A WISH
It's good to be alive in Cape Town a week into the 2010 World Cup. I honestly could not have imagined how contagious this wild and happy spirit would turn out to be. I'm loving the Africa-style theatre all over the place, like the Nigerian supporters with their green-painted live chickens. My wish is that maybe we'll all be injected with the vision of how life in our cities can be and they'll be transformed forever after, with good policing, good transport, good vibes between nations ........
THE CAPE CREATIVE EXHIBITION
The Cape Creative Exhibition has been set up to showcase craft, design, fine arts, film and performing art from Cape Town, and it is positioned for maximum exposure along the fanwalk in Greenpoint throughout the World Cup. A "previously derelict" building at 37 Main Road has been transformed into a double story exhibition space including gallery, screenings, stage, coffee shop and a garden. The organizations behind it are the the Indalo Project, the City of Cape Town, the Cape Craft and Design Institute, the Visual Arts Network of South Africa, the Performing Arts Network of South Africa, and the Africa Centre.
The Indalo Project, new to me, has brought a group of professional designers together with nine different craft organisations, to create nine new ranges of design products.
I took special note because the craft projects they've linked up with are of a very high calibre. About this show they say: "This is the first public exhibition we’ve undertaken and we’re planning to raise a brow or two."
37 Main Rd, Greenpoint
19 June to 11 July 10h00 to 17h00
Cost: Free (10am - 5pm) R 30 - R 60 (evening performances)
Contacts:
Thessa Bos and Chantal Louw, curators 079 494 1156 and 082 927 7279
Liane Mulder, sales and marketing Indalo Project 021 426 2475 or 079 0850 277
THEATRESPORTS
The improvisation show Theatresports has been around for so long, you'd expect it to get tired, but when I went not very long ago it was still such a refreshing dose of laughter and fun. They are at the Kalk Bay Theatre every Tuesday, plus a nightly run from Tuesday till Saturday this week, billed as TheatreSports™: the Other Beautiful Game.
Kalk Bay Theatre
Tuesday 15 to Saturday 19 20h30
Tickets R50 / R40 adults / students To book call 072 939 3351
CASA LITTLE BRAZIL
I came across a notice for a World Cup venue called Casa Little Brazil, and I thought of a few readers who might like to try it out, especially when it's free of charge in the daytime. They call it "a celebration hub for all Brazilian fans complete with Brazilian décor, dancers in carnival costumes, gourmet delights, traditional Brazilian music,and World Cup matches screened in Portuguese and English."
Opening Tuesday 15 at 15h00 in time for Brazil/Korea game at 20h30
Runs till 11 July
Sea Point Civic Centre Main Rd Sea Point
Cost: Free (10am - 5pm) R90 (after 5pm)
Information 082 334 6098 roxannecaitlinclarke@gmail.com
ALLISTER SPARKS AT THE BOOK LOUNGE
Allister Sparks will be at the Book Lounge this week, to discuss the current situation in South Africa. It should be extremely interesting to hear what he has to say, at a time when the subject seems more confusing and complex than it's ever been before.
Thursday 17 17h30 for 18h00
MICHAELIS MASTERS EXHIBITION
Opening on Thursday is an exhibition of work by Michaelis Fine Arts students in the first, second and third year of the Masters programme. The epigraph of this show is a quote from Jasper Johns: “When is it complete and when is it not complete? I don’t think one can say what one longs for.” Together with the title, This Is Not Final, this clearly states the curators' concern with process, and the finished work will be accompanied by "some aspect of each artist's individualised process."
Michaelis Galleries Hiddingh Campus 31 – 37 Orange Street
17 June to 10 July Tuesday to Friday 10h00 - 15h00, Saturday 10h00 - 12h00
Opening Event: Thursday 17 18h30
AFRICAN DINOSAURS EXHIBITION
A new permanent exhibition about the dinosaurs that lived in Africa opened recently at the SA Museum, and it's bound to be fascinating to the children in your life (especially). African Dinosaurs is about "where they came from, what they ate, how they reproduced, how they adapted to their ever-changing environments and what caused their rapid global decline into worldwide extinction, around 65 million years ago. It also investigates the origins of birds, the direct descendant of dinosaurs, which survived extinction and still exist today."
Open daily 10h00 to 17h00.
Free to children 16 and under, adults R15.
www.iziko.org.za.
SINDIWE MAGONA TELLS STORIES
Saturday morning story-time is a weekly ritual at the Book Lounge, aimed at the age group 3 to 8. This week writer Sindiwe Magona is there; I haven't heard her but they promise that as a story-teller she's a treat.
Saturday 19 11h00
THE GIRL IN THE YELLOW DRESS
Not happening for a couple of weeks yet, but for the joy of anticipation here is advance warning of a great season coming up at the Baxter Theatre. Make a note in your diary of the first and most anticipated (by me) play in the line-up: The Girl in the Yellow Dress by Craig Higginson, directed by Malcolm Purkey, opening on 27 June, direct from the Grahamstown main festival. More details in following posts.
