Athi-Patra Ruga's Queens in Exile 2014-2017 Trailer
ATHI-PATRA RUGA presents QUEENS IN EXILE 2014-2017.
Cape Town, South Africa
29 November 2017 – 27 January
Groundbreaking South African artist Athi-Patra Ruga returns to Cape Town's WHATIFTHEWORLD/GALLERY with a major exhibition of his new body of work Queens in Exile.
Athi Patra Ruga’s upcoming exhibition, Queens in Exile is about telling better stories. This isn’t simply a revisionist exercise, patching up inconvenient holes in the historical record. Instead, Ruga excavates collective memory and exclusionary national myth to rebuild both in wholly new shapes – to make a world where the exiled can reign. The result is a land of many queens, lost and found and forgotten.
The culmination of a three year long project and a continuation of his critically acclaimed exhibition The Future White woman of Azania Saga in 2014, Ruga presents the viewer with a ambitious and immersive exhibition over three floors including Over the Rainbow a large scale film projection that can best be described as an electrifying experience. The bulk of the exhibition is made up of exquisitely hand embroidered petit point tapestries which unequivocally proclaim Ruga as a master of his chosen medium.
Returning from an extended run at the Foundation Louis Vuitton in Paris, South African Audiences should not miss this opportunity to see an internationally acclaimed artist at the height of his powers. .
ATHI PATRA RUGA – ARTIST BIOGRAPHY option 1
Athi-Patra Ruga is one of the few artists working in South Africa today whose work has adopted the trope of myth as a contemporary response to the post-apartheid era. Ruga creates alternative identities and uses these avatars as a way to parody and critique the existing political and social status quo. Ruga’s artistic approach of creating myths and alternate realities is in some way an attempt to view the traumas of the last 200 years of colonial history from a place of detachment – at a farsighted distance where wounds can be contemplated outside of personalized grief and subjective defensiveness.
The philosophical allure and allegorical value of utopia has been central to Ruga’s practice. His construction of a mythical metaverse populated by characters which he has created and depicted in his work have allowed Ruga to create an interesting space of self reflexivity in which political, cultural and social systems can be critiqued and parodied.Ruga has used his utopia as a lens to process the fraught history of a colonial past, to critique the present and propose a possible humanist vision for the future.
Recent exhibitions and performances include: Art Afrique, Louis Vuitton Foundation, Paris; Over the Rainbow, Performa 17, New York; Women’s Work, IZIKO South African National Gallery, Cape Town; An Age of Our Own Making, Holbaek, Denmark; Queer Threads: Crafting Identity and Community, Boston Centre for the Arts, Boston; AFRICA: Architecture, Culture and Identity at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art; Imaginary Fact at the South African Pavilion, 55th Venice Biennale; African Odysseys at The Brass Artscape in Brussels; Public Intimacy at the SFMOMA, San Francisco; The Film Will Always Be You: South African Artists on Screen at the Tate Modern in London; and Making Africa at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao.
His works form part of Private, Public and Museum Collections here and abroad, namely: The Zietz MOCCA; Museion – Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Bolzano Italy; CAAC – Pigozzi Collection; The Wedge Collection, IZIKO South African National Gallery.
Athi-Patra Ruga was also included in the Phaidon book ‘Younger Than Jesus’, a directory of over 500 of the world’s best artists under the age of 33. He has collaborated with Dover Street Market Beijing ,ABSOLUT bottle,musicians The BLKJKS , Spoek Mathambo and Angel-Ho .And was inducted in the prestigious 21ICONS list in 2015.
iFly Little Secrets of Cape Town, South Africa’s Mother City
Cape Town is hard to resist: with its majestic Table Mountain, golden beaches and nearby vineyards, the city has won the hearts of many. But alongside these famous attractions are numerous little secrets. Local guide Nicki Ellis has lived in the Cape Town area all her life and will take you on a tour of her favourite spots in South Africa’s Mother City.
Toffie Pop Culture Festival Cape Town 2011
Toffie Pop Culture Festival and Design Conference
toffie.co.za
24 -- 26 March 2011
Cape Town City Hall
...
The 2nd annual Toffie Pop Culture Festival brings you the best in international pop culture with a design exhibition, a 2-day conference, workshops and an after-party.
BOOKINGS:
* 100 STUDENT TICKETS RESERVED AT R500
* STANDARD TICKET PRICES R750
E-mail toffie@thepresident.co.za
Speakers confirmed:
- Alex Trochut: Designer (Spain)
- Daito Manabe: Artist/Programmer (Japan)
- Brecht Vandenbroucke: Artist/Designer (Belgium)
- Jürg Lehni: Inventor/Designer (Switzerland)
- Michael Spahr: Norient Musik Film Festival (Switzerland)
- Andrew Putter (Artist, South Africa)
- Javier Lourenco/Flamboyant Paradise (Filmmaker: Argentina)
- Brandt Botes (Graphic Designer: South Africa)
- Tumi Molekane (Musician: South Africa)
- Frauke Stegmann (Designer: South Africa)
- Francis Burger (Artist: South Africa)
- Kobus van der Merwe (Chef: South Africa)
- Richard de Jager (Fashion designer/Stylist: South Africa)
- Conn Bertish (Creative Director: South Africa)
- Sean Mahoney and Pierre Swanepoel of studioMAS (Architects: South Africa)
- Smiso Zwane (Musician: South Africa)
Exhibitions include:
- Inspiration tables curated by Peet Pienaar
(Liam Mooney, Angie Batis, Shane Durrant, Jacques Erasmus, Kobus van der Merwe, Superella, Porky Hefer, Dokter n Misses, David West, Coley Porter Bell, Brandt Botes, Conn Bertish, Elle Decoration, Michelle Son, Frauke Stegmann, Black River FC, /A Word of Art, Marcii Goose, Dave Pepler, Adi en Cornelia Badenhorst, Jenny Ehlers, Julia Raynham, Andrew Putter en Barend de Wet)
- African Hair Design posters by The President
- Daito Manabe installation
- Papergirl by Marcii Goose and Ricky Lee Gordon
- /A Word of Art exhibition room
- What if the World exhibition room
- Richard de Jager's new fashion collection
Music and parties:
- Best of Norient Music Film Festival (Switzerland)
- Tumi Molekane, Peach van Pletzen and Braam du Toit collaboration with the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra
- Sailors and sluts after party featuring Dirty Paraffin
Extras (shopping & eating & drinking):
- Church, The President's gift shop
- &Union restaurant and bar
- You & me & everyone we know market
- Small talks by Marcii Goose and Ricky Lee Gordon (/A Word of Art)
Racial Perspective Advert - South Africa, Soweto
NB: This is not a forum for RACIST comment... Your Clan members may be happy to oblige, I won't!
Awesome advert by SABC 1 in South Africa where whites have reversed roles with blacks to produce an interesting concept. Set in Soweto South Africa. Music by: Mapaputsi-kas lam ayoooba.
INVESTEC CAPE TOWN ART FAIR - ART FOR BEGINNERS
We recently attended the Investec Cape Town Art Fair. And loved it!
Being far from professional artists regarding skill or knowledge, we walked into the CTICC with completely open minds - and with our most sophisticated artsty outfits. We decided beforehand to walk through the exhibitions, absorb everything, and then choose our top 5 (local) art pieces that we felt most drawn to.
Our top 5 were:
*Norman O'Flynn - WorldArt
*Ruby Swinney
*Marlene Steyn
*Lucinda Mudge
*Buhlebezwe Siwani
Although we focused on our favourite local artists, a huge amount of credit must be given to really captivating and stunning displays from artists across the globe.
Well done to the Investec Cape Town Art Fair for putting on such a magnificent series of exhibitions. And a huge thank you to Vibescout for being so on top of the entertainment scene and giving us the opportunity to attend.
A big thank you to Vibescout for our media passes. You can check out their channel here:
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Music Credit:
* Say Good Night - Joakim Karud
A Unified Pan Africa as the 2nd Largest Economic Power in the World via Veritaseum
Reggie Middleton discusses the conceptual and structural weaknesses of existing unified currency structures such as the euro, and details how Veritaseum plans on improving on the concept using smart contract and blockchain tech.
See and for more background and access the VeADIR here
Bogosi Sekhukhuni: a screening @ LAXART
On 19 May 2019, 4–6pm, home school and LAXART (7000 Santa Monica Blvd) present a screening of work by Bogosi Sekhukhuni, a South African conceptual artist who explores the intersection of technology and spirituality, capitalism's exploitation of ancestrally-embedded biological and cognitive structures, and what it means to take utopian proposals seriously. This engagement is free and open to the public. Light snacks and refreshments will be available.
Exploring African diasporic perspectives on technology and design, national consciousness, and digital capacities for utopia, Sekhukhuni calls on aspects of pop and the occult, which act as tools for self-healing and the mining of collective trauma. He presents a selection of video works that examine the potential of digital spells, the generative power of dreams, and a critique of the presuppositions of afrofuturism. Following the screening, home school co-director manuel arturo abreu will engage in discussion with Sekhukhuni and LAXART Curatorial Assistant, Makayla Bailey. This programming owes its existence to a model curated and organized by Hanna Girma in Dec 2018 for MoMA Modern Mondays.
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Artist bios:
Bogosi Sekhukhuni (b. 1991, Johannesburg) describes himself as a 'lightworker’. He studied at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa. He has exhibited at the New Museum (NYC), the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, the 2017 African Biennale of Photography (Bamako), LUMA Westbau (Zürich), Fondation Louis Vuitton (Paris), Steve Turner Contemporary (LA), the 2nd Kampala Biennale, the 9th Berlin Biennale, the Dakar Biennale, the Centre Pompidou (Paris), the Tate Modern (London), MoMA Warsaw, and locally in Cape Town at Stevenson and Whatiftheworld, etc. Sekhukhuni is a founding member of the 'tech-health artist group' NTU and has worked with the CUSS Group collective. His most recent project is a 'visual culture bank and research gang' called Open Time Coven, which investigates 'emergent technologies and repressed African spiritual philosophies'.
manuel arturo abreu (b. 1991, Santo Domingo) is a poet/artist from the Bronx. They live/work in a garage in southeast Portland, and received their BA in Linguistics (Reed College, 2014). They use what is at hand in a process of magical thinking, with attention to ritual aspects of aesthetics. Recent exhibitions, projects, and discourse at AB Lobby Gallery (PSU, Portland), Yaby (Madrid), MoMA and MoMA PS1 (NYC), NCAD Gallery (Dublin), AA|LA Gallery (Los Angeles), Centre d'Art Contemporain (Geneva), Veronica (Seattle), Rhizome and the New Museum (online), and locally in Portland at the Art Gym, Yale Union, Open Signal Portland Community Media Center, S1, etc. abreu wrote two books of poetry (List of Consonants and transtrender) and one book of critical art writing, Incalculable Loss (Institute for New Connotative Action Press, 2018). abreu composes club-feasible worship music as Tabor Dark.
home school is a free pop-up art school in Portland, OR run by Victoria Anne Reis and manuel arturo abreu. They provide welcoming contexts for critical engagement with contemporary art and its issues. Their multimedia curriculum follows a pedagogy that honors the casual rigor of the etymology of “school,” from the Greek shkole, “spare time, leisure, idleness, rest.” In its fourth year of curriculum, home school has received support from the Precipice Fund, the Andy Warhol Foundation for Visual Arts, Allie Furlotti / the Calligram Foundation, a Rhizome Net Art microgrant, the Regional Arts and Culture Council, the Cooley Gallery, and a 2019 artist residency with Yale Union.
Chris Bishop - How Nelson Mandela Changed South Africa's Economy
South - Miles Goodall
A Story about South Africa. About Life, Energy, Art. About Home, Youth, Passion and a country that is still learning and growing and re-sculpting itself using creativity.
CREDITS
Director: Miles Goodall
Executive Producer: Linda Notelovitz | Interactive Media | Ravi Naidoo | Nadine Botha
Assisted by: Deborah Weber | Rosemary Lombard
Producers: Robyn Arostam | Elizabeth Dahl | Lizelle Wager | Loli Bishop | Anya Klages
Art Director: Gareth Paul
Motion Graphics/Animations: J Bradbury | Met04
Production Coordinator: Thembela Noyalvane (CT)(DBN)
Production Assistants: Bob Kamanga (JHB) | Fabrice Elombe (CT)
Camera: Brennan Lewis | David Pienaar | Marc Rowlston | Lee Goodall | Jordan Dwyer
Camera Equipment Sponsored by:
Visual Impact
Jannie Van Wyk | CEO | Media Film Service
Billy Dixon | Media Film Service | DBN
Shaun Reid | Media Film Service | CT
Lighting Equipment Sponsored by:
Panalux
Spark | Vusi Gumede | JHB
Spark | Brilliance Ndlovu | DBN
Sound:
Colin Mcfarlane | CT
Madoda Ntobela | CT
David Champion | DBN
Tim Parr | JHB
Bernard Marcus | JHB
Lucky Nkontwana | JHB
Sound Equipment Sponsored by:
Visual Impact
Tony and Anettae Honybun | The Noize Department
Editor: Nic Goodwin | Aces Up
Post Production Producer: Liesl Lategan | Aces Up
Colourist: Paul Hanrahan | Guillotine Post Production
Sound Engineer | Final Mix:
Louis Enslin | Produce Sound
Special Thanks:
KZNSA Gallery
Brenton Maart | KZNSA
Suzette | Dance Factory
DJ Bob and Michelle
Josh | Club 88
Harry | City Varsity | JHB
Flip Hattingh
Lisa Fainstein | Zapiro
Brett Rubin | Kate Boswell | Carey Watson | Vanessa Eyden | Bird on the Wire
Duncan Ringrose | The Assembly
Chloe Coetzee
People of the South:
Acty Tang
Adriaan Hugo | Doktor and Misses
Andile Dyalvane | Imiso Ceramics
Beverly Price
Bradley Kirshenbaum | Love Jozi TShirts
Brenton Maart
Cameron Platter
Chris Saunders
Dada Masilo
Debra Siyengo | DOOWCHH
DJ Kenzhero
Doung Anwar Jahangeer
Ella Butler
Ewok
Frances Goodman
Garth Walker
Gazelle
Given
Jacques van der Watt | Black Coffee
Justin Rhodes | Wilhelm Saayman | WhatIfTheWorld
Katy Taplin | Dokter and Misses
Kudzanai Chiurai
Kwani Experience
Lindelani Ngwenya
Lizza Littlewort
Louise Eksteen
Louise Gamble
Luyanda Mpahlwa
Marietjie Beeslaar | Skermunkil
Mbongeni Buthelezi
Monique Pelser
Mtkidu
Nandipha Mntambo
Osnik
Palesa Mokubung
Paul Boateng | British High Commisioner
Penny Maniere
Petronella Ombe
Phumzile Mazibuko
Pops Mohamed
Porky Hefer
Robyn Field | Unity Gallery
BLK JCKS
The Smarteez
Unathi Sigenu | Gugulective
Violet Molepu
Warren Lewis
Zakhele
Zapiro
Zolani Mkiva | Poet of Africa