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/ 8 April 2004

Decade of contradiction

Nine rooms of utterly stupendous art, by more than 150 artists, await you at the Iziko: South African National Gallery. Wonderfully curated, beautifully displayed, the artworks of <i>A Decade of Democracy</i> lead you into 10 years of diverse, combative, epiphanic art production, says Chris Roper.

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/ 8 April 2004

Worth the wait — or is it?

In the sleeve notes of <i>Patience</i>, George Michael says his colleagues know the meaning of patience, as the album took five years to make. He also thanks his fans for waiting patiently. But if one is going to make people wait this long for something, their patience had better be rewarded, writes Riaan Wolmarans.

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/ 8 April 2004

Ballad of the ballot

‘Why should artists vote for you?" This was the question posed to the fishers-of-votes by arts organisations in different provinces over the past month. Generally, it is pretty hard for arts-related concerns to get on to the radar screens of political parties, but in the game of elections, even artists qualify as players, writes Mike van Graan.

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/ 8 April 2004

History via pop fiction

Given the seemingly obvious connection between fiction, history and politics, it is surprising that relatively little of substance has been written on how history is articulated in "popular" (as opposed to "literary") South African fiction. Until now, writes Anthony Egan.

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/ 8 April 2004

Riding the ups and downs of Soweto life

Things are looking up in Soweto, with improved facilities making it an altogether better place to live. In the decade since the African National Congress came to power, the township has undergone tremendous cosmetic improvements. But is that enough to stem the flight to the more upmarket areas of Johannesburg?

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/ 8 April 2004

Democracy’s children

The youth at Morris Isaacson High School in Soweto are still talking about politics, more than a quarter of a century after the march that began the June 16 1976 uprising was led from its gates. One might expect learners at a school with a proud tradition of political activism to be interested in next week’s election. But they are not alone; from Eldorado Park to Houghton and on to Tembisa, students are talking about politics even though they can’t vote next week.

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/ 8 April 2004

Only man found guilty of 9/11 attacks is freed

The only man to be convicted of participating in the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States walked free from a court in Hamburg on Wednesday after winning an appeal against his imprisonment. The German federal court dealt the Bush administration’s war on terror a blow when it released the 30-year-old Moroccan student, Mounir el Motassadeq.