THE history of where we come from and what makes us human will come alive like never before when the Origins Centre, located at Wits University, launches its new Virtual Reality production at the Tshimologong Precinct on 14 September, and at the Origins Centre on 25th September, (a public holiday).
THE world as we know it is changing. We are already living in the technological future. The fourth industrial revolution is fundamentally disrupting the way we think, work and interact with each other and, in it, culture and creativity can be one of the major currencies, argue Prof Richard Haines (SA Cultural Observatory CEO) and Rosemary Mangope (National Arts Council CEO).
PERCEPTION is often no more than a construction, be it natural/genetic or social/environmental. The value of art lies in its reminding us that perception can be reconstructed, revised and perhaps understood or simply appreciated as esoteric. One way in which such an evaluation can take place is by highlighting the permeable boundary between dreams and what is referred to as reality. Could it be that reality is a mass delusion? Such speculations arrive at satisfactory visual analogues in the form of the artworks on show, each artist developing his/her own language in what can be conceived as an interrogation of the liminal space between the real and the imagined and ultimately between life and death.
WOMEN are, in many ways, shaping the future of the creative industries. Last year Prof Jen Snowball, SACO Chief Research Strategist, compressed data from National Mapping Study of the creative and cultural industries released in 2014, and published this article in The Conversation – From the stage to the boardroom: South African women make slow transition.
NIGERIA: THE Nigerian federal government has granted 'Pioneer Status' to the creative industry, in a landmark move aimed at transforming the industry to a creative economy and creating jobs. In a statement at the end of August 2017, the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, said the decision to grant the industry 'Pioneer Status' is in fulfilment of the promise made by the Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo, at the opening of the Creative Industry Financing Conference in Lagos 17-18 July 2017.
PAARL is the Western Cape stopover in a nationwide roadshow by the South African Cultural Observatory (SACO), and the fourth in a series of eight. The SACO brings its domain workshop series to Paarl on September 7.
THE South African Cultural Observatory (SACO) – a national public research entity of the Department of Arts & Culture (DAC), hosted by Nelson Mandela University – is training South African event and festival organisers on how to use its new free, online tool for measuring the economic impact of events.
AFRICAN music was the biggest winner as two new kings of the keys were crowned during the SAMRO Overseas Scholarships Competition on Saturday night.
AS THE rapid development of cities places strain on affordability, many cultural spaces are threatened by displacement. How are global cities responding to artists and arts organisations on the brink?
INNOVATIVE methods, strong intellectual content and guttural undercurrents, these works by Lars Fischerdick are likely to ignite conversation around such a unique aesthetic. Having turned to art full-time rather late, his architectural background has certainly come in handy. It allows for an understanding of materials and for powerful craftsmanship. Yet, rather than be dictated by utilitarian and functional interests as is unavoidable in the applied arts such as architecture, here there are excursions and flights of the imagination that touch on metaphysics, mathematics, physics and even history and politics. In conversation with the artist, such dimensions become apparent.
INTRODUCING Unathi Lutshaba, the newly appointed South African Cultural Observatory Research Manager, in a a question and answer session in celebration of Women's Month.
BUSINESS and Arts South Africa’s (BASA) announcement of the 44 finalists for the prestigious annual BASA Awards is especially significant this year as the ceremony celebrates two decades of business and arts partnerships in South Africa.
