Give me my holiday back!
Last year before we all went on a break I bumped into Zodwa in Sandton and when she said she was going to the South Coast on an affordable backpackers holiday, I thought she was going to have the time of her life… endless days of sun soaking and bonding with her friends, little did we both know that it would turn out to be a disaster of note, (I must say the story is quite funny, sorry Zo’)… Click here for our South Coast holiday snaps! I’m back at work and not very happy about it! Not because I hate my job but because I was robbed of my summer holiday! My first mistake was booking me and five friends into X backpackers in Port St Johns (unaffectionately known as PSJ). Store this piece of advice in your memory banks people: Don’t visit PSJ over the festive season. My second mistake was choosing to stay when they told me they had no record of my booking. Funny that. We had paid a hefty deposit! They definitely had record of that. After I threw my toys they put us up in a dingy granny (literally) flat situated about a kilometer from where we were originally ‘booked’ into. The place smelled and looked like it hadn’t been cleaned for months. And there were collage photos of someone’s family up on the bathroom and toilet walls. There were enlarged versions of the same photos pasted on the grimy kitchen floor. Tacky! It rained every time we had the vaguest inclination to take part in some adventure sports. And when it didn’t rain, we couldn’t get hold of anyone who was running the kayaking or the horse riding. *sigh*. On a more positive note – we did get to squeeze in two beach sessions when the weather held out. Some of PSJ is truly beautiful and serene (3rd beach), while other beaches (2nd beach) feels you’re on the Durban beachfront. There was not a fresh prawn to be had in the entire town either which was the most depressing part. You always hope that if you find yourself in a small shitty coastal town (like Ramsgate in Natal) at least you’ll be able to get some big cheap prawns! Well not in PSJ! Nevertheless one of my friends was determined to have prawns, so we had them at the last place where you’d expect to find anything fresh – at a local pub on the main road which shall remain nameless. Here we tucked in and tried to make the most of a rather dismal affair. I mean, how much worse could it get?...
Scholars explore Democracy through photo’s
Check out the Market Photo Workshop photography project with high school students – looks interesting – great to get them visually aware and photography fluent at such a young age – hopefully the beginnings of some future brilliance. Tied into the 10th anniversary of the signing of our Constitution – it looks like an interesting mix of art and democracy – the Conhill is an awesome place to visit … and the Bag Factory in Fordsburg is really interesting too. Get amongst! Democracy Begins with Conversation A project of Market Photo Workshop in collaboration with the Living Together Project It is not often in the era of video games, the internet and cell phone chat rooms that high school students come together to discuss and learn about citizenship and constitutionalism. But they do come together in the Democracy Begins with Conversation project of Market Photo Workshop and the Living Together Project. People working in the arts created a creative learning environment to develop an understanding of the constitution and democracy, focusing on photographs, poems, prints, music, drama etc. On 9 December 2006, 150 high school learners from Orange Farm, Duduza and Soweto participating in the Living Together Project’s Democracy Begins with Conversation Project will celebrate the 10th anniversary of the signing of the South African Constitution at Constitution Hill. The proceedings will be opened by one of the Constitutional Court Judges, after which learners will present the performance pieces, poems and raps on Constitutional issues that they have created over the course of the 8 week project for their family and friends. After the performance there will be a discussion with the audience on where we have come from and where we are going 12 years into democracy. The afternoon programme will be hosted by The Bag Factory in Newtown, where photographs taken by learners during the programme at Market Photo Workshop and other visual artworks created during the project will be exhibited. This will be followed by a discussion with artists from the Bag Factory as the guest speakers on the role of art, culture and conversation in building democracy. Venues Photography Exhibition Opening: 9 December 2006 Time: 13h30 for 14h00 Venue: The Bag Factory Artists Studios 10 Mahlathini Street Fordsburg Johannesburg Closes 12 December 2006. The gallery is open daily 10h00 – 16h00. Performances 9 December 2006 Time : 09h30 to 10h30 Tour of Constitutional Hill and Court 10h30 to 13h00 Performance by Youth Venue: Constitutional Hill Kotze street Braamfontein Johannesburg For more information: Market Photo Workshop Iqbal Tladi or Nonceba Ntintili Tel: 011 834 1444 Fax: 011 834 1447 info@marketphotoworkshop.co.za or The Living Together Project Betsi...
We will be back!
