A kaleidoscope of African images and themes is a fitting backdrop for the debate the Jo’burg Art Fair, which opened to the public on Friday, has sparked about what it means to be African and an artist. The fair also has the art world buzzing about tensions between art and commerce.
Giving away free medicines, as Matthias Rath did with his vitamin products, is a well-known way of creating a market, the Treatment Action Campaign’s (TAC) counsel told the Cape High Court on Friday. Geoff Budlender was delivering final argument in the TAC’s bid for a court order forcing the government to act against Rath.
Fans never seem to get their fill of Star Wars, and George Lucas is happy to oblige. Lucas offered a glimpse into the latest creation in his sci-fi universe at the theatre-owners’ convention ShoWest on Thursday, showing a sequence from Star Wars: The Clone Wars, a computer-animated movie due in August.
The government has to reduce South Africans’ dependence on grants, President Thabo Mbeki told community development workers at an indaba in Midrand on Friday. ”We have to cultivate that sentiment among our people to say, ‘I too have a responsibility to do something about my own development,”’ said Mbeki.
Although crime in public places has decreased, there has been an increase of crime in residential areas, Tshwane mayor Gwen Ramokgopa said on Friday. Delivering her State of the City address at the council offices in Pretoria, the mayor said that the city is concerned about the increase in ever more violent crimes in residential areas.
Jane Rosenthal reviews <i>Cham</i> by Jonathan Trigell, a novel written in three strands.
Jocelyn Newmarch speaks to Tom Eaton about his first foray into literary fiction.
Carol Brown looks at the history of collecting and considers the merits of the Jo’burg Art Fair.
<b>MOVIE OF THE WEEK:</b> Shaun de Waal reviews <i>Juno</i>, the indie outsider nominated for a best-movie Oscar this year.
Simon Njami on the show he has curated for the Jo’burg Art Fair and why he has called it <i>As You Like It</i>.