Farm in the city

Hope For The Children (HFTC) is an NGO that helps orphaned children in Cape Town. It is situated in Military Road, Tamboerskloof. It is also known as ERF 81. Andre Laubscher and a number of Cape Townians founded HFTC in December 2006. Laubshcer together with surrounding neighbors and volunteers have been helping orphans for a couple of years. The HFTC ‘s goal includes bringing children to a place of refuge to heal through everything from interaction with animals to trauma-specific art therapy

Erf 81 was the formerly a military base. It was a storage base for ammunition. In 1980, the army moved out and it was vacant for a while. During this time there had been problems with squatters. Laubscher (local farmer), found this place where he could collect herbs and leaves for his goat. He volunteered to move into the area to protect it from vandalism. Laubscher started taking care of homeless pets and later orphaned children after a baby was abandoned at his doorstep. That was the beginning of a story of transforming, healing and giving hope to the children.

HFTC is seeking to expand operations by creating additional safe havens that house Educational Facilities like trade schools for everything from Film to Culinary Arts and Basic Business skills. They seek to create a model refuge or “Harbor of Hope” that contains education, recreation, and shelter facilities with the intention to expand to other farms.

Grahamstown elevated

1 July 2011

Grahamstown elevated

Mike Fabricius

The National arts festival is a plinth showcasing some of the best artistic talent in the country. As host of such a celebratory event Grahamstown produces many talented local individuals. Mike Fabricius‘s acoustic sounds has many viewers stunned.

Fabricuis grew up and studied in Grahamstown graduating with a BSC in Zoology at Rhodes University. Like many musicians he practices with his guitar playing small gigs around town like at the monument and the tunnels.

His performance at the monastery in new street was very impressive and charming. Apart from the walk-ins that stumbled into the musical performance, Fabricius was encouraged by the presence of his friends and family. It was certainly delightful to see his father lip singing to his son’s songs.

The quality of the live performance was phenomenal with a voice that would give one goose bumps. Fabricius plays happy universal music that he also describes as “mellow to upbeat”. Although he played a couple of cover songs, he was unique in his execution of the final composition. One of his songs that included a combination of nursery rhymes was ingenious.

It was great to have been there for the live music. The monastery atmosphere was great and the space was suitable satisfying a feeling of nostalgia. This was also felt in Fabricius’s attitude towards life and his music.

Art in Cape Town

June 2011

Art in Cape Town

Samson Cinga

There is something awkward but fascinating about the big guy with hidden face on the painted surface of Cinga’s artwork. He has a target on him that draws your eye more and more into the work. The target in the painting allows one to deliberate its accidental positioning. The multifaceted surface in Cinga’ work extends on to his personal preferences and feelings.

Cinga is a Cape Town born artist who did his primary and secondary schooling in the Eastern Cape, Umtata. He sees himself as the “true Ghetto boy”. He has been exposed to both the Ghetto township life as well as the big city life. These experiences lead him to have a very critical view on life and politics.

His artistic journey as he would say has its beginnings at the Isibane art studio in Kayelitsha. Cinga’s subject matter includes colours and forms that surround us. He sees the subject matter as a part of him. He did a basic design course as well as commercial photography at Stellenbosch Univeristy. As a disadvantaged student from Kayelitsha, he noticed the different lifestyle amongst people from different background.

Cinga works are brilliantly implemented. Their colossal sizes are intimidating yet colourful and playful. Cinga starts them of in an abstract phase. It is hard to tell how each mark, drop of paint and line landed on the surface of the painting. However Cinga insists that he makes no mistakes and that every splash is relevant. He retains some elements from the bottom layer to create a multifaceted surface. According to Cinga, “the process of creating is driven by so many emotions”. He finds himself crying through the process of which he sees as destroying the artwork. Cinga believes that his art speaks a lot about him- it is a part of him.

Battle of the bands

1 June 2011

Battle of the bands

Venue: Purple Turtle

It wasn’t really a battle nor was there a winner determined by a panel of judges. It was however exciting, hot and fun with a climax that lifted us from our chairs to the dance floor. The bands that played that night include; Six Gun Gospel, Kieron Brown from Saintfearless, Dog Town and Bicycle Thief. Although this wasn’t the initial line up, the bands that performed delivered some great sounds and amazing vocals.

Six Gun Gospel was the first band on stage. They were great, unique and creative in terms of bringing together different sounds. They had a female vocalist, 2 guitarists, a drummer and a guy with a harmonica.

I am not an expert when it comes to music but I thought it sounded folklore- country- like. It personally worked for me. My favorite was the muddy waters song. They got that “mojo working” for sure.

On Facebook , Six Gun Gospel describes their music as Backwoods music to soothe deeply troubled souls. It does indeed calm you down.

Kieron Brown followed with an amazing solo. Not only does his presence please the eye (especially for the ladies) but he also has a great voice.

He won me over when he did a cover of one of Taxi violence’s songs

Unfortunately the other band members of Saintfearless couldn’t make it. This did not stop Brown from stealing the show though.

Dogtown and Bicycle Thief played after. Dogtown is like an Afrikaans band, they were also quite good. Bicycle Thief rocked it like they had been playing for years. They were more lively and forceful.

For more information on live gigs in Cape Town, check out the purple Turtle website,

http://www.thepurpleturtle.co.za/#.

It is defiantly worth checking out. Some of the bands above also do repeat performances.

For more information on Six Gun Gospel, check out the following sites;

One YouTube vid

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=419hP1EGqQc

Facebook Page

http://www.facebook.com/sixgun.gospel?sk=wall

A conversation about ethnic hair

Jacqui Setti


Hey friend,I recently watched a programme on SABC (motswako) and they were talking about black hair. They had three women with three different hairstyles talking about why they choose to wear that type of hairstyle. This got me thinking as to what we as Africans (not the African-American) standards of hair are.At fringesandcurls.co.za, I aim to write about all kinds of hairstyles and give the best in the world advice on how to deal with hair/hairstyles. It is my job to embrace all types of hair textures (also as a hairstylist/hair adviser).So, the debate is this: what is the significance of black hair in the public eye (i.e. our favourite celebrities in Africa), in our schools and most importantly in our professional lives (work place) as African women.Friends, please can you answer the following questions so that I can gain an understanding of what women out there are feel these days. Ask a friend, take your time but remember your voice counts. Please answer as truthfully as you can. Answers will be Anonymous. answer in order of questions.1. What kind of hairstyle do you prefer? Weave, natural hair or relaxed hair?2. What makes you feel African an proud when it come to your hair?3. Why?4. Have you ever been discriminated against by anyone (boyfriend, friend,colloegue or boss) because of your hair?5. Do you feel black is beautiful?6. What matters to you when it comes to your hair?Follow this link to be part of the conversation on the website.http://www.fringesandcurls.co.za/talks

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Maia Setti
1. I prefer braids... they are easy to maintain but i aslo dont mind a weave now and then. the problem with weaves is that they cut your hair and they can also be very itchy and dirty quickly. 2. & 3. i like the fact that we can have so many different styles for our hair rather than just washing and straigtening. we can aslo have different textures which is quite cool.4. not really discriminated against. i think that a strong word espcially in terms of hair. however, i had a boyfriend that said that he didnt like weaves. he changed his mind when he saw how well it was done on me by yours truly( jacqui). i have had quite good responses with the way i do my hair, be it braids or weave.5. black is beautiful yes. i do admist that somtimes our hair can be a mission to maintain but when it is maintained, it turns into such a beautiful piece of artwork.6. healthy clean hair...neat. the most important part is getting my hair done myself. i think hair salons do great hair but i like to personalise my hairstyles.

Curatorial workshops

I recently attented this brilliant workshop on curatorial studies at VANSA in Cape Town this month. Since am currently a curatorial intern, this was a great opportunity for me to expand my understanding of curating.

The Workshop was great and very enlightening in terms of how serious curatorial practices are being considered today. We got into some details of how Curatorial practices have evolved throughout the course of Art history - something that has not been focused on (or rather has not been considered) when studying Art history.

The first day of workshops we had an introductory session where we introduced ourselves to Claudia as well as each other. Claudia gave us a task before the workshops to read essays that we had to present on the first day to the rest of the group. The essays were based on curating and the history behind it.

My presentation was based on the roles and relationship between the artists and the curator. My presentation was based on Rainer Ganahl's essay, “when attitudes become - curating" that is also an exhibition that was inspired by the Jet revolution. The 747 jet was born out of the explosion of the popularity of air travel in the 1960's.The context in which the art was produced was that of a mobile society. With a mobile society also came the notion of multitasking were we see artists who collect, curate, write and deal in art. We also see curators who make art and reflect on artistic production as writers and art historians. There is more fluidity between what is seen as the role of the artists and that of a curator. This is the current period of deskilling and artistic crowdsourcing of information.

Now curating has become institutionalised, turning into a discipline that is taught academically. For Ganahl, the recipe for a good curator is an elixir located in the persons themselves. It is something that comes from within. It is the basic understanding of who we are, where we come from how we living, what we want and what we can do. Ganahl continues to say that curators should learn to distinguish between motivations or interest that are intrinsic and logical and those that are not. It is about figuring out what kind of art they would like to defend, for whom, and why. They also have to find inventive ways to put their vision respectively into practice without total exploration of the artists or anybody else involved in the making of a show

The second day of workshops Claudia discussed her Curatorial practices and the works she exhibited. We presented our curatorial proposes in which we got feedback from Claudia as well as possible ideas from the workshop group. My understanding of curatorial practices was broadened in terms of the role and the tasks that the Curator takes on. For example, I think most of us found the Budget proposal a bit challenging in that we had ideas and concepts of how we wanted our exhibitions curated yet our budgets proved to be a bit of a challenge. This also stems from the fact that most of us came from institutions where curatorial practices were unheard of.

In the end, it was a worthwhile experince which we had this great opportunity -some of us for the first time – to gain information on what curatorial practices are all about. We were also fortunate enough to have had Claudia as our facilitator.