Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Time for the BASA Awards and INDABA 2013 has a travel bloggers conference


Here comes the BASA Awards


Entries open for South Africa’s only awards celebrating partnerships between business and the arts
The Business Day BASA Awards, supported by Anglo American, are the only awards celebrating the varied ways that business partners with the arts in South Africa – and entry to the 2013 awards is now open.
Created 16 years ago to celebrate and advance excellence, innovation and value in business and arts partnerships, entry into the awards covers the period 1 January 2012 to 31 December 2012 and can be done by the business, the arts project or even a third-party.
“This year, we want to throw the net even wider and are encouraging the nomination of arts-business partnerships through as many channels as possible,” says Business and Arts South Africa CEO, Michelle Constant. 
Twelve of the 15 categories at the 16th Annual Business Day BASA Awards, supported by Anglo American, are now open for entry, encompassing all creative mediums and a wide spectrum of partnerships, from small and in-kind to large-scale or long term.
Covering all aspects of the arts, each of the twelve categories is of equal value, with winners each receiving a specially commissioned work of art. 
The prestige and significance of winning a Business Day BASA Award, supported by Anglo American, is based on the evaluation of the success of each partnership in achieving the objectives of the business and the artist or art project, and in bringing genuine value and benefit to both.  Factors such as the innovative nature of the partnership, value and success of the project are taken into account by an independent panel of judges, which will adjudicate the entries according to the specific criteria of each category. 
Among last year’s winners were Nando’s Chickenland Ltd which won the International Sponsorship award for the Nando’s Art Collection, Sasol, which was honoured in the Long Term Partnership category for the Sasol New Signature Art Competition and Santam Limited which won the Youth Development award for its Santam's Child Art Programme.
Entry into the 16th Annual Business Day BASA Awards, supported by Anglo American, is facilitated by an online system on thebasa.co.za website that is continually streamlined to ensure ease of use, and will remain open until May 10th 2013.
Over the past 15 years, the Annual Business Day BASA Awards, supported by Anglo American, have played an increasingly important role in Business and Arts South Africa’s mandate to ensure the relevance, advancement and sustainability of the arts in South Africa.
Specifically, the awards encourage, promote and celebrate mutually beneficial, equitable, and sustainable business arts partnerships and collaborations that will, over the long term, benefit the broader South African community.  Together with more recent additions to Business and Arts South Africa’s scope of work – like the BASA Arts Sponsorship Management Toolkit - the awards also play a crucial role in recognising the commercial benefit and success for businesses that support the arts.
The full list of categories now open for entry in the 16th Annual Business Day BASA Awards, supported by Anglo American is as follows:
Innovation Award: This award recognises the most innovative and progressive partnership in all mediums of creativity; one that has served all the partners’ purposes effectively over the past 12 months and highlighted creativity and originality in the process.
First Time Sponsor Award: For a business supporting the arts for the first time, regardless of size, budget, or whether it is CSI or marketing.
Increasing Access to the Arts Award: For a partnership that has encouraged specific audience engagement with the arts or has made a significant contribution to brand, market and audience development, while still promoting the business through above-the-line media or a partnership that has made a significant contribution to regeneration or sustainable growth through a CSI budget.
International Sponsorship Award: Awarded to a global-level partnership that builds brand reputation and audience for both the business and arts organisations across international borders through an event or marketing project showcasing SA to the rest of the world, and/or bringing international arts projects to South Africa.
Long Term Partnership Award: A company which has significantly developed and expanded its commitment to an arts project over three years or longer. The value to the arts project, the broader community and the business, must be apparent.
Media Sponsorship Award: For consistent and innovative support given by electronic, print, broadcast and web based media.
Single Strategic Project Award: For an outstanding single sponsorship, with best use of a project, which is an integral part of the sponsors overall brand and marketing programme.
Small Business Award: For vital support given to the arts by a small company with one to 200 full-time employees and an annual turnover of no more than R10 million.
Sponsorship In Kind Award: For a company giving non-financial support to the arts.
Youth Development Award: For projects which involve young artists and/or young audiences; an educational and development element should be implicit in the sponsorship.
Arts and Environment Award, supported by Nedbank” For business support of arts and culture projects which contribute towards the sustainability of the environment.
Mentor of the Year Award, supported by Etana: Recognises the long-term contribution of a volunteer business mentor to arts organisations through the Mentorship Programme, and only mentors from the BASA Mentorship Programme are eligible for this Award
Categories to be awarded by the chairman and the judging panel:
Diplomacy in the Arts: Given in recognition of Foreign Missions which contribute to the development and preservation of the arts in South Africa as well as the continued prioritisation of cultural diplomacy between South Africa and the international community.
Art Champion Award: Awarded to an individual for outstanding achievement in the encouragement of business support for the arts.
Chairman’s Premier Award: This is made at the discretion of the Chairman of BASA and recognises sustained and extraordinary commitment to the arts in South Africa.
The Awards are audited by Grant Thornton.
The closing date for entries for the BASA Awards is May 10th 2013.
The easy-to-use online nomination system can be accessed on the BASA website at www.basa.co.za. The awards section features tips, guidelines, rules and regulations and online nomination forms. Information about previous winners can also be found on this website. 
Those requiring more information can also call Lakin Morgan at the BASA offices on 011 447 2295 or  011 447 2289 - or email lakin@basa.co.za.


(Source - BASA) 


Tourism INDABA - Africa's top travel show, 11 - 14 May 2013, Durban ICC



Heritage and Culture a major focus of exciting INDABA 2013
The South African Tourism INDABA 2013, Africa’s top travel show, is set to offer unrivalled opportunities, new innovations and networking platforms for the tourism trade and international buyers this year to stimulate tourism business in a market growing well above the rate of global growth.

Between January and November 2012, South Africa had attracted over 8.3 million international tourists and grown at 10.5% (against average global tourism growth of 4% in 2012), as the country continued to entrench its reputation as a world-class leisure and business events destination.

For all global and local companies, individuals or tourism industry stakeholders keen to share in this growth story, INDABA 2013 at Durban’s Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre from 11 - 14 May 2013 will be an unmatched event on the regional African tourism calendar not to be missed.

Last year’s INDABA theme of “Shaping our Future Together” - which paid tribute to the joint efforts of South Africa’s tourism industry and its global partners in achieving the phenomenal growth in recent years - will again be the theme at INDABA 2013, which will also have a strong ‘Heritage and Culture’ focus.

For anyone wanting to do business with South Africa and its Southern African neighbours and to get a better feel for the regional African tourism industry, INDABA 2013 will be a treasure trove of key introductions, business opportunities and exposure to hundreds of exhibitors across the tourism spectrum. For the tourism industry, there is the opportunity to interact and forge strong business links with some of the world’s top travel buyers.
Over 1 165 main and sharing exhibitors and 2 000 international and local buyers - 250 of them top international buyers hosted by South African Tourism - have already confirmed their attendance at INDABA 2013, with that number growing daily.

While South Africa is a destination of spectacular beauty, offering every conceivable tourist attraction under the African sun to suit every pocket, the destination’s differentiator is its warm, hospitable people and the memories they leave visitors with long after they’ve left.
A major new addition at INDABA this year will be a ‘Heritage and Culture Pavilion’ located at the Durban Exhibition Centre, which will innovatively showcase South Africa’s world heritage sites, its leisure offerings, culture, art, design and music - all of which combine to tell South Africa’s story, its history, its future and gives better insight into its people.

The pavilion is a major project undertaken by the National Department of Tourism and South African Tourism, in collaboration with the MOJA Heritage Collection, and it will be an exhibition of some of the country’s best heritage and culture tourist offerings and distinctively South African tourism products.
All delegates - exhibitors, buyers, media and visitors - are encouraged to visit the ‘Heritage and Culture’ pavilion, to experience South African stories woven in folklore, myth and history and the country’s globally celebrated sense of style in design, arts and crafts.

“Our market research shows that travellers are increasingly looking to experience the unique, authentic, personal South African stories. They are looking to meet the locals, experience where they live, eat where they eat and be part of the country’s culturally rich lifestyle, while learning about the history of this great country. The Heritage and Culture pavilion will be an exciting addition to INDABA 2013 and we have also included a number of new elements to the show this year which will be of major value to buyers and exhibitors,” says South African Tourism Chief Executive Officer Thulani Nzima.

INDABA is primarily a trade show and to this end the Speed Marketing sessions, which were very popular at INDABA 2012, will again be an even more integral part of the show this year, with the focus on National Parks of South Africa on Saturday, Heritage and Culture on Sunday and Wine Routes of South Africa on Monday. The speed marketing sessions will give hundreds of international buyers the invaluable opportunity of being exposed to - and to do business with - a wide cross-section of South African tourism products.

The Tourism Grading Council of South Africa (TGCSA) will again at INDABA 2013 host a master class with TripAdvisor, the world’s biggest and most influential travel website with 60 million unique monthly users. The workshop will be open to all star-graded accommodation establishments and will be an invaluable session, providing tips first-hand from TripAdvisor experts on how best to use the platform to market your establishment to a worldwide and increasingly socially-engaged audience.

Another exciting feature at INDABA for the first time will be a Travel Bloggers conference on the eve of the show, attended by some of the most influential international and local bloggers, who will unpack the changing face of destination marketing and the importance of personalised, user-generated content and social media engagement and its impact for the tourism trade.

At INDABA this year, particular attention has been paid to making sure that exhibitors, buyers, media and stakeholders are able to connect with all the key people, places and things they need for a successful INDABA.
One of the innovations this year, besides the information on the website, mobile app and social media coverage of the event, is technology specifically designed to allow easy connections - which will be called ‘INDABA Connect’.

INDABA Connect is a simple, but powerful platform that allows information, contact details, images and presentations to be easily shared among show delegates, in a very simple integrated way. By simply touching a delegate or exhibitor's tag at an exhibitor's stand, presentation, event or activation, users will have all the information attached to their online INDABA Connect profile, which will make getting in touch easier and more productive than sharing business cards, brochures and CD-Roms or USB sticks. This will also enable better engagement for delegates before, during and after the show - allowing for more meaningful connections this year.
The Matchmaking diary system, designed to facilitate important business connections between exhibitors and buyers at INDABA, will again be in place.

“The South African tourism industry is a very exciting one to be part of right now and we are confident the growth we are experiencing will translate into increased business opportunities. Our potential is huge and to unleash it we are working hard to attract quality global buyers to INDABA 2013, who are committed to doing tourism business with South Africa and to tap into our destination’s unique and diverse offerings. Despite tough economic times, South Africa’s tourism industry has continued to see growth in recent years and as a collective we need to grow and shape the future of our industry together. INDABA remains the premier regional African tourism platform for global buyers to gain easy access to the widest possible cross-section of the South African tourism industry - all under one roof - and we are very excited about the show this year,” says Nzima.

Over 600 local and international journalists and broadcasters are set to cover all the tourism news and trends at INDABA. A number of news-gathering events and activations have been planned, including topical briefings to give insight into South African Tourism’s market outlook, in-market campaigns and activities.
INDABA will take place from May 11 to 14. For more information on the show and for details on how to register to attend, visit www.indaba-southafrica.co.za.

(Source - INDABA) 


Music Events

Cloud 9 will play at St. Clements garden restaurant this Friday 19 April at 7.30pm.
Tickets R35 at the door. Tel 031 2022511
 
Their music features Swing favourites, Blues from the American Deep South, Classic Rock and contemporary favourites, including some Country and Western Classics.
The band is arguably one of the most versatile groups in Durban and is sure to appeal to a wide rande of music lovers.

(Source - St Clements) 













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Tuesday, April 9, 2013

News for Writers, Bloggers, Art Lovers, Events and More




Talking Heads - 20 April 2013














(Source - AfricaCentre)


Writing Tips from +Cath Jenkin


Great Interview



China-Africa Business Summit


We are very pleased to confirm our keynote speaker, Dr Wang Jianye, Chief Economist at the Export-Import Bank of China (China EXIM Bank) who will be presenting at the upcoming China-Africa Business Summit on the 17th April in Johannesburg. Dr Wang Jianye is the second of two keynote addresses to be delivered on the day – the other being H.E. Arthur Mutambara – the Deputy Prime Minister of Zimbabwe.

These keynote speakers are a powerful addition to the already impressive line-up of organisations and speakers sharing their knowledge and insights on China-Africa Commercial relationships this year at the China-Africa Business Summit. 

The Business Summit will hold a number of panel-discussions on the Mining & Resources Sector; China’s investment in Infrastructure and its Impact on African Economies & Integration; Evaluating the Potential for China’s Energy Sector to Power Growth in Africa; and the Outlook for China-Africa Trade & Investment.

Speakers participating include business leaders from China Construction Bank, SinohydroShenzhen Energy, the China-Africa Development Fund, Sinosteel, China Geo-Engineering, China Harbour Engineering CorporationWebber Wentzel, the South African Chamber of Commerce & Industry, AfraAsia Bank, Aveng, Deloitte, the Industrial Development Corporation, Zimbabwe Power Company, J&J Group, Marsh Africa, Wits Business School and Moneyweb.

Don’t miss the definitive China-Africa business forum of the year. Register at chinaafrica@frontieradvisory.com

(Source - Frontier Advisory )


Top Gear Festival Durban 2013

(Source Ushaka)




To Book Follow the Link

http://www.fasa.co.za/showevent.php?event=25

Booking Fee - R100

(Source - FASA)

Art




Paul Senyol (Cape Town) Represented by Salon 91
& Wesley van Eeden (Durban)
Opening reception: April 11th, 7pm
Show runs: April 11th - May 25th, 2013

For the upcoming show titled "Transformative" Paul Senyol and Wesley van Eeden explored the notions of reality and society in a constant stage of change. Van Eeden was taken by the idea of how something we do today will have a certain influence on the way we live tomorrow, next week, a month from now and for many years to come. Trying to grapple for a grasp on the present moment, we find ourselves in eternal stages of change. Senyol took a deeper look at the very fabric of his everyday life and those who orbit his existence as a starting point for working towards a final outcome.
Facebook Event Page: 
https://www.facebook.com/events/139586709556624/



Paul Senyol - Represented by Salon91

For enquires please contact Assistant Director Elmarie van Straten.
Cell: 072 226 9815
Landline: (021) 447 3994
Email: elmarie@a-word-of-art.co.za


Music 

Tim Wells Blues Band will play at St Clements this Fri 12 April from 19h30pm. R50 at the door. Tel 031 2022511


News for KZN Writers

The WGSA KZN committee would like to invite you to attend a meet and greet on Monday 15 April at 18h00.  During this session WGSA Council would like to get your input to put forward a programme for the rest of the year.

So, be there!

VENUE:
Smile Spa, Shop 2A, 136 Cowey Road
Musgrave

Entrance on Cowey Road
Free secure parking

Contact Details:
Thea Aboud
Writers’ Guild of South Africa

Mobile: 082 575 6901
Office: 011 888 4349
Fax: 086 654 1972
Email: admin@writersguildsa.org / wgsainfo@gmail.com
Website: www.writersguildsa.org
Skype: writers.guild
Office Address: 125 3rd street, Linden, Johannesburg
NPO registration: 081-261
PBO registration: 930-036-168



Event for Entrepreneurs

Pat Fleuriot started working 1 week after finishing High School and continues to enjoy doing so today. He completed his Articles of Workmanship through Price Waterhouse, spent 18 years in Accountancy and has been a Financial Advisor for 22 years and a Certified Financial Planner since 2007. 
Over the years Pat has participated in a number of business ventures including franchise outlets with Famous Brands and investing in Close Corporations. 
Pat is currently a Fellow Partner (with his son, Richard) and a Financial Advisor at Fleuriot & Associates. He is passionate about ascertaining client’s needs, assessing their financial strength, challenging and guiding them to protect and create wealth. 
He is married to Jacqueline, for only 26 years. They have a pigeon pair – Richard, his son and partner in F&A and Danielle, his daughter is doing her Masters in USA. 
Pat is a skilled learner, analytic, disciplinarian and activator – which is sure to challenge you! 

Come and join us as Pat shares his journey with us: 
Date: 19th April 2013 
Time: 7:30am-9:30am 
Venue: Three Peaks House, 22A Underwood Road, Pinetown 
Cost: R 114.00 incl. VAT. (Healthy breakfast and coffee incl.) 
Bring a business associate or customer who has never attended one of our workshops before and only pay for one seat. 
Seats are limited to encourage the interactive nature of this event so BOOK NOW to avoid disappointment. 
To book: Contact Janis on 0861 373 257 or email: janism@threepeaks.co.za

(Source - ThreePeaks) 


Attention Script Writers 

Twist Theatre Development Projects, in partnership with the National Arts Festival and PANSA, will be hosting the annual Novel-Script Project, a master-class for script writers, in Grahamstown from 22 to 28 June. 

This project brings together writers from South Africa, Zimbabwe and the Netherlands in an intensive 5 day workshop that focuses on writers honing their craft.

Participants are provided with travel, accommodation, a per deum, and an invaluable experience.
We will be selecting just two South African writers to be part of the project for 2013.

This is a professional programme, and writers must be mid-career, and meet the following criteria:

•Fluency in writing and conversing in English, 
•Experience with having staged at least 2 of their own original scripts on the professional stage,

•Computer literacy, and own lap-top for the duration of the project,
•Openness to constructive criticism and workshop processes,
•Full availability over the period 22-28 June,
•The project does involve some preparation, and participants must be willing to complete an assignment in May. 

Applicants should email an application to info@twistprojects.co.za by Monday 22 April. 
Applications MUST include the following:

1) A short Curriculum Vitae containing the following:
Personal Information  
Relevant Education and Training
Theatre Writing Experience

2) A short motivation for acceptance to the workshop, with names and contact details of two theatre-related referees 

3) A short 3 - 8 page sample of an original theatre script  (please do not send the full script). 

Applicants will be contacted by the end of April regarding the outcome of the selection process. 

Twist will be hosting a development workshop for less established writers later in 2013, and will make a separate call for this project. 

(Source - Pansa) 






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Saturday, April 6, 2013

The Weekend Edition - Vacancies, Auditions, Networking Meetings and an Opinion Piece


Some weekend reading for you.


Vacant post at the Market Photo Workshop

Coordinator: Photojournalism and Documentary Photography (PDP)

To facilitate teaching and learning in the Photojournalism and Documentary Photography Programme (PDP) through logistics and resource management, and to contribute to the development of a curriculum that is relevant to the media sector and contemporary documentary practice.


Job requirements:

- A relevant qualification (photography, visual arts, media, journalism)
- Minimum 1 years experience in a junior management position within the media, arts and culture industries, non-profit OR minimum 3 years relevant experience in the media, arts and culture, non-profit
- A good understanding of the needs of photojournalists and documentary photographers in South Africa and the continent as a whole, and also a critical awareness of the nature and role of the media on the continent.
- Good communication, writing and organisational skills.
- Excellent computer skills – especially MAC based, good knowledge and understanding of Photoshop, internet research, email
- Work well under pressure
- Experience of working at an education and training NGO or similar organisation would be an advantage
- Compliment the skills set of the Market Photo Workshop
- Committed to excellence in and relevance of photography education in South Africa
- Passionate, driven and dynamic

Level of education: Relevant tertiary qualification – either in photography, cultural management and/or Media.


Remuneration:

R7,500 - R9,000 per month cost to company negotiated according to qualifications and experience.

Only applications submitted electronically will be considered and must include:

1. A covering letter: summarise career, explain interest in the position.
2. A comprehensive CV with contactable references.

To:
Manager: Programmes and Projects
bandileg@marketphotoworkshop.co.za
Manager: PDP
irisp@marketphotoworkshop.co.za
Deadline for application: Monday 22 April 2013 at 10h00.

Shortlisted candidates must be available for an interview 25 – 26 April 2013.

The successful candidate will need to start in May 2013 or soon thereafter.


Please note:
Only short-listed candidates will be notified.
Qualified people from historically disadvantaged groups are especially encouraged to apply.
The Market Photo Workshop reserve the right not to employ a suitable candidate is not found.

For more information about this position visit www.marketphotoworkshop.co.za or contact us on 011 834 1444.

The Market Photo Workshop is a division of The Market Theatre Foundation.



KZN Casting: Central Park West – One act comedy By Woody Allen


Casting a production of Woody Allen’s one-act comedy, ‘Central Park West’. Seeking actors in Durban/KZN area. Please submit CV & headshot to Catarina (Director) at centralparkwestplay@gmail.com ASAP. Auditions will be held early-mid April and production will be in early July in Durban.

Character breakdown:

Phyllis:
Female 20’s - 40. Successful Psychoanalyst. Married to Sam (unhappily).

ALREADY CAST

Carol:
Female 20’s – 40’s. Wife of Howard and best friend of Phyllis. Having an affair with Sam.

Howard:
Male 20’s - 40’s. Carol’s husband. Suffers from intense Manic-depressive mood swings.

Sam:
Male 20’s - 40’s. Lawyer & Phyllis’ Husband. Philanderer & having an affair with Carol & Julia

Julia:
Female. 18-year-old patient of Phyllis. Having an affair with Sam.


(Source - Pansa) 


BWA DAY Launch - Business Banter
Date: Friday 12th April 2013  
Venue: Coastlands, Umhlanga



Breakfast and Networking, Motivational
Talks, Financial Focus and more all for
Business Women.



Contact Details. 
Branch Coordinator: Catherine Smith
Phone: 031 563 8496
Cell: 084 468 8251
Fax: 086 612 5797
Email: dbn@bwasa.co.za





A Residencia in South Africa? : In Search of The Poets
by Timothy Sparks
In the Nineteen-Twenties, South Africa was a dynamic polis of interesting writers and new energy.  Uys Krige, the Afrikaans Poet played French club rugby and translated Spanish Poetry.  Roy Campbell dazzled England with his debut volume, ‘The Flaming Terrapin’ in 1924. In England between the catastrophe of the First War, a surge of antagonism and creativity rose through these young poets and artists that burnt out just before the Second World War. In South Africa we faced this world in our own way. Eugene Marais was still alive, as was Gustav Preller and Poet Dirk Opperman’s genius was in its infancy.
In these barren artistic times, today we should cast our minds to another world, on to the Iberian Peninsula almost a century ago. The Spanish Residencia named  La Residencia de Estuadiantes in Madrid was an example of cultivated life and creativity arose as this university (almost a spontaneous meeting-place) became a great centre of eccentricity, passionate friendship and nurtured the Flame of Spanish Poetry. At its heart was the Generacićn del 1927. Poets, musicians, historians, bullfighters and artists flocked like swallows in the rain of civilisation’s chaos. The amount of genius that flowed through Spain in the twenties and thirties, gathering midst the maelstrom of these years, still dazzles an inquiring mind. Roy Campbell, the great South African Poet translated the poetry of Federico Garcia Lorca, one of the poets who would call the Residencia home. Some would be astounded to find that this immaculate city, famous for Spanish poetry’s most marvellous flowering, burnt high on the oxygen of the Oxbridge Tradition. These vagabond poets flourished with the blessing of one Luis de Gongora, at the Ateneo in a night in Seville in 1927, celebrating three hundred years since the death  of the neglected  16th Century Poet.  Lorca delivered  a lecture “La imagin poética en dos Luis de Gongṍra” that gave the well-spring for these festivities, especially becoming its ascendant Poet.
Spanish Poetry was only matched by Russian poetry of a generation earlier where the charms of Blok, Anna Akhmatova, Mandelstam, to name a few dwelt in the court of the old Tsar. Descriptions of deep song flourished in this era where past and present danced with sense. All the fountains of the Alhambra could not conspire to halve the tide of Jorge Guillen, Rafael Alberti, Jorge Guillén y Álvarez , Salvador Dalí, Pablo Picasso, Manuel de Falla or the fervour of Miquel Hernández. Please notice the profusion of art and poetry flowing together.
South Africa’s Roy Campbell ignored by South African universities, for a strange reason not related to his poetry had this to say about Federico Garcia Lorca:

Not only did he lose his life
By shots assassinated:
But with a hammer and a knife
Was after that -- translated.

A Spanish acquaintance of mine, during my studies at the University of Natal, Senor Sanguillo Romero told me that he was researching Roy Campbell’s role as Poet during the Twenties and Thirties. He spoke of ‘the tremendous interest in that country for Campbell’s work and life’. Senor Romero, a lecturer in Europe Studies lived in the same road as the famous composer Rodrigo. Joaquin Rodrigo who grew into life in the Spain after the retreat from Empire, from 22 November 1901- 6 July 1998, lived beyond the Hundred Years’ Commemoration of Garcia Lorca’s death in Nineteen-Ninety-Eight.
Local ignorance is a betrayal of Roy Campbell and was evidence of more intrigue.  Clearly the Durban High School man was more féted elsewhere than in South Africa. The manner Campbell is treated here in the country of his birth is a tragedy that deserves attention. Patrick Cullinan was also part of this futility, and similarly, was banished and sent into virtual exile. The latter, awarded an Italian medal of literature, translation, and I would add general cultivation, this fine poet (Cullinan) was ignored at his death despite his title Cavilliere in Italy. A week after a poetry reading a letter was forwarded via email that attached itself to an online tribute to Patrick Cullinan. So I was told in this brutal, cursory way of the death of our greatest living Poet in 2011. The newspapers were silent.
In the armada of literary capacity that thrives very uncertainly on these shores, bathing in tepid depths in the early morning sometimes the turtle floats upright. Alan Paton also fell under Campbell’s spell; writing of an enchanting evening in Paris:
“I witnessed a pyrotechnical display in the gloom of Sloane Square, so dazzling that the pale faces of the waitresses seemed to catch alight if not with comprehension, then with admiration and envy that human beings could still explode and crackle in such a dreary world.”
Sydney Good Sir Smith, broadcasting at the time of Campbell’s death in Portugal, hinted at the loss that poetry would feel for long after the giant departed. Smith noted the complicated elan of the scion of the famous Durban Campbell family when he spoke of the burning passions going into Romantic lyricism:
”To remind us in the old ways are still valid and recall us to a manifestation of the spirit that seems to die (but does it really?!) a little more in every generation, as our society gets gradually levelled out.  Character and identity make society, Campbell shot through the firmament making a statement.”
Roy Campbell was a Poet great in his ability to mould his life with the seamless capacity of his verse, because his artistic stature itself was above the ordinary, obviously, it infuriated those of lesser talent. Columns have probably been written in the old citadels of Leon about the well gone dry.
I read a History of the Hellenes called ‘Greeks without Columns,’ and the book is recommended for what it says about the commercial spirit, felt by the expanding city of Athens. The creation of the enormous city from small and disparate towns was the death of the arts, since with the loss of Asia Minor; Greek confidence was affected by the crush of History and one of the first victims was the spark of writing. Kindling for the fires of 1922 and Ancient Byzantium was laid desolate; the civilisation scattered like glowering stars.
Writing does decline or fall away in the headlong pursuit of science. In South African Universities in the 1990’s this distinct harrowing of the Arts continues to haunt us to such a great extent. The problems experienced by Roy Campbell in “The Hothouse of the Grocery-den” of Durban are still very prominent in the vapid disregard of the artistic instinct in society. These strong manacles are felt especially among those not ‘bought’ entirely or as in the elaborate world of Spain, nights brilliantly described in the annals of that far-off age; the world before the abyss, carved on the walls of the poetry of Hernandez. South African theatre and poetry (especially in England) faces a chasm and the writing is truly on the wall.
In this era of great commerce but small art, it is refreshing to realise what a renaissance in South African Literature would mean. Many people regard art as outmoded, banal or an anathema. With the collapse of the South African Universities, there is the potential for literature to thrive and even stagnate into a backward, inward-looking populism. We have a plethora of poetry festivals but few great poems with lasting fascination. The idea of a Residencia might look unpopular, because I’ve had more fun reading the speeches of Goebbels in Serbo-Croat than reading the present South African poetry in English!
The essence is that poets should form in superior constellations. In the Nineteen-Twenties, l’ enfant terrible of film, Bunuel and others gathered in bonhomie but with grace, skill and pedagogue methods in their sincere flights of passion. We are but guests in this world, as Aristophanes (circa 448-360 B.C.) said:
Let each man exercise the art he knows.”   The Gentleman of the Hellenes also had this to say:   κωμδοδιδασκαλίαν εναι χαλεπώτατον ργον πάντων)*.At least with the recidencia Art and Science stood on the same ground, even perhaps on the same street.
μν γρ νδρες, κοχ τν πόλιν λέγω,
μέμνησθε τοθ τι οχ τν πόλιν λέγω,
λλ νδράρια μοχθηρά, παρακεκομμένα...
People among us, and I don't mean the polis,
Remember this - I don't mean the polis -
But wicked little men of a counterfeit kind....

Roy Campbell’s famous verse from the Waygoose “South Africa, renowned both far and wide. For politics and little else beside,” seems to echo the sentiment, that genius is formed largely by reason and imagination coupled together in a tempestuous, and artistic embrace.
In Cyprus today the black darts of Banks slide by rule, of strange vagaries ,but what binds man to man is the common smile at the cross-roads. True Art binds in greatness. The Residencia is an idea that draws artists together and does not descend into irrational affectations, incessant writers’ workshops, in machinations where we forget the wonder of just dreaming. In the silence, carved in the landscape, and the features, are thoughts and fears that go on forever.
*“The author-director of comedies has the hardest job of all”.



Timothy Sparks is a freelance writer


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Friday, April 5, 2013

Pianist Urgently Needed for a Gig, Business News and a Photography Evening


Pianist Needed


Urgently looking for a FEMALE pianist who plays both piano and keyboard.
Rehearsals begin tomorrow in Johannesburg and will go on for the next 6 weekends.
Performances will be in Johannesburg on 3 nights per week and will last for a maximum of 3 months.
The show has a burlesque theme so she may need to wear theme-related outfits.
Anybody who fits the profile must please e-mail their details, photographs and rates to: Keke Chele via keke@schoolboy.co.za

(Source - Gig Grapevine) 


The China-Africa Business Summit will be happenning soon hosted by Frontier Advisory.
When: Wed 17th April
Time: 8 for 8h30



Sony Photography Evening 


sony photo


(Source - Sony) 



A Nursery Tale by Andrew Verster


NURSERY TALE
“You say a Blackbird came down and pecked off your nose?”
“Yes. It happened just like that.”
“What did you do?”
“I ran after it and got it back and stuck it on again.”
“Looks fine to me.”
“It will settle down when the glue dries.”

Andrew Verster is a World Famous Artist and Writer



















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Thursday, April 4, 2013

News about a Bloggers Workshop, something cool from Blackberry and Film News


A Bloggers Workshop For You




















Make your move and become a star with BlackBerry

BlackBerry® is searching for South Africa’s next big hip-hop star at campuses nationwide, offering one talented artist the opportunity to be mentored for superstardom by Khuli Chana.

To get your shot at the big time, make your move at a BlackBerry lunchtime campus event in April. Here, you’ll get to hear Khuli Chana perform live and get a chance to impress the judges with your skills behind the mic.

Whether you’re a spoken word poet, an MC, a rapper or singer, you could be in with a chance to be mentored by Khuli Chana. Khuli will be grooming the winner for the big time – a chance to perform at the next BlackBerry Secret Gig in South Africa.

South African born and Mmabatho bred, Khuli Chana is a talented musician who practices the skill of rhyming in vernacular rap, Motswako.  Having just recently scooped the award for best song of the year for his hit song Tswak Sticke’m at the Hype Music Awards, he is the perfect guy to show you the ropes in the world of hip-hop.

The winner at each campus will also win a brand new BlackBerry® Z10 smartphone based on the all-new BlackBerry® 10 operating system.

Not keen on getting on the stage yourself to compete? Be sure to attend anyway, and you could win some great prizes including a BlackBerry Z10 smartphone.

The BlackBerry lunchtime campus events take place at the following campuses in April:

·         University of Cape Town (04 April 2013)
·         University of the Western Cape (09 April 2013)
·         University of Kwa-Zulu Natal (12 April 2013)
·         University of the Orange Free State (16 April 2013)
·         Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (23 April 2013)
·         University of Pretoria (24 April 2013)
·         Tshwane University of Technology (25 April 2013)
·         University of Johannesburg (26 April 2013)
·         Wits (30 April 2013)


(Source - Blackberry)


Film News


DURBAN FILMMART PROJECT SELECTED FOR HOT DOCS 2013

Devil’s Lair, one of the award-winning projects from last year’s Durban FilmMart has been selected for this year’s Hot Docs, the Canadian International Documentary Film Festival in Toronto in April/May this year.

Produced by Neil Brandt of Fireworx Media and directed by Riaan Hendricks of A Season of Film (who also did the cinematography and editing) this feature documentary uncovers the conflicting worlds that exist amongst the troubled communities of the Cape Flats in Cape Town South Africa. It is an intimate portrayal of one gang leader and his young family as they navigate a violent and contested physical and psychological landscape, one in which honour, love and betrayal are all too often sides of the same coin.

Devil’s Lair, which will have its World Premiere at Hot Docs on May 1, was a featured project at last year’s Durban FilmMart, where it selected by as one of the “Most Promising Documentary Projects”, and as a result Brandt and Hendricks also received a travel and accommodation grant from WorldView/IDFA enabling them to attend IDFA, and pitch the project at the IDFA Forum in November last year.

“One of the key objectives of the DFM, which is a joint programme of the Durban Film Office (DFO) and the Durban International Film Festival (DIFF), is to act as a feeder platform in bringing African projects to other established international co-production markets. “ explains Toni Monty of the Durban Film Office. “We are delighted to hear that Devil’s Lair has been selected to premiere at Hot Docs. Results like this for any film helps to foster and encourage a confidence in developing projects, as often, at ideation stage stakeholders are cautious as to what tangible results can be obtained. This helps to demonstrate the potential and possibilities that do exist.”

Speaking from Johannesburg Brandt was excited about the selection and for the opportunity of holding their world premiere at Hot Docs. “It’s at once fantastic and terrifying.” he said. “Hot Docs is North America’s largest documentary festival, conference and market with about 200 documentaries from around the world, so the competition is tough, but we are really looking forward to the experience and to working hard at making sure our film gets the best start to its festival life possible.”

For Brandt and Hendricks the experience at IDFA was hugely beneficial in the further development of the film. “Everything in the creation of this film worked as a complex puzzle, all working simultaneously.” says Brandt. “We originally received a production grant from the IDFA Bertha Fund, who have been tracking the film. Then we were invited to the IDFA Summer School in June last year, just before the Durban FIlmMart where the project was well received resulting in us pitching the film at the IDFA Forum in November 2012. Here we were able to pitch a more developed film to broadcasters and investors and pick up sales agent Journeyman Pictures. Funding had also been received from the Hot Docs Blue Ice Fund, which has also been tracking the film since the Durban FilmMart. So there has been an incredible amount of support and interest in the film from international funders, which is encouraging, as difficult politically-charged films from Africa are often not easy to finance. Local funders include the Open Society Foundation, Sabido Productions and the NFVF. TVO Canada has just bought the first license and we are in discussions with numerous further broadcasters.”

The 4th Durban FilmMart will take place from 19 to 22 July 2013 during the 34th edition of the Durban International Film Festival (18-28 July) and will present an official selection of about 10 fiction projects and 10 documentary projects.

For more information on the Durban FilmMart visit www.durbanfilmmart.com.  Entries to this year’s DFM are now closed.

For further enquires contact info@durbanfilmmart.com


Devi's Lair POster.jpg
Poster of Devil's Lair


The Durban FilmMart (DFM) is a co-production and finance market and is a joint programme of the Durban Film Office (DFO) and the Durban International Film Festival (DIFF). DFM provides filmmakers from across Africa a valued opportunity to pitch projects to financiers, distributors, sales agents and potential co-producers, and participate in meetings, project presentations and a series of master classes and workshops on latest industry trends.www.durbanfilmmart.com

The Durban Film Office (DFO) is the film industry development arm of the eThekwini Municipality, mandated to position Durban as a world-class film production destination and facilitator for the development of the local film industry.  The DFO drives activity and development in the sector in order to boost tourism, job creation and the development of core skills and SMME’s in the region.   www.durbanfilmoffice.com

The Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) presents over 250 screenings from different countries and cultures with special focus on Africa; it includes development programmes such as Talent Campus Durban. DIFF is a flagship project of the Centre for Creative Arts, University of KwaZulu-Natal, which facilitates creative platforms and economic opportunities for artists and related industries, intercultural exchange and network development, training, audience development and strategic Pan-African and international cooperation in the cultural sectors.  www.cca.ukzn.ac.za




(Source - DIFF)