Archive: Issue No. 37, September 2000

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Stink 2000

'STINK2000' - a Subway Exhibition

On the night of Saturday September 23 the normally pungent, grey, pedestrian subway in Wrench rd, Observatory, Cape Town, will receive some astounding temporary modifications. 'STINK2000' is more than an exhibition with submissions from over 20 respected artists, creative renegades and secret surprises. The clever contributions embody all forms of social muse.

On the night Falco and Mac will take on the concrete canvas with their aerosol surgery, as they do live mural painting; while the beats guiding you through the subway, enhancing your aural pleasure, will be selected and delicately spliced together by the Original Dub Master, K*a*a*s, Dr. Q, Trouble and John. An onslaught of visual images will be fused and projected by the optical geniuses Bro9, Burn and Brian (the respected Baby Giant VJ collective). The performance artists are sure to mesmerise, especially the piece 'White Expulsion' by Canadian performance artist Jason St. Lorenze. There will be delightful decor by the Magpie boys, and intelligent installations by the likes of Dave Southwood, Mntendeni, Zen Marie, Derek Saul and others.

Academics and bigwordbrandishers will refer to 'STINK2000' as a multifaceted exhibition that deconstructs and thus forces one to engage directly with one's urban/e surroundings...

But YOU know it's so much more tangible than that.

Report back next week.

Saturday September 23
7.30 p.m. till midnight
Subway running under railway tracks from Wrench Rd. to lower Wrench Rd., Observatory, Cape Town

Haidee Nel
At Softserve II at the SANG

Other things to look out for, in various and as yet undecided CBD locations, include the return of PM Inc., an aural experience by Garth Erasmus as well as Haidee Nel's Optical Virgin. This last piece was seen at 'Soft Serve II' and proved to be quite a crowd-pleaser.

Thembinkosi Goniwe's billboard from 'Returning the Gaze'

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Gugas Thebe, Washington Street (take Bhunga Avenue off the N2)

Gregg Smith
An image of Noluvuyo and her one-time boyfriend
featured in Lovephones

Before he heads off to Amsterdam next year, Gregg Smith, whose career seems to be on an upward curve, has created 'Love Phones'. For this project he researched and recorded love stories from a diverse range of people in the city. Participants tell where they met their partner and the events surrounding their meetings and their subsequent relationships. With the co-operation of Telkom, Smith has managed to organise public phones in parts of the city to ring at random. If the call is retrieved, a love story will be played back to the listener.

High school students in Kensington and Khayelitsha have developed exhibitions about their neighborhoods, investigating their area's history, social issues and other concerns. SHAWCO's Young Ambassadors programme has trained 60 youth in basic primary and secondary research methods, exhibition design and construction, media and publicity as well as oral history methodology. The training has been done by Dammon Rice, a heritage education consultant contracted to SHAWCO. Some of these youngsters have received tour-guiding training and will function as guides to the exhibition.

The Travelling ladies (and one gent)

A group of township women were so encouraged by their ability to save and raise money for their children's education that they decided to do the same for their own education through arranging travel opportunities for their group members. They successfully completed several significant package tours to venues including the Cango Caves, the Pyramids, New York, Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Working with artists these women will produce exhibits detailing their experiences in each of these places in a series of rooms in the Granary building.

In February this year artist Doreen Southwood started a project that explored the value of objects in the home environment. This led to a study of retired women and the most 'precious' object in their homes. She interviewed 10 women from Disa House retirement home, where they discussed their life and experiences. These interviews were documented with photographs and sound recordings. The interviews were based mainly around the question, "Looking back on your life, which item in your room is the most precious to you and why?". This work is about the most precious memories of individuals, people who have lived through decades of change in the world and South Africa. Hand-written text pieces accompany the photographic portraits in the final work.

An exhibition of prints, paintings and artist-designed carpets woven by women at the Philani Centre, Khayelitsha. The Philani Centre created an interesting and popular exhibit at last year's festival and promises to do so once again

This multi-media show involves local and international artists and performers producing work on the Cape Town Central Station platform around the issues of exile, displacement and xenophobia. The exhibitions will include a series of videos screened on the platform walls and installations in the station's glass display cases. There will also be a large composite photographic piece by the renowned French artist Christian Boltanski. A short newspaper in several languages is proposed and a series of drama 'happenings' are planned on the trains themselves.

Greatmore Studios in Woodstock

47 - 49 Greatmore St., Woodstock, Cape Town
Tel: (021) 447-9699
Email: artmore@mweb.co.za