THIS WEEK
Last week the cultural menu was so packed and I expected that this one would be similar, building up to the summer season ... but in fact it's unusually quiet and empty. And not for the first time, the two events that I really want to go to in this relatively uneventful week, happen at exactly the same minute.
WEDNESDAY PM ONE: BOOK LOUNGE BIRTHDAY
The Book Lounge are celebrating their third birthday and we're all invited to the party. It's at the shop on Wednesday afternoon and it takes the form an an indoor picnic and their ritual naming of the best books of the year. Plus a tantalizing announcement which promises to be great news to all who love books.... It should be a very fun and celebratory occasion.
The Book Lounge
Wednesday 1 December 17h30
WEDNESDAY PM TWO: ARI SITAS BOOK LAUNCH
Also an appropriate place to celebrate good book news, the Wolpe Trust is hosting the launch of The Mandela Decade: Labour, Culture and Society in Post-Apartheid South Africa by Ari Sitas, professor of sociology at UCT. Ari will be joined by speakers Prof. Pitika Ntuli (sculptor and expert in African indigenous knowledge systems) and Barbara Hogan, and between the three of them it should be an extremely engaging intellectual experience.
Wednesday 1 December 17h30 for 18h00
UCT Leslie Building LT 2B
SACRED INDIAN MUSIC AT THE ALLIANCE
On Thursday night is a "sacred world-music experience" which sounds quite fascinating - and a little challenging! A group with the rather awkward name of Gaura Vani & As Kindred Spirits present a programme of music which fuses kirtan, a form of devotional music from India, with "rich ethnic rhythms and fresh western harmonies and grooves." It's a participatory experience for the audience, with the band leading call and answer songs and chants over about two hours during which they claim "you will not be able to resist the urge to dance and sing."
A review from The Boston Globe describes "a hybrid of ancient Indian sacred music and modern Western styles. Sitars, mridanga drums, and chanted vocals meld smoothly with guitars and the occasional hip-hop vocal flow..."
Alliance Francaise 155 Loop Street
Thursday 2 20h30
R80
The Book Lounge are celebrating their third birthday and we're all invited to the party. It's at the shop on Wednesday afternoon and it takes the form an an indoor picnic and their ritual naming of the best books of the year. Plus a tantalizing announcement which promises to be great news to all who love books.... It should be a very fun and celebratory occasion.
The Book Lounge
Wednesday 1 December 17h30
WEDNESDAY PM TWO: ARI SITAS BOOK LAUNCH
Also an appropriate place to celebrate good book news, the Wolpe Trust is hosting the launch of The Mandela Decade: Labour, Culture and Society in Post-Apartheid South Africa by Ari Sitas, professor of sociology at UCT. Ari will be joined by speakers Prof. Pitika Ntuli (sculptor and expert in African indigenous knowledge systems) and Barbara Hogan, and between the three of them it should be an extremely engaging intellectual experience.
Wednesday 1 December 17h30 for 18h00
UCT Leslie Building LT 2B
SACRED INDIAN MUSIC AT THE ALLIANCE
On Thursday night is a "sacred world-music experience" which sounds quite fascinating - and a little challenging! A group with the rather awkward name of Gaura Vani & As Kindred Spirits present a programme of music which fuses kirtan, a form of devotional music from India, with "rich ethnic rhythms and fresh western harmonies and grooves." It's a participatory experience for the audience, with the band leading call and answer songs and chants over about two hours during which they claim "you will not be able to resist the urge to dance and sing."
A review from The Boston Globe describes "a hybrid of ancient Indian sacred music and modern Western styles. Sitars, mridanga drums, and chanted vocals meld smoothly with guitars and the occasional hip-hop vocal flow..."
Alliance Francaise 155 Loop Street
Thursday 2 20h30
R80
JAMES GRACE CLASSICAL GUITAR CONCERT
James Grace is one of South Africa's leading classical guitarists. At the Centre for the Book on Friday evening he performs songs from his three albums Cafe Latino, Sevilla - Music of Spain, and World Cafe. Have a listen on his website to samples from all three.
Centre for the Book 62 Queen Victoria St 19h00
Cost: R 60
Tel: 0861 742 667 www.jamesgrace.co.za
James Grace is one of South Africa's leading classical guitarists. At the Centre for the Book on Friday evening he performs songs from his three albums Cafe Latino, Sevilla - Music of Spain, and World Cafe. Have a listen on his website to samples from all three.
Centre for the Book 62 Queen Victoria St 19h00
Cost: R 60
Tel: 0861 742 667 www.jamesgrace.co.za
