THE NIGHT DOCTOR
A new play that strikes me as interesting is on at the Artscape Arena till the end of this week. Directed by Liz Mills and written by Juliet Jenkin (who had a critical success with The Boy Who Fell From the Roof) The Night Doctor is about "night of crisis ... when Catherine, a young South African doctor, arrives at her parents’ home in Pietermaritzburg, announcing that she has quit the practice of medicine. Juliet Jenkin’s latest play, The Night Doctor is full of her characteristic ironic wit as she explores the South African collision of violence and belonging, and what it really means to help people."
Artscape Arena
Tuesday 26 19h30
Wednesday to Saturday 27 to 30 20h15
R80
I, CLAUDIA
I loved this production when I saw it at the Baxter studio a couple of years ago, a small, heart-breaking and funny play from Canada. Now at the Kalk Bay Theatre I, Claudia is directed by Lara Bye and performed by Susan Danford who uses masks in her portrayal of all four characters. The main one is a "funny, misfit adolescent.... reeling from the after-effects of her parents' divorce, dealing with school assignments and coping with puberty ... she takes refuge in the school caretaker's room where she hides all that is secret and dear to her."
Kalk Bay Theatre
Wednesday to Saturday 20h30
R100 073 220 5430
AS TERRAS DO FIM DO MUNDO (THE LANDS OF THE END OF THE WORLD)
I am told that this exhibition is a good one - Jo Ratcliffe's black and white photographs that trace the places in Angola where the South African army fought the Border War. The images capture "the eerie silences of the traces of war." Ratcliffe's earlier exhibition Terreno Ocupado in 2007 showed Luanda five years after the civil war ended.
Michael Stevenson Gallery 160 Sir Lowry Road Woodstock
Monday to Friday 9h00 to 17h00 Saturday 10h00 to 13h00
Wednesday to Saturday 20h30
R100 073 220 5430
AS TERRAS DO FIM DO MUNDO (THE LANDS OF THE END OF THE WORLD)
I am told that this exhibition is a good one - Jo Ratcliffe's black and white photographs that trace the places in Angola where the South African army fought the Border War. The images capture "the eerie silences of the traces of war." Ratcliffe's earlier exhibition Terreno Ocupado in 2007 showed Luanda five years after the civil war ended.
Michael Stevenson Gallery 160 Sir Lowry Road Woodstock
Monday to Friday 9h00 to 17h00 Saturday 10h00 to 13h00
BORDERS
More photography from and of Africa, Borders opens at SANG this week. It features work distilled from the Bamako African Photographic Biennale, which features contemporary photography from across the continent and its diaspora. Here are the gallery's notes on the exhibition's theme:
Most of the borders of African states recognised today were drawn by the European imperial powers during the Berlin Conference in 1884. The often-arbitrary delineation of territories has provoked conflicts around issues of sovereignty, the distribution of economic resources or ethnic grouping. Repressive methods are used to counter the migration flows set in motion by political turmoil or economic hardship, while immigrants are usually perceived as ‘other’, foreigners viewed with suspicion and distrust – as was experienced in the xenophobic violence in South Africa in 2008. Yet, a border is also a place of meeting and exchange. It may be seen as a space for transformation, and a real or imagined territory of openness, while forms of transgression may be perceived symbolically as ‘crossing’ borders.
In Borders, 40 photographers and 13 video artists, including several South Africans, engage with the concept, whether interpreted in terms that are geographical, political, social, aesthetic or metaphysical.
South African National Gallery
Opening Tuesday 26 till the end of January
Enquiries: Pam Warne 021 481 3956 pwarne@iziko.org.za.
More photography from and of Africa, Borders opens at SANG this week. It features work distilled from the Bamako African Photographic Biennale, which features contemporary photography from across the continent and its diaspora. Here are the gallery's notes on the exhibition's theme:
Most of the borders of African states recognised today were drawn by the European imperial powers during the Berlin Conference in 1884. The often-arbitrary delineation of territories has provoked conflicts around issues of sovereignty, the distribution of economic resources or ethnic grouping. Repressive methods are used to counter the migration flows set in motion by political turmoil or economic hardship, while immigrants are usually perceived as ‘other’, foreigners viewed with suspicion and distrust – as was experienced in the xenophobic violence in South Africa in 2008. Yet, a border is also a place of meeting and exchange. It may be seen as a space for transformation, and a real or imagined territory of openness, while forms of transgression may be perceived symbolically as ‘crossing’ borders.
In Borders, 40 photographers and 13 video artists, including several South Africans, engage with the concept, whether interpreted in terms that are geographical, political, social, aesthetic or metaphysical.
South African National Gallery
Opening Tuesday 26 till the end of January
Enquiries: Pam Warne 021 481 3956 pwarne@iziko.org.za.
SOUND ART
The is the last week for the exhibition called Echoes by Australian artist Philip Samartzis who is the Senior Lecturer in Sound at the RMIT University in Melbourne and is "regarded as being at the forefront of Sound Art internationally." His work is being shown with that of South African James Webb.
SA National Gallery
Tuesday to Sunday
RIDICULE AT CINE-CLUB
This is an extremely entertaining and sophisticated film which I saw on the circuit some years ago (it was made in 1996.) Ridicule is set in the 18th century at the court of Versailles "where social status can rise and fall based on one’s ability to mete out witty insults and avoid ridicule oneself." It tells the story of a minor aristocrat who, unusually, cares about social justice and who goes to the court to get backing to drain the swamps that are causing death and disease among the peasants. He has to learn the art of wit (l'esprit) to be recognized by the corrupt and callous aristocrats he meets there.
Alliance Francaise 155 Loop Street
Tuesday 26 19h00
Free entrance
OPEN GARDENS
The height of spring, the entrance of summer, the last weekend in October, this is the season for open gardens.
There's a Constantia route which I haven't done before, and a more extensive network of gardens in the Elgin area which I have seen and some of them are a great treat. If you haven't seen it before don't miss beautiful Freshwoods, it will change your conception of a rose garden. I also love Wildekranz an 1812 house and garden full of good South African art. I tried to make a shortlist but so many of them sound worth the detour; have a look at the websites and make your own choice.
Constantia Valley Garden Club - Open Gardens 2010
Friday 29 14h00 to 17h30 and Saturday 30 10h00 to 17h00
Tickets R50 for all five gardens, includes tea, in aid of food garden ngo's.
Elgin Open Gardens 2010
Saturday 30 and Sunday 31 October
Saturday 6 and Sunday 7 November
10h00 to 17h00
www.elginopengardens.co.za
The is the last week for the exhibition called Echoes by Australian artist Philip Samartzis who is the Senior Lecturer in Sound at the RMIT University in Melbourne and is "regarded as being at the forefront of Sound Art internationally." His work is being shown with that of South African James Webb.
SA National Gallery
Tuesday to Sunday
RIDICULE AT CINE-CLUB
This is an extremely entertaining and sophisticated film which I saw on the circuit some years ago (it was made in 1996.) Ridicule is set in the 18th century at the court of Versailles "where social status can rise and fall based on one’s ability to mete out witty insults and avoid ridicule oneself." It tells the story of a minor aristocrat who, unusually, cares about social justice and who goes to the court to get backing to drain the swamps that are causing death and disease among the peasants. He has to learn the art of wit (l'esprit) to be recognized by the corrupt and callous aristocrats he meets there.
Alliance Francaise 155 Loop Street
Tuesday 26 19h00
Free entrance
OPEN GARDENS
The height of spring, the entrance of summer, the last weekend in October, this is the season for open gardens.
There's a Constantia route which I haven't done before, and a more extensive network of gardens in the Elgin area which I have seen and some of them are a great treat. If you haven't seen it before don't miss beautiful Freshwoods, it will change your conception of a rose garden. I also love Wildekranz an 1812 house and garden full of good South African art. I tried to make a shortlist but so many of them sound worth the detour; have a look at the websites and make your own choice.
Constantia Valley Garden Club - Open Gardens 2010
Friday 29 14h00 to 17h30 and Saturday 30 10h00 to 17h00
Tickets R50 for all five gardens, includes tea, in aid of food garden ngo's.
Elgin Open Gardens 2010
Saturday 30 and Sunday 31 October
Saturday 6 and Sunday 7 November
10h00 to 17h00
www.elginopengardens.co.za
