Hansa says Cheers to Green Robot Design, the Dreamers.
Hansa Pilsener salutes Green Robot Design for being dreamers who work hard and make things happen in their latest TV and Radio campaign “Cheers to Dreamers”. We had the opportunity to interview Kgomotso Mautloa the Creative Director of GRD during these exciting times for them at Green Robot Design. Read the interview after the jump. 1.Hi Kgomotso, I remember hearing you speak about GRD at “I create we create” conference, how do you stay focus as a young person? For the most part I keep focused by never losing focus of the dream that made me start Green Robot Design. It’s always hard to stay focused and not give up, but with enough will power, tenacity and most of all passion it’s easier to take on the day to day challenges. 2.Owning a business as a young person (of colour) seems a big of a step, how have you managed the set-backs and doors being closed on you? I’ve never used or looked at them as set-backs, every experience is a stepping stone. You need to have a positive outlook on everything that you do. A person of colour, it means that you possibly might have a longer journey, but you will get there. I look at where we started and we are. We’re not were we’ve envisioned but we’re not stopping either, we just have to push and break boundaries while we do that. 3.If you were given a chance to speak at 2 lecture venues, one of drop outs and one of graduates-to-be. What would your advice be to each class? Uhm… This is a tricky question as I admire both parties and my advice would be different to both of them. I originally come from the school of the drop-outs but I admire the latter for keeping the focus with their studies. With that said, I think common lesson would be to keep working hard, hard work always pays off, whether it be monetary, experience, meeting people. Just do what you set out to do. 4.Do you still do flyers and do they still pay the bills? Hahahahaha, why would we stop? It’s what we’ve become famous for, they definitely still keep the lights on. It keeps us relevant in those circles. But yes, we still do… 5.After the Hansa campaign ends, where is GRD heading to in 2014 and beyond? 2014 should be an interesting year, we have a lot planned both internally and service offering that we want to offer to our clients. It’s important for us to stay relevant and to stay ahead with the work we do. The ever-changing landscape of the design world keeps us thinking...
The Centre for Jazz and Popular Music presents: Duo DH-MM with Dick Hathorn and Mike Mazzoni
The Centre for Jazz and Popular Music is proud to present Duo DH-MM with Dick Hathorn (soprano saxophone) and Mike Mazzoni (percussion) on Tuesday 15 October 2013 at 18:00. Duo DH-MM play original compositions which can be loosely described as idiosyncratic jazz. The duo was formed in 2012. Recently the duo has been providing a live improvised soundtrack to screenings of the silent movie classic, The Cabinet of Dr Caligari. For further information- www.cabbagemusic.com Dick Hathorn and Mike Mazzoni perform as part of our “Twosday” concert. Which feature collaboration between musicians who are fairly well-established in their own particular area/discipline/style of music. Duo DH-MM live at Centre for Jazz and Popular Music (CJPM). 15 October 2013, Level 2, Shepstone Building at UKZN Howard College Campus. Doors open at 17:30 and music starts at 18:00 Entry fee is R35 (Pensioners R20 and students R10). Please contact Thuli on 031 260 3385 or email Zamat1@ukzn.ac.za for more details. On Wednesday 16 October 2013 at 18:00, the Centre for Jazz and Popular Music is proud to present Spha Mdlalose. Spha is a Durban born vocalist. She fell in love with Jazz when she joined a jazz band in high school then later studied at the University of Cape Town’s South African College of Music degree majoring in Jazz Vocal performance. She was taught by Abigail Petersen and Mike Campbell and graduated with an average 81% for her final BMUS recital making the Deans Merit List. Over the years, she was tutored by Darryl Andrews, Amanda Tiffin, Jason Reolon and most recently (2011) Dutch bassist Hein Van Der Geyn who has worked with Chet Baker, Dee Dee Bridgewater and other commended jazz musicians from all around the world. In her years as a student, she has had a budding career, having performed with the Mike Campbell Symphonic Orchestra on numerous occasions. She has performed alongside Bheki Khoza, Sibongile Khumalo, Ladysmith Black Mambazo and other known South African artists. She was also fortunate to tour with Grammy nominated Josh Groban when he visited South Africa on his “Straight to You” tour. Catch Spha Mdlalose joined by Sphelelo Mazibuko on Drums, Shemual Mahabeer on piano and Prince Bulo on bass at The Centre for Jazz and Popular Music (CJPM), Level 2, Shepstone Building at UKZN Howard College Campus on Wednesday the 16th October 2013. Doors open at 17:30 and music starts at 18:00 Entry fee is R35 (Pensioners R20 and students R10). Please contact Thuli on 031 260 3385 or email Zamat1@ukzn.ac.za for more...
The 2014 Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Programme
The Government of Japan is calling for applications from young South Africans who would like to spend at least one year in Japan as Assistant Language Instructors (ALTs) under a highly successful international exchange programme for university graduates. Applications should be returned to the Embassy of Japan in Pretoria: Embassy of Japan JET Programme 259 Baines Street Groenkloof Pretoria 0181 Telephone: 012 452 1607 General Information The Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme seeks to enhance internationalisation in Japan by promoting mutual understanding between the people of Japan and those of other nations. The Programme aims to enhance foreign language education, and promote international exchange at the local level through the fostering of ties between Japanese youth and foreign youth alike. The objectives of the Programme are being achieved by offering JET Programme participants (hereinafter, participants) the opportunity to serve in local authorities as well as public and private elementary, junior high and senior high schools in Japan. The Programme is implemented by local authorities and other organisations (hereinafter, contracting organisations) of Japan in cooperation with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, and the Council of Local Authorities for International Relations (hereinafter, CLAIR). The JET Programme started in 1987 with cooperation from participating country governments. In 2013, there were 4,372 participants in the Programme from 40 countries. As the JET Programme has achieved an excellent reputation over the last 27 years, it is of great importance that this reputation be maintained. Participants are invited to Japan as representatives of their countries. As such, they are expected to be responsible in all their activities, especially those concerning the promotion of mutual understanding between nations. It is therefore desirable that participants be adaptable, mentally and physically capable of performing the job duties and have a deep interest in Japan. Generally, participants are appointed by a contracting organisation for a one-year period. The cost of transportation from the participant’s origin to Japan, as well as remuneration, will be funded by the tax payers of Japan via the contracting organisation where the participant is appointed. Because participants serve as civil servants of their contracting organisations, they are required to uphold behaviour befitting civil servants. Withdrawal from the Programme after receipt of placement or early termination of appointment should be avoided as it causes many problems for contracting organisations, in addition to severely impacting the administration of the Programme itself. Position and duties Participants engaged in language instruction. ALTs are placed mainly in local boards of education or publicly run elementary, junior high and senior high schools. Participants who are...
Stephan Erasmus | Reconstruct at NIROXprojects.
re·con·struct tr.v. re·con·struct·ed, re·con·struct·ing, re·con·structs 1. To construct again; rebuild. 2. To assemble or build again mentally; re-create: reconstructed the sequence of events from the evidence. 3. To cause to adopt a new attitude or outlook: a diehard traditionalist who could not be reconstructed. In Stephan Erasmus’s work structure plays an important role with particular focus on the encryption process. In preceding exhibitions he has used encryption systems as structures to turn the selected text into visual love letters addressed to an ever changing muse. In these exhibitions the focus was placed on the final structure as it relates to the muse this can clearly be seen in works from ‘Hartland’ where the final image in some way referenced the manifestation of the muse: the landscape, creating a direct link between the muse as Gaia. In ‘Hartland’ Gaia manifests as South Africa and the exhibition explores the artists relationship with the country as muse, sometimes as a lover and at other times as a rejected and ridiculed lover. ‘Reconstruct’ departs from the muse as the main character as seen in the previous exhibitions. In this exhibition Erasmus continues exploring the act of writing love letters through the sampling of existing text and transforming the text into two dimensional and three dimensional objects. The act of writing love letters into artworks remains a central point around which Erasmus constructs his work. However, the focus moves away from the muse as the intended reader of the love letters, in a form that resembles the muse, and focus of his production is shifting to the act of writing and the encryption of the love letters, where the letter becomes a pattern, an object that entraps the reader/muse. It has been suggested by Nick Cave at a series of lectures that the act of writing love letters can be equated to the binding of the recipient to the writer. Cave speaks of the act of writing as a ‘magical act’ of weaving a web and trapping the beloved in the web, binding the recipient to the writer. In ‘Reconstruct’ Erasmus continues to encrypt selected sections of existing text taken from love songs and poetry. In this body of work the text becomes an incantation to bind the muse to the words. For Erasmus the act of writing/weaving/reconstruction of the text becomes the focus. The process of encryption becomes in a very physical sense the weaving or the building of a web that would entangle the reader. Stephan Erasmus is a Johannesburg based artist. Contact: Neil Nieuwoudt T: +27 72 350 4326 E: neil.nieuwoudt@gmail.com Stephan Erasmus, entitled Reconstruct (20 October – 06 November). Reconstruct opens on...
VODACOM IN THE CITY TAKES JO’BURG FESTIVALS TO THE NEXT LEVEL
“Jo’burg a-r-e you ready?” screeched spirited front-woman Skin to a sea of 11,000 indie rockers at Friday’s Vodacom In the City in downtown Jo’burg’s Mary Fitzgerald Square. As Cass’ bass-beat pulsed through the bodies of the sweat-streaked fans, the air was filled with thousands of cellphones held up to capture Skunk Anansie’s long-awaited return to South Africa. As the unofficial headline act of the evening, they thrilled the crowds with Skin’s crowd surfing, cementing the iconic British band’s performance as one of the best ever seen in SA. The whole vibe of the festival was electric! As the only local act on the line up, Al Bairre played an outstanding opening set, so it’s no surprise that they’d won the Vodacom ‘Open the City’ competition that saw over 18,500 votes from the public. Alternative UK indie rock quartet alt-J were welcomed in traditional alt-J fashion with the crowd displaying the band’s triangle ∆ symbol with their fingers. When the opening chords of their hit single ‘Tesselate’ echoed off the stage, you couldn’t even hear the band for the crowd singing along. Charismatic Swedish rockers The Hives stole the show in their custom tailored mariachi outfits. Previously quoted as saying that they ‘hoped the crowds would go crazy’, they were not disappointed – who wouldn’t go nuts to The Hives’ highly rated live show? ‘Go right ahead’ and ‘Walk Idiot Walk’ were clear favourites and vocalist Pelle Almqvist’s showmanship and scissor kicks went down a treat. The final act of the evening was German DJ Boys Noize, who closed the festival with his techno EDM beats and one final burst of party energy. Presenting sponsor Vodacom’s concert-first free Wi-Fi, recharge stations, sound-proof phone-boxes and photo booths were a hit, as were Jose Cuervo’s Watering Holes that were dotted around the square. Those who tweeted a hashtag of themselves being a party animal stood the chance to win a signed guitar. Revellers flocked to GWM’s recently launched quirky C20R hatchback for the opportunity to win a tablet with Vodacom data. Wrapped in the event’s branding, the affordable crossover added a level of fun to the night. Seed Experiences, the award-winning company behind the event, pulled out all the stops to ensure the best consumer experience ever. Not only did they put the best production and security teams in place, but they installed a 140m bar and booked 300 bar staff to ensure minimum time queuing for drinks to give fans maximum time in front of the stage. Recognised as one of the edgiest and most anticipated music events on the South African calendar, Vodacom In the City 2013 has taken Jo’burg festivals to the next level. Keep your eye on facebook.com/InTheCityJHB...
LIVE: BURNT FRIEDMAN AND TLALE MAKHENE and SOUND MIND LAB: MPHO MOLIKENG
On tour in sub-Saharan Africa, pioneer German electronic musician Burnt Friedman teams up with South African percussion legend Tlale Makhene for a one-off concert – a feast of rhythmic experimentation that will explode the boundaries between electric and acoustic, traditional and experimental, texture and melody. Other dates of the Burnt Friedman Tour in sub-Saharan Africa: 04/10/2013 Lagos, Nigeria 07/10/2013 Nairobi, Kenya, with Otieno Wakake 10/10/2013 Kampala, Uganda, with Hakimu Kiwanuka Burnt Friedman is one of Germany’s most established and highly rated electronic musicians with a career spanning almost 40 years. Born in Coburg, Germany in 1965, he has lived in Berlin since 2009. After initially being a student of art in Kassel in northern Germany, Burnt started to focus exclusively on music from the late 1980s onwards. He went on to attend the Academy of Media Arts in Cologne as a postgraduate student and began to publish his musical works along with his studio productions in 1979. He also began performing live around the same time, and soon attracted the attention of the Cologne electronic music scene. From there he progressed to various notable music collaborations throughout the 1990s on projects with the likes of Jaki Liebezeit, Hayden Chisholm, Root70, Mark Ernestus, Steve Jansen, David Sylvian and Atom™. In 2000 Friedman launched his own record label, Nonplace, with 35 releases to date. Working under the solo artist name of Burnt Friedman, he sought to address public prejudice at that time regarding the authenticity of programmed music. His studio and on-stage partnership with Jaki Liebezeit, the former drummer of CAN, now dates back 13 years; the two musicians have developed pioneering electronic-acoustic music over that period. On the strength of their craft and universal musical vocabulary they have consciously distanced themselves from the traditional formulas of Western European and Anglo-American music. Burnt Friedman’s work has been critically acclaimed by the international music press. Data Transmission in the UK described his recent album release with Jaki Liebezeit as “destined for cult success“. After carrying out a tour in sub-Saharan Africa in association with the GoetheInstitut, Burnt Friedman will be releasing a new album in November 2013. www.burntfriedman.com Born in Soweto, Tlale Makhene moved to Swaziland at a young age and began drumming at the age of four. Today, he is one of South Africa’s most remarkable drumming talents, often referred to as “The Groove Master” because of his amazing practical and conceptual skills as polyrhythmic percussionist. Highly regarded by musicians and musical fans alike, he has been featured in and produced more than 300 jazz and world music albums and is a much sought after indigenous music teacher, musical director, session...
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