WHAT’S ON AT WITS THEATRE THIS YEAR?
WITS THEATRE is super-organised, they already have a list of the happenings at WITS theatre in 2006 from now until NOVEMBER! Just click here for the website or to make a booking please – email Cathy or phone (011) 717-1376 : Represent recommends the DANCE UMBRELLA, Kgafela oa Magogodi, Gerhard Beste…r and Sarah Roberts’ work and the coversations with Nadine Gordimer look interesting but don’t hold us to any of it – go and see for yourselves, support SA theatre!: The Wits Theatre Complex What’s On & What’s Coming ( WSOA & Rentals ) &2006 WITS SCHOOL OF ARTS ( WSOA ) FNB DANCE UMBRELLA 2006 – this is the 18th year that the festival offers choreographers an opportunity to show new contemporary works on various platforms in Johannesburg; 24 February – 18 March at The Wits Theatre Complex, The Dance Factory, Constitution Hill and the Johannesburg University Arts Centre. THE CRUCIBLE by Arthur Miller, directed by Greg Homann; Wits Amphitheatre; 18th April – 29th April @ 19h00 ARMED RESPONSE directed by David Peimer; Wits Downstairs Theatre; 10th May – 20th May @ 19h00 CHAINS directed by Kgafela oa Magogodi; Wits Amphitheatre;17 – 27 May @ 19h00 WORK IN PROGRESS by Gerhard Marx; The Nunnery; 17th July – 29th July @ 19h00 (these dates are not confirmed) MIS- EDUCATION OF MR NONDELA, by Tsepo Wa Mamatu; Wits Amphitheatre; 16th August close 26th August @ 19h00 MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING by William Shakespeare, directed by Sarah Roberts; Wits Amphitheatre; 20th September – 30th September @ 19h00 PHYSICAL THEATRE by Gerard Bester; Wits Theatre; 26 Sep – 7 Oct 19h00 PERFORMING THE AFRICAN NOVEL , directed by Kgafela oa Magogodi; Wits Downstairs Theatre; 31 October – 11th November @ 19h00 RENTALS PORRA featuring Sonia Esgueira and directed by Ruth Levin; The Wits Downstairs Theatre; 7 – 25 February @ 20h00. Bryan van Niekerk and Jemma Kahn are THE ANIMALS – animals are people too; The Wits Amphitheatre; 7 – 11 February @ 19h00 ýFUENTES AND GORDIMER AT WITS; The Wits Great Hall @ 17h30; entrance free. 14 February, Carlos Fuentes, Nadine Gordimer and Andrý Brink in conversation 15 February, The Nadine Gordimer lecture by Carlos Fuentes The latest SA discovery! Seminar: The Human Pin Code ( HPC ) ” The Path To Your Truth”; The Wits Great Hall; 04 March, 09h00 – 17h00...
Design Indaba 9 from the 22 to 24 Feb in Cape Town
It’s not only at Christmas and New Year that Cape Town’s streets are clogged up with an influx of uitlanders – the Design Indaba in February attracts a high number of attendees from all over the country and the world, bringing an eclectic buzz to the city bowl. As the Indaba grows so do the creative disciplines and representatives, upping the awesome selection line-up of workshops, presen…tations, talks and ideas on display. If you’re from the creative industry and you’re looking for a bit of inspiration to top up your creativity cup make sure to get to this award-winning annual Design conference right here on our doorstep in Cape Town. The Expo embraces a wide range of disciplines, including graphic design, multimedia, homeware, craft, jewellery and architecture. And everything is guaranteed, 100% original, authentic South African. Not only does the Expo give the public the chance to see this whole rich, variety of South African design under one roof, but it gives designers a valuable chance to expose their work to a wider market, including overseas buyers, Indaba delegates and speakers from around the world. CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO AND TO ADD YOURSELF TO THE MAILING LIST...
All is not well in the Owl House
Have you heard of the OWL HOUSE? The amazing artistic property that that “crazy old white artist and her coloured groundsman (SIES!) ” built and decorated by hand? The OWL HOUSE is an incredible artistic feat built by Helen Martins – it’s a must-see tourist puller in the town of Nieu Bethesda – not too far from Grahamstown if you’re wondering where Nieu Bethesda is. This arti…cle from the UK Guardian by journalist Rory Carroll tells us that not all is well in the artists haven of NIeu Bethesda…sound familiar? 11 years on, battles of apartheid still rage For the white South Africans who trickled to this valley idyll in the Karoo desert, an oasis of willow trees and picket fences, the village of Nieu Bethesda promised a good life. Potters, painters and writers snapped up handsome century-old houses and made the village an artists’ retreat, a tiny community free from crime and pollution, with a night skyscape of gleaming stars. The Owl House of the late Helen Martins, an avant garde artist who filled her home with mosaics and sculptures, became a national heritage site. The playwright Athol Fugard immortalised her in a celebrated play, The Road to Mecca. With a population of just 70, Nieu Bethesda seemed to embody the imagination and creativity of a South Africa reborn after apartheid. But now another South Africa, one of poverty and inequality, has crashed into it, exposing segregation, racial tension and government neglect. Black families from Pienaarsig, a nearby township of 1,000 people, are abandoning their overcrowded settlement and moving down the valley in donkey carts to build a new township beside the village. The self-styled “invaders” are erecting tin shacks on the municipal land that fringes Nieu Bethesda. Six families have moved in recent weeks and dozens more are expected. “We are fed up being poked around. We need space to live,” said Isaac Kasper, 63, as he lined the floor and walls of his new home with cardboard. The migration has shattered the illusion of tolerance. At ill-tempered public meetings the prospect of hundreds of shack dwellers on the doorstep of a nearly all-white village has been rejected as an eyesore that will bring social problems. Some white residents want the site turned into a conservation area for flora and fauna, citing the “possibility that the [endangered] riverine rabbit has been sighted in this area”. They say medicinal plants such as Sutherlandia, which can be used to treat HIV-related illnesses, flourish locally. The black community has responded angrily, claiming conservation is a pretext to perpetuate segregation and turn a blind eye to inequality. The dispute, touching nerves...
MUST SEE – another hot young Jozi-born talent
He’s only turning 30 next year. But Pieter Hugo’s star has already risen and crossed the sky three times in a twisted up revolution… We say “ola mf’ethu” to a Jozi born photographer whose art makes us so proud and the western world gasp for air… Pieter seems to have a thing for digging into the quirky and mysterious side of Africa. Do yourselves a favour and check out hi…s phenomenal Photo Essay on Albino’s – BREATH KNOCKING STEALING SHAKING stuff. Remember the story of the Nigerian debt collectors and their Hyena’s??? Well talk about broken telephone – he hung out with some Nigerian minstrels and their pet Hyena’s, baboons and pythons for ten days – not only is he brimming in talent but he’s bloody brave too. Here’s his biog from his site – click on it to go there. Pieter Hugo Pieter Hugo was born in 1976 in Johannesburg, South Africa. His photograpic work focuses on global social issues with an emphasis on Africa and other developing countries. He has worked for numerous print publications, including Adbusters, Colors, Dazed & Confused, The New Yorker and Sunday Times (London), producing visual essays on issues ranging from tuberculosis in Malawi to slavery in Sudan, slums in Brazil to old age communities in South Africa. In 2002/3 he participated in a residency at Fabrica, Benetton’s Research and Communications Centre in Italy. His work has been exhibited widely, including solo exhibitions at Michael Stevenson Contemporary (Cape Town), the Museum of Modern Art (Rome), and Fabrica Features (Lisbon). His work has been selected for the touring exhibition ReGeneration: 50 Photographers of Tomorrow, 2005-2025, at the Musýe de l’Elysýe in Lausanne (23 June – 23 October 2005). The exhibition will travel to New York in 2006 to inaugurate the opening of Aperture magazine’s new gallery space. Aperture, in conjunction with Thames & Hudson, will issue a book to coincide with the exhibitions....
Spaza gallery in Troyeville – so relaxing.
Admittedly we haven’t been there for a while, probably since last summer actually – but now the rays are back, treat yourselves to a relax there. The SPAZA gallery is the perfect place to just chill out, soak up some rays and check out some hippies, artists and wonderful colourful people of Joburg all in a non-snotty environment. Three words – or ph…rases – SPAZA = Down-to-earth, real and urban. We used to go every Sunday to catch the fine and more-ish vegetarian cooking of “mo’ fire” man Sandza (YFM DJ) but haven’t been for ages – we will be back sooner than later! We see the Sunday lunches are back – fabulous. Click here to check out the site. RIght now there’s a fabulous exhibition featuring the work of Jeff Lok who looks at FAH FEE symbolism CAPITALISM WITHOUT CONTENT (More is not enough…) Big Fire Number 31 Symbols in the Fah-Fee game. Recent paintings by Jeffrey Lok at the Spaza Gallery 19 Wilhelmina Street Troyeville Viewing Tues-Sat 10am- 5pm or by appointment. Tel 011-614-9354. October 23-Nov 13. LUNCH on Sundays in the backyard....
We will be back!
