I was excited when I got notification of this exhibition as it says ‘opening at Nirox Sculpture Park’.  Because Nirox in the Cradle of Humankind  only opens to the public when there is an exhibition on, I was already packing my camp chair and picnic basket.  Any opportunity I can get to make my way out to Nirox,  I seize.   But sadly, on doing some more homework, it became clear that that Paul du Toit’s exhibition is  showing at Nirox’s  satellite venue at Arts on Main and not out at the main sculpture park on Kromdraai Rd.

An exhibition of  Du Toit’s  paintings and works on paper will run at Momo in Parktown North (opening on 23rd August) alongside the sculpture exhibition.  So on Sunday 26th August, rather than heading north for a day of peace and tranquility in green parkland alongside  wooded streams, I’ll be heading south for a very urban experience !

For more on Du Toit’s exhibition see http://www.whatson.co.za/details.php?id=77816&event=A%20Slice%20In%20Time%20:%20Paul%20Du%20Toit

Article on Neighbourgoods Market in Monocle Magazine

Urban Joburg responds to Monocle Magazine’s binary view of Joburg.  Love their description of what Jozi inner city has to offer:  ‘We’re a city where one can drink a strong espresso in ‘Little Addis’ before heading off to Fordsburg for a vegetarian biryani AND making a stop at Neighbourgoods for a red velvet cupcake.’  for full article see  http://www.urbanjoburg.com/post/29140981695/monocle-magazine-joburg-painting-the-city-in

As I have never seen it, I’m really looking forward to Athol Fugard’s Blue Iris due to open at the Market on 21st August.  It’s directed by Janice Honeyman with Graham Weir, Lee-Ann van Rooi and Claire Berlein.   Described in the press release:

Set in Fugard’s beloved Karoo, this tender story revolves around the gradual disintegration of a marriage through misunderstanding, neglect and disappointment as told in the reminiscences and regrets of widower farmer Robert Hannay and the heart-wrenching sadness of his loyal farm worker and wife’s companion – Rieta. The Blue Iris dissects the pain of missed opportunity and emotional disconnection touching us all to the core. It is Athol Fugard at his most honest, gentle and introspective.

The show runs until 7th October.  Remember that Greg Homann’s production of Ariel Dorfmann’s Delirium is also showing at the Market 21st Aug – 20th Sept.

Greg Homann is a great director who directed that amazing show The Pirates of Penzance (which is coming back for a re-run I believe), is putting on Delirium.  Delirium by the Chilean playwright Ariel Dorfmann is billed as a ‘pertinent and playful allegory for the ethnic and nationalist divisions we see across the world.’  In a cosmopolitan country with eleven different official languages and xenophobia never far from the surface, this play will surely have relevance for 2012 South Africa.

It’s really sad that there are so few events and no guided tours at Walter Sisulu Botanical Gardens, or if there are, they aren’t advertised.   Kirstenbosch Gardens in Cape Town has a very active programme of guided walks but there aren’t any at Walter Sisulu.  Also the two upcoming concerts at Walter Sisulu indicate that they are trying to draw in a very different crowd.   As opposed to the previous light sing-along more conservative concerts which would appeal across generations and to families with kids, the two upcoming concerts appeal to a much younger demographic.  Seems that institutions are realizing that their future market lies with the younger generation. For on Mother’s day this year,  it was Goldfish who played, of all places, at that most conservative and exclusive sanctum of middle class sobriety: the Johannesburg Country Club.

The two upcoming concerts at the Walter Sisulu Botanical Gardens are Black Coffee billed for the 19th August 2-4pm  and on 9th September, Die Heuwels Fantasties (The Hills Fantastic in English), an Afrikaans electronic band from Bellville, Cape Town comprising Hunter Kennedy, Pierre Greeff, Johnny de Ridder and Phillip Erasmus.   For the specifically family orientated ‘golden-oldie’ concert there is the annual 702’s Mother’s Day Concert at the Zoo.

But harking back to the original 1985 702 Concert in the Park is the upcoming 702’s Solid Gold Concert in the Park which includes a variety of SA’s best known talent . It will feature the likes of  PJ Powers – who’ll be playing with Hotline for the occasion, Sipho “Hotstix” Mabuse, Steve Kekana, , Dr Victor and the Rasta Rebels, Yvonne Chaka Chaka, Clint and Company, and Mango Groove. The playlist has been compiled by Solid Gold’s weekend.

You can book at Computicket for what promises to be a fabulous day of music and jolling in the park on 18th August from 11 am.

St. Giles/Red Yellow Blue 2012 Oil and acrylic on canvas 500X640mm

Looking forward to this exhibition of Gunther Herbst’s work at Arts on Paper, 44 Stanley Ave.

Opening on 11th August at 2 pm  ‘The Man who Wasn’t There’ runs until 1st September and will show a range of  Herbst latest work where Bauhaus meets de Stijl meets Pop Art.  Herbst is represented in most major South African art collections.

Take time out and chill   (literally,  unless it warms up)  at 44 Stanley where you can browse through great second hand bookshops, lots of  shops with unusual knickknacks and objet d’arts.  Grab a cup of coffee at Bean There and then later have lunch at one of the restaurants like Salvation Cafe, Il Giardino, or Vovo Telo. It’s a great place to chill on a Saturday.

Congratulations to the Crowne Plaza, which used to be the Rosebank Hotel, on Tyrwhitt Ave, Rosebank . See

http://blog.therosebank.co.za/crowne-plaza-facilities/the-crowne-plaza-johannesburg-the-rosebank-turns-80/

Wilma Cruise’ s exhibition The Alice Diaries shows at Circa until 25th August.  Exploring the liminal space between animals and humans, Cruise draws on texts from Alice in Wonderland and Alice through the  Looking Glass.  Across the road at Circa’s sister gallery, Everard Read,  Southern Guild showcases design ideas of some of South Africa’s most prestigious artists as well as up- and-coming ones.   At the Goodman Gallery until 18th August is Kendall Geers’ Songs of Innocence and of Experience and across the road at Artspace is Pat Sithole’s show Reality, on until 29th August.  While you are here pop in to Kim Sacks Gallery as well as to David Krut.  They are always worth a visit.

At the Wits Art Museum with its catchy acronym title of WAM is the stunning premiere show Seeing Stars.  MAKE SURE you see this before it closes on 19th Aug. It includes some of the best pieces of this amazing collection. Can’t wait for the next show.

Across Melville way Jennifer Hallowes’  My Heart Beats to the Rhythm of a Cowhide Drum opens at Upstairs@Bamboo on 13th August.  You can catch  Gunther Herbst’s show The Man who wasn’t there at AOP , 44 Stanley Ave until 1st September and further to the south in Jozi CBD is Standard Bank’s  20th Century Masters – The human figure  which still has another month to go, only closing on the 15th September.

Bracha L. Ettinger’s Lichtenberg Flower and Medusa opens on 13th August at Nirox at Arts on Main . Ettinger is described as ‘a theoretician working at the juncture between feminine sexuality, pyschoanalysis and aesthetics’.  – So guess there’ll be no ‘boats- in- harbour’ and ‘leopards-lying-in trees’ in this body of work!

So lots of variety and interesting exhibitions on offer.

Nice article on Liz at Lancaster by Whatsupjozi http://www.whatsupjozi.com/2012/jozi-people/art-heritage-culture-and-breakfast-with-liz-at-lancaster/3148 T

Liz at Lancaster Guesthouse has been selected as the Gauteng regional winner in the category Guest House with breakfast, in the 2012 AA Accommodation Awards. We will go forward to the National Awards Evening which will take place on Thursday 30th August at a Gala Banquet to be held at the Wanderers Club. Thanks to all the Liz at Lancaster team who have worked so hard for this achievement: Catherine who oversees and manages the day to day operations,  Zac for his fabulous breakfasts and attending to guests’ transport needs, Thandie and Rose for their tireless laundry and housekeeping and Alick for keeping the garden in order. And thank you to guests who have enabled us to achieve this award by giving feedback to the AA via their rating forms

Cowardice asks the question: Is it safe?
Expediency asks the question: Is it politic?
Vanity asks the question: Is it popular?
But conscience asks the question: Is it right?
And there comes a time one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular – but one must take it simply because it is right.
Martin Luther King

Gandhi’s 7 deadly sins:

• politics without principle
• pleasure without conscience
• wealth without work
• knowledge without character
• commerce without morality
• science without humanity  ….. and finally
  
• worship without sacrifice

Imagine how much better the world would be if we turned our backs on these sins?

And Nelson Mandela’s view on freedom and responsibility:

I have walked that long road to freedom. I have tried not to falter; I have made mistakes along the way. But I have discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb. I have taken a moment here to rest, to steal a view of the glorious vista which surrounds me, to look back on the distance I have come. But I can only rest for a moment, for with freedom comes responsibilities, and I dare not linger for my long walk is not ended.

Words of wisdom from 3 great 20th Century leaders