AT THE BOOK LOUNGE 1: RED IN THE RAINBOW
I was really caught by this story in the Book Lounge newsletter. Lynn Carneson's book is about her life as the child of committed Communists and activists Fred and Sarah Carneson and is "a story of political persecution and torture, prolonged separation and enduring love." It sounds like part biography, part memoir: "Red in the Rainbow not only invokes Fred and Sarah's lifelong political struggles in gripping detail , but also tells poignant human story of endurance, breakdown, courage and the survival of a marriage against all odds." The author will be in conversation with Mervyn Sloman.
Book Lounge
21 July 2010 17h30 for 18h00
AT THE BOOK LOUNGE 2. MASKED RAIDERS - IRISH BANDITRY IN SOUTH AFRICA
Historian Charles van Onselen finds true stories that could be movie scripts - and Masked Raiders (which "follows the wild exploits of legendary brigands") sounds like no exception. Even if you're not usually a reader of serious historical works, plots like this one pull you right in:
"For two decades before a railway system linked southern Africa’s principal cities in the mid-1890s, the world’s richest supplies of diamonds and gold were transported by coach and horses to distant ports for export. For Irish soldiers based at Fort Napier, Pietermaritzburg, the temptation of this fabulous wealth proved irresistible: they deserted by the score and, as members of the criminal ‘Irish Brigade’, embarked on a spree of bank, safe and highway robberies. Startling new insights reveal how the movement of bandits across the interior helped shape the border of what was to become modern South Africa."
Charles van Onselen will be in conversation with Nigel Penn.
Book Lounge
Thursday 22 17h30 for 18h00
OPEN NIGHT AT THE CAPE TOWN OBSERVATORY
Kechil Kirkham is someone else gifted at turning a serious specialist study into a fascinating general subject. This Saturday she will be the speaker at the Cape Town Observatory's fortnightly open night, and her subject is " a family-friendly trip around the world, finding out how other people think about the universe." If, like me, you've been wanting to take advantage of these open nights to see the historical observatory and all its machines, then this would be a very good night to go.
Saturday 24 20h00
THE ARTIST IN THE GARDEN
Kirstenbosch's free Wednesday talk this week is by Angela Read Lloyd, author of The Artist in the Garden - the Quest for Moses Tladi. The book (which I've seen briefly) is beautifully produced and I would love to know more about her subject. Moses Tladi, who is known as South Africa's first black landscape painter, had a flourishing career as an artist between 1929 and 1939, before the war, ill health and apartheid intervened and he faded into obscurity until re-discovered many decades later.
Sanlam Hall (Gate 2) Kirstenbosch
Wednesday 21 10h30 - 11h30
Free entry, but garden entry fee applies.
Enquiries: Cathy Abbott 021 465-6440 cathya@wol.co.za
VIOLIN CONCERT AT THE BAXTER
This Saturday in the Concert Series at the Baxter violinist Natasha Korsakova and pianist Galina Ryzhikova play Bach, Beethoven, Debussy, Kreisler and Gershwin. The programme notes say that Korsakova who is of Russian-Greek descent has won a number of awards, including the Russian Muse award in Moscow, and the Preimos Simione Catullo Artist of the Year in Italy.
The German Süddeutsche Zeitung describes her violin-playing as a "sinfully beautiful listening experience".
Baxter Concert Hall
Saturday 24 20h00
021 685 7880 www.baxter.co.za
LOOKING AHEAD TO A THEATRICAL WEEK
I'll be away for a few weeks from next Sunday, so I'm looking ahead a little here, and there are three plays opening next week that I would not want to miss if I were in town. One of them is the exciting production of Waiting for Godot coming to the Fugard, featured in last week's blog. The other two productions, see below, are opening at the Baxter on the same night.
KAROO MOOSE
Lara Foot's Karoo Moose was first produced three years ago and it already has a record of many awards and excellent reviews here and in the British press, praising it for its imagination and its freshness. "In a remote and impoverished village in the Karoo, a young girl, Thozama, struggles to survive. A violent and terrifying incident and a chance encounter with an escaped moose change her life for ever. It is a story of pain, redemption and hope, combining traditional African storytelling and magical realism."
Baxter Studio
27 July to 7 August 20h15
INXEBA LOMPHILISI (THE WOUND OF A HEALER)
On the same night, also at the Baxter, another work by one of our most imaginative directors.
Mandla Mbothwe co-directs Inxeba Lomphilisi with Fanswa Yisa who performed in his last play, the obscure but beautiful ingcwaba lendoda lise cankwe ndlela (the grave of the man is next to the road)
This play sounds like a sequel of that one, with the same techniques of multiple stories and multimedia, and again drawing "from African traditions and urban rituals to explore the theme of identity and belonging." "At the heart of the piece is a very old woman who has been on the N2 for many years. She acts as a conduit for other people's stories – stories of departure and return. But she is so caught up in other people's stories that she has lost her own, and is constantly trying to catch and weave the stories together again so that they can make sense."
Flipside at the Baxter
27 July – 7 August 20h00
PRESENT AND FUTURE PHOTOGRAPHY
Still looking ahead to next week, GIPCA is hosting an exhibition in the Michaelis Galleries called reGeneration 2, an international exhibition of the work of a new generation of photographers, produced by the Musee de l'Elysee in Switzerland. The curator Michael Ewing will speak at the opening.
These notes are from the programme of the original Swiss museum:
As the digital revolution continues its relentless advance, demolishing longstanding practices in every domain of our field, curiosity builds as to how the new generation of photographers will operate. The reGeneration project – the broadest and most enterprising survey of its kind – set out in 2005 to discover answers to these intriguing questions, while revealing emerging photography in wide-ranging fashion. Following on from the success of this exhibition shown in ten different cities across North America, Europe and Asia, this second edition turns the spotlight on 80 up-and-coming talents from 30 countries.
The Musée de l’Elysée selected the most promising candidates from some 700 entries submitted by 120 of the world’s top photography schools. The curators tried to keep an open mind throughout the selection process, whether the photographers had chosen a documentary or an artistic approach, whether they worked with film or computer, and whether they supported their work with a detailed concept or preferred shooting spontaneously.
The Musée de l’Elysée selected the most promising candidates from some 700 entries submitted by 120 of the world’s top photography schools. The curators tried to keep an open mind throughout the selection process, whether the photographers had chosen a documentary or an artistic approach, whether they worked with film or computer, and whether they supported their work with a detailed concept or preferred shooting spontaneously.
Michaelis Galleries Hiddingh Campus
Opening Tuesday 27 July 17h30 for 18h00
CAPE TOWN BOOK FAIR
Something else happening at the end of July is the Cape Town Book Fair, and I've done some scanning of the programme to see if this time I'd be tempted to return. There are some things that would persuade me, including the presence of Wole Soyinka on the first morning, talking to his publisher about his memoir You Must Set Off At Dawn. I read on Book SA that for members of a bookshop loyalty scheme like Fanatics, entrance to the Book Fair is half price.
CTICC
Sat 31 July to Monday 2 August
