Issues: Botswanan artist and photographer Thero Makepe’s work Insurance, 2024 will be at his exhibition It’s Not Going to Get Better.
Show focuses on the realities in Botswana
An exhibition at Cape Town’s Vela Projects takes on new urgency after Botswana’s historic elections in October, which saw the ruling party of 58 years unseated.
It’s Not Going to Get Better, the first solo exhibition by Botswanan-born photographer Thero Makepe is a poignant body of work that examines the realities of contemporary Botswana in the context of global political shifts.
Created in the lead-up to the elections, this series reflects the angst and disillusionment of that country’s youth. It examines Botswana’s pressing issues, including corruption, economic inequality and social exclusion.
The title, It’s Not Going to Get Better, inspired by Billy Woods’ rap song Remorseless, scrutinises themes of nihilism, classism and existentialism.
While Makepe’s images depict personal struggles, they are deeply collaborative, featuring family and friends as subjects and co-creators.
The exhibition runs until 25 January.
A Month of Love starting with a Market Theatre play
Both comedic and tender, ’n Begin (a beginning) is a two-hander, with Cintaine Schutte and Carel Nel, that takes an intimate look at the first fragile moments of risking your heart and taking a chance on love. The Market Theatre, in association with the Stellenbosch Woordfees, is bringing this acclaimed Afrikaans production to Joburg. Originally written in English by British playwright David Eldridge it was translated to Afrikaans by Nico Scheepers and is directed by the award-winning Tinarie van Wyk-Loots.
The play offers a meditation on loneliness, love, desire, insecurity, connection and intimacy.
It starts the “Month of Love”, running for a strictly limited season from 30 January to 16 February.
Fresh Met operas on South African big screens
Amore: Lise Davidsen as Tosca and Quinn Kelsey as Scarpia in Puccini’s opera. Photo: Marty Sohl/Met Opera
A new season of The Met: Live in HD, the Metropolitan Opera’s award-winning series of live high-definition cinema simulcasts, has started at select Ster-Kinekor and Cinema Nouveau cinemas and will carry on into the new year.
It includes three new productions: the Met premiere of Grounded by Tony Award-winning composer Jeanine Tesori; Verdi’s Aida directed by Michael Mayer with American soprano Angel Blue and Strauss’s Salome with South African soprano Elza van den Heever in the title role.
Fans can also look forward to Puccini’s Tosca featuring Norwegian soprano Lise Davidsen as she continues to explore the full range of Italian and German dramatic repertoire.