March 2012
35 posts
Quality Time: Cartier Grand Complication Skeleton...
Hot off the press from this year’s Salon Internationale de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH) in Geneva comes this statement piece from Cartier, a company on impressive form at the watch industry’s first major gathering of 2012.
Pocket watches were popular among Cartier’s aristocratic clients in late 19th century Europe, at which time there was simply no alternative as the watch strap had yet to be...
Open exit
Carla Busuttil. Some children are ugly: don’t be afraid, 2012
On Saturday 31 March, Goodman Gallery Johannesburg sees the launch ofCarla Busuttil’s new show, Exit Mode. The gallery’s website says:
Berlin-based and South African born painter Carla Busuttil will present her first major solo show in her home country at Goodman Gallery Johannesburg. Fast establishing herself in Europe...
More than meets the eye
What lies behind the surface? From the credit crunch to Coco Chanel, these books remind us that things aren’t always what they seem.
HISTORY Sleeping with the Enemy: Coco Chanel, Nazi Agent
Hal Vaughan
This stranger-than-fiction account of Chanel’s espionage activities for the fascist Axis powers reveals the secrets that she fought for years to conceal. A close confidant of Winston...
Travelogue: Thomo Setshogo
“I love what I do because I absolutely love travelling,” says Thomo Setshogo. In addition to being WANTED’s social editor, organises corporate and luxury travel and has been a lifestyle writer for almost 10 years. Setshogo’s first major trip was as a two-year-old on a family holiday to Brussels, and she never looked back. “I was lucky enough to have parents and...
Turn it up
MtKidu - SkeletonKey from MJ TURPIN on Vimeo.
MtKidu (who describe their work as “multi media happyhardcore emotronic minimalist rap”) invade Jozi in SkeletonKey.
Run Jozi, run!
At precisely 19:00 on the evening of the 21st of March, over 10,000 runners from a variety of different backgrounds surged across the starting line for the Nike Run Free Run Jozi race in the Johannesburg CBD.
We were greeted by bursts of fireworks and various high-tempo DJs, who set the pace for what proved to be an incredibly successful marketing campaign-turned spirited takeover of inner-city...
Writer’s Block: Michiel Heyns
A former lecturer of English at the University of Stellenbosch, Michiel Heyns has published five novels, including Bodies Politic which won the 2009 Herman Charles Bosman Award for English Fiction. His most recent book, Lost Ground, was published in 2011.
What does being a writer mean?
Swallowing your pride, getting used to rejection, persevering in spite of discouragement, believing in your own...
Cocktail: The Rose Bar at Alphen Hotel
That grand old lady, the Alphen Hotel, unceremoniously pegged it early last year. Fortunately, a knight in shining armour rode onto the scene: Paul Kovensky, master and commander of Sandton-by-the-sea – a swathe of mostly unremarkable restaurants on the Atlantic Seaboard that include Paranga, Pepenero and The Kove. Thanks to Kovensky, Alphen has come back to life, collagen plumped, silicon...
The best cut
South Africans like beef – and lots of it. Our insatiable demand, though, means a lot of cows in this country get a rough deal. They’re fed grain, pumped full of hormones to grow faster, then are crammed in trucks for a traumatic journey to the abattoir.
Entrepreneurs Andy Fenner and Shaun Bond know that this isn’t lekker. They also know that happy cows translate into better meat. If they’re fed...
Pop!
It’s almost time for the Toffie Pop conference! Running from Friday 30 March to Sunday 1 April, the Toffie sees the likes of Penny Martin (editor of The Gentlewoman), SA DJ Sibot and Dutch designer Roel Wouters.
In addition to the main conference, the organisers have arranged a number of intimate workshops for R250 each. You can book them by emailing toffie@thepresident.co.za once...
Gifted: Camilla Whiteman
Twelve years after Ineke Henderson founded Pezula Interiors in Plettenberg Bay, her daughter, Camilla Whiteman, opened a branch of this highly successful décor and design brand in Cape Town. Whiteman has added her own personal touch to the store, giving an urban edge to the Pezula brand.
The one indulgence I’ll never forego is fresh flowers. My absolute favourites are peonies. When they’re in...
Powerdresser: Khaya Dludla
For Khaya Dludla style is an expression of self. “I don’t just wear clothes. I express myself through them,” he says. As an Associate Director at Ernst & Young, he keeps his look in line with the conservative atmosphere. “Due to my profession, my everyday look is minimal with a few individual elements. However, I am a creative individual at heart so my style does not fit...
The shipping news
Saturday sees the launch of Sue-Pam Grant’s new exhibition of charcoal drawings, entitled Shipping Lines at her studio in Melville (Front View 3, 9th Street). The presentation begins at 10am.
Contact Pam-Grant for more information.
Loving it
The future of SA pop looks bright with the release of Toya DeLazy’s second single — Love is in the Air. There’s an unforgettably catchy chorus, toe-tapping beats and DeLazy’s gorgeous vocals — always bold without being brash.
This is a confident, sophisticated, comfortable soon-to-be chart-topper. Toya, keep ‘em coming!
Blood swans
Athi-Patra Ruga’s Ilulwane was first performed at Performa in New York in November 2011. He has brought it to Cape Town’s Long Street Baths, where it was performed in March 2012 as part of the Infecting the City festival of public art.
Featuring synchronised swimmers and a lace-covered Ruga, this is a meditation on rituals, alluding to both Xhosa coming-of-age circumsicion and the...
Cartier magic
You get what you pay for, goes the saying, and this is certainly true in the case of Cartier’s new commercial, where no expense has been spared to bring its jewellery to life.
The results — shimmering and dramatic — are quite remarkable.
Constant: Taking it all in
I think it was Brian Eno, the producer and musician, who once told me that to be obsessively passionate about only one genre of music doesn’t make you a fan, but rather a fetishist. Instead, he said, expand your listening, viewing and engagement with culture — that way you would be able to connect the dots of broader society. This has proven to be invaluable advice. So let’s talk TV, movies,...
Ilulwane
Flanked by bleachers, the swimming pool at Asphalt Green Sports and Fitness Centre resembles in New York a theatre. With the lights dimmed and a ring of synchronised swimmers treading water around a lone figure swathed in white and suspended, bat-like, on a trapeze-style swing, the water itself is transformed into a murky liquid stage. As followers of Athi-Patra Ruga’s work have come to expect,...
If hipster was a video...
Beach Party - Water from Dylan Culhane on Vimeo.
Lomography, preppy partiers, Cape Town — it’s hard to think of a more hipster blend than Beach Party’s new Water music video.
But once you’re done knocking it, take a look. Directed by photographer Dylan Culhane, Water has 4500 frames of 35mm film in a stock-motion film of just over 2.5 minutes. The desaturated, grainy...
Dancers on the rooftop
This remarkable dance performance was staged on the rooftop of Cape Town’s main railway station, as part of the Infecting the City festival of public art.
Jackie Job and Emilie Lelouch perform a sublime meditation on human connections, exploring and displaying through dance the power of the relationships between us.
Southern belle
The new Woodstock Foundry is a sublime hub of niche retail outlets, a window-dressing school and an ordentlike foundry (Bronze Age). At the moment it’s also home to a stunning design exhibition curated by Southern Guild which runs until the 11 March.
A few highlights are shared below:
Fountain by Astrid Dahl.
Save the Rhino
Ballet invades the city
Cape Town City Ballet’s INVASION was a series of dances performed in the atrium of the Golden Acre shopping centre in the heart of the city, as part of Infecting the City - Cape Town’s public arts fest. Here are excerpts of the performances.
Dancing with death
The opening event at Cape Town’s public arts fest, Infecting the City, was Dada Masilo’s Death and the Maidens. Staged on the steps of the South African Museum, the performance celebrates female strength, reflecting on gender oppression and the power to overcome it.
Filmed by WANTED’s Alexander Matthews, this video contains excerpts from the approximately 40 minute-long...
Kramerville goes Green
Joburg is abuzz with the news that Brian Green, the man behind 44 Stanley, is opening a sexy rooftop bar as part of his exciting retail development. And if it’s everything Green himself says it will be, come this April, the hottest spot for sundowners will be 3 Desmond Street, Kramerville.
Just as he turned an assortment of derelict buildings off Stanley Avenue in Milpark into the boho-chic...
Press that letter!
While we might be plugged in and wired up, at WANTED we also love paper and print. There’s nothing quite like holding an art book’s heaviness in your lap, cracking the spine of your favourite quarterly, or receiving a crisply printed business card or thank-you note.
Thankfully we are not alone — and a growing appreciation of print has seen the revival of the art of letterpress,...
Migratory lives
Two exhibitions at Whatiftheworld Gallery in Woodstock, Cape Town, open on Thursday night — both touching on themes of movement and migration:
N1 by David Southwood. According to the website:
This project originated in 2007 and uses the National Road One as an alibi for photographing a series of events, personalities and traces of habitation encountered while traveling between Cape Town,...
Let's get infected
On Wednesday, Cape Town’s free festival of public art — Infecting the City — commences with an opera performance on the steps of the South African Museum.
Over the next few days, expect ballet shows, piano recitals, plays, sculpture and more.
Infecting the City runs until Saturday 7th. Find out more about what’s on here.
Carry on, carry on
The poster “Keep Calm and Carry On” is now ubiquitous but how did it come about? This charming video traces its history and renaissance.
(With thanks to Paul Vosloo.)
Marvellous March
From riding through Rioja in a Bentley to touring new decor and fabric hub of Jozi’s Kramerville, WANTED takes you places this month.
To make sure you get your own copy, subscribe to Business Day.
Sunlit Upland
“I lost my hawk over the weekend but it came back to me, so I’m really chuffed.” So says a smiling Edmund Oettle as he strolls into a cubicle-sized room that somehow manages to double as both his distillery and tasting room at Upland Organic Estate. He’s bearing several bottles of spirits in his hands, brandies from his pot still. They’re made in this tiny room, home to a...
Honey and humour
Beyond all doubt, our award for best local window displays goes to the boys at o.live Chemistry of Living in Cape Town. Internationally, Louis Vuitton gets our nod. As serious as the brand is about working its magic with luxury leather goods, it does know how to have tons of fun.
Under the guidance of visual creative director Faye McLeod, the team continually dreams up ideas that draw us into...
