» Arts and Culture

Literary Festival 3-5 September at 44 Stanley Ave

liz — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 08:52:18 +0000

Mail & Guardian Literary Festival 2010 3-5 September@ 44 STANLEY Avenue, Milpark, Johannesburg in partnership with BOEKEHUIS at Fawley street, Auckland Park on 011 482 3609
Opening address (free event): Friday night 3rd Sept at 7pm, by Nic Dawes, editor of the Mail &Guardian – celebrate 25 years of the M&G with a glass of wine, RSVP: tamarinm@mg.co.za Find the full programme at http://www.mg.co.za/specialreport/mg-jhb-literary-festival-2010

CURRENT EXHIBITION BY SAM NHLENGETHWA AT GOODMAN GALLERY

liz — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 11:31:34 +0000

In Kind of Blue, Sam Nhlengethwa’s latest solo exhibition of drawings, prints and paintings at the Goodman Gallery, he pays homage to trumpeter and composer Miles Davis and celebrates the recent 50th anniversary of Davis’ groundbreaking album Kind of Blue. WHEN? Opening at Goodman Gallery 26 August at 18.00 until 29 September 2010
MORE INFO: “When I was a youngster,” the artist reflects, “on Sundays when people were relaxing, from street to street people would sit with a portable vinyl player listening to Miles Davis.” And, he says “unlike with the other vinyls where we picked tracks, Kind of Blue was played repeatedly from the first track, ‘So What?’ to its last track ‘Flamenco Sketches’”. (Goodman Gallery invitation) Included on the show are a number of etchings and lithographs which Nhlengethwa produced at Mark Attwood’s Artists’ Press studio in White River. There are also mixed media collage drawings and paintings all the size of vinyl record covers. Goodman Gallery writes further: ‘ Nhlengethwa’s new works are stark, mostly monochromatic and affectingly vivid, echoing the emotion of Davis’s melody. Black and white rendered silhouette figures recall another era, an age when taking risks was central to cultural development.’
MORE ON NHLENGETHWA:
BORN: 1955 In the mining community of Payneville in Springs
GREW UP: In Ratanda location in Heidelberg, east of Johannesburg.
ART EDUCATION: Completed a two-year Fine Art Diploma at the Rorkes Drift Art Centre in the late 1970s.
EXHIBITIONS: Exhibited both locally and abroad throughout the 1980s and ’90s. Major turning point was his 1993 solos show Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow in 1993
AWARDs: Standard Bank Young Artist Award in 1994 amongst others
Goodman GAllery is at 163 Jan Smuts Avenue Parkwood T: +27-11-788-1113 GALLERY HOURS: Tuesdays–Fridays 09:30–17h30, Saturdays 09:30–16:00, Closed

FiftyTwo:30 Collector’s Treasury

liz — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 09:40:39 +0000

With thanks to Adi@fiftytwo.co.za yet again. Collector’s Treasury is one of my FAVOURITE places BUT be warned … take a ball of string with you because like Theseus in the minotaur’s cave, you might get lost in the maze of book-lined passages !!

Genre: Book store bizarre
What: Paperbacks, hard copies, leather bounds and titles from 1800s – this mystically rare book dealer has the edge. Doors swung open in 1974 and over its 36 years the collection has matured – there’s an accumulated mass of literary wealth and some 2 million books are shelved here. Astounding. The Collectors Treasury doesn’t just horde books, it carriers collectable vinyls (The Beatles, The Jackson Five), sheet music, mathematical journals, framed artworks, porcelain everything, medium format cameras and family photo albums probably from a different chapter. Spilling over four floors – there’s a rich world waiting for you.
FiftyTwo review: Books are stacked in piles everywhere (up staircases, blocking the entrance, above and below book shelves). Collectors Treasury is the most phenomenal maze to loose yourself in. Scan the shelves for titles, you’ll find volumes and volumes to read from cover to cover. Words can’t capture the wonder that this aged bookstore conjures up. Meet fascinating people while you browse, from the academic scholar wishing he were in Boston to muso hippie types, everyone speaks the same language in a space such as this – a great opportunity to not judge a book by its cover. This gallery isn’t cheap but the experience is worth the buck. Whoever thought atlases from the Ice Age would lose value, you’re wrong. FiftyTwo say, “Stay the day.”
Tip: First edition books make quite the gift so the next time you’re looking for something unique and feel mainstream bookstores offer the unadventurous, head to Collectors Treasury. Secondly, look intently as there are remarkable things on sale, very recently an original South African Parliamentary photograph from 1936 (with signatures of all parliament members) was found. Own your page of South African history.
Interesting fact: This legend store has claims of being the Southern Hemisphere’s largest bookstore of its kind.
Where: CTP House, 244 Commissioner Street, Johannesburg – call 011 334 6556 if you need help with directions.
Book: No booking necessary – it’s open from Mondays to Fridays 09:00-17:00 & Saturdays 10:00-13:00

Joburg City Art Tours

liz — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 17:37:06 +0000

There is increasing public art in all sorts of unexpected places in Jozi. And now we even have long needed art tours. This surely marks our coming of age. See http://www.jhblive.com/kultcha/features/joburg_city_art_tours/46212 for more on these tours.

FNB Dance Umbrella 27 Feb to 14 March

liz — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 19:08:16 +0000

FNB DANCE UMBRELLA 2010 presented by First National Bank in association with the National Arts Council and The Market Theatre, runs from 27 February to 14 March 2010 with performances at various Johannesburg theatres:

the Wits Theatre complex in Braamfontein
the UJ Centre for the Arts in Auckland Park
The Dance Factory
The Market Theatre Main Theatre and Barney Simon Theatre.

Works presented at the Market Theatre includes:

BLACK!… WHITE? by Nelisiwe Xaba fnb-dance201002 2 & 3 March 2010 @ 20h30 Main Theatre This work explores the themes of racial and social stereotyping and how these distort people’s perceptions of one another.

“ELEV(I)ATE” by choreographer Athena Mazarakis and digital artist Tegan Bristow 3 & 4 March 2010 Market Theatre Foyer Mazarakis and Bristow have worked together on two previous projects, Coming To (2007) and Chalk vision (2007) and wish to further their collaboration between the moving body and a digital arts interface in this new project.

KONEXION choreographed by. Wanted Posse and Indigene Dance Company 5 & 6 March @ 20h30; 7 March @ 14h30 Main Theatre With the 21st century bringing exchange and missing, Konexion is an appropriate creation which illustrates the result of a dialogue between cultures; a conversation where everyone has something to say and a gesture to share.

ASYMPTOTE - Choreographed by Frauke and Orlando 9 & 10 March @ 20h00 Barney Simon Theatre Asymptote is an Ankoku Butoh dance that explores the materiality of the body and its relationship to the natural world.

DOUBLE BILL UMFULA WA MA DADA by Dada Masilo and INDLELA by Luyanda Sidiya 9, 10 & 11 March @ 20h15 Main Theatre Umfula Wa Ma Dada is a work Dada Masilo created in residency in Israel and Indlela by Luyanda Sidiya which is inspired by the different paths we take to find ourselves as human beings.

FAUX CIELS (FAKE SKIES) by Eric Languet 12 & 13 March @ 18h30, 19h30 and 20h30 Barney Simon Theatre This work is an interactive work with an audience and will look at what can and cannot be said through dance. A minimum of 10 people will be allowed at each performance. Book by calling (011) 492 0709.

A NEW UNTITLED WORK by Sbonakaliso Ndaba 12 & 13 March @ 20h15 14 March @ 15h00 Main Theatre Sbonakaliso Ndaba created this new work at Cape Town’s celebrated Jazzart Dance Theatre company. The idea for this work was inspired by a programme seen on 3rd Degree that dealt with illegal mineworkers.

Tickets for the FNB Dance Umbrella are available at the door or can be booked at Computicket – 083 915 8000 and prices range from R60 to R100.