TOKYO FASHION – Alternative is the norm.
In the first of our features on Tokyo, Editorista tells us how she experienced the fashion and youth culture: So I’m back, jetlagged and luggageless – but I’m bubbling over with awesome stories from my sejour…The best way for me to explain what I experienced in Tokyo is to put it down as it went through my head – as a constant comparison to how we live here in South Africa and Joburg in particular. I can’t help it, I’m fascinated by how some places are so quirky and how they work so well – I believe that our emerging economy and developing country has a lot it can learn from others who lead the way. Don’t forget that Japan was devastated in the Second World War and that they have rebuilt their society since then… Their real period of urbanisation and social change and reinvention came about in the mid 60s and 70’s – only 20 years after the war and atomic bombs. We’re on year 12 of our journey – interesting comparison to start with… Anyway – I digress… As you may or may not know, Editorista set off for a week to Tokyo searching for trends and generally finding out what it is that makes Tokyo peeps rock as much as they do. “I was totally overwhelmed, inspired and humbled by the Japanese people and the glowing, pulsing, moving city of Tokyo and I encourage anybody who’s vaguely interested in the East to start saving now! Forget the usual suspects when it comes to travelling and make sure to head on to Japan! Even though I’ve never been to the US and I probably stand corrected, I imagine New York must pale in comparison to this futuristic streamlined metropolis that is TOKYO or Edo as it used to be known. It’s futuristic, organised, clean, mind-boggling and endless. Go GO HAMBANI!” (PS: I’m sorry the site was a little boring and ‘under-updated’ in my absence but I promise that the next few stories of our TOKYO feature will more then make up for it. Ncesi.) First up, FASHION and the YOUTH CULTURE. Wow. There’s definitely lots of similarities and coherence between the originality and creativity of Tokyo youth and Jozi youth and I often found myself feeling right ekasi. But there are lots of differences as well. For one, the unemployment level in Japan has reached a shocking “5%” which everyone is up in arms about. Hah Hah. Try our stats for size. This means that most of the youth are employed and therefore have disposable income and a guaranteed job no matter what their education or background – so they get to live it up and spend money on getting creative and trendy...
Watch Idols West Africa, vote and win!
Dede, Nana and Dan have been holding it down for the viewers of Idols West Africa, in fact, if I may say so, I have found the judging trio more entertaining than the contestants themselves at times, especially Dede! If you haven’t seen an episode of Idols West Africa yet, you need to do that, soon, it is history in the making and really quite hilarious at the best of times. And now it’s that time when you can vote for your favourites… How? It’s easy. Tune in to M-Net or AfricaMagic every Sunday. After every show, simply SMS the name or ID number (this will be flighted) of your favourite contestants to the voting number applicable in your country. The numbers are as follows: Nigeria:33351 Ghana: Areeba Network: 1444 Kasapa, Tigo and One Touch Networks: 15626 Sierra Leone, Liberia, Togo, Zambia, Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Swaziland and Malawi: 15626 Senegal: Orange: 50050 Tigo: 67167 Mali: Orange: 7574 Cameroon: 8704 South Africa: 34626 Please note that cellular VAS rates apply on all messages. Alternatively audiences can also vote online. Remember – voting lines are open after every week’s Sunday show and close the next day at 13:00 CAT before the Monday evening results show. In the interests of fairness and to avoid syndicate voting, only 50 SMS votes per line per week will be accepted. The voting process will be overseen by the auditing firm of Alexander Forbes. In addition to helping select the newest Idols sensation, your vote will also put you in line to win fantastic viewers’ prizes. M-Net is offering a massive USD 10 000 cash prize to one viewer for voting. To enter the competition, all you have to do is vote on Idols West Africa. The more you vote, the greater your chance of winning. The USD 10 000 voting Grand Prize will be awarded at the end of Idols West Africa in May but there are also great weekly prizes for the voting public as well. Thanks to Idols West Africa headline sponsors Celtel, there are great top of the range iPods, plus a 26 inch LCD TV, complete with DStv decoder, satellite dish and three months free subscription up for grabs every week! So it’s not just the contestants who can win big on Idols West Africa, you can...
Art in the Cape
We’ve promised to bring you news about different things happening in different provinces (other than Gauteng), so here’s something interesting to do if you’re in Cape Town. I love art galleries, they are just so fascinating, having been to the Goodman Gallery here, I would without a doubt recommend a visit to the new gallery opening up in Cape Town… To launch the Goodman Gallery Cape in Fairweather House, 176 Sir Lowry Road, Woodstock, gallerist Linda Givon has invited 21 of the country’s foremost artists to participate in its inaugural exhibitions. The first “Lift Off” exhibition launched the new Goodman Gallery premises in Johannesburg a decade ago in 1997, and in keeping with tradition most of the original artists are represented again. The first exhibition of Goodman Gallery Cape with artists Willie Bester, Norman Catherine, Kendell Geers, David Goldblatt, Robert Hodgins, William Kentridge, Kagiso Pat Mautloa, Sam Nhlengethwa, Penny Siopis and Sue Williamson opens on Thursday 22 March 2007 at 18:00. As the new space can not accommodate all the artists Goodman represents, “Lift Off” is being presented in two parts. The second “Lift Off” exhibition runs from 5 May to 26 May 2007. Designed by award-winning architect, Jeremy Rose, from Mashabane Rose Architects, Goodman Gallery Cape is located within the exciting and rapidly developing East City precinct of Cape Town. Situated in a mid-20th century industrial building, the minimal and elegant gallery space created by Rose is tailored to display contemporary art at its optimum, whilst retaining the integrity of the original structure’s interior, in particular its spectacular vaulted ceiling. In architect Jeremy Rose’s words, “the gallery provides an understatement of space that is made to serve art”. Rose’s monochromatic gallery design accommodates only one window that consciously frames a spectacular view of Table Mountain. Natural light halos the long walls, while shorter walls roll on wheels to remake the space allowing for maximum flexibility when devising each exhibition. The total effect is one of memorable contrast to the Woodstock industrial and social fabric, exploring the role of art as commentator. The aims of the Goodman Gallery are to promote contemporary art in South Africa and to leave a legacy and a history for our country to enjoy. The gallery has been opened in Woodstock because it borders on District Six which is a symbol of the marginalization of apartheid. This way it can embrace a wide audience and encourage everyone to enjoy and absorb what is on...
Bunny Chow is finally here!
Guys peep this… After we heard about the movie middle of last year we thought it would never arrive but it seems the long awaited Bunny Chow movie is finally here! Well actually it opens in SA on Friday 09 March 2007. Bunny Chow follows the raucous and often ridiculous weekend journey of three black comedians and Cope (Jason Cope), a strange and irritating white guy who latches onto this testosterone fuelled posse. Egos run high and careers are at stake as Kags (Kagiso Lediga) an arrogant womaniser, Yusuf (Joey Rasdien) a devout yet conflicted Muslim and Dave (David Kibuuka) a somewhat innocent and naive Ugandan immigrant with aspirations of making it big embark on a roadtrip to Oppikoppi, South Africa’s biggest annual rock festival. The quartet slip out of their normal lives for a few dusty and increasingly absurd days with hopes of mass debauchery, drugs, rampant sex, true love and conquering the rock stages with their comedy but they get a bit more than they bargained for. Dave has one thing going for him, his car. Kagi and Yusuf (established comedians) need a ride to Oppikoppi (three hours out of Johannesburg) where there will be a stand up comedy stage. Dave overhears them complaining about having to take their cars to the dust bowl, that is Rustenburg in winter and offers them a ride. Kagiso and Yusuf leave for Oppikoppi against the wishes of their long suffering girlfriends who suspect they are just going to the festival to get wild and fornicate with other girls. Their journey is filled with mishaps and funny moments of adventure as they travel through Soweto to buy beer and wors, Kagi is booked to perform and alleviate predominantly white farmers stress from the imminent drought, they stop on the side of the road to relieve themselves and leave Cope on the side of the road and there is even a bit of a twisted love story where Dave falls madly in love with Carla (The Marketing Manager of the festival) a Jewish princess type. The film directed by John Barker and produced by Barker, Kagiso Lediga and Leanne Callanan explores the different characters’ relationships with each other set against a gritty urban Johannesburg and it also tests the agility of relations formed by people from different religions and ethnic groups living and surviving together in a contemporary reality. The controlling idea of the film is about relationships be it friends or lovers, ultimately you choose! Click here to check out the...
Represent’s on the way to TOKYO
MOSHIMOSHI! “Tokyo has more vending machines than any other city in the world, with over 2.5 million selling drinks, and hundreds of thousands more selling cigarettes, batteries, rice, eggs, fishing equipment, flower bouquets, and of course, pornography.” Lonely Planet. You know that we go to the ‘nth’ degree to bring you the Good Life and the most fabulous news of all is that our very own SJ aka the original Editorista will be jetting off to her most favourite fantasy destination TOKYO, JAPAN (thanks to Brutal Fruit!). It’s probably the furthest one can go from South Africa and we cannot wait to find out all about it… She will be blogging from there next week and sending us loads of photos and video’s introducing us to one of the most fascinating cities and cultures on earth. In her quest to fill her itinerary with only the most incredible things to do, SJ came across all kinds of wild and wonderful websites that she wanted to share with you – thanks to Aquoibon for the love, support and info! *SO you know all about 43things.com already – well how about http://www.43places.com/ – it’s a bit like LonelyPLanet’s Thorntree or VirtualTourist where you can post questions about the place that you are visiting and members mail you back. The biggest difference is the rate at which it happens… super fast! Next time you travel just post a question on the place you’re heading to and the answers will appear in your inbox. Oh ja, and if you’re very into South Africa, you can give people answers to their questions on Jozi or Slaapies or wherever…. *The Japanese are reknowned for their incredible sense of aesthetics and their design gurus – some of you will recognise the fashion icons Issey Miyake, Kenzo, Yohji Yamamoto, Comme des Garcons and Hanae Mori … We’ll definitely be swinging by at least one of their fabulous headquarters. On the subject of design, check out this bare and sparse hairdressing salon in Tokyo designed by the Isolation Unit – quite a change from our over-the-top bokkie hives. Thanks to Dezeen: “Isolation Unit, the product and interiors company established by designer Teruhiro Yanagihara, has sent us images of a recently completed hair salon in Tokyo. The salon is for fashionable Japanese hairdressing chain Lim and consists of a theatrically minimal installation within the host building’s untreated concrete frame. The project was completed late last year. Photographs are by Takumi Ota.” *Sushi anyone? From Weird Asia news: “Japan as a country never stops amazing us. I am sure you have heard of, or seen the “Nyotaimori” (literally means female body plate),...
MMFSA, Turning performance into business!
The Music Managers Forum of South Africa (MMFSA) is proud to announce the start of the first workshop for 2007. These are part of a series of workshops that are aimed at the young music manager and artists, to enable interaction and empowerment in this vital sector of our culture and future as South Africans. The monthly range of workshops target specific issues within Music Management, starting with the ‘live’ aspect, with the first workshop. The workshop is set to take place on Monday February the 26th 2007 at Bassline in Newtown and will feature key-note speakers from every sector of the industry- the overall aim of these workshop is to produce a self sufficient artist community in SA – it is possible to have a career in the music industry without being a household name. The first workshop will cover: ‘Preparing for the show’, ‘Negotiating performance agreements’, ‘Touring’ and ‘Promoting’. Key note speakers will include successful artists like Steve Hofmeyer, as well as media experts and key SA promoters. As well a providing the catalyst and base for interaction and development, the workshops also hope to provide good networking opportunities for managers and artists. Details: Date: January 26th 2007 Time: Starts 14h00 Place: Bassline, Newtown Entrance is free! Members are encouraged to join the Music Managers Forum as Music Managers or self managed bands. For more information please contact: Nancy Hillary...
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