Fear&Loss - Industrial Karoo group exhibition

This is the dead land
This is cactus land
Here the stone images
Are raised, here they receive
The supplication of a dead man’s hand
Under the twinkle of a fading star.

Is it like this
In death’s other kingdom
Waking alone
At the hour when we are
Trembling with tenderness
Lips that would kiss
Form prayers to broken stone.

- From The Hollow Men, T.S. Eliot 1925

A word by the curator

The installation Fear&Loss speaks of the possible environmental damage should the Dutch oil giant Shell be granted an exploration license to drill for shale gas in the Groot Karoo – the place of my home, community and livelihood.  

Fracking - or hydraulic fracturing - involves pumping toxic chemicals and fluids under high pressure five km deep into the earth’s core. This causes the seams in the layers of sediment to break apart for gas and oil extraction. Large volumes of water are needed for this and these fluids and chemicals cannot be recycled and remain in the earth, causing the fear of contamination of the underground water supply. In the Karoo, this is drawn from its reservoir of interconnected aquifers through the use of boreholes and springs (http://www.greenpeace.
org). 

My work has evolved out of my own deep concern and passion for this widely-ignored part of our country. Despite larger questions that arise, the work is also intensely personal since it addresses a situation that will impact dramatically on me, my family, and community. As such, my intention is that the work may raise awareness in its creation of a specific and intimate
installation space. 

Fear and Loss focuses on the impact of global capitalism and consumerism on individuals and small communities. Eliot’s poem, The Waste Land (1922) reveals the emotional and physical scars and damage left by World War I and expresses the unspoken wish that this type of tragedy will not be repeated. But Fear&Loss represents the probability that man-made disasters will. Creative works, such as the poem The Waste Land, or the visual art installation Fear&Loss, remain tools for communication, to reach out beyond our immediate realm of understanding and lay bare our hope for humanity.

- Katie Barnard du Toit 

 

Say Goodbye to Plastic Bags

In Manchester, this environmental performance is planned for 3 July - International Plastic Bag Free Day. We could do something similar in South Africa, can't we?

Addition (28 July 2014):

On local soil, in Greyton and Montagu:

Thank you, Jurgen from Simonskloof Mountain Retreat for sharing this poster!

NKA Foundation: Mud House Design Competition

For most of us mud houses are something of the past. We are used to modern houses, tall apartment blocks and skyscrapers. Our homes are made of the best materials. We know there are small zinc sheet homes for the poor. Just as there are zinc homes, there are also plenty of places in Africa where mud houses are still used. Nka Foundation makes us aware of this situation and is reaching out a helping hand in a creative and innovative manner. It is currently accepting ideas and proposals from designers, architects and builders to improve these mud houses and entries can come for anywhere around the world.

Design Problem: A Typical Mud House at Abetenim Village

• The competition is open for entries until the 31st of August. The selection of the winning designs will be chosen between 15 September and 30 September by a panel of judges. 
• An individual or a design team can submit an entry to the Mud House Design competition.
• There will be three winning projects. The prizes are: 1st prize- $1,500 or Construction of design in Ghana plus a short trip to Ghana for the opening ceremony once construction is completed; 2nd prize- Construction or $1,000 and 3rd prize- Construction or $500. Honorable mentions may be awarded.
• Judging criteria involve the functionality, aesthetics and technical factor to the degree the design response resolves the design problem.

ENTER NOW

Visit www.nkafoundation.org/2014mudhousedesign.html to read more about the requirements, background, conditions and more. If you have the talent, you now have the chance to show it where it will matter: designing for life, improving people's lives.

Western Cape Land Art

Inspired by Site_Specific JOZI, monthly meetings around Cape Town is being initiated by artists in the Western Cape to help connect us to one another and to the Land. The first of these meetings were held on Monday, 14 April 2014 in Radlof Park, Somerset-West.

This shared day of discussion and participation resulted in some site-specific temporary installation as well as inspired plans for the future!  See more here and here. To join and participate, go to our Facebook page, or subscribe to the mailing list: eepurl.com/SLoMz to get updates about the monthly gatherings.

Joburg artists, get involved!

Green Beings develops schools into models that demonstrate sustainable living and act as vehicles to integrate knowledge and skills into communities. Their aim is to empower people with environmental education, encourage community collaboration and sustainable lifestyles.

Green Beings educate schools and communities about the state of the natural environment, the human impact thereon and the importance of active environmental stewardship. 

Collaboration is their key principle ♥ Want to get involved?

Volunteer? Donate? Fund a project? Share your skills and knowledge?

How can you help as an artist? How about helping them create beautiful and inspiring posters, murals or educational graphics; offer waste art workshops; or help organise a creative fundraiser?

Alex Frost: 082 775 4115 or Marloes: 072 623 9498

greenbeings@live.co.za

www.facebook.com/greenbeingssa

www.greenbeings.co.za

Namaqualand Bodymapping workshops: support needed!

These are photographs from a workshop that took place on the farm Begin!, located on the R362 between Klawer and Vredendal in the Western Cape. The project is organised by Desireé Brand, and forms part of her research at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, focusing on the state of art and artmaking in the Olifantsrivier Valley of Namaqualand.  The area plays host to a lot of creative and talented people, however there is no public art, galleries or other platforms for local artists. It's difficult enough for artists to create great art despite criticism and self-doubt, but it's even worse when there is no platform, no support and no community for the creative work that you do and to share your interest and passion for art. 

The Koekenaap workshop, in which I participated in 2011 (read about it on my blog, my work created during the workshop, my account in Afrikaans),  was one of the opportunities created for artists in the region, and was organised by Desireé and the Wesland Kunsvereniging. The workshop brought artists in from different areas of the Western Cape, creating a space for interaction, collaboration, art-making, discussion and ideas germination. It also culminated into an exhibition in Vredendal held at the Wesland Kunsvereniging, showcasing the work created during the 10-day workshop or residency. 

Artmaking during the 2011 regional Koekenaap workshop

The current project is focused on doing body-mapping with people from different sectors - bringing together farm workers, people from the towns and people from the townships in a supportive space where their creativity can be explored and utilised into shaping a collective. Up to now the funding for projects such as this has come from the Western Cape Department of Cultural Affairs & Sport, but this workshop is the last project that will be funded by the department, leaving a huge gap that needs to be filled. This is where you come in. If you can support or fund the project in any way, please contact Desireé at +27 27 2132567 or info@caperockwines.co.za.

Better Living Challenge

Have an idea that relates to access to electricity, water and sanitation, water/flood-proofing, fireproofing, ventilation, heating, cooling, space constraints, safety or privacy? The Better Living Challenge is a call to designers and innovators; manufacturers and retailers; students and professionals; self-taught designers and tradesmen; architects and engineers; to develop home improvement solutions that support a better quality of life for all.

The continually growing need for homes outstrips the capacity and resources of the government to deliver. There is a need to find home improvement solutions that are affordable and allow people to incrementally improve their dwellings at their own pace. Such solutions will contribute towards improved living conditions and quality of life. The Better Living Challenge has three entry categories.

STRUCTURAL HOME

• Innovative products and materials used in the construction of homes.

• Innovative approaches and components for self-built homes and structures.

• Systems and products that allow for incremental expansion of existing structures.

COMFORTABLE HOME

• Products, services and systems which create a more liveable and enjoyable internal environment, including improved temperature control and internal air quality, as well as light, energy and water efficiency.

• Products and systems that address fire risk.

• Modular and space saving furniture and storage ideas.

• Solutions to create flexible public/private space for homes where a single space may have multiple uses throughout the day.

CONNECTED HOME

• Products, services or systems that digitally and physically connect a home to its surroundings and beyond.

• Solutions that connect a home to the physical environment, including food production and waste water systems.

• Off-grid solutions for individual households.

VERY IMPORTANT:

• You need to show you have considered the environmental impact of your products, and explored environmentally-friendly materials and efficient production techniques.
• Solutions need to be financially accessible to the low-income market. You need to demonstrate how scale, production and material costs impact on price, and show you have thought about how to get your product, system or service to market in an affordable manner.
• A sustainable business model will touch on how your solution can be replicated at a local level. What can be done to enhance what is already produced locally? Has thought been given to working with existing low-income housing providers?

ENTER your product or idea at betterlivingchallenge.co.za

Artist Feature: Imke Rust

Keep an eye open for work by Imke Rust, who is making waves... Her work casts a critical eye on the controversial mining and industrial developments on the Namibian coast, and her exhibition showing this work has been rejected by the Swakopmund Arts Association due to it being labeled as "an irrelevant and scientifically dubious campaign against the economically important uranium mining in Namibia".  Rust works in a variety of mediums and techniques to express her views and raise awareness towards the concerns and feelings of the community. Find out more on her website: imkerust.com.

Dorob (NOT) 4Sale 2013

Temporary installation of 15 signs at 5 different locations along 

the C34 road in the Dorob National Park, Namibia.

Dimensions of Signs: 60 x 80cm

Correx Board, digital prints, spray paint, iron poles & cable binders

11 – 29 January 2013

Permanent webpage:  www.dorob4sale.wordpress.com and 

life cellular phone number with prerecorded answering message.

Read more about this work

 Subrosa 2012

Temporary Installation of 99 black roses in the Namib Desert

22° 43’ 01” S – 14° 33’ 47” E,  April 2012

Original Dimensions: 90 x 270 x270cm

Black rubbish bags, barbed wire, wire

Read more about this work

Tokoloshe Trap 2012

Temporary installation of 1521 white thorn pairs from the Acacia Karroo tree arranged into 39 circles in a side tributary of the Swakop river bed, Namib Desert.

22° 38’ 10” S – 14° 43’ 40” E, April 2012

Original dimensions: 5 x 600 x 250 cm

Medium: Acacia thorns

Read more about the inspiration behind this work

Artist Network Opportunity: Cape Town

COMPETITION: Elle Decoration Solve New Talent Search

Elle Decoration Solve - Pick n Pay

Design an innovative, multi-functional object that incorporates a plant, or several plants, in order to green urban balconies and small indoor/ outdoor spaces. It's a call to address the challenging issues of greening in urban environments, where gardens are limited to balconies or small gardens and courtyards. This can be anything from a modular system, an item of furniture or any other design element that addresses the 'growing' need to green our spaces. The overall design dimensions should not exceed 1 cubic metre (length x breadth x height). However, if the design is part of a modular system, then one component must not exceed this size, but the overall size would be larger when the components are assembled.

Check the competition out!
DEADLINE: 19 July 2013

"Imagine the Unthinkable" installation by Strijdom van der Merwe

"Imagine the Unthinkable", Strijdom van der Merwe, Installation View, exhibited at Circa on Jellicoe, JHB. Photograph from the BEELD.

Land artist Strijdom van der Merwe created an art installation entitled "Imagine the Unthinkable" as part of his exhibition 'Drawing clouds in the Karoo' at Circa on Jellicoe, Johannesburg. The installation comments and expresses the effects or nature of fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, planned for the arid and beautiful Karoo basin. Fracking entails drilling into the earth, and extracting natural gas from the shale layers by flushing a cocktail of chemicals and water down the shaft and into the rock layers to fracture the shale and release the gas captured in these layers. Strijdom's work makes use of maps of the actual sites for which drilling and fracking is planned, and uses sound as a device to accentuate the unnatural and disturbing nature of the process.

As with most industrial and mining processes, there is a lot of money to be made, and the companies who benefit from this have no qualms in doing what is needed to stake their claim and make their profits. At the cost of the environment, and the local people who need to live with the consequences - in this case the very high risk of contaminated ground water and reduced air quality caused by toxic pollution (particularly from the spent fracking fluid 'dams' and from cracks in the drilling shaft).

Van der Merwe does not perceive himself as a protest artist. His work usually rather enhances or encouarges an appreciation for nature's beauty. He aims to strengthen or accentuate the landscape's inherent beauty, and through this sometimes make people more aware about desertification, global warming and nature conservation. He often works in the Karoo, and therefore the risks or threat that fracking poses are a very real and personal matter.

Read more about the art installation:

• Stilte, skoonheid – en verset, on the BEELD website
• Review of Strijdom van der Merwe at Circa on Jellicoe by Ann-Marie Tully
• The fracking intrusion of a sacred space, by CHARLES LEONARD 

Read more about fracking in the Karoo:

• Treasure the Karoo Action Group: www.treasurethekaroo.co.za
• Greenpeace against Fracking
• Beginner's Guide to Fracking, on Karoo Space
• Fracking in the Karoo, by Cape Chameleon

Zapiro: www.zapiro.com

ARTSHIFT: Global Power Shift 2013

"We know that we are running out of time to stop our planet from becoming a very inhospitable place, and we know that our local organizing is the most important tool we have in this struggle. So just as co2 levels and extreme weather are on the rise exponentially - so are we. 

This June, 350.org will be organizing Global PowerShift an international gathering in Istanbul, Turkey, where 600 young climate leaders from around the world will converge to skill-share, trade tactics and connect on how we will be the generation that will turn the tide on the global climate crisis. Organizers will then return to their own countries and organize a regional gathering, developing regional campaigns, goals and actions connected to a global movement."

To do this, they need new creative tactics to have maximum impact!

 "We are up against the richest corporations in the history of money, so our currency will be our creativity. A major focus of Global PowerShift will be on creative activism, including workshops and skillshares in puppetry, mass production for mass mobilizations, subvertising, street art and street theater, creative non-violent direct action, activist animation, reality correction, and historical reclamation.

We will also be constructing an Arts Camp for the duration of the gathering to integrate creativity into the functioning of daily life while providing important encampment skills to Global PowerShift participants.

We need creative, impassioned and dedicated individuals to join us at this historic gathering, and to grow a globally connected network of creative organizers strong enough to reclaim our future from the fossil fuel industry. Apply now to join us for Global PowerShift, deadline for applications has been extended to 4 January 2013. Participants will have all expenses covered."

Take a minute to share this invitation with anyone you think might be interested or share the ArtShift webpage on twitter or facebook. For this to be a success we need diversity in all aspects and will need to reach outside just the “climate” movement - this is, afterall, a struggle as big as our planet that involves many different movements. Please encourage anyone to apply who you think would contribute to and benefit from this crucial gathering.

Do it now, we’ve got no time to lose.

The gathering in Istanbul is only the first phase of this project, we’ll need many more dedicated individuals to participate locally in one of the hundred regional PowerShifts and in the hundreds of local campaigns and projects beyond that. If you can’t apply, but wish to stay in touch, please email art@350.org

This callout was sent by 

Kevin, Art Ambassador for 350.org

Read more and get your FAQ answered by clicking here

National Parks week: 12-16th September 2011

www.capetowngreenmap.co.za/blog/free-entry-national-parks-week

350 Moving Planet - Cape Town

"In Cape Town, a collection of green leaders have come together to create a massive event that will celebrate environmental successes while simultaneously demanding change from our leaders.

The Cape Town Moving Planet event will feature a huge march/parade with floats, costumes, puppets and more, with thousands of people, young and old, marching to make change. The event will seek to raise awareness of climate-friendly alternatives to damaging practices like driving your car, cutting down trees, and many other harmful actions. As fun and exciting as it will be, the event will also be a petition, demanding change in the policies and programs put forth by our government that damage the environment.

Alongside the march we will also be hosting an exciting bike ride to promote cycling as an active mode of transportation.

The event should be very exciting and seeks to represent all members of the Cape Town community. We would love it if you got involved, as we want this to be the most powerful and exciting event to date. We are still in the early planning stages of this event, so more specific details like the time and location are to come, but we are excited and hope you are too!"

For more information:

About the Moving Planet action day:
www.moving-planet.org/about
www.350.org

GET INVOLVED!

Event Page for the Cape Town event: www.moving-planet.org/events/za/cape-town/978
Facebook Page for the Cape Town event: www.facebook.com/pages/350-Moving-Planet-Cape-Town/137845456301050


Some of the amazing organisations represented by the people that have joined for this event so far:

• Project 90 by 2030
• Shikaya
• GreenPop
• Fairtrade South Africa
• ...350 Africa
• LitterAWEH!ness
• Anti-fracking Group
• WESSA
• Ecobuzz
• UCT Green Campus Initiative
• Public Health Movement (PHM)
• Bicycle Empowerment Network (BEN)
• Cape Town Bicycle Map
• Green Your Art (GYA)
• Skateboarders Association
• UNIMA South Africa
• COPART
• Jungle Theatre Company
• Anglican Church

GYA artist gathering on Friday, 22 July

22 July 2011
3pm

37 Bryant Street, Bo-Kaap

Cape Town, South Africa

GYA is about "Greening your art" and at the moment is focused on creating a platform for artists to gather and talk about ways that we can change all stages our artmaking to be eco-conscious and authentic.

On the 22nd of July we'll be having a look at what Michelle Searle did in a park in Bryant street in the Bo-Kaap in Cape Town. She initiated and pulled through a project where she and her neighbors improved the park so it would be safe for kids to play there. She did a creative mural, and also painted a flower on the pavement in the park, where kids now play and Michelle and other women can have activities with the kids.We'll have snacks and something to drink in the park and at Michelle's home (just around the corner from the park) while talking about either further improving the park or identifying another park or area that needs creative upliftment.

Please bring:
a smile, creativity, enthusiasm, snacks and something to drink (no Coca-Cola please - try and bring ethical, fairtrade and environmentally aware snacks and drinks!) :-)

Looking forward to see you there!

DIRECTIONS
Buitengraght...into Bloem...sharp left into a road with no name...into Buiten street.....up...& up turn left at Big green house..and drive along Bryant Street to a bright pink house. We meet at the house and then walk the few metres to the park.

For more info about the park or this gathering call Michelle at 021 424 7054 / 0825044130. For more info about the GYA gatherings in general call Janet at 072 331 5057.

Google map link to the venue



Facebook event page: www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=209404052413414

Integrated Waste Exchange

City of Cape Town has a Waste Exchange initiative! Here's a quote from the website:

What is IWEX?




IWEX (Integrated Waste Exchange) is a free online system that enables waste generators and users to exchange waste materials. Operating on the principle that ‘one person’s garbage is another person’s gold,' IWEX facilitates the re-use of waste, thereby conserving energy, minimising resource use and reducing the pressure on Cape Town's landfill space. The service is freely available to anyone who generates or uses waste, including companies, individuals, institutions, schools, NGOs and community groups.

It's super easy - you register and are immediately able to log in, add your waste materials that you have available, and can look right away at waste materials that other individuals, companies or organizations have available.

Let's make use of this initiative to reuse and recycle! Go to www.capetown.gov.za/en/iwex

WARP AT THE ALLIANCE FRANÇAISE on THURSDAY

THURSDAY 9 JUNE 2011

WARP AT THE ALLIANCE FRANÇAISE
155 LOOP STREET CAPE TOWN

ADMISSION FREE



Woodstock Art Reef Project (WARP) Presentation & Crochet Art Works show case plus a talk about sustainable fishing during the Alliance Française ‘Green Week’.

19h00 : WARP Presentation
by Leonie Hofmeyr-Juritz

20h00 : « Fish with a Future »
talk on sustainable fishing and the SASSI inititiative by Chef Pete Goffe-Wood

CORAL CROCHET SIT IN
WARP participants will present a crochet sit-in during the evening
_____________________________

A GROTTO OF CORALS

A small installation of corals in progress will be showcased for the duration of the Green Week 7-10 June 2011.

Woodstock Art Reef Project, Cape town
Satellite of A the worldwide Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef Project created by Margaret and Christine Wertheim of the Institute For Figuring in Los Angeles.

AN ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS ART PROJECT

http://artreefproject.ning.com
http://crochetcoralreef.org

_____________________________

REGULAR GATHERINGS
SATURDAYS
11 AM TO 4 PM the BLUE STUDIO
V&A Waterfront Blue Shed (Near the Aquarium)

THURSDAYS
9h30 TO 12h30. WOODSTOCK LIBRARY

021 448 6426
OFF MAIN ROAD ON VICTORIA WALK, BETWEEN PLEIN AND ABERDEEN STREETS.

JOIN WARP CROCHET
GATHERINGS WORKSHOP TALKS AND PRESENTATIONS



Crochet Coral for the Art Reef Installation
Meet Artists Scientists Crafters and Crocheteers

Maria 072 6480818 and Leonie 082 7773205
woodstockartreef@gmail.com

WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY: 5 JUNE

What are you going to do this year for World Environment Day? Show your commitment to the preservation of our environment, and your awareness of our dependance and interconnectiveness to nature by doing one or more of the following:

• HOST A LUNCH
  Host a lunch in your home, invite your friends and ask them to donate anything from R25-R200 to a great cause, Soil for Life. You cook and your friends donate online and you all stand a chance to win great prizes!
  Read more on http://www.eatfortheearth.com/
  
• DONATE A TREE with Greenpop
  http://www.greenpop.org/
  
• VISIT THE EARTH FAIR FOOD MARKET
  Give the franchise supermarket a skip, and buy fresh foods at the Earth Fair Food Market in Tokai. Open every Saturday 9.00 am - 2.00 pm
  
  More info and a map: http://www.earthfairmarket.co.za/
  
• GO HIKING
  
  Wherever you are, find a place to go and walk - breathe in the scent of dried leaves, and enjoy the colours and variations that autumn brings, with the stark and interesting shapes of bare branches against a blue sky.
  
• HELP CROCHET A CORAL REEF
  The Woodstock Art Reef Project gathers every Saturday between 11am and 4pm in the Blue Shed at the Waterfront. They are building a crocheted coral reef as an art installation that aims to raise awareness for our oceans and the effects of global warming on sea life.
  artreefproject.ning.com/
• READ AND SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT SUSTAINABILITYGo and read up about the ways that you can help and support sustainable development, how you can make a difference by making small changes in your lifestyle, and what you can do to make more people aware.
  Read about the pros and cons about each energy option on Life in Balance:"Energy - what is the answer?", an insightful article by Richard Asher
  
  Read The Advanced Energy [R]evolution: Greenpeace's energy blueprint for a sustainable future and green development

...and after World Environment Day:

If you're an artist, come to the GYA (Green your Art) gathering at White Rabbit Studio on 17 June in Gardens, to talk about what we're going to do for Moving Planet on 24 September 2011.

Site Specific in Plettenberg Bay next week!

Pop in next week at Plettenberg Bay for Site Specific - SA’s first International Land Art event.



Download the brochure here: www.ecojunki.co.za/2NewSiteSpecificBrochure.pdf
Also read more about the project, as well as updates on the Site Specific website: sitespecific.org.za


Land Art by Strijdom van der Merwe

Just in case you missed the previous post we had about Site Specific, here is the line-up from their website:

Plettenberg Bay: 22-29 May 2011

22-27 May:
Artists create work along the Milkwood trail, Kranshoek and along the N2 at KwaNokuthula and New Horizons.

Saturday 28 May:

09-17:00
The art route is open to all, it includes a lovely walk along the Milkwood trail and the beaches. Guides are available at Central beach.

11:00
The Mayor of Plettenberg bay launches the event at the Timber Shed accompanied by DJ Jazztrain Live, Nthombo Theatre and The Unlimited Band.

12-16:00
Township art tours to sites in Kranshoek, KwaNokuthula and New Horizons.

15:00
Simon Bannister’s sculpture for the Eden to Addo Corridor Initiative is unveiled on a beautiful ridge overlooking the ocean at the Griqua village of Kranshoek.

Sunday 29 May:
The art route can be viewed all day.

And here's an Afrikaans article published in Die Burger, written by Laetitia Pople

Tuesday 03:Editor's Choice: Die Burger: Plettenbergbaai gaan as inspirasie vir landkuns dien
2011-05-03

Deur Laetitia Pople
Kaapstad - Van die wêreld se voorste landkunstenaars en verskeie plaaslike kunstenaars gaan van 22 tot 29 Mei deelneem aan Site_Specific, ’n ­internasionale landkunsgebeurtenis by ­Plettenbergbaai.

Site_ Specific mik om kuns, kultuur, geskiedenis en die omgewing saam te bring en so te wys hoe landkuns mense se indrukke van hul ­natuurlike omgewing kan verander.

Volgens Strijdom Van der Merwe, Suid-Afrika se voorste landkunstenaar en deelnemer aan Site_Spesific, gaan die meeste werke van ­Plettenbergbaai se hoofstrand tot die Milk­wood-staproete in die Piesangrivier-vallei te sien wees. Daar gaan ook werke in die dorp wees.

Onder die deelnemers is die Italianers ­Gabriele Meneguzzi en Vincenzo Sponga en van Suid-Afrika neem Anni Snyman (die stigter van Site_Specific), Angus Taylor, Hannelie Coetzee, Jan van der Merwe, Andrew van der Merwe, Gordon Froud en Simon Max Bannister deel.

Bannister werk tans met Griekwa-klip­messelaars van Kranshoek aan ’n reuse-olifantbeeld wat deel vorm van ’n reeks beeldhou­werke vir die Eden-na-Addo-bewarings­korridor. Van der Merwe gaan saam met die Switserse land­kunstenaar Urs Twellmann werk.

Twellmann, wat al voorheen in Suid-Afrika aan landkuns-gebeure deelgeneem het, skep sy werke en installasies soos Van der Merwe op die plek en gebruik natuurlike materiale van die omgewing.

“Ons almal arriveer op 22 Mei, dan gaan ek die omgewing verken en kyk watter materiale ek kan vind vir my werk. Ek sal ook die inter­nasionale kunstenaars bystaan, almal van ons is ook betrokke by die slypskole,” het Van der Merwe gesê.

Begeleide toere na plaaslike landkuns en ­kulturele optredes in Kwa-Nokuthula, ­Kranshoek en New Horizon vorm deel van die program.

’n Groot openingsgeleentheid word vir 28 Mei om 11:00 beplan in die Timbershed, een van ­Plettenbergbaai se geskiedkundige bakens as ’n eertydse walvisstasie.

Vacancy at UNIMA SA

Janni Younge is stepping down from her position as CEO of UNIMA SA (best known for their annual Out the Box festival in Cape Town) in order to focus on other commitments.

In order for there to be a smooth transition the Board of Directors are actively seeking an individual who has experience in the following areas including:

• Operations Management,
  
• Communication & Marketing,
  
• Organisational Development,
  
• Public Affairs
  
• and finally fundraising. The Fundraising function may be negotiable. Unima South Africa may consider appointing a consultant to undertaking the scoping of donors etc. Secondly, appoint a Fundraiser (at risk), to raise programme funds.

The detailed job description of the CEO is available on their website, (www.unimasouthafrica.org).

If you are or know of a candidate who wants to work with a team of artists/individuals who are dedicated to promoting and developing puppetry in South Africa and you proven qualities which include leadership, operations and budgetary skills, then they want to hear from you.

Email a motivation letter and resume of your skills, experience and qualifications to: The Chairperson, Board of Directors, admin@unimasouthafrica.org

Closing Date for Applications: June 7, 2011. Interviews will begin on Monday June 13, 2011. The successful candidate may negotiate the starting date of this appointment.