September 2011
40 posts
Soweto: Where to eat
Panyaza restaurant
1. ROOTS
The only restaurant in town that’s also a professional art gallery, with works by Mongezi Gum. Try the sticky wings, mutton stew or mogodu (tripe). Mphuthi Street, Jabavu, 0119303752
2. PANYAZA
This is a pap and braai restaurant, the kind of place where you eat with your hands. It’s also a nightclub, playing the best of local house and Kwaito. 707 White City,...
Soweto: Where to drink
As the head of Morara Wine Emporium, the only wine shop in Soweto, Mnikelo Mangciphu is forging a pioneering path in bringing wine culture to the townships.
Mangciphu, who is also co-founder of the Soweto Wine Festival, which takes place at the beginning of September, believes a lot more work needs to be done to educate and make wine relevant to a previously unreached black market.
“I’m...
15 minutes with BRYANBOY
Bryanboy, international fashion blogger, irrepressible shopper, constant traveller and all-around charmer, breezed in and out of South Africa recently to attend the Marie Claire Prix de la Mode awards night.
In between posing with lion cubs and donning an Afro wig for a cocktail reception, he gamely played truth or dare – and chose to answer all the “truth” questions with disarming candour.
Who...
Soweto: what you should see
We can hardly walk a few metres along Vilikazi Street with flamboyant local artist Tshepo Ramutumbu before he needs to stop for another animated chat with another long-lost friend. Laid-back and genial, he’s a popular local figure.We are here to view a street art project which is helping to turn this area into a cultural visitor destination, but proceeding at snail’s pace.
Firstly, we must call...
Soweto uprising
Soweto has a rich and unique culture, best experienced by walking its streets and talking with its residents rather than from behind the air-conditioned windows of a tour bus. From its creation under Apartheid as the South Western Township, through to the pivotal role it played in the struggle for equal rights, Soweto today is a microcosm of the best and worst of modern-day SA.
There is still...
Quality time: Freak Diavolo Rolf 75
The Swiss watch industry sometimes has a hard time brushing off its dusty, conservative image. Anyone who has ever spent a weekend in Geneva will appreciate why. So the arrival of Ulysse Nardin’s Freak Diavolo Rolf 75 is a welcome breath of fresh air — and from a heritage brand with over 160 years of history, too.
This is, as the name suggests, a devilishly complicated watch — try looking for a...
Jazz and caterpillars
The innercity studio of artist Colbert Mashile is populated with ghosts and caterpillars, but inside it is warm and shy, like the artist himself. I am here for a viewing of the prints he has made as trophies for the BASA Awards.
His studio is orderly. There are four large in-process paintings on brown craft paper pinned to the walls. The walls are basically clean except for a few small traces...
Word on the street: loadshedding
verb
The extreme weight loss certain celebrities experience as a result of rigorous dieting.
Example: Have you seen the results of Jennifer Hudson’s loadshedding?
Mixing it up
With a constellation of both abled and disabled performers, the extraordinary Remix Dance Company has been redefining the art of dance for over a decade. Under the artistic direction of co-founder Malcolm Black, Remix’s productions have illustrated the power of performance to express and connect, regardless of ability.
In addition to the productions it stages each year, Remix offers training in...
Sugar and spice
WANTED’s DAVID COPE reports on the first Toffie Food Festival & Conference which happened over the weekend.
With a Pinata Exhibition, a City Hall redecorated in brown paper and guest speakers including a local perfumer, an Argentine-based cookbook publisher and US food blogger-turned-famous-author, the inaugural Toffie Food Festival & Conference was always going to be unique.
The...
A grand view
The Grand Café in Camps Bay launched its new Grand Room last night. The upstairs space consists of a bedroom (with an ensuite bathroom) which flows onto a dining and lounge area. A butler and concierge service are available for guests.
The massive bar and adjoining vinothèque (wine room) makes the dining area ideal for dinner parties of up to about 40 people.
While the Tretchikoff-esque...
The mentor: Hilton Lawler
When the Nelson Mandela Museum in Umtata opened its doors 11 years ago it was intended as much more than just a static tribute to Mandela the man or to other struggle heroes. The museum was positioned as a living monument to the values and vision of freedom fighters and as a catalyst for development; a place where heritage and resources could be shared.
Local artists, crafters and budding...
Eye on: Michael Taylor
Artist’s name: Michael Taylor
Medium: Gouache and acrylic on board
What you need to know: Cape Town-based artist Michael Taylor makes small- and medium-scale paintings tracking the exploits of fictitious characters, often in the throes of some sort of hysteria or breakdown. Archly satirical, they detail the ludicrous pageantry and little failures of a modern life, suggesting that we are indeed a...
From death to life
WANTED paid a visit to central Cape Town’s 64 Wale Street last night to celebrate the opening of Greg Dale’s new installation and sculpture gallery, Commune.1.
The former mortuary features beautiful tiling, wooden flooring and exposed brick. A cosy warren leads you into the bright double-volume exhibition area which is currently showing Christopher Swift’s Umlungu. The Spier...
Dancing with Dada
In preparation for The Refusal of Time (a project informed by discussion with the science historian Peter Galison) to be performed at dOCUMENTA 13 in Kassel, German next year, Kentridge worked with composer Philip Miller and award-winning dancer and choreographer Dada Masilo to create Dancing with Dada. This work wrestles with our changing ideas about time, the history of the standardisation of...
The mentor: Niall Kramer
When Niall Kramer, a brand consultant and former marketing executive at Chevron, was approach by BASA to mentor Iziko’s head of institutional advancement, Susan Glanville-Zini, he jumped at the chance.
“The kind of things you can do in that gap between the established business world and the fringe set is huge and there are so many things that can be done there, especially in social...
Eye on: Ayana V Jackson
Ayana V Jackson, photograph by Malick Sidibe, 2008
Artist’s name: Ayana V Jackson
Medium: photography and film
What you need to know: Jackson is an American artist currently based in Johannesburg. Her work has been shown in solo and group exhibitions around the world, from Berlin, Paris, Milan, Dakar, Bamako, Cambodia and throughout the United States and Latin America. Her work is...
