National Arts Festival Winter School Lectures
Not so long ago a stellar legal mind questioned the value of overtly 'political' art. Judge Albie Sachs, a prominent constitutional court judge, made a statement to the effect that writers and artists could stop being political. Using somewhat blunt rhetoric, he said artists could lay down their weapons of culture and get on with the business of producing work released from the imperatives of dealing with apartheid. The statement unleashed a storm.
Now, at the 2003 National Arts Festival Winter School lecture series, this old legal eagle (with more than a cursory interest in the arts) turns his attention to the subject of urban rejuvenation. In a talk rather portentously titled 'This is the House that Cyril Built: art, law, memory and human rights come together in the new constitutional court', Judge Sachs will speak about why the Old Fort Prison was chosen as the site for the new Constitutional Court building, as well as the innovative and African features of the structure.
Of further interest will be artist, curator and ArtThrob correspondent Virginia MacKenny's exploration of the way many local artists engage with tactile and associative qualities of local materials as they concentrate on issues of identity, place and what constitutes 'home'. The talk will offer an extremely useful correlative to MacKenny's curatorial endeavour at this year's festival, a group show titled 'Homing-In'.
Also worth an ear: Multi-faceted arts academic Jane Taylor's condensed overview of the shifts in our attitudes to sincerity and expressing emotion since the Renaissance; Stephen Gray's revealing look at the shady private life of Herman Charles Bosman; and Colin Gardner's examination of author Alan Paton's literary and political legacy.
Free booking Kits for the Festival are available at selected Standard Bank branches and booking is open at Computicket nationwide. Booking can also be made via the website www.nafest.co.za
