Art pick of the week
Toni Morkel and Leon von Solms (and you): Joubert Park fountain – September 1 at 2.30pm
By far the most interesting and worthwhile Spring Day event to cross my desk, this is an invitation to participate — voyeurs need not apply. In conjunction with the Joubert Park Project (JPP), performance artist Toni Morkel and make-up artist and photographer Leon von Solms are staging a public performance event in the abandoned fountain in Joubert Park.
The intervention forms part of an ongoing series of collaborations for the Joubert Park Public Art project, which launches with a spectacular multimedia exhibition in October this year. Armed with suntan lotion, a beach towel, inflatable poolside accessories, a bucket and cash to buy ice cream from park vendors, and wearing funky swimwear, Morkel is inviting you to co-create probably the first land-based water ballet the park has seen. In addition to arriving with the necessary props, you need to have a dance step in mind to add to the final choreography, based on the dizzy springtime pleasures of flowers and joy.
To be “as absurd as possible and laugh a lot” and “to see if we’re clever enough to make art without even trying”, the event is part of the independent JPP’s mandate to reinvent interest in the area as a crucial social and cultural centre in the inner city. It certainly beats Boksburg-by-the-Sea or that other overpriced wave pool up north. And look out for some inventive local celebrities.
More info: Tel: 083 754 2030. — Kathryn Smith
Theatre pick of the week
wenty-fifth anniversary celebrations: Market Theatre complex – From September 5
The Market Theatre opened in 1976 with a mammoth production of Peter Weiss’s Marat/Sade (to use the play’s shortened title), directed by Barney Simon. Its all-white cast was a testament to the times it took place in. A year or so later Simon would break out and include black performers in his workshop Cincinatti. Marat/Sade, though, had in its cast just about every white practitioner in the country worth any salt — names that would gain steadily in importance in the decades to come: Sandra Prinsloo, Janice Honeyman, Malcolm Purkey …
This month the venue starts its 25th anniversary celebrations, and what better way to celebrate than with three diverse productions originating in different times and places.
Grahamstown-based Andrew Buckland may have begun his career with the now defunct Performing Arts Council of the Transvaal, but it was at the Market that he came into his own. His production of The Ugly Noonoo, in the late 1980s, set him up as a sort of cult figure in local mime. It’s fitting, then, that on September 5 he returns to the Barney Simon Theatre with Makana, his latest work that draws meaning from history using the form of physical theatre.
From September 12, Sello Maake ka Ncube directs Woza Albert in the main theatre. A particularly close work associate of Simon, Maake ka Ncube will be conveying what he recalls of Simon’s ground-breaking directorial method since he himself appeared in the second version of the play. The first was co-authored by Simon with Mbongeni Ngema and Percy Mtwa. Maake ka Ncube’s co-workers are the overwhelmingly talented Siyabonga Twala and Tony Kgoroge.
The third production will be Wole Soyinka’s A Play of Giants, directed by Joachim Siegard, with an all-star African cast from as far afield as Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Namibia and Mozambique. It’s at the Laager Theatre from September 19.
So, to the prophets of doom who have condemned the inner city for all its woes — why not join the party? Remember the 25 years of deep and probing meaning this venue has given Johannesburg. — Matthew Krouse
Event of the week
outh African Fashion Week: Sandton Convention Centre – Until September 2
The trend-conscious and -unconscious are gathering at the Sandton Convention Centre until September 2 for South African Fashion Week 2001. If you’re part of the fashion fraternity (or is that sorority?) then you’ll be lucky enough to get to the inner sanctum to witness the work of such drag demons as Marianne Fassler, Craig Native and David West.
For a mere R25 entry fee members of the public can sample the world of high fashion by attending the Thermasilk-sponsored catwalk as part of a what the organisers have dubbed fashion week’s “designer shopping” emporium. Sixty stalls ensure that you will get a seasonal crash course in what the best designers in the country are churning out right now.
The highlight of the open catwalk on Friday is Brown Skin by Duvall, as well as a Pasquale hair show. On Saturday see the Sibella kiddies’ range by Marianne Fassler as well as Sistha Soldier, GeorgeSuni, Kuz-Wear-Zone and the Spring in Africa Young Designer’s competition. Sunday is a dedicated shopping day until the whole shebang closes at 4pm.
Details: Tel: (011) 442 7812 or www.safashionweek.co.za. — Matthew Krouse
Gig of the week
rts Alive International Festival: Various Johannesburg venues – September 1 to 30
Johannesburg’s premier annual art bash kicks off on Saturday September 1 with a street carnival and a free concert downtown. Be at the Johannesburg Stadium at 9am for the stroll to the Newtown Cultural Precinct via Jeppe Street. Once there, until 5pm the concert will feature Bongo Maffin, Chiskop and others.
The music programme of the festival continues on Sunday September 2 with Jazz on the Lake at Zoo Lake in Saxonwold. Get in free to see Judith Sepuma, Lebo Mathosa, Selaelo Selota, Joe Nina and George Sax and Funk 4.
Top musicians can also be seen at other Jo’burg venues until the end of the month. This includes Joyce from Brazil performing at Kippies Jazz International on Thursday September 6 and Friday September 7, and Susana Baca from Peru performing alongside South Africa’s Blk Sonshine at the Mega Music Warehouse in the Newtown Cultural Precinct on September 8 and 9. Keep an eye on the music listings for details of the rest of the month’s shows.
Tickets for these shows are available at Computicket and at the same price at the doors of the respective venues.
For more information on the festival and full programme details, call Tel: 838 6407 or have a look at the website on www.
artsalive.org.za. — Riaan Wolmarans