Excerpt from Lewis Pugh's speech on NOT fracking in the Karoo

“Never did I think there would be a debate in this arid country, of what was more important: gas or water, we can survive without gas, but we cannot survive without water, if we damage our water supply, and fracking will do just that, we will have a conflict again here in South Africa. Look around the world; wherever you damage the environment, you have conflict. Fellow South Africans we have had enough conflict in our land, now is the time for peace... there are many here among us who do not want the dreams of our heroes to be rubbished by an amoral corporate giant. There are many here among us who do not want this—our hard-fought Constitution—treated as mere scrawls on a piece of paper."

- Lewis Pugh at the public meeting held by Golder and Shell about fracking (hydraulic fracture mining) in the Karoo, on Friday, 25 March 2011 at Kelvin Grove in Newlands, Cape Town.

Read the full speech here:
http://lewispugh.posterous.com/the-day-we-stood-up-to-shell-what-was-said-to

Or watch it on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5PejoRGmBo

Want to know more?
Go to http://www.treasurethekaroo.blogspot.com/ and www.fractual.co.za

HumanEarth.2:Re(-)Presentations

The second installment of the HumanEarth exhibition series, curated by Cape Town based artist Nastasha Daniels, will be hosted by the North West University Botanical Gardens Gallery in Potchefstroom.

The artists for HumanEarth.2:Re(-)Presentations are:
Abri de Swardt
Janet Ranson
Russel Goodman
Hannalie Taute
SCAPES project artists: Janet Botes, Di Smith, Andrée Bonthuys, Leli Hoch

HumanEarth aims to shed some understanding on the relationship between human and nature, while encouraging dialogue and reflection on this complex relationship. The NWU botanical garden is among the 12 largest gardens of its kind in the country, and the gallery hosts art exhibitions throughout the year.

The Scapes Project, which is also included and shown as part of the exhibition, is another ongoing art project that focuses on human involvement with nature-dialogue. Contemporary art practises such as installation- and performance art are included as part of this project. The work shown at the exhibition will be Land Art prints. Land Art is a practice where the artist don't use the natural landscape only as reference and inspiration, but works physically with and within the landscape, using primarily natural found materials. The artworks are often ephemeral and transient, destroyed or decayed by natural processes like the wind and rain, and are therefore captured photographically to capture the moment.

The exhibition opens on 6 April at 5:30pm, at the NWU Botanical Gardens Gallery
Viewing: Mon – Fri, 10:00-16:00
Exhibition ends 2 May

For more information about the exhibition and gallery contact:
Elani Willemse
Tel: 018 299 2753
email: 20049820@nwu.ac.za.

For more information about the HumanEarth exhibition series and/or to participate, contact:
Nastasha Daniels
Artist, curator and organiser of HumanEarth exhibitions
Cell. 0788577551
Nastasha797@gmail.com

Shipwreck furniture

Old wood makes furniture that just oozes character, don't you agree? So it makes sense to use wood from shipwrecks to make furniture to add comfort and also enhance the visual atmosphere of your home.





Have a look at the Shipwreck Furniture website here: www.shipwreckfurniture.com

If you're an artist, I hope that this gives you some ideas for using old/discarded wood in your artworks - it offers some interesting surfaces to work on, and the shapes are of course also ideal for sculptural or assemblage work!

Screening of GASLAND

YOUR INVITATION FROM WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING:

Gasland, the Oscar-nominated documentary about fracking – an environmentally destructive method of natural gas exploitation that may be used in the Karoo soon – will be shown at:

The Labia on Orange cinema in Cape Town on Monday 21 March at 6:15pm, on Tuesday 22 March at 8:30pm and on Wednesday 23 March at 6:15pm

and at:

The Bioscope Independent Cinema in Johannesburg on Monday 4 April at 8.00pm, Tuesday 5 April at 8.00pm and on Friday 8 April at 8.00pm.

Part verite travelogue, part expose, part mystery, part bluegrass banjo meltdown, part showdown - Gasland is the must-see documentary of the year!

The largest natural gas drilling boom in history has swept across the United States. The drilling technology of "fracking" or hydraulic fracturing has unlocked a "Saudi Arabia of natural gas" just beneath the country. But is fracking safe?

When filmmaker Josh Fox is asked to lease his land for drilling, he embarks on a cross-country odyssey uncovering a trail of secrets, lies and contamination. A recently drilled town in the neighbourhood reports that residents are able to light their drinking water on fire. This is just one of the many absurd and astonishing revelations of a new country Fox calls Gasland.

This documentary is particularly relevant to South Africans because Royal Dutch Shell and other local and international oil and gas companies are about to start exploring for natural gas in the Karoo. The fracking technique that will be used for extracting this gas is extremely water-intensive and known to cause devastating groundwater pollution. Watching Gasland is a bit like watching the Karoo of the future – if we allow fracking to happen here!

The screenings will be followed by a facilitated audience discussion.

Tickets for the screenings at the Labia can be reserved by calling 021 424 5927. Tickets for the screenings at The Bioscope can be booked online at www.thebioscope.co.za or by calling 087 830 0445. We strongly recommended that you reserve tickets to avoid disappointment.

This event is presented by the Labia, The Bioscope, www.fractual.co.za, a South African anti-fracking website, Earthlife Africa and While You Were Sleeping, a Cape Town-based non-profit film collective committed to bringing progressive, non-mainstream documentaries with important social, political and environmental messages to South African audiences.

Contacts:

The Labia:
021 424 5927

The Bioscope:
087 830 0445
www.thebioscope.co.za

Official film website:
www.gaslandthemovie.com

Fractual:
info@fractual.co.za
www.fractual.co.za

While You Were Sleeping:
Andreas Späth
084 749 9470
Andreas_Spath@yahoo.com
www.whileyouweresleeping.wordpress.com

HUMANEARTH!

The second exhibition of the HumanEarth exhibition series is under way. The latest and current installment, entitled HumanEarth.2:Re(-)Presentations, will be hosted by the North West University in Potchefstroom's Botanical Gardens Gallery. It opens on 6 April, so keep an eye on this blog for more updates and info!

Yes, fracking IS a big issue.

By Dov Fedler on Africartoons.com

Rumour has it that documentary Gasland will be screened at the Labia Theatre in Cape Town on 21, 22 and 23 March. This documentary focuses on the environmental impact and behind-the-scenes-happenings around fracking, also known as hydraulic fracture mining, which is planned in our Karoo landscape.

There will also be a placard action in Cape Town around the same time, keep your eyes peeled and get involved! On Facebook, make sure to join and follow the Chase SHELL Oil out of the Karoo group, follow this link: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/home.php?sk=group_185633661460206&ap=1

....

Workshop postponed

The Greening Your Art workshops has been postponed until 7-8 April!
Make sure to sign up for it by contacting Hope at VANSA on 021 465 7895 or hope@vansa.co.za

More info on this blog post: http://ecojunki.blogspot.com/2011/02/sustainble-art-workshop.html