en ceb en af en af nl en af de nl nl af ro af af nl af nl af nl af af nl af nl af nl af nl nl af nl nl nl af nl af fy nl nl af nl af af af af af af nl en af en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en nl en en en en en de en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en nl en en en en en it en en en en en en en en en en pt en en en en it en en en en en en en en en en en en en fr en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en tr nl en fr en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en de en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en nl en en en en en en en en en en en en fr pt en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en uk en en en en fr en en en en en en en en en en tr en fr en ceb en en en
Gedagtes oor kabaret: Dorothea van Zyl in gesprek met Hennie Aucamp
Filed under: south african theatre — ABRAXAS @ 11:52 pm
En so kom ons aan die einde
van ‘n aand vol troebel pret –
want “troebel pret” is – met permissie –
Dit bied ‘n leunstoel – sonder leuning –
en noem sy hoofdis: as-met-heuning;
dit sien die skedel agter vlees –
al sou dié vlees hóé prima wees.
Kom, klink ‘n loopdop op die lot
en sit hom toe met: EDELVROT!
Hennie, jy word volledig vereenselwig met kabaret in Afrikaans. Wil jy iets oor jou vroeë kennismaking met kabaret sê?
Dit het hier op Stellenbosch gebeur. Professore Con de Villiers en Erika Theron het die vooroorlogse Duitse kabaret persoonlik meegemaak, en veral dr Con kon lank uitwei oor byvoorbeeld Claire Waldoff wat in breë Berlynse dialek – “aangeleeg, hô” – met almal gespot het, veral met mans. Sy was lesbies van aanleg, wat haar gehoor weldeeglik geweet het, en dit het ekstra peper aan haar lewering van “Raus mit den Männern!” (“Chuck out the men”) verleen.
Ek onthou hoe prof Erika Theron voor die Musiekvereniging gepraat het oor Kleinkuns in die Berlyn van vroeër. Kleinkunst en Literarisches Kabarett was die terme wat sy gebruik het. Sy was veral geesdriftig oor Fritzi Masary, wat die liefling van die operette-publiek was, maar talle van Masary se operette-arias was suiwer kabaretmatig. “Waarom,” vra sy in een van haar lewerings, “Waarom sal ‘n vrou [bedoelende getroude vrou] “dan geen buitehuwelikse verhouding daarop nahou nie?” En haar verleiding – dis nou as Potifar se vrou – van die kuise jong Josef, is net toegelaat omdat sy teenoor haar wettige man gespeel het.
Dr Con het by sy Sondagse “at homes” tussen Bach en ander groot kanonne deur ‘n reeks kabaretsterre ingesmokkel: Greta Keller, Zarah Leander, Eartha Kitt, Lucienne Boyer.
“Aucamp,” het dr Con my geterg, “ek weet wat jou so aantrek omtrent die kabaret. Dit drup van die hormone.”
Vreemd genoeg het dr Con ‘n “blinde kol” gehad vir Brecht. Brecht het ek by Frits Stegmann, nóg ‘n groot musiekgees in Stellenbosch, leer ken; natuurlik Die Dreigroschen Oper met die onverganklike musiek van Kurt Weill. En ook by Bill de Klerk. Maar dit is eintlik Robert Mohr en Arnold Blumer wat my wegwys gemaak het in die wêreld van Brecht. Brecht was die grootste en blywendste invloed op my kabaretwerk.
Hoe het jou praktiese ervaring van kabaret op Stellenbosch verloop?
Dit het met die nooit volprese insette van Marie van Heerden in die Libertas-teater op die Markplein in Stellenbosch begin. Sy het my tikwerk gedoen, maar sy was ook ‘n aktrise, en bowenal ‘n gevoelige regisseuse. Omdat sy my werk via tikwerk geken het, het sy my gevra om die verhaal “Wolf, wolf hoe laat is dit?” vir die verhoog te verwerk. Dis sy wat die inval gekry het dat daar liedjies in ‘n sekere Aucamp-program moet wees, en haar toneelseuns, Johann en Marcel, het Jannie Hofmeyr na haar toe gebring. My eerste volwaardige liedteks was “Die lewe is ‘n grenshotel”, en dit was ook Jannie se eerste volwaardige toonsetting. Ons het lank saamgewerk, maar hy het later ‘n behoefte aan vryer liedtekste gehad, en toe het hy ‘n kabaret saam met Etienne van Heerden geskep, Ekskuus vir die wals, geregisseer deur Johann van Heerden.
Ek kan dit só stel: die eerste “been” van my kabaretfase in Stellenbosch was ‘n Van Heerden-“been”. Ek het Dooierus aan Marie en die ander Van Heerdens opgedra: Marcel, Marjorie, Johann. En Wolwedans: ‘n soort revue, is opgedra aan Ernst van Heerden, wat die eerste pleitbesorger vir my liedtekste was.
En toe kom die Amsterdam-ervaring en ‘n studietyd in Amerika waarvan jy my vertel het?
Op pad New York toe in die tagtigerjare het ek ‘n paar dae in Amsterdam oorgebly, en daar het ek ‘n ervaring gehad wat ‘n beslissende uitwerking op my kabaretbelangstelling gehad het. ‘n Program – Alle laatjes oopen, of so iets – het hulde gebring aan liedteksskrywers – of was dit nou net één liedteksskrywer, Guus Vleugel? Daar was twee vleuelklaviere op die verhoog, en vier deurwinterde kabaretsangers en toneelspelers, Conny Stuart, Gerrie van Klei, Paul Deen, Willem Nijholt. Dís die soort kabaret wat ek wil bedryf, het ek besluit: kabaret as literatuur.
Reeds in New York, by die Teacher’s College, Columbia, het ek kabaretsketse begin skryf. Terug in Stellenbosch het ek Herman Pretorius genader oor ‘n kabaretaand. Ons planne het al groter en groter geword; al hoe meer komponiste, al hoe meer spelers is betrek. Dit was ‘n wonderlike tyd, die voorbereiding vir Met permissie gesê; ons was so doldapper as wat net beginners kan wees. En Herman Binge het ‘n borg bedink, en ons het met die Musiek- en Kunsdepartemente van die Universiteit onderhandel, want ek wou die Gesammtkunst-beginsel van die Weimar-kabaret deurtrek na Stellenbosch.
En toe reël Rosa Keet dit dat Met permissie gesê na die Markteater in Johannesburg gaan, met ‘n fabelagtige rolbesetting – Amanda Strydom, Laurika Rauch, Bill Curry, Sam Marais, Annelize van der Rijst, Clarabelle Van Niekerk, Gerben Kamper, wie nie almal nie – onder spelleiding van Janice Honeyman.
Rosa Keet en Merwede van der Merwe se magtige insette ter bevordering van Afrikaanse kabaret mag nooit vergeet word nie. Daar was reekse TV-programme, duur en verbeeldingryk aangebied, en daar was Merwede se twee epogmakende simposiums, Musiek & Liriek, eers in Johannesburg, toe in Stellenbosch.
Meanwhile back at the ranch: Etienne van Heerden het twee vollengte-kabarette geskryf, Arnold Blumer het toegetree tot die kabaret en self ‘n vollengte-kabaret geskryf, en teorie en vertalings verskaf wat kabaret ‘n ferm Europese basis gegee het; Anthony Costandius het op die toneel verskyn; Jannie Hofmeyr het bly komponeer.
Maar my antwoord streef jou vraag verby, Dorothea. Een ding wil ek beklemtoon: die geskiedenis van kabaret in Afrikaans is nog nie geskryf nie, en moet spoedig gebeur, voordat ál die belangrikste rolspelers oorlede is of geëmigreer het. Die alte vroeë dood van eers Stephan Bouwer, toe Arnold Blumer, het kabaret in Afrikaans gevoelig geknou, en dr Herman Pretorius woon en werk nou in Australië. Waar, o waar, bevind Merwede van der Merwe haar?
Wat verstaan jý onder kabaret?
Ek probeer my opvattings omtrent kabaret op my ervarings van Europese kabaret in Duitsland en in Nederland baseer, asook op uitsprake van kabaretkundiges in hierdie lande. Ons moet onthou dat moderne kabaret meer as ‘n eeu oud is, en sy wortels ver in die verlede het, soos in Middeleeuse moraliteitspele en “sotterniën”.
Kabaret is in sy wese op lering ingestel, maar lering deur middel van vermaak. Oorheers die lering-aspek, raak die gehoor verveeld; oorheers die vermaak, sit jy met nóg ‘n verskeidenheidskonsert, wat baie plesierig mag wees, maar homself nie kabaret durf noem nie.
Selfs in die Weimarjare is daar tussen Kabarett en Cabaret onderskei. Kabarett (met ‘n dubbel-t) was ernstige vermaak, met ‘n sterk literêre inslag; Cabaret weer het sinneprikkeling voorop gestel.
My eie definisie? Kabaret is ‘n teaterverrigting wat hom van die woord, musiek, mime, skaduspel en dans bedien, maar altyd met ‘n intellektuele basis en verkieslik met ‘n sterk oorkoepelende tema wat op doodsondes in die maatskappy toeslaan.
Wie is, volgens jou, ons belangrikste kabaretsterre?
Ek is nie meer intens betrokke by kabaret nie, en gaan nie meer in die aand uit nie, maar ek sou sê Pieter-Dirk Uys, Casper de Vries, Nataniël en David Kramer het elkeen ‘n unieke bydrae gelewer, en lewer dit nog steeds, en natuurlik Amanda Strydom, wat haar eie tekste skryf, sing en speel.
Pieter-Dirk Uys is ‘n volhardende politieke kabarettis, en behou hom die reg voor om enige politieke party die les te lees, maar altyd hoogs toneelmatig, hoogs vermaaklik. Casper de Vries is ‘n skerpskertser (stand-up comedian); Nataniël is ‘n fantas met ‘n merkwaardige musikale intelligensie; David Kramer betrek gemarginaliseerde talente, ons almal tot voordeel. Soos Amanda Strydom skryf die gemelde here hul eie tekste, wat hulle in ‘n besonderse kategorie plaas.
En verder is daar Coenie de Villiers, wat sy eie MC is, en Jannie du Toit en Christa Steyn, wat al hoe meer monoloë en tweesprake in hul programme indra, in die allerbeste Karl Valentin-trant, en Richard Van der Westhuizen en Lochner de Kock wat óók uitstekende sangers en toneelspelers is. En Laurika Rauch. O, ja, ons hét sterre, en dié wat ek so pas genoem het, kan hulle ook in die buiteland handhaaf, in Londen, Nieu-Seeland en, grootste toets van almal, in die Lae Lande, wat ‘n baie sterk kabarettradisie het.
Ek laat voorlopig liedteksskrywers uit, want dan raak my lys te lank.
Dorothea, ek moet beklemtoon dat my lys voorlopig is en uiteraard leemtes het. Waarop ek in die eerste plek gelet het, is die kabaretmatige van die bydrae van die gemeldes.
Jy het in 1994 gesê dat jy klaar is met kabaret. Voel jy nog só?
Ek het in 1994 uitgetree as dosent in Stellenbosch en het Kaap toe getrek. Hiermee het ek ook afskeid geneem van my “laboratorium”, die Dramadepartement van Stellenbosch. Die Universiteit, of meer presies gesê, die Departemente Musiek en Drama, het my kabaretboekery en -plateversameling aangekoop en in die biblioteek en diskoteek van die Konservatorium tuisgebring. My kabaretdokumente is in die Dokumentesentrum van die KGB, maar word helaas nie naastenby genoeg benut nie.
Ek gee nog raad van die kantlyn af, maar nuwe navorsing, veral in die buiteland, is gebiedend as kabaret in Afrikaans nie in ‘n paar plaaslike clichés versand wil raak nie.
Waar staan die kabaret vandag?
Ek reis nie meer nie, vanweë gesondheidsbeletsels, en weet dus nie presies wat die huidige stand van kabaret in Europa is nie.
Ek het die ongemaklike gevoel dat kabaretsterre na pop-status begin streef en toenemend voor groot gehore, selfs in stadions, optree – ja, ook Liesbeth List – met al die klankversterking wat reëlreg teen die intieme segging van ouwêreldse kabaret ingaan. Is kabaret dalk besig om ‘n pop-verrigting met intellektuele pretensie te word? Ek kan maar net saam met EM Foster sug: Two Cheers for Democracy.
first published on http://www.litnet.co.za/cgi-bin/giga.cgi?cmd=cause_dir_news_item&news_id=57822&cause_id=1270
Comments Off on Gedagtes oor kabaret: Dorothea van Zyl in gesprek met Hennie Aucamp
jimmy manyi on “coloureds”
Filed under: afrikaaps — ABRAXAS @ 10:36 pm
Comments Off on jimmy manyi on “coloureds”
theresa smith on ak47
Filed under: kaganof — ABRAXAS @ 8:54 pm
a letter from angela van schalkwyk
Filed under: south african cinema — ABRAXAS @ 7:25 pm
Farewell and hand over
For 23 years I have lived and worked closely to the South African film and television industry. Through Screen Africa I have had the privilege to talk, interview and write about the people whose creative imagination I admired as well as those who support them with the technology they require to achieve their objectives. It is not surprising that I have wrestled in my mind and heart for what I ought to write. A friend remarked that I was fortunate to have something which makes saying farewell so difficult.
I have asked myself what I wish I had known when I first ventured from the excitement of working in production at the start of SABC TV, to a challenging career as a journalist and finally, much to my own surprise, to the establishment of a publishing company with the sole purpose of providing information for the film, television and broadcast equipment supplier industry.
Screen Africa had its roots in a magazine titled Southern Screen & Stage which I started with a dear partner Zane Greyvenstein. At the time, I had no clear sense of direction or any ambitions. I merely followed my interest and heart.
With no business experience to rely on it was probably inevitable that within a matter of three years the magazine was in trouble. My partner had died; I was on my own struggling as both editor and publisher to find a way out of our debt. I would have closed the company if it had not been for loyal readers and a few advertising clients who continued to support the magazine. Overcoming this difficult time taught me things about myself and the basics of business principles that I could not have learned in any other way.
My experience is not unique. Many individuals and companies in this industry have been tested. I have watched people overcome setbacks and succeed because of their ingenuity and creative thinking. Their achievements have ensured a sustainable industry which now provides local television content eagerly anticipated by viewers and indigenously inspired films that have finally drawn a home-grown audience. South African feature films and television programmes have won accolades at international festivals as well as the prestigious Oscars.
Throughout all this time our professional equipment suppliers have ensured that the production side of the industry has been able to rely on the latest equipment available globally. Added to this, the country’s first class crews, post production houses, rental companies and other service sectors have retained global standards even when beset by uncertain economic times.
By chance a reader brought in a Screen Africa Directory this week which dated back to 1994. It was fascinating to page through and see the early names of old friends and colleagues. Many of them have not survived but many have continued to contribute their creativity and technical skills to become stable entities in the industry.
The year 1994 also heralded a new era of equality and freedom for formerly disenfranchised South Africans. Screen Africa was around to record the new developments which saw young people embrace the changes and add their talent to the industry pot.
The new democracy in the country allowed Screen Africa to explore African festivals and markets for the first time. I was invited to Harare, Zimbabwe in 1994 with African filmmakers, broadcasters and theatrical owners to discuss co-production, the state of African film and television, as well as marketing and distribution of product in Africa and internationally. It was at this workshop that Sithengi – The Southern African & International Television Market was conceived. I became integrally involved in its birth and existence which lasted for 10 years until 2006 when its board failed to revive it due to financial difficulties.
I have always been concerned by the industry’s reliance on local broadcasters for their living. It was with this in mind that we began to distribute Screen Africa at international television festivals and film markets. In 1992 I attended the Cannes International Film Festival for the first time. It was a lonely experience with probably only three South African companies in attendance. We began to distribute Screen Africa at the festival the following year. Now through the efforts of government and the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), South Africa hosts an annual pavilion at this prestigious event.
Early in 1990 I identified the two annual MIP markets which take place in Cannes, France, as new opportunities for South Africans to sell and negotiate programme deals internationally. Screen Africa followed through by organising a South African exhibition stand at both MIP markets and the Department of Trade & Industry provided financial assistance for companies which participated. Screen Africa ran the stand for four years until the NFVF took over the function of promoting the South African industry at international events.
Screen Africa had other firsts. In the mid 1990s we initiated a special feature dedicated to the international projects of the commercials facilitating service companies at Cannes Lions where we not only distributed the magazine but also personally attended. This became an annual Screen Africa project. In time our film commissions began to attend and further build up South Africa’s presence.
Traditional broadcast has undergone many changes as a result of the digital revolution and the Internet.
Likewise Screen Africa has been able to offer its readers so much more via its website and regular email communication.Over the years the website has grown in sophistication and has garnered the support of many thousands of readers and advertising clients. I have particularly enjoyed the immediacy of the weekly eNewsletter and my role as its editor as it allowed me to comment freely about the issues that deter the growth of the industry.
I have been privileged to follow the endeavours of the people in this uniquely creative industry. I have appreciated the way you tell a story and admired the pressure you have brought to bear on broadcasters and people in authority. I have wondered at the tenacity you have shown to follow dreams. I have experienced first-hand the professionalism of a crew at work. I have enjoyed hearing about and seeing ground breaking technology developments. I am thrilled by the way young people exercise their imaginations in pursuit of their craft. You have great creative ability that needs to be constantly harnessed by good business sense.
Some people and events come into our lives by chance. They stay or are quickly forgotten. But through Screen Africa the people of this industry have left a footprint in my mind which will remain with me forever.
On 28 February 2011 I leave Screen Africa as editor-in-chief. I am delighted that Joanna Sterkowicz, who has been my deputy editor for many years, finally agreed to take on this position. I am more than happy to leave Screen Africa in her capable hands.
I have sold my company Sun Circle Publishers (Pty) Ltd to Simon Robinson. He is very enthusiastic about Screen Africa and its future. At the end of June 2011 my term as a director and shareholder ends and Simon takes over full ownership of the company.
I am sad to leave my staff behind most of whom have been with me for 10 to 16 years. The success of Screen Africa can to a very large extent be attributed to their loyalty, dedication and hard work. I will continue to remain in touch with them so it is not really ‘goodbye’.
I leave not to retire but to explore new creative challenges.
Filed under: joel assaizky,nicola deane — ABRAXAS @ 4:13 pm
Comments Off on the wedding cake
the four horsemen of the apocalypse
Filed under: kagagallery — ABRAXAS @ 3:44 pm
Comments Off on the four horsemen of the apocalypse
Filed under: caelan — ABRAXAS @ 3:30 pm
Comments Off on 25 february 2011
Filed under: caelan,joel assaizky — ABRAXAS @ 3:25 pm
Comments Off on her first wedding!
niklas zimmer/collin meyer and jethro louw in duo performance directed and narrated by catherine henegan (afrikaaps)
Filed under: catherine henegan,jethro louw,niklas zimmer — ABRAXAS @ 3:19 pm
Filed under: registered — ABRAXAS @ 9:28 am
Comments Off on lettie hoogstra
a guide for the perplexed
Filed under: kagagallery — ABRAXAS @ 9:23 am
Comments Off on a guide for the perplexed
Filed under: art — ABRAXAS @ 9:15 am
Comments Off on contempo
raselebeli khotseng reviews “omoseye bolaji”
Filed under: free state black literature,reviews — ABRAXAS @ 10:32 am
this review first published here: http://wordsbody.blogspot.com/2011/02/omoseye-bolaji-review.html
Comments Off on raselebeli khotseng reviews “omoseye bolaji”
a letter to hector kunene
Filed under: kagapoems,literature,poetry — ABRAXAS @ 9:46 pm
Thank you for your mail.
I am very amazed and even startled to the point of puzzlement that you regard writers as crooks! Not being as lucky as you – I have hardly ever managed to sell any of my writing in my life – and indeed, must confess, that most of my writing has COST me money to publish – I fear that I am not in the same glorious position of luxury as your esteemed self. Good luck and good fortune have nestled themselves on your crown to allow you to have been paid so much for your writing that you can regard yourself as a “crook”. May this situation continue and that you never reach my damned state of affairs where I have to pay the publishers amounts as high as in the thousands of rands to get my poems published! So grievous are things here in Cape Town!
I shall not keep my truth from you dear Mr. Kunene – I felt a pang of jealousy when I read your mail. That somebody so young and still burgeoning could already be making so much money out of his writing (of poetry!) as to think of himself as a crook! The only relief I could find is that probably by making money so easily and effortlessly you will also spend it foolishly – thereby equalising our situation!
a letter from kadiatou chou-chou diallo in karachi
Filed under: art — ABRAXAS @ 9:00 pm
We knew it would be a wild and crazy ride, but we had no idea how wild that wild would be. WOW! SPARCK came to Karachi as part of the three-phase South-South conversations project is has launched, to stage a 2-day happening titled « Imagin[IN]ing Cities » – an exhibition at the massive Amin Gulgee Gallery, on 20-21 February 2011. 52 artists from Pakistan and the African continent were represented. Experimental art video, photography and sound installations were the media. The result was explosive. Over 600 people from all walks of life, dozens of journalists, critics and TV reporters, and, most importantly, a huge crowd of artists and art school students attended in the space of two evenings. The feedback blew our minds: so intensively positive; wide, wide open to new media and ideas; so richly aware of convergences building across the global urban South.
We’d meant to write earlier to our Facebook community about Imag[IN]ing cities, but the wirlwind of préparations and the event itself literally swept us off our feet. Joining us was SPARCK resident artist / writer extraordinaire/ philosopher / critic / afrofuture rocket Lionel Manga, who travelled to Karachi via Addis Ababa and Dubai. A stunning soundpiece by him was the first work visitors to the show encountered. It was recorded on the roof of the Gallery, amid flaming torches that lit up the whole of the neighbourhood.
Imag[IN]ing cities was dedicated to Goddy Leye, one of the world’s most beautiful artists and human beings, who died on the evening preceding the show. His, from the very first planning stages, had been the centrepiece work of the exhibition: an installation of his, titled « The Beautiful Beast ». Of all the works, it drew the most sustained attention, questions and empathy. Friend, mentor, anchor of an entire world, we wish him Godspeed and miss him with the intensity of absolute loss.
SPARCK thanks from the bottom of its two-woman heart Amin Gulgee and his Partner John MacCarry, who co-curated and hosted Imag[IN]ing cities. Our immense thanks too to the artists who so generously participated in the happening. So too, deep thanks to the men and women who made our work possible on a daily basis, from Amma, who saw to it that we remembered to eat, to Farzan and AmirAli who helped us wend our way through the city, Azeem and Taimur, who poured over technical data and disentangled electrical wires with us for hours, Roxanna, who brought order where the chaos of paper and disks threatened to take us all over. Thanks, finally, to our sponsors, The Africa Centre, whose funding, in tandem with the Amin Gulgee Gallery, made this mindboggling event possible.
Photos and video will appear shortly on our website, documenting Imag[IN]ing cities. And soon the show will move on to other spaces and cities.
Comments Off on a letter from kadiatou chou-chou diallo in karachi
Rudolf Pannwitz on translating
Filed under: literature — ABRAXAS @ 8:53 pm
“the fundamental mistake of the person translating is to set the fortuitous state of his own language in stone instead of letting the foreign language shift it by force, particularly when translating from an extremely remote language he must push his way back to the ultimate elements of language itself where word image tone merge into one he must widen and deepen his language with the foreign language people have no idea how far this is possible”
208. Méditerranée – Jean-Daniel Pollet
Filed under: film as subversive art — ABRAXAS @ 8:31 pm
Directors: Jean-Daniel Pollet, Volker Schlöndorff
One of the most incredible attempt of the cinema’s history. 40 minutes and a single subject (glorious ambition) : how to film the Méditeranée ? Pollet built a space of sensation, putting things in line without explicit intentions. He didn’t film himself more than a half of this movie, he has just ordering things (antique ruins, corrida, dead girl after the operation, factory, Horus) according with his own obsessions : darkness, morbid & illuminate feeling, chaos (‘when there is life, there is death and there is chaos’ he seems to say) and pain. In France, Pollet was considered as a great film director after it – he gave a shock. We can’t believe he’s unknown in other country so, react !
Comments Off on 208. Méditerranée – Jean-Daniel Pollet
sean jacobs interviews dylan valley about the uprising of hangberg
Filed under: 2010 - The Uprising of Hangberg — ABRAXAS @ 8:09 pm
this interview was first published on sean jacobs’ blog “africa is a country”: http://africasacountry.com/
Comments Off on sean jacobs interviews dylan valley about the uprising of hangberg
morton feldman’s “rothko chapel”
Filed under: art,music — ABRAXAS @ 6:08 pm
Comments Off on morton feldman’s “rothko chapel”
Filed under: kagapoems — ABRAXAS @ 4:47 pm
she was an away-runner and silent speaker
she cheated on every boyfriend she had ever had
but she never knew why she cheated. actually she did
know why she cheated: because she didn’t like sex; she
found sex boring. she only only enjoyed sex the first time
so that’s why she cheated. all her best sex was taxonomized
in the list of those cheating occasions. the sex with her boyfriend
gradually spiralled down into the non-events that drove him to
distraction and merely took up her time as she lay on her
back thinking of other men men that she would like to
cheat on her boyfriend with. the away-runner and
Comments Off on a brief encounter
a letter from dick tuinder
Filed under: dick tuinder,poetry — ABRAXAS @ 2:42 pm
To the Netherlands Union of Beauty Specialists
For the attention of: Mrs. Vain-Sourmouth (President)
Den Dolder 21-24 April 1999
I recently spoke about his work to the elderly poet and ex-politician Willem Halbertsma, who lives a bit further on in the Willem Arntz wood. I asked him how he arrived at his profound and mysterious sound poetry.
“That is, if you can say anything about it at all,” I said, because for some artists the process of creation is a mystery they prefer to remain silent about, no matter how much they might secretly yearn for discourse.
Willem smiled. He is not afraid of anything anymore, and has no illusions about his own role in the creation of his work.
“It is not so,” he narrated, “that I write with a predetermined plan. I have no ideas. I don’t know where the words will land, don’t know where they come from, don’t know when. But come they do! Latent in the words themselves is a vast creative power. The sounds present themselves. Demandingly. Irresistibly, without ever explaining themselves. Because they already know something that I myself am only informed about much later.”
“When the poem is completed,” I ventured.
He looked at me, clearly vexed. “Look here, young friend, that’s where you are wrong. The poem was always already completed. Everything is already completed. I simply brush away the dust so that it becomes legible.”
He held a blank page up before me, and his voice echoed through the open garden doors out to the woods: “The words know things, oh drunken drift beauty drinker!”
Halbertsma poeticizes life unto the words and a – more or less – own consciousness. According to him, language is an uninhabited totality, wherein, given the correct impulse, a reaction can be created that leads to a form of autonomously developing life. After the first sentence follows the second, sounds group themselves much like the DNA of a new entity, with a unique appearance and patterns of behaviour. In exactly the same way indeed as in physics where certain combinations of the simplest molecules, under the right circumstances, can lead to the formation of life. According to Halbertsma an unsorted collection of words can, once they are organized and synchronized to a definite rhyme, suddenly come to life and write themselves to completion as a Described Being. The writer who holds the pen fulfills a secondary task in this process, that must nonetheless not be underestimated. He must be there, and also not be there. Somebody has to dust the words off. Somebody has to give the first nudge. But thereafter he must disappear, without leaving. He must therefore operate simultaneously on different levels of perception and reception.
I am no supporter of – as often happens – comparing the psyche of the artist with that of the lunatic. Personally I find artists the most normal people that exist. The question should not be “Why do you make art?”, but “Why don’t you make art?”. At least that is how I think about it.
This aside (I’m not crazy) there is of course a relationship of sorts. The lunatic sees right through the distinctly bordered haze of the quotidian into the infinite, where all trembles and shivers and whispers and threatens. There is a battle for position and there is no order. To this extent the comparison is fruitful. But the madness itself ensures that the madman, unlike the artist, cannot place himself adjacent to the things that must remain unspoken. He stands, on the contrary, in the midst of the unspoken. Is the ally of unspoken things. Is one with their turmoil. It is impossible for the lunatic to place his visions of a not-yet-seen reality in the natural order, from whence the synthesis between Being and not-Being may ensue. He is a chef who stirs the soup by swimming in it. And must inevitably be consumed by his own meal.
I already told you that madness is not the only new element in my temporary domicile. There is also nature. I am as little comfortable with the latter as the former, both of which suddenly confront me in abundance. The Finsterwood, as Halbertsma prefers to call the Willem Arntsz wood. That village-like, o so easily traversible forest of many little hills, where the caretakers, according to the fashion of the day, have apparently stopped caring altogether in order to let “nature” run her course. Predictably, for the purpose of daily shopping or to walk the dog, I have become a regular visitor of the wood. And after a few weeks I began to recognize in the ostensible chaos that the Finsterwood displays at first glance, the existence of a psyche unquestionably ordered.
The slow moving flora is possibly just as cautious of humans as most animal sorts, but, lacking the ability to run away or hide, camouflages itself with a great veil of mystery. And that is the system. You can never exactly explain why a certain plant grows at a specific place in the wood, but you do intuit the irrevocable and necessary nature of the choice for the place and the plant. “Laissez faire, laissez passer” you think? Think again! Because what actually happens when the caretakers allow nature to “take its course” is that the enlightened despotism of the pitchfork and the spade make way for a brutal Darwinian dictatorship. A plant with its own, nonconformist lifestyle, is like a lunatic in an Empiricist society; it cannot survive.
Throughout this softly murmuring prison camp there are now walking paths, one of which runs next to my temporary abode. Twice a day a small retinue of inhabitants from the neighbouring Dennedal lunatic asylum saunter by. Autistics, crazies. On their daily outing. Most of them walk in silence. Facing the ground. One of them wears a blue plastic mask that covers his mouth. To protect him from himself I imagine. Every few steps he stands still, slowly lifts his head to the sky and emits an unearthly mournful wail. Then some other loon always bashes into him. I told Halbertsma about this, and his eyes became moist.
“That is Fabroesz,” he said. “Fabroesz the Moronghastly.” And after a moment he handed me the poem that I am now passing on to you.
In Finsterwood was treed the Moronghastly
Jumpjagged jubblied he: “Fabroesz!”
The marshy giants burble popped and floated
Towards the zigzag hind kick of Ghast.
Chaingang gandered it, deafwhisper unheaded,
But every other stumblestep, hoarse upchucked: “Fabroesz!”
The Giants stare thickrooted – ripeflakes salve the Finsterwood
“Fabroesz!” swishes through the rattling branches,
criss cross mating with the birdydom.
In the leavedroppings flotsam, flit, flot, flotsam
and bebows towards the arseyplace: “Fabroesz!”
A softy wiss evaporates and sponges up the wind
Skyscraper high, the gnarly Giants, dream the dreams of a child.
(Willem Halbertsma, from the collection: Gark Pydoe!)
When art speaks, the thinker is silenced, don’t you agree? These must be words that wrote themselves. More lucidly than anything prior in this text, this poem sounds the synthesis – or collaborative choir if you will – of man and nature, art and beauty. Handed out by a half masked man with the impatient brain of three year old. Fabroesz! Do you see? That’s it. And this must be enough for you today. In the event of any new insights arriving, rest assured that you will be the first to be informed. In the meanwhile I remain, as ever, your adventurer-beauty specialist, with hearty greetings.
translated from the dutch by aryan kaganof
Comments Off on a letter from dick tuinder
Filed under: dick tuinder — ABRAXAS @ 2:38 pm
Comments Off on winterland
“Why we must disestablish school”
Filed under: politics — ABRAXAS @ 1:39 pm
Ivan Illich’s “Deschooling Society”, first printed in 1971.
“Once these become blurred, a new logic is assumed: the more treatment there is, the better are the results; or, escalation leads to success. The pupil is thereby ‘schooled’ to confuse teaching with learning, grade advancement with education, a diploma with competence, and fluency with the ability to say something new. His imagination is ‘schooled’ to accept service in place of value. Medical treatment is mistaken for health care, social work for the improvement of community life, police protection for safety, military poise for national security, the rat race for productive work. Health, learning, dignity, independence and creative endeavour are defined as little more than the performance of the institutions which claim to serve these ends, and their improvement is made to depend on allocating more resources to the management of hospitals, schools and other agencies in question.”
Comments Off on “Why we must disestablish school”
The Portrait of A Lady
Filed under: kaganof short films — ABRAXAS @ 1:37 pm
A filmic condensation of the novel by Henry James starring Delphine Seyrig.
Image by Sacha Vierney from L’Annee Dernier a Marienbad
Music composed and performed by Sarah Jane Mary Hills
Comments Off on The Portrait of A Lady
benoit knox: A Look Away magazine: My last editor’s letter.
Filed under: art — ABRAXAS @ 1:34 pm
Dear readers, subscribers and fans,
Over the last five and a half years I have had the joy and privilege of working closely with a multitude of wonderful people; colleagues, artists, designers, performers and writers of the highest calibre and most astounding and life-changing talent.
Starting an arts and culture magazine as a student was a challenging task but I believed in it wholeheartedly and I made a promise to myself that I would make it work. It was an exhilarating time and everything was new. Over the last few years and 15 issues of A Look Away I have had a very unique experience of the industry. I have come to know the moments of heartache and fear but also the moments of elation and excitement and the rush which is felt by all artists who put their work out for public consumption. It is a roller-coaster of emotions which is quite addictive.
A Look Away’s success over the last five years is due to the fact that we managed to keep it energetic, fun and adaptable. The magazine has evolved constantly and we have always kept to its original ethos which is to celebrate the arts and make them accessible to a wider audience in a non-arrogant way.
The magazine has been a springboard for hundreds of South African artists. I have shared the A Look Away experience with many colleagues and dozens of students who have interned at BK Publishing. This ever-changing team of talented and open-minded individuals made the magazine a truly great project to work on.
As with any start-up venture, there are wonderful highs and wonderful lows. We live in a country which celebrates entrepreneurship and supports first-time projects. It is easy for a young entrepreneur to feel excited. At first people support you because you are young, gutsy and innovative but very soon this becomes the basic expectation and support is earned through other avenues such as professionalism, reliable service, quality products and sound management. Great ideas and philosophies have to be married to good business principles to be sustainable.
A sober and in-depth look at our business has shown very little growth potential for A Look Away magazine, based on the resources and market support at hand.
All emerging independent magazines in South Africa face the same problems; the lack of enthusiasm and ridiculous sales targets of retailers; the lack of guts and vision from the advertising community; the lack of sustained support from readers. It is hard to make anything special last in South Africa without support from Government, the private sector and a dedicated audience.
Though it is a slightly emotional experience, my decision to indefinitely close down A Look Away magazine is a business one based on my growth strategy for BK Publishing. A Look Away was the pioneering publication of BK Publishing but it was also one of a stable of publications, projects and services that we continue to provide. Our social entrepreneurship projects like Meetse a Bophelo – The Water of Life have found a very enthusiastic and dynamic young audience and we are excited to place a more concerted effort into developing a reading culture in our disadvantaged communities by making books more easily available. This project and others like it have a wider reach and better potential to grow and through them BK Publishing is mapping the future for publishing in South Africa.
We will still remain dedicated to the arts in which ever way possible, including the promotion of careers in the arts through the employment of young freelance illustrators, designers and writers for our book and magazine projects. Our extensive experience of publishing within the arts industry means that we are in a position to help publish high-end artists’ books and catalogues for artists and galleries, as well as source illustrators and artists for corporate and private projects.
I do hope that one day in the future, with greater resources and a ready market, we will be able to come back to the South African arts industry with a publication which surpasses A Look Away in providing support to artists and great content to its eager audience.
We are excited for the future because we have other projects on our plate which are as meaningful and endearing as A Look Away and my colleagues and I hope to receive your support in those ventures as they come to light.
I hope that A Look Away magazine will be remembered for its promotion of independent thought, respect for the creative mind and its fundamental belief that sincere, intelligent and altruistic art has the ability to change lives, society and politics and make the world a better place.
BK Publishing || e: benoit@alookaway.co.za
Comments Off on benoit knox: A Look Away magazine: My last editor’s letter.
Categories Select Category Books  (403)    2002 – hectic!  (26)    2003 – drive-thru funeral  (101)    2003 – sms sanctuary  (18)    2003 – stones again  (8)    2004 – laduma (ak thembeka)  (26)    2005 – jou ma se poems  (60)    2006 – uselessly  (47)    2007 – 12shooters  (6)    2007-the ballad of sugar moon and coffin deadly  (17)    2013 – From A Place of Blackness  (79)    2013 – the vuvuzela murders  (16)    2018 – ffuilgat  (1) Categories  (19,250)    abortion  (29)    african noise foundation  (127)    afrikaaps  (332)    Ahmedabad  (37)    aphorisibles  (148)    art  (2,912)    barking up the wrong tree  (17)    blaze  (16)    blogging  (75)    Boarding Pass  (33)    caelan  (547)    car guards  (71)    censorship  (285)    chimurenga library  (117)    circumcision  (16)    coloured poems  (63)    constitution hill, 11/06/09  (9)    corpses  (155)    Country Conquerors  (15)    drugs  (26)    durban friday 9/12/11  (120)    film  (876)    film as subversive art  (643)    franschhoek literary festival  (36)    freedom fighter  (26)    french  (17)    garbage  (162)    Goya  (1)    Greyton 7233  (106)    harry, jumping  (504)    hauntology of smoke and ochre  (29)    hearing landscape critically  (100)    House of Harambe  (48)    i&I younity movement  (339)    ian kerkhof  (366)    Italian  (17)    joburg from every angle  (105)    just good friends  (299)    kagagallery  (223)    kagagraphix  (106)    kagakoans  (19)    kaganof  (703)    kagapoems  (1,011)    kagaportraits  (1,064)    kagastories  (188)    kagavox  (32)    krumping  (15)    literature  (1,585)    locks  (42)    memorabilia is the message  (10)    miscellaneous  (113)    mobile filming  (85)    moles  (10)    murder mystery top 50 movies  (50)    music  (1,952)    music and exile symposium  (138)    new media politics (k3)  (172)    noisewomb  (27)    on murder as a fine art  (76)    paradoxism  (142)    philosophy  (682)    photography  (478)    poetry  (1,656)    politics  (1,344)    race  (188)    registered  (84)    reviews  (355)    rondebosch common occupied  (17)    ruins  (50)    sakman  (20)    sea point 060406  (86)    sex  (434)    sh.ak  (18)    signs of the times  (746)    six questions  (18)    society of the spectacle  (237)    south african cinema  (651)    south african theatre  (72)    special project on internet art  (48)    stellenbosched  (234)    swaziland, 3-5 june 2010  (10)    the aftermath  (8)    the shooting gallery  (34)    U.r.c.h.i.n.  (10)    unga dada  (144)    westdene  (129)    woodstock  (3)    zuma vs. murray: the spear  (64) contributors  (12,546)    a.d. winans  (93)    Aanele Ntshingana  (1)    acéphale  (58)    afurakan  (16)    akin omotoso  (161)    Aleksandar Macasev  (7)    alex kallos  (4)    amy shelver  (15)    andile mngxitama  (38)    Andre sc  (26)    Andrei Azsacra  (1)    Andrew White  (35)    anne mcmillen  (4)    anti delusion mechanism  (47)    antoinette engel  (5)    anton krueger  (377)    arja salafranca  (25)    athi mongezeleli joja  (24)    Azanian Daughter  (2)    balazs pavay  (3)    barbara kruger  (64)    Ben Williams  (5)    bizarrojerri  (15)    bo cavefors  (63)    bo reimer  (7)    Boniswa Madlakana  (1)    Brian Ihirwe Kamanzi  (1)    cal harding  (4)    Carina Venter  (20)    carmen mccain  (3)    carmen williams  (40)    catherine henegan  (420)    charles fourie  (2)    christine nesbitt hills  (7)    christo doherty  (247)    chuma nwokolo  (4)    clive snell  (6)    craig matthew  (6)    craig swanson  (23)    croc e moses  (12)    danila botha  (261)    dave chislett  (15)    David Freedberg  (2)    deon skade  (52)    derek davey  (232)    dick tuinder  (685)    dimitri voudouris  (33)    dorette kruger  (4)    Doris Kareva  (4)    dye hard press  (115)    Dylan Valley  (34)    eben venter  (9)    eduard claassen  (15)    elias canetti  (2)    elmi muller  (1)    emp  (24)    ena phlilips  (7)    eugenie brinkema  (15)    ewald steyn  (63)    felix laband  (5)    fernando pessoa  (120)    francoise duvivier  (97)    Frank Fanon  (1)    Frank Meintjies  (24)    Frank Moore  (3)    frank scheffer  (13)    free state black literature  (212)    Frieda Grafe  (37)    garreth fradgley  (3)    Garth Erasmus  (33)    Gaspar Nyanga  (1)    gen hadlow  (44)    genna gardini  (43)    Georges Bataille  (30)    germaine moolman  (22)    Giacinto Scelsi  (74)    Gillian Schutte  (2)    grim  (25)    Gurdjieff  (5)    gustao zea  (41)    guy debord  (342)    Harmony Siganporia  (1)    Heinrich Böhmke  (13)    helgé janssen  (387)    henk esterhuizen  (45)    hester scheurwater  (112)    Hilton Mashonga  (7)    holli holdsworth  (11)    ian martin  (118)    Ieva Jansone  (10)    illuseum  (128)    irina  (10)    Iris Amber  (17)    isabelle schiltz  (33)    ismail farouk  (5)    Jack Sargeant  (2)    Jackie Shandu  (2)    james curcio  (6)    james webb  (67)    jason clay lewis  (8)    jean-claude le gouic  (17)    jean-pierre de la porte  (73)    Jeremy Vearey  (1)    Jesus sepulveda  (49)    jethro louw  (56)    joel assaizky  (150)    johan thom  (71)    johan van wyk  (194)    johann lourens  (1)    Jonathan Eato  (35)    jonathan penton  (69)    Jos Koetsier  (4)    judy seidman  (27)    justin fiske  (23)    justin joshua davey  (10)    Kabelo Moratwe  (1)    kain  (31)    keegan murray  (33)    Keitumetse Kekana  (1)    kenji siratori  (20)    kerstin ergenzinger  (88)    Kevin Bismark Cobham  (2)    kiriko & tomoko mukaiyama  (147)    koos kombuis  (43)    Kyle Shepherd  (26)    lee chaldecott  (10)    lerato shadi  (35)    liesl jobson  (13)    lil princess  (39)    Lime Salt Mabasa  (1)    linnea leander  (2)    Lizabé Lambrechts  (33)    lizza littlewort  (17)    lorelle royeppen-viegi  (3)    louis roux  (32)    luci reader  (12)    Lucy Valerie Graham  (1)    luis hernandez  (359)    luzuko elvis bekwa  (27)    Lwandile Pupu  (1)    lydia lunch  (26)    maakomele r manaka  (8)    malika ndlovu  (80)    mamta sagar  (7)    mandelbrut  (22)    Manfred Zylla  (78)    marc ngui  (44)    Maria Hellström Reimer  (7)    Marietjie Pauw  (15)    mary corrigall  (46)    mary jane oliver  (18)    Matthew Pateman  (9)    Max Schleser  (21)    Mbe Mbhele  (19)    melissa adendorff  (86)    merzedes sturm-lie  (33)    Mia Mäkilä  (151)    michael blake  (35)    michael matthews  (77)    michaela sefler  (5)    michelle mcgrane  (95)    mick raubenheimer  (262)    mike schwann kawitzky  (3)    miron zownir  (16)    missasssnatch  (6)    Mlungisi Ngubane  (4)    Mmetoane Moroaswi Magedi  (1)    Mohammad Shabangu  (1)    Moses Shimo Seletisha  (2)    mphutlane wa bofelo  (153)    msizi moshoetsi  (48)    narike lintvelt  (69)    natalia molebatsi  (19)    natalie mason  (23)    Natalie Payne  (32)    nathaniel stern  (19)    ncebakazi manzi  (6)    neurogrinder  (3)    nicola deane  (323)    nikhil singh  (260)    Nikki Franklin  (1)    niklas zimmer  (170)    nimi hoffmann  (2)    Njabulo Ndebele  (2)    patric tariq mellet  (11)    patricia pisters  (18)    paul wessels  (95)    paul zisiwe  (59)    Paula Fourie  (2)    percy mabandu  (4)    peter engblom  (104)    peter whitehead  (46)    philipp virus  (27)    philippe jacmain  (124)    pravasan pillay  (89)    rachel kendall  (15)    raphael d’Abdon  (34)    rebecca matthews  (31)    rené veenstra  (334)    richard haslop  (79)    richard pithouse  (19)    richard tannery  (30)    rob schroder  (241)    robert simon  (23)    Robyn Nesbitt  (15)    rogier maaskant  (5)    Rosalie Manning  (3)    ruan kemp  (23)    ruby savage  (23)    sabelo dludla  (33)    Saga Garde  (9)    samantha reinders  (32)    sarah claire picton  (10)    sasha grey  (27)    sean jacobs  (3)    sean o’toole  (9)    seer of forbidden truth  (7)    Serame Icebound Makhele  (7)    Shaul Blackboy  (1)    shaun de waal  (72)    shirley sacks  (27)    sir dark green  (78)    Sobantu Mzwakali  (1)    sofie knijff  (18)    Sompisi Godide Mphemba  (3)    stacy hardy  (152)    stan engelbrecht  (55)    stella  (57)    stephanie vos  (3)    stephanus muller  (240)    stephen hobbs  (84)    sture johannesson  (34)    suchoon mo  (206)    susanna smith  (20)    susanne giring  (196)    susanne johansson  (24)    sven geier  (60)    Tania Ruiz Gutiérrez  (12)    ted kaczynski  (33)    Tendayi Sithole  (1)    terry richardson  (37)    Thando Joka  (2)    Thando Joka  (2)    Theodoor Steen  (12)    Ton van der lee  (4)    trevor steele-taylor  (33)    tricia warden  (30)    Tshepo Goba  (13)    vera korman  (1)    vernie february  (11)    vesa kivinen  (14)    victor bockris  (10)    Walter Mignolo  (9)    Wanelisa Xaba  (6)    warrick sony (kalahari surfer)  (155)    warsan shire  (2)    William Fourie  (2)    Xola Skosana  (3)    Zaide Harneker  (32)    zakes mda  (50)    Zama Khumalo  (19)    Zimasa Mpemnyama  (1)    Ziyana Lategan  (2)    zos dewitt  (13) Films  (2,697)    1992 – kyodai makes the big time  (53)    1993 – The Mozart Bird  (46)    1994 – the dead man 2: return of the dead man  (67)    1994-ten monologues from the lives of the serial killer  (54)    1995 – nice to meet you, please don’t rape me!  (57)    1996 – wasted! (naar de klote!)  (99)    1998-beyond ultra-violence: uneasy listening by merzbow  (43)    1999 – shabondama elegy (tokyo elegy)  (93)    2000 – sonic fragments, sonic genetics etc..  (41)    2002 – western4.33  (72)    2003 – Nicola’s First Orgasm  (9)    2003 – sharp sharp! (the kwaito story)  (52)    2005 – giant steps  (81)    2007 – Unyazi of the Bushveld  (79)    2008 – click here to unsubscribe  (5)    2008 – sms sugar man  (135)    2009 – Civilization And Other Chimeras  (22)    2010 – the exhibition of vandalizim  (121)    2010 – The Uprising of Hangberg  (169)    2011 – G-String Blues  (33)    2012 – Interactions: A Strategy of Difference  (22)    2013 – An Inconsolable Memory  (132)    2014 – Black Skins Wits Masks  (30)    2014 – Marikana Symphony  (134)    2015 – Death and the Archive  (3)    2015 – Decolonising WITS  (102)    2015 – the flaw in love  (10)    2015- Lamentation/Klaaglied  (37)    2016 – abyss  (31)    2016 – Kreun Vir Roesdorp  (7)    2016 – Metalepsis in Black  (50)    2016 – Opening Stellenbosch  (101)    2017 – Say It With Flowers  (12)    2018 – nege fragmente uit ses khoi’npsalms  (7)    2018 – OF FICTALOPES AND JICTOLOGY  (11)    films edited by kaganof  (175)    kaganof short films  (449)    kerkhof short films  (152)    The Legend of Jiwe  (1)
luis on blog post today
ilico on METALEPSIS IN BLACK
LANRE on TEBOGO AND URIAH HEEP
MALOME on TEBOGO AND URIAH HEEP
Daniel on TEBOGO AND URIAH HEEP