple effort: sales, radio and
been submitted for consideration, an album is checked
touring, to make people aware of it, so that they would
for eligibility by several committees before going through
even consider it,’ says Kellerman.
to the 12 000 voting members of the recording academy.
All of which has meant that Kellerman and his team
‘Each member can vote for five people in each category,’
have been putting in long hours. However, he still
says Kellerman. ‘The nominees get announced after
finds time for yoga, which, he says, is important: ‘As an
the vote has been tallied, and there’s a second round of
instrumentalist, you have to cross-train, you have to really
voting, where people vote for the winner.’
look after your body, if you don’t, you get repetitive strain
‘There’s an overwhelming amount of music on this ballot list, and nobody has the time to listen to
injuries. If I don’t do the yoga... I feel it very quickly’. Simply being nominated for a GRAMMY award (never
everything. So not only do you have to make a beautiful
mind winning!) ticks off one of Kellerman’s life ambitions,
album, but you also have to do enough promotion to
as did performing at the World Cup in 2010. So what’s left
make sure that people are aware of it. We did quite a big
to aim for?
promotional drive over there – we were number one on
‘A duet with Norah Jones!’ he says. CF
Creative Feel / May 2015 / 87
Royal Chundu Royal Chundu, the first Relais & Châteaux property in Zambia and Victoria Falls area, has recently undergone a major refurbishment under the design team of Artichoke.
R
oyal Chundu consists of two luxurious lodges on the banks of the mighty Zambezi River. The spacious suites blend colonial
Extra seating areas were created on the deck so guests can relax and enjoy the majestic Zambezi River in comfort and style. Island Lodge, being an island, the cobalt blues of Africa
elegance and African charm, offering thatched
and the natural browns form the colour palette for the
accommodation in 14 beautiful villas, ten on
lodge and villas. A new dining area was also created and
the banks of the Zambezi at River Lodge and four at the
small conversational areas for guests to use so that they
private and exclusive Island Lodge.
can enjoy the Zambezi from all angles of the Lodge and
River Lodge is the arrival point for guests visiting the
really feel that they are staying on an island. The fireplace
lodge and encapsulates the colours of the magical sunsets
wall has been painted in blue and white motifs, making a
experienced in Zambia, and the printed brightly coloured
focal point in the room.
fabrics (locally known as chitenge) worn by the traditional Contemporary dancers and local villagers; while the baskets they carry on their head and use for storage can been seen in the use of cane furniture and the grass matting. ‘We painted various walls at River Lodge to reproduce
Accessories sourced throughout Africa complete the look across both lodges. ‘We adore the new looks that have been created across the lodge. The colour palettes are truly African. The décor is relaxed yet sophisticated and offers our guests the best in
the colours and design from the cushions to lift and give
comfort so they can experience the Zambezi at its best,’ says
definition to the various areas. We also painted the pool wall
Royal Chundu owner Tina Aponte.
which makes a fabulous statement and can be seen from
Royal Chundu means ‘the meeting place of the chief’
across the river,’ says Caline Williams-Wyn, of Artichoke.
optimising the very best that Victoria Falls and the Zambezi
88 / Creative Feel / May 2015
River can offer! Royal Chundu is situated just upstream from the magnificent Victoria Falls on a 15 km stretch of private Zambezi River, which is protected by two sets of rapids. Royal Chundu is the only lodge along the Zambezi that does not share its waterways with other Zambian operators ensuring absolute peace and privacy for our guests. Royal Chundu offers guests luxurious accommodation, world class service and sumptuous pan-African cuisine. Visitors can also look forward to visiting the famous falls, enjoying a spot of game viewing in the nearby Chobe National Park in Botswana, bird watching safaris, fly fishing, river rafting, and visits to neighbouring villages. Royal Chundu offers the perfect romantic escape or a funfilled unique family holiday – an exceptional break from the ordinary. Together with the support of the local communities, Royal Chundu strives to enhance the conservation and unspoiled beauty of this land, river and its islands, ensuring it will be enjoyed by future generations. Visit www.royalchundu.com for more information. CF
Creative Feel / May 2015 / 89
A Most Violent Year Director: J.C. Chandor Starring: Oscar Isaac, Jessica Chastain, David Oyelowo, Alessandro Nivola A Most Violent Year is a searing crime drama set in New York City during the winter of 1981, statistically the most dangerous year in the city’s history. From acclaimed writer/director J.C. Chandor, and starring Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain, this gripping story plays out within a maze of rampant political and industry corruption plaguing the streets of a city in decay. J.C. Chandor’s third feature examines one immigrant’s determined climb up a morally crooked ladder, where simmering rivalries and unprovoked attacks threaten his business, family, and – above all – his own unwavering belief in the righteousness of his path. With A Most Violent Year, Chandor journeys in a bold new direction, toward the place where best intentions yield to raw instinct, and where we are most vulnerable to compromise what we know to be right.
16LV
AT CINEMAS 22 MAY 2015
A Most Violent Year
Jessica Chastain stars as Anna Morales alongside Oscar Isaac as Abel Morales in writer/ director J.C. Chandor’s A Most Violent Year. The multiple award winning actress speaks about her character’s role in the film.
Q: In order to get the right Anna, you also had to find the
together. There’s a scene in the script where my character
right Abel and I loved the fact that you campaigned really
hits him and we can ask the questions, ‘has this ever
hard for Oscar Isaac. Can you talk about why you thought
happened before, has she ever hit you before? Has he ever
Oscar was the perfect person?
hit her before?’ Things like that. We get to understand the
Jessica Chastain: I have known Oscar for over ten
relationship so well, so when we are on set we can just play.
years; we went to college together. Not only have we been
To work with an actor like that, you feel like you are part of
fans of each other’s work, but we’ve been friends and I know
a team, and you see that in the movie. Like Anna and Abel:
him really well. He came to my premiere of The Debt, I went
they are on the same team. Even though they argue, even
to his premiere for The Nativity Story, (laughter). We had dinner the day he was auditioning for Inside Llewyn Davis. We were having dinner at a Thai Restaurant and he pulled out his iPhone and he said, let me show you my audition, and I was like, you are going to get this part! We are in total support of each other and such great friends, but we have never acted together. So there was someone else attached to the film that fell out, and I said to J.C., there’s an actor who is really, really right for this role, and he’s one of the best actors working today. Oscar is Cuban and Guatemalan and he moved to the United States when he was a child. He did actually live the American Dream, as Abel is trying to do in the film, and he’s a really good actor. He’s someone who can see something in this character that is exciting.
Q: To then work with Oscar, who you have known for so long, what was it like to collaborate on creating the relationship of Anna and Abel, what kind of conversations did you have?
JC: Our training was in theatre. So sometimes in film when you go onto a set, there’s no rehearsal time, which makes me worry a little bit. Usually rehearsal is reserved for just
though they don’t have the same ways of going about finding success, they are in it together. And that’s exciting to me, to work with another actor like that.
costume fittings. But with this film, because we have the
Q: What was kind of fascinating watching the film was the
same training, Oscar and I had the same vocabulary. We
whole time I was asking, are they a good couple? What is
had the same way of approaching the project. So before
your take on it?
we started filming, he and I met, we hung out at my house,
JC: Oh gosh. It’s an interesting question to think about: are
and went through the script. We created the back story
they a good couple? I think they definitely work together.
I think they love each other. She cracks me up because one
of money. Now she thinks she’s Jackie O. She thinks she
moment she is celebrating him, he is her king and she lifts
doesn’t have an accent, her weapons are the way she
him up and the very next moment, she’s critical of him.
looks, so she wants all the money, the nicest cars and
And she doesn’t even realize what she is doing. I think that
the biggest house, because that is power and everything
comes from the fact that she is a woman born 20 years too
she is, is about showing power and intimidation from the
soon in a man’s world, and the frustration of never being
get go. If someone sees you weak, they attack. Even her
taken seriously - having to hide behind a man, to become
nails; in 1981, women really had very, very long nails. Not
a trophy, where her tool is the way she looks, where she is
all of them, (laughter) Jackie O. did not have long nails,
easily underestimated. I think that’s the reason why she is
but there is something about it that is predatory. This
so back and forth with her attitude toward Abel. But part of
is a woman who doesn’t raise her children, she doesn’t
me also wonders if it creates this fire in their relationship.
cook meals or do housekeeping and she has trouble
I think they have the hottest relationship, (laughs) I mean
lifting boxes or opening cabinets, so in a way you think
they have kids, but I think that if she was all-emasculating,
she’s psycho, but in fact, the nails are like claws. There’s
it wouldn’t work, but because she lifts him up at the same
a predatory, sexual aspect to it. Men need her and they
time, I think it works for them.
think she is this visual, sex object. But in doing so, you are
Q: So when you come to this realization, how did you
underestimating her, because more important than her sex is her mind and her brain, and that’s what you come
find the tone for your Anna? What kind of research did
to realise at the end, is that there is so much more that
you need to do in order to get it right for your version of
is happening behind the scenes. So I loved this idea of
this character?
the character, that there are always opposites happening.
JC: Well, I saw on the page a woman who is trying to
We talked about lifting Abel up and then emasculating
present herself differently than how she really is. I mean,
him. We talked about acting helpless but also then being
she’s coming from Bayside Brooklyn, her dad had ties
threatening. Two things are at odds and I think those are 16LV
to the mob, they had money, but they didn’t have a lot
the most interesting acting choices. CF
AT CINEMAS 22 MAY 2015 Creative Feel / May 2015 / 93
BOOK REVIEWS
The Lightning Tree By Emily Woof Publisher: Faber&Faber ISBN: 9780571254019
This is a story of two young people who fall in love – and then life gets in the way. Ursula is part-dreamer, part-radical in the making. Raised in a matriarchal household by a CND-loving activist, she is impatient to begin a life of adventure. But this is Newcastle in the mid-80s, where girls are getting permed and their dreams go no further than copping off down the Bigg Market. Then Ursula meets Jerry: a class warrior from the wrong side of town, intellectually hungry, erudite and ambitious. It is a meeting of bodies, souls, minds and ideals. Keen to pursue the road less travelled, Ursula goes to India while Jerry heads to Oxford and the promise of politics and power. But Ursula’s family is clouded with secrets, and the past threatens to repeat itself. As Ursula searches for answers, she soon begins drifting – and Jerry loses touch. What happens to young love when it is tested by real life?
Emma
By Alexander McCall Smith Publisher: HarperCollins/Jonathan Ball
The Girl on the Train
After the Storm By Jane Lythell Publisher: Head Zeus
ISBN: 9780007553860
By Paula Hawkins Published by Doubleday, part of Transworld Publishers
Beloved and bestselling author Alexander
ISBN: 9780857522313
Some secrets destroy you.
McCall Smith lends his delightful touch
Rachel catches the same commuter
Rob and Anna have only just
to the Austen classic, Emma. Fresh from
train every morning. She knows it will
met Owen and Kim. Now they’ve
university, Emma Woodhouse triumphantly
wait at the same signal each time,
boarded their handsome old boat
arrives home in Norfolk ready to embark
overlooking a row of back gardens. She’s
to travel to a far off island in the
on adult life with a splash. Not only has
even started to feel like she knows the
Caribbean. With only the four
her sister, Isabella, been whisked away
people who live in one of the houses.
of them on board, it should be
on a motorcycle up to London, but her
‘Jess and Jason’, she calls them. Their
paradise: lazy afternoons spent
astute governess, Miss Taylor is at a loose
life – as she sees it – is perfect. If only
snorkelling; long nights enjoying
end, abandoned in the giant family pile,
Rachel could be that happy. And then
the silence and solitude of the
Hartfield, alongside Emma’s anxiety-ridden
she sees something shocking. It’s only
sea. But why does Owen never
father. Someone is needed to rule the roost
a minute until the train moves on, but
sleep? Why is he so secretive
and young Emma is more than happy to
it’s enough. Now everything’s changed.
about his past? And why does
oblige. Ever alive to the uproarious nuances
Now Rachel has a chance to become a
Kim keep a knife zipped into her
of human behaviour, McCall Smith’s Emma
part of the lives she’s only watched from
money-belt? Anna can usually
is the busybody we all know and love, and a
afar. Now they’ll see; she’s much more
get people to talk... but this time,
true modern delight.
than just the girl on the train…
does she want to?
94 / Creative Feel / May 2015
ISBN: 9781781855324
CDs – new and exciting The latest releases to suit all tastes
BROADCHURCH Original Music Composed by Ólafur Arnalds Mercury Classics 8114856 Mercury Records has released a soundtrack album for the critically acclaimed British crime/drama series Broadchurch, which follows an investigation into the murder of a young boy, and the impact this has on the Dorset community. The album features selections from the show’s original music from the first two seasons, created by Icelandic composer Ólafur Arnalds (United, Gimme Shelter). These include the new song ‘So Far’, as well as ‘So Close’, both performed by Arnór Dan, lead singer and songwriter of the Icelandic band Agent Fresco, who collaborates with Arnalds’ on this project. Arnalds’ score has been described as ‘austere yet evocative’, ‘ominous’, and ‘a haunting backdrop’ for the popular television series. If you’re a fan of Broadchurch, listen carefully: apparently the musical themes provides ‘clues’ to the identity of the killer...
MARCUS MILLER – AFRODEEZIA
SOKOLOV – THE SALZBURG
ROBERTO ALAGNA – MY LIFE IS
Universal Music/Blue Note Records
RECITAL
AN OPERA
4721441
Deutsche Grammophon 4794342
Featuring the London Orchestra
Grammy Award-winning bassist/
This recital, given in 2008 at the
and conducted by Yvan Cassar
composer/arranger/producer Marcus
Salzburg Festival, amply demonstrates
Deutsche Grammophon 4811524
Miller has signed with Blue Note
the distinctive nature of Sokolov’s
Described as THE French tenor,
Records, which issued his label debut
artistry, featuring repertoire from
Roberto Alagna’s career spans 30
titled Afrodeezia on 17 March 2015 in
Rameau onwards. The programme
years, with some 60 roles to his
the US. The album debuted at #1 on
begins with two particularly beautiful
name. My Life is an Opera features
both the iTunes Jazz Charts and the
Mozart sonatas in F major – K 280
16 arias and duets reflecting
Billboard Contemporary Jazz Charts.
with its dark-hued central siciliano
significant moments and highlights
Miller’s core band includes Louis
movement, and the brilliant and
in his life and career. He is
Cato on drums/vocal riffs, trumpeter
tender K 332 – both played with
accompanied on a number of tracks
Lee Hogans, pianist Brett Williams,
Sokolov’s habitual care, intensity
by his partner, Aleksandra Kurzak.
saxophonist Alex Han and guitarist
and wealth of characterization. The
The CD features such opera hits
Adam Agati. The songs, which were
second half consists of Chopin’s 24
as ‘Che farò senza Euridice’ from
recorded in the US, Europe, South
op. 28, traversing an extraordinary
Orfeo ed Euridice, ‘Donna non vidi
America, and Africa, feature an array
spectrum of colour and concept even
mai’ from Manon Lescaut, ‘Vesti
of guest musicians from the US and
within those pieces that last less than
la giubba’ from Pagliacci and La
around the world.
a minute.
danza by Rossini.
Creative Feel / May 2015 / 95
G A L L E RY A O P www.galleryaop.com
Bonita Alice: Strangers of Commanding
Aspect 18 April - 9 May
Urban Fused - 9 to 30 May
Rosemary Marriott: Skimmeryk 16 May
Opening at 11:30am
- 6 June
gallery@artistproofstudio.co.za
info@artonpaper.co.za
011 492 1278
Gauteng Big Band Jazz Festival
011 726 2234
3 President Street, Newtown,
Friday 15 & Saturday 16 May
44 Stanley Avenue, Braamfontein Werf,
Johannesburg, Gauteng
The Edge, Sat. Mary’s Waverley
Johannesburg, Gauteng
www.artistproofstudio.co.za
www.computicket.com
www.artonpaper.co.za
Making music together. Assemblage
Paul Blomkamp, Norman Catherine,
Open Studios - 27 May from 5:30pm
Bevan de Wet. April - May
info@assemblage.co.za
info@candiceberman.co.za
41 Gwi Gwi Mrwebi Street, Newtwon,
011 463 8524
Winter Season: starting 21 May 2015
Johannesburg, Gauteng
Shop 15 Riverside Shopping Centre,
031 369 9438
www.assemblage.co.za
Bryanston, Johannesburg, Gauteng
29 Acutt Street, Durban, 4001
By appointment
www.candicebermangallery.com
kznphil.org.za/
Picnic Blanket Fundraiser Saturday 16 May 12pm at Saverneck
St Lorient Fashion and Art Gallery
Playlist by Liza Grobler
info@bagfactoryart.org.za
1 February - 30 May Sculptures, Paintings, Drawings on show GROUP EXHIBITION
011 834 9181
gallery@everard.co.za
10 Mahlatini Street, Fordsburg,
www.circagallery.co.za
012 460 0284
Johannesburg, Gauteng
011 788 4805
492 Fehrsen Street, Brooklyn Circle,
www.bagfactoryart.org.za
2 Jellicoe Avenue, Rosebank,
Brooklyn Pretoria
Office hours: Monday to Friday 09:00 to 17:00
Johannesburg, Gauteng.
www.stlorient.co.za
96 / Creative Feel / May 2015
anastasi@iafrica.com
Joburg Theatre
Turbine Art Fair
RomĂŠo & Juliette: opens 17 June
16 to 19 July 2015
info@joburgtheatre.com
turbineartfair@theforum.co.za
011 877 6800
011 575 3698
Civil Boulevard, 163 Simmonds Street
(031) 369 9555
Turbine Hall, 65 Ntemi Piliso Street,
Johannesburg
29 Acutt Street, Durban
Newtown, Johannesburg, Gauteng
www.joburgtheatre.com
www.theplayhousecompany.com
www.turbineartfair.co.za
25 April - 23 May PROGENY Group Exhibition 30 May - 27 June Malcolm Payne New Works Exhibition 18 April - 9 May Collector/ Collected Curated by
Solo exhibitions: Jimmy Law, Judy Woodeborne, Jaco Sieberhagen. 7 - 30 May
Elani Willemse
info@lizamore.co.za
info@friedcontemporary.co.za 012 346 1058
011 880 8802 155 Jan Smuts Avenue Parkwood
PPC Imaginarium
1146 Justice Mahomed Street (formerly 430
www.lizamore.co.za
Online entries opening 1 April
Charles Street), Brooklyn, Pretoria
Tues to Fri 10:00- 17:30 Sat 10:00-15:30
www.ppcimaginarium.co.za
www.friedcontemporary.com
AN EYE FOR POTENTIAL
1 May Nicholas Williams Project R120
Sasol New Signatures Call for entries 2015
En Fuego The Orbit Salsa Band R100 |
| 8 - 9 May SOMI (US) R250 | 14 May
Entries close 15 July 2015
21 May Nana Simopoulos Group with Mary
People Are Living There 24 April - 24 May
artspta@mweb.co.za
Ann McSweeney & special guests R150 |
NeoL@markettheatre.co.za, AnthonyE@
012 346 3100
29 - 30 May Kyle Shepherd Trio R120 |
markettheatre.co.za
Association of Arts Pretoria 173 Mackie
info@theorbit.co.za
011 832 1641
Street, Nieuw Muckleneuk, Pretoria,
Corner Bree and Miriam Makeba www.markettheatre.co.za
011 339 6645
Artists have the ability to perceive potential that is often invisible to the everyday eye. This, combined with their ability to bring an idea to reality, is what makes them so unique. Show off your artistic talents by entering your most captivating work into the Sasol New Signatures art competition and you could win R100 000 and a solo exhibition.
Gauteng
www.sasolnewsignatures.co.za Presented by
Association of Arts Pretoria
sasolnewsignatures.co.za
81 De Korte Street Johannesburg #SasolNewSignatures
www.theorbit.co.za
Creative Feel / May 2015 / 97
encore If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
I am hypersensitive and mostly polite I think, so I get hurt a lot. I could do with a thicker skin.
How have the arts industries in South Africa changed over the last ten years? I think the arts have become slowly acknowledged as fecund creative industries. As long as crass commercialism does not take over this is a good thing since audiences have become more discerning, more experimental and more part of a broad contemporary universe. But change in terms of race and class is still way too slow, this affects how courageous our art can actually be.
Name one thing you think would improve the arts and culture industry in South Africa. More informed art criticism and more arts writing generally, to catch up with rapidly developing artists, nuanced politics and a more adventurous audience.
Jay Pather is Artistic Director of Siwela Sonke Dance Theatre, Associate Professor at UCT, Director of GIPCA and curator for Infecting the City and GIPCA Live Art Festivals.
What is your most treasured possession? My laptop.
What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery? Poverty.
What is it that makes you happy? Watching courageous art, not just good art but art that is unafraid. Sublime.
Name three artworks that you love and why. Zanele Muholi Faces and Phases, a rare
Describe a defining moment in your life.
combination of heart-breaking activism and art.
Studying at New York University as a Fulbright Scholar in the 80s.
Donna Kukuma’s The Museum of Non yet understated and quiet, a work without bells
What projects will you be busy with during 2015 and into 2016?
and whistles and yet one that lingers.
Coaching and directing new choreographers in Durban,
James Joyce’s Ulyssess, read this in 1980 and
turning my production Rite and Qaphela Caesar into works for
I learnt quickly about multiplicity, consciousness
the stage for the Jomba Festival! and for the State Theatre,
and subjectivities.
choreographing Stravinsky’s The Firebird (it’s a production by
Permanence, audacious, conceptually outstanding
Janni Younge involving puppetry and dance to live orchestra for
Name one artiste you would love to meet.
a local and United States tour in 2016); a teaching residency in
Credo Mutwa.
Venice, papers at conferences in Auckland, Brussels and London, creating a new format for Infecting the City 2016, curating the
What are you reading at the moment?
Live Art Festival 2015 and beginning a book on Public Art in
Imraan Coovadia’s Tales of the Metric System.
South Africa.
What is in your car’s CD player? I don’t drive but have just uploaded on my iPod, Chicago
Name one goal you would like to achieve in the next twelve months.
Symphony’s version of Stravinsky’s The Firebird because I
To turn Siwela Sonke Dance Theatre, a company steeped in
am choreographing it.
developing dance in KwaZulu-Natal, into a self-sustaining company.
e
Creative Feel / May 2015 / 99
# neverstop 100 / Creative Feel / May 2015
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