oct dec 2017 programme
OVERVIEW When
Admission to all events is free of
charge
What & Where
1 0 OCT Literary Crossroads with Tania Haberland, Xabiso Vili and Phillippa Yaa de Villiers GOETHE-INSTITUT 1 2 OCT
A love story for eternity: Hölderlin and Susette Gontard GOETHE-INSTITUT
3 0 OCT
A film unfinished Goethe-Institut
3 NOV
Afrobeat meets South African House: Black MOtion & Dele Sosimi Live in Concert King Kong, Troyeville
8 NOV - “Just Like Us (Constellations)” 15 feb By Eric Gyamfi GOETHE-INSTITUT
9 NOV The Stages of Memory: Reflections on Memorial Art, Loss and the Spaces Between Goethe-Institut 22 NOV
Game Mixer Showcase GOETHE-INSTITUT
27 nov
Bye Bye America Goethe-Institut
30 nov
Book bites: Reading recommenda- tions from Johannesburg’s Society of German Language Goethe-Institut
7 Dec - 10 Dec
Literary Crossroads at Abantu Book Festival with Tsitsi Dangarembga, Kopano Matlwa, Kagiso Lesego Molope Soweto Theatre
Projects realised in collaboration with Goethe-Institut Project Space (GPS)
When
What & Where
2 3 N OV - FILM PROGRAMME: 2 5 N OV Invented Histories NEWCASTLE TOWNSHIP ART FESTIVAL, KWAZULU-NATAL 7 D EC
Coast: Scenes from the trial of Dr Wouter Basson The Nunnery, Johannesburg
1 2 D EC - 1 5 D EC
Night/Light Hillbrow Theatre, Johannesburg
LITERATURE
Literary Crossroads with Tania Haberland, Xabiso Vili and Phillippa Yaa de Villiers
Tuesday 10 October 7pm Goethe-Institut, Library-Gamebox-Hub Literary Crossroads is a series of talks where South African writers meet colleagues from all over the continent and from the African diaspora to discuss trends, topics and themes prevalent in their literatures today. The series is curated by Indra Wussow and Sine Buthelezi. Writer-performer Phillippa Yaa de Villiers is the author of three collections of poetry and lectures at Wits University. Her autobiographical play Original Skin toured South Africa and Germany between 2008-2012. Her work has appeared in local and international journals and has been translated into Burmese, Mandarin, German, Italian, Flemish and Dutch. She is on the judging panel of African Poetry Book Fund (University of Nebraska) and is part of the South African Poetry Project (Zapp). She performs her poetry internationally and locally. Tania Haberland (BA, HDE, MA) is a Mauritian-German-South African hybrid poet-artist-teacher-bodyworker. Her book Hyphen won the Ingrid
Jonker Prize. Tania’s work brings poetry into educational and therapeutic contexts. Artistically, she loves to co-create mutidisciplinary pieces exploring ‘carnal poetics’. Her current projects include The Technology of Tenderness with movement artist Fabrizio Dalle Piane, JazzGa: creating & singing poem-songs with musicians and translating Dome Bulfaro’s poetry. Mille Gru will publish an Italian anthology of her poems in 2018. Her second book, Other, is searching for a home. Xabiso Vili is a performer, writer, social activist, TEDx speaker and soul collaborator. His writings explore his inner world to relate to the outer world. He is the champion of multiple slams and WordNSound poet of the year 2014 and 2015. Xabiso has performed all over South Africa, in Scotland, UK, the U.S. and India. As part of his activism work, Xabiso works with Mthubi the Hub, an organisation that takes over abandoned buildings and transforms them into art hubs for the community. Xabiso also runs writing, performance and event organizing workshops through Scribe Rites, a performance writing collective he co-founded that has produced other award-winning writers and performers. He released his album, Eating My Skin, created with Favela Ninjas. His one-man show Black Boi Be has travelled extensively to critical acclaim.
LITERATURE
A love story for eternity: Hölderlin and Susette Gontard
A lecture by Prof. Hans-Jörg Knobloch Thursday 12 October 7pm Goethe-Institut, Library-Gamebox-Hub On the last day of 1795, Friedrich Hölderlin and Susette Gontard met each other for the very first time. It was the beginning of one of the most beautiful love stories in world literature. While their love could not last in real life, it continues to live in poems and letters. The event is presented by Johannesburg’s Society of German Language and will be in German.
FILM
A film unfinished
Monday 30 October 7pm Goethe-Institut, Auditorium
Š Belfilms
During the month of May in 1942, a few weeks before deportations to the extermination camp Treblinka began, secret films were ordered to be shot in the ghettos of Warsaw, on the orders of the SS. The barely touched original footage survived the war, to then emerge from the film archives of the GDR. Up to now, the material has provided detailed insight into the everyday life in the ghettos. The images show the gatherings of the Jewish security services set up by the SS, the work of the Jewish Ghetto Police, the kosher butchering of a hen, death on the streets and burials in mass graves. Filmmaker Yael Hersonski, granddaughter of a survivor of the Warsaw ghetto, sets the 60-minute long, silent, black and white images in the context of comments from witnesses of the era. The juxtaposition of comments from those who survived the ghetto with the perpetrators’ perspectives makes it very clear that the intention was to use it as propaganda. Germany / Israel, 2010. Director: Yael Hersonski. German with English subtitles. Please RSVP to bso@johannesburg.goethe.org by 29 October 2017.
PHOTOGRAPHY
“Just Like Us (Constellations)” By Eric Gyamfi Opening Wednesday 8 November, 6.30pm Exhibition runs until 15 February Goethe-Institut, Gallery Just Like Us: Constellations is an ongoing project of Ghanaian photographer Eric Gyamfi. It began as a portrait of the quieter side of queer life in his home country, where it sought to encourage open dialogue about the presence of non-heteronormative members in society and the important role that they play in constructing the national social fabric. Now, some two years into its life-cycle, Gyamfi expands the series with new images, some of which are displayed here for the first time, as well co-produceproduce as an effort to fold public responses to previous presentations back into its display. The exhibition sets these elements alongside found media material relevant to the topic of queer life in Ghana and the artist’s notes and other research materials.
Eric Gyamfi, Untitled from “Just Like Us,” 2016-17
Eric Gyamfi, Untitled from “Just Like Us,” 2016-17
COMMEMORATION LECTURE
The Stages of Memory: Reflections on Memorial Art, Loss and the Spaces Between
Thursday 9 November 6.30pm for 7pm Goethe-Institut, Auditorium
Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, Berlin. Source: Wikimedia Commons (l.). James Young (.r.)
In commemoration of the 79th anniversary of the 1938 November Pogroms, the Johannesburg Holocaust & Genocide Centre, the Goethe-Institut and the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung present an evening with James E. Young, Professor of English and Judaic Studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Professor Young served on the design collection committee for the Berlin Holocaust Memorial and was a member of the jury of New York City’s September 11 Memorial Design Competition. In his talk, Professor Young will offer his reflections on Memorial Art, Loss and the Spaces Between. Admission is free, but RSVP is essential. Please write to shirley@ jhbholocaust.co.za or phone her at 011 640 3100 to RSVP.
WORKSHOPS / STUDIO VISITS / GAME JAM
Game Mixer
Public Showcase: 22 November, 11AM - 7PM Workshop programme running 17 – 24 November (invite only) Goethe-Institut, Library-Gamebox-Hub What happens when you get together 30 international game designers and leave them alone for 36 hours? We’re about to find out at the Game Jam, which will be part of our eight-day Game Mixer programme in November.
Public Showcase: 22 November, 11am – 7pm > Try out all games and have in-depth discussions with the developers > Experience our brand new LibraryGamebox-Hub Goethe-Institut, 119 Jan Smuts Ave, Parkwood. Free entry! Game Mixer Brazil. Photos: Gabriel Quintao
The initiative aims to promote professional exchange between game developers from around the world and mix up the international scene by not only including game developers from Germany and South Africa, but also inviting participants from broader Sub-Saharan Africa, as well as from the former Game Mixer host countries Indonesia and Brazil. Game Mixer Johannesburg programme will include a participatory barcamp-style series of DIY workshops, talks and sessions; a public showcase of games by all participants; and studio visits to the most interesting game studios in Johannesburg. Game Mixer is a cooperative effort by the Goethe-Institut and the Stiftung Digitale Spielekultur, supported with special funding from the German Foreign Office to promote the creative industries.
FILM
Bye Bye America
Monday 27 November 7pm Goethe-Institut, Auditorium Three emigrants - a Catholic Polish woman, her Jewish husband and his friend - leave New York after three decades and travel to Poland with an involuntary detour via Berlin at Christmas time. The couple set up home in their native country with the dollars they have saved, while their friend returns to the USA together with the woman he met in Poland. A softly melancholic comedy. Germany, 1993. Director: Jan Schütte. German with English subtitles. Please RSVP to bso@johannesburg.goethe.org by 24 September 2017.
© Jan Schütte, Novoskop Film
LITERATURE
Book bites: Reading recommendations from Johannesburg’s Society of German Language
Thursday 30 November 7pm Goethe-Institut, Library-Gamebox-Hub With less than a month to go until Christmas, the board members of Johannesburg’s Society of German Language will present one book each that they particularly enjoyed recently. The audience will be able to ask questions afterwards. Speakers: Ursula Misch, Angelika Hesse (for Iga Sudyka), Dr. Klaus Döring, Fritz Keller and Prof. Hans-Jörg Knobloch. The event will be in German.
These projects are realisedin collaboration with “Goethe-Institut Project Space” (GPS). GPS is a multi-disciplinary roving project space which supports work realized all over South Africa ranging from workshops to exhibitions, events and performances; including visual art, literature, film, music, dance and theatre projects. More information on goethe.de/joburg/gps.
FESTIVAL
FILM PROGRAMME: Invented Histories
23 – 25 November NEWCASTLE TOWNSHIP ART FESTIVAL, KWAZULU-NATAL The Newcastle Creative presents Invented Histories, the film programme curated by Babalwa Thom for the 5th annual Newcastle Township Art Festival. The films will be screened in an open air cinema, in the home galleries that operate during the festival, as well as other site specific venues. According to the curator, Invented Histories “will connect the audience with (un)familiar patterns, where alterations of feelings and knowledge arise, the audience is challenged, and the artists bear witness to evolving stories and the extraordinary human capacity to rebuild an individual identity.” The Newcastle Township Arts Festival is an annual event organised by the Newcastle Creative Network in the Madadeni Township, Section 4, with the support of the Newastle Municipality. In addition to the funding by the Goethe-Institut, this year the festival is also supported by BASA. The work of the Newcatle Creative Network is made possible through the National Arts Council of South Africa Flagships Programme. More information on www.newcastlecreativenetwork.org.
PLAY READING
Coast: Scenes from the trial of Dr Wouter Basson
Thursday 7 December 6.00pm for 6.30pm The Nunnery, Wits University, corner Jorissen and Station Str, Braamfontein The trial for fraud, murder and conspiracy of Dr Wouter Basson concluded in 2002, with a verdict handed down from Justice W Hertzenberg of not guilty. This play takes scenes from that trial, and attempts to air some of the events and stories that both witnesses and Dr Basson testified to. The play does not seek to put Dr Basson ‘on trial’ again, but rather to hear and understand at least some of what the South African Defence Force and the South African government did in the name of South African citizens. Please RSVP to davey.maggie@gmail.com by 3 December.
MUSIC THEATRE PERFORMANCE
Night/Light
12 - 15 December, daily 4pm. Additional performances: 2pm (12th & 14th December). 6pm (13th & 15th December) Hillbrow Theatre, 14 Kapteijn St, Hillbrow Night/Light is a multi-disciplinary music theatre experience for 9-11 year olds created by Blank Canvas Kollective (performer Danieyella Rodin and multi-instrumentalist David Cornwell). Through a series of episodes, driven by live music, animation, shadow puppetry and live action performance, Night/ Light explores the fascinating relationship between light and darkness. Interactive, multilingual and visually exciting, this show is a celebration of the celestial siblings light and dark, and the beauty, comfort, and magic that can be found in both. For Bookings: 011 720 7011 or 0737966466 or email blankcanvaskollective@ gmail.com
OTHER THINGS WE DO I Am Science
Photo by Madelene Cronje
I Am Science offers girls the chance to do hands-on science activities; be professionally filmed doing these, and watch similar videos of their peers on a popular learning app. In October, the I Am Science Curiosity Programme is rolled out at two more Johannesburg schools, Fons Luminus Secondary School in Diepkloof and Sandton View Secondary School on the outskirts of Alex. Self-nominated groups of teens will participate in school-based day events which aim to teach girls scientific concepts, digital skills and increase their self-confidence. More information is on www.iamscienceproject.com.
Science Film Festival The Science Film Festival embarks on its first foray into Sub-Saharan Africa this year with October seeing film screenings taking place in six countries in the region. The festival promotes science literacy and facilitates awareness of contemporary scientific, technological and environmental issues through film and television content with accompanying educational activities. The event has grown considerably since its first edition in 2005, becoming the largest event of its kind and one of the biggest film festivals worldwide in terms of audience reach. More information is on www.goethe.de/sciencefilmfestival.
Science Film Festival, South East Asia iteration
DLL – Deutsch Lehren Lernen (Learn to Teach German as a foreign language) The Goethe-Institut’s new training and further education series “DLL” has been developed especially for teachers who teach German as a foreign language, and it is implemented worldwide. DLL is meant to serve the practice-oriented qualification of these teachers, whether they are in primary, secondary or adult education. It is a blended learning programme that combines presence- with online-phases. Aiming to ensure high quality, and up-to-date teaching of German as a foreign language in the region, the Goethe-Institut South Africa awarded 17 teachers from Tanzania, Madagascar, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Uganda and South Africa a scholarship to further their training with DLL. A similar programme is being rolled out with teachers from East and West Africa. Film School Network We are pleased to announce the launch of a film school network involving training institutions from across Africa and Germany. The main aim of the two-year project, which is initiated by Goethe-Institut and the German Ministry for Foreign Affairs, is to establish a long-lasting support network for institutions and initiatives that offer film training. Starting 2017, the network will serve as a platform for the exchange and development of ideas and include activities like conferences and collaborative work aimed at solving concrete sector problems, as well as bilateral exchanges in the form of residences for teachers. The hope is that the impact of the project will reach beyond the network and contribute to strengthen the broader African film training landscape and benefit local film industries in the long run. DISCOP 2017 The 2017 Johannesburg DISCOP will take place at the Sandton Convention Centre from 25 to 27 October. Launched in 2012, DISCOP Johannesburg has become the world’s number one destination to acquire and
content “Made in Africa” and sell international film, television and digital content, adaptation rights and packaged TV channels into Sub-Saharan Africa. The 3-day DISCOP programme will include a market for content buyers, sellers and producers; a sidebar training, deal-building, and pitching program; and a rich line-up of networking events. Germany will be DISCOP Johannesburg’s Guest Country. Virtual Reality will also be a focus area at DISCOP, with the Goethe-Institut showing its VR project New Dimensions – Virtual Reality Africa. More information about DISCOP is on www.discop.com/johannesburg AfriQueer AfriQueer is an evocative, dreamscaped site-specific ritual performance created by Warren Nebe in collaboration with top emerging African artists from several African countries. Supported by the Goethe-Institut, AfriQueer will be presented in Ghana and Mozambique in November 2017. While safeguarding the safety and wellness of all its members, AfriQueer seeks to reveal Queer masculinities in Africa. It proposes that Gay Rights are Human Rights, and that Human Rights are Gay Rights. The six new iterations of AfriQueer include Performance Dialogues for Community Engagement with LGBTIQ human rights and social justice. AfriQueer is made possible by the generous support from the Swiss Agency for Development Coorporation (SDC), the Goethe-Institut, University of the Witwatersrand and AfroVibes.
Drama for Life AFRICA Project Members. Photo by Zewande Bhengu
Artucation Since 2014, this interdisciplinary arts education programme has been bringing high school learners from Johannesburg’s inner city into curated spaces, where they initiate dialogues commenting on their social, political and personal environment. To close off this year, there will be an arts educational programme and performance showcase at six schools in East London on 30 November, including music and applied drama facilitation by Sasa Jobodwana, Siseko Pame, Puleng Plessie, and Mayibongwe Nongqunga. For more information and if you would like to volunteer, Please contact Puleng Plessie puleng@ktdarts.org
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Front cover detail: Eric Gyamfi, Untitled from “Just Like Us,” 2016-17. Design: www.prinsdesign.co.za
LIVE CONCERT & LECTURE
Nigerian Afrobeat Meets SA House: Dele Sosimi & Black Motion
Friday 3 November, 6.30pm King Kong, 6 Verwey Street, Troyevlle 2139
Free entrance. RSVP to projects@ musicinafrica.net by
©Delesosimi.org
25 October 2017
Iconic Afrobeat maestro Dele Sosimi, will visit Johannesburg for a rare lecture and performance on Afrobeat music – a genre that has dominated global airwaves for decades. With an illustrious career spanning over three decades, Dele Sosimi is undoubtedly one of the most recognisable musicians in Nigeria. He was part of Fela Kuti’s Egypt 80 band (1979–86) and later played with Fela’s son Femi Kuti between 1986 and 1994. His song Too Much Information was a hit in South Africa in 2016. As an educator and instructor in Afrobeat Sosimi is a visiting lecturer in Music and Media at the London Metropolitan University. The event will feature an eclectic performance by South Africa dance music duo Black Motion who will collaborate with Sosimi. Organised by Music In Africa (www. musicinafrica.net), this event aims to provide a platform for audiences to learn and embrace African music styles, as well as to promote exchanges between musicians from all over the continent. Music In Africa is an information and exchange web portal dedicated to the African music sector. It was initiated by the Goethe-Institut together with Siemens Stiftung and partners from across the African continent in 2011 and is now governed by the Music In Africa Foundation.
© Black Motion