Archive: Issue No. 55, March 2002

27.03.02 Jacqui Sinclair - 'A Body of Work' at the Chelsea
27.03.02 'The Loom of Life' at the National Gallery
20.03.02 'Art Kites Project' at the National Gallery
20.03.02 Mgcineni 'Pro' Sobopha, Sean Wilson and Pat Nicolson at the AVA
20.03.02 L'Atelier regional finalists at the Arts Association of Bellville
20.03.02 Greatmore Studios open day
20.03.02 Willem Boshoff's Blind Alphabet at the National Gallery
20.03.02 Walter Oltmann - SBYA 2001 at the National Gallery
13.03.02 'Night Vision' at the Cape Town Festival
13.03.02 'Killing the (M)other' - Gail Iris Neke at the Baxter
13.03.02 Odd Enjinears at the Ping Pong Palace
13.03.02 '1652-1952-2002: Reason to Celebrate?' at Company Gardens
13.03.02 'Voices in Transit' at Cape Town Station
13.03.02 Cape Town Month of Photography - Full list of shows
06.03.02 Dave Southwood at Bell-Roberts Art Gallery
28.02.02 Stephen Inggs at João Ferreira Fine Art
28.02.02 Three photographic exhibitions at the AVA
28.02.02 New Media Underground Foundation - 'NMUF.02' at the Valve
20.02.02 Pieter Hugo at the Cold Room
06.02.02 Arlene Amaler-Raviv and Dale Yudelman collaborative exhibition
23.01.02 Alex Hamilton at Azara restaurant
16.01.02 Artists for Human Rights: 'Break the Silence' at the SA Museum
28.11.01 'Positive Lives: Responses to HIV' at the National Gallery

27.03.02 'Photo/Art' at the Sasol Art Museum
28.02.02 Christine Dixie at the US Art Gallery
28.02.02 Nicolaas Maritz at the Dorp Street Gallery
20.02.02 Sheila Cussons at the Sasol Art Museum
13.02.02 Architect Pius Pahl at the Sasol Art Museum
09.01.02 Spier Outdoor Sculpture Biennial

Jacqui Sinclair's 'A Body of Work' forms part of the Month of Photography (see full listings). She says: "My work exclusively involves the use of handmade photographic emulsions coated onto art papers. Brush strokes and irregularities make each photograph an individual work. Coating large pieces of paper with my emulsions is very physical and lends itself extremely well to my chosen subject, the human form."

Opening: April 2 at 6pm with guest speaker George Hallet
Closing: April 30

Chelsea Art Gallery, 51 Waterloo Rd, Chelsea-Wynberg
Tel: (021) 761 6805
Fax: (021) 761 6805
Email: chelsea-gallery@mweb.co.za
Website: http://home.mweb.co.za/ch/chelsart/gallery
Hours: Tues - Fri 9.30 am - 5.30pm, Sat 9.30am - 1pm

Selected largely from the gallery's African collection, 'The Loom of Life' intends to show how flat, formless textiles and natural materials are transformed into costume with a uniquely African aesthetic. The "missing third dimension" is, of course, the human body. Photographs, works of art on canvas and on paper will show how textiles, handwoven or designed in southern, central, east and west Africa, are worn.

Opening: March 28
Closing: July 31

South African National Gallery, Government Avenue, Company Gardens, Cape Town
Tel: (021) 465 1628
Fax: (021) 461 0045
Website: www.museums.org.za/sang
Hours: Tues - Sun 10am - 5pm

An eclectic mix of South African visual artists have decorated and customised kites to be auctioned in support of Cape Mental Health. The 'Art Kites Project' is at the National Gallery until April 21, after which the kites will be moved to the Lindbergh Arts Foundation in Muizenberg and auctioned on the evening of April 27. This is the second such project and forms part of the annual Cape Town International Kite Festival. This year's theme, "Let's Fly Together", explores how sharing, acceptance and co-operation are key elements for good mental health and healthy communities.

Participants include Kevin Brand, Jean Doyle, Gavin du Plessis, Velile Soha, Louis Jansen van Vuuren, Angela Macpherson, Billy Mandindi, Thembeka Qangule, Solomon Siko, Jill Trappler and Mandla Vanyaza. Each has decorated a Japanese rokkakau, a six-sided kite traditionally used for kite battles, with the exception of Jean Doyle and Kevin Brand who have constructed their own kites.

Contact Sandra Ellis at Cape Mental Health on (021) 447-9040, email sandra@cmhs.co.za or visit www.kitefest.co.za.

Opening: March 26
Closing: April 21

South African National Gallery, Government Avenue, Company Gardens, Cape Town
Tel: (021) 465 1628
Fax: (021) 461 0045
Website: www.museums.org.za/sang
Hours: Tues - Sun 10am - 5pm

Next up at the AVA is Mgcineni 'Pro' Sobopha, who will exhibit the body of work he submitted for his Masters degree in Fine Art at UCT in 2001, titled 'Skins, Scars, Blankets and Blood'. Sobopha incorporates found objects, textiles, skins and blankets into his works, which explore the issues and debates around the practice and representation of ritual male circumcision in South Africa today.

Also showing are newcomer Sean Wilson, with 'Waterline: An Allegory' forming parting of the Month of Photography, and Pat Nicolson with recent oil paintings of cardinals and clergy in an exhibition titled 'The Power and the Glory', which examines "the hypocrisy, pretence and self-deception which inevitably accompany power and institutionalised piety".

Opening: Monday March 25 at 6pm
Closing: April 13

Association for Visual Arts, 35 Church Street, Cape Town
Tel: (021) 424 7436
Fax: (021) 423 2637
Email: avaart@iafrica.com
Website: www.ava.co.za
Hours: Mon - Fri 10am - 5pm, Sat 10am - 1pm

The Absa L'Atelier award has once again increased its purse, offering a substantial R70 000 to the winner (and R15 000 each for runners-up) in addition to a plane ticket and six-month residency at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris. Regional judging has taken place with about 100 works from the pool of entries selected as finalists, with the overall winner to be announced in Johannesburg on July 24. The Western Cape regional finalists' work is on view at the Arts Association of Bellville.

The annual competition, now in its 17th year, is the longest running art competition in the country, and is exclusively for artists between 21 and 35. Previous winners include Karel Nel, Penny Siopis and Dianne Victor and more recently Colbert Mashile, Ryan Arenson, Brad Hammond, Lucas Bambo and Stefanus Rademeyer.

Opening: Monday March 25 at 5.30pm
Closing: April 18

Arts Association of Bellville, Library Centre, Carel van Aswegen Street, Bellville
Tel: (021) 918 2301/2287
Fax: (021) 918 2083
Email: artb@icon.co.za
Hours: Mon - Fri 8am - 8pm, Sat 9am - 5pm

As part of the Cape Town Festival, Greatmore Studios is holding an open day for children and adults on March 24. Activities will include exhibitions, a street parade, music, mask-making, mural painting and a printmaking demonstration. Artists participating include Ishmael Thaysen, Billy Mandindi, John Murray, Anthony Cawood, Thulani Shuku, Velile Soha, Wonder and current artist-in-residence Lallitha Jawahirilal.

Artists will also be cheering up their environment with enormous festive blooms made entirely from recycled materials. Janet Ranson will create an instant inner-city garden, and isitors are invited to come along on the day and make a flower to "plant" in the Greatmore Studios garden.

Sunday March 24, 2-4pm

Greatmore Studios, 47 Greatmore Street, Woodstock
Tel: (021) 447 9699
Email: artmore@mweb.co.za

A section of Willem Boshoff's Blind Alphabet - comprising "76 units of letter C from 78 - COCCULIFEROUS, COCCIFEROUS, COGGIGEROUS to C154 - CYMBIFORM" - has recently gone on view at the South African National Gallery. In this installation piece Boshoff translates obscure words into wooden sculptural forms which are then hidden inside mesh cages. On the top of each cage is a Braille explanation of what is inside. The viewer must therefore rely on an interpreter whose sight is impaired to access the works, and the interpreter must use their sense of touch to "read" the works, which is usually taboo in the gallery space.

From March 15

South African National Gallery, Government Avenue, Company Gardens, Cape Town
Tel: (021) 465 1628
Fax: (021) 461 0045
Website: www.museums.org.za/sang
Hours: Tues - Sun 10am - 5pm

Walter Oltmann's Standard Bank Young Artist touring exhibition touches down in Cape Town before its final showing in Johannesburg. Oltmann is known for his intricately woven wire sculptures which demonstrate a remarkable degree of integrity, skill and mastery of form. Oltmann's technique makes reference to many forms of traditional craft such as weaving and basketry, often exploring cultural and gender issues. He calls into question both the status of craft and that of the people who traditionally employ these techniques. The images and particular techniques he works with come from varied contexts and sources which, together with the unsettling scale of the works, upset the preconceptions of a viewer. In this body of wothe viewer's reactions and assumptions.

Opening: March 12
Closing: April 14

South African National Gallery, Government Avenue, Company Gardens, Cape Town
Tel: (021) 465 1628
Fax: (021) 461 0045
Website: www.museums.org.za/sang
Hours: Tues - Sun 10am - 5pm

'Night Vision', one of the main events at the Cape Town Festival, incorporates Art Night, that irregular institution which sees the city's galleries open till late and the art party extending into the streets. In addition to galleries, various shops will be open and trading well into the night. Art Night runs from 6pm to 10.30pm, starting at the AVA where the official opening of their current photographic exhibition will be happening, and taking in various galleries and bars, cafés and restaurants doubling as exhibition spaces during the Month of Photography. The Gold Museum in Strand Street and all Iziko Museums will be open till 7pm. Rikkis will be running between the venues allowing patrons to traverse the city with ease.

The walls of the city will carry projections organised by the Month of Photography as well as performance art and installations. Long Street will host an interactive work by Matt Hindley whose video piece Allow Me to Observe was on show recently at Michaelis Galleries. Later, six of Cape Town's top nightclubs will present 'Audio Indulgence', a dance music event including kwaito at Snap in Shortmarket Street and electronica at Legacy in Long Street. The Carnival Company and Global Entertainment present a rhythmic Roots Dance Hall Experience street party in Buiten Street, while Somerset Road in Greenpoint (aka the Pink Triangle) will also host dance and performance events. Best of all, you can stay up late because Thursday March 21 is Human Rights Day.

Wednesday March 20 from 6pm till late

Tel: 082 282 5080 (info line)
Email: info@capetownfestival.co.za
Website: www.capetownfestival.co.za

We saw this show in its entirety at the Bell-Roberts Art Gallery last year, but certain works are now on view during a run of the Sibikwa Sisters' Behind Closed Doors at the Baxter Theatre Centre. This theatrical production tells the story of a young girl raped by a figure well known to her family. The show is followed by an audience discussion, guided by a trained therapist.

In her work Neke explores the reasons why men rape, rather than the effects on the survivor. Neke's research is drawn from rape clinics and psychoanalytical texts. She suggests that in South Africa "men feel threatened by growing unemployment, lack of opportunity and the increase in women's rights and expectations. Changes in gender and societal structures often make men feel weakened, passive and emotional - traits they have been told are feminine and despicable". This construction of women as the "other" or enemy, she says, may result in violence against women. The show gained mixed reviews here and in Johannesburg, and it will be interesting to see it exhibited in a fresh context.

Opening: March 19
Closing: March 28

Baxter Theatre Complex, Main Road, Rondebosch
Tel: 021 434 4951 or 082 892 5877
Fax: 021 439 2431

"Striking Productions Curious Locations" is what the Odd Enjinears promise. Whether you saw them recently at the Blacksmith's Forge at the Bijou in Cape Town, at the Power Station in Grahamstown last year or at the Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees a few years back, you'll agree that they're are not to be missed. 'VeeEyeEye' is the name of their latest production which promises to continue blurring the boundaries between visual art, music and theatre. Expect more disquieting and charming machinery, alchemical processes and musique actuelle from this eclectic and energetic troupe of performance artists. Bookings at Computicket or at the door. Tickets cost R40 for adults and R20 for children.

March 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22 and 23 at 8.30pm

The Ping Pong Palace, UCT Hiddingh Campus, 37 Orange Street, Gardens

A precursor to an exhibition scheduled to take place at the Castle in September, '1652-1952-2002' is a public art project about memorialisation and monuments. Designed by Jos Thorne with the Project of Public Pasts, based at the University of Cape Town and funded by the National Research Foundation, the project sets out to ask questions about how and whether we are to live alongside monuments from the colonial and apartheid past. Fifty years after the 300th anniversary celebrations (and protests) that commemorated the arrival of Jan van Riebeeck in the Cape, the project takes as its starting point the statues of Jan and Maria van Riebeeck that continue to stand proud at the bottom of Adderley Street. A sculptural intervention will be installed on the lawn in front of the South African Museum throughout the Cape Town Festival.

Opening: March 16
Closing: March 24

Outside the South Africa Museum, Company Gardens

A Cape Town Festival event, 'Voices in Transit' deals with xenophobia, racism and displacement as experienced by migrants, exiles and refugees, using the Cape Town Station as an environment and point of departure. Curated by Roger van Wyk and Liz Broukaert, the project includes installations by artists and photographers, performances in the station concourse, a music stage, a programme of video screenings and radio programming of true life stories, music and discussion on the Commuter FM channel.

Events are scheduled for March 16 and 17, 19 and 20, and 22 and 23. For details see the Cape Town Festival website at www.capetownfestival.co.za.

March 16-23

Cape Town Station concourse, Adderley Street, Cape Town

The South African Centre for Photography presents the 2nd Cape Town Month of Photography at galleries, restaurants, cafés and other venues throughout Cape Town and environs. Their approach has been inclusive rather than exclusive, with a broad range of work by local and southern African photographers as well as Finnish, British, Swiss and Americaan artists.

Some highlights are Lien Botha's 'Radio Maria' and Berni Searle's video Snow White, both at the Castle; MoP organiser Claire Breukel's 'London is Not My Home' at Dutch in De Waterkant; Indian/US artist Jaishri Abichandani's 'Under Western Skies', Hannelie Coetzee's 'Bossie' and Tracy Gander's 'Flounce', all at the Zem Café Dave Southwood at the Bell-Roberts Gallery; Tracey Derrick at Picto; Guy Tillim's photographs of the child soldiers of Sierra Leone at the Photographers Gallery ZA; 'After Apartheid: Nine South African Documentary Photographers' curated by Michael Godby at the African Studies Gallery, UCT; shows by Michaelis and Stellenbosch University staff, and many, many others. Visiting artists are Lyn Lukkas (US), L/B (Switzerland), Pentti Sammalhati (Finland), and Neville Gabie and Joy Gregory (UK).

Click here for the full list of participants and venues.

A catalogue will be available at various festival venues including Iziko Museums and the festival info booth at the craft market in Company Gardens.

The MoP is co-hosted by the SA National Gallery and jointly funded by the CWCI Fund of the European Union, the Swiss Agency for Development and Co-operation, Pro Helvetia, the Arts and Culture Trust of the President, the NAC, the City of Cape Town, Fuji SA, Creative Colour Laboratory, Orms Photographic, Picto Photo Labs and Maxwood Framers and Guilders.

Opening: March 15
Official opening: Monday March 18 at 6.30pm at the Castle of Good Hope
Closing: April 14

Tel: 021 422 2625 (SA Centre for Photography)
Website: www.photocentre.org.za

'Nothing in the Particular' is the title of Dave Southwood's third solo show in Cape Town (his first at this venue). The artist says the work is largely of landscapes (see Artbio), but there is a series of portraits to throw you off trail. Taken with Southwood's favoured 4x5 large-format camera, these photographs probably reveal more than the title suggests, given Southwood's eye for the exception which proves the rule, and his gorgeous aesthetic bent. Publicity material features a specially commissioned piece of fiction by Artthrob contributor Nic Dawes.

Opening: Wednesday March 13 at 6.30pm
Closing: April 3

Bell-Roberts Art Gallery, 199 Loop Street, Cape Town
Tel: (021) 422 1100
Fax: (021) 423 3135
Email: suzette@bell-roberts.com
Website: www.bell-roberts.com
Hours: Mon - Fri 8.30am - 5pm, Sat 10am - 1pm

'Sensum' is the evocative title of Stephen Inggs' second showing at João Ferreira Fine Art. As in the last exhibition, the works are prints made by exposing paper painted with light-sensitive emulsion. Previously Inggs rendered old domestic implements and objects in rich and sensual tones, and it will be interesting to see how his work has moved on from there.

Opening: Wednesday March 6 at 6pm
Closing: March 30

João Ferreira Fine Art, 80 Hout Street, Cape Town
Tel: (021) 423 5403 or 082 490 2977
Fax: (021) 423 2136
Email: info@artjoao.co.za
Website: www.artjoao.co.za
Hours: Tue - Fri 10am - 6pm, Sat 10am - 2pm

The Month of Photography starts early at the AVA, with three exhibitions on view from March 5, although the official opening will only take place during the Cape Town Festival's Night Vision (incorporating Art Night) on March 20.

In the main gallery, Finnish photographer Pentti Sammallahti will show a body of black and white photographs of Scandinavian landscape scenes. Sammallahti (born 1950) has published 13 books and portfolios since 1979, and his works can be found in major collections around the world including the Photographic Museum in Helsinki, Mordene Museet in Stockholm, Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

In the long gallery, "Every Dog Random Art Projects Presents a Thin Ice Production - 'Common Ground': Part 3 in a Cape Town trilogy". You don't usually glean much factual information from Johnny Foreigner and Judith Brigg's publicity material, but you do get an idea of their oblique take on things. This is the third of their "Static Cinema" outings, and if the other two are anything to go by, not to be missed. Expect "love, war, truth, putt-putt".

Upstairs in the Artsstrip, Stellenbosch University Masters graduate Svea Josephy holds her first solo show. 'Framing Documentary' is an investigation and deconstruction of the language of South African documentary photography (particularly of the social documentary practice) between the late 1970s and the early 1990s. Josephy says: "As a photographer my visual and theoretical research is aimed at locating a photographic identity in relation to a photographic past that was dominated by the traditions of press and social documentary photography. In these works I explore an alternative language for photographing, while still making reference to documentary traditions and conventions."

Opening: March 5 at 10am
Official opening: Wednesday March 20, 6pm to 10pm
Closing: March 23

Association for Visual Arts, 35 Church Street, Cape Town
Tel: (021) 424 7436
Fax: (021) 423 2637
Email: avaart@iafrica.com
Website: www.ava.co.za
Hours: Mon - Fri 10am - 5pm, Sat 10am - 1pm

According to their press release, the New Media Underground Foundation [NMUF] is an international non-profit organisation dedicated to developing network culture, digital art and design. Existing on the fringes of international festivals and events, NMUF co-ordinates meetings, presentations, workshops, round-table discussions and exhibitions that discard the corporate festival environment in favour of riotous participation, free-styled interactions and pure unadulterated fun.

Cape Town is about to host 'NMUF.02', the second event of its kind in South Africa, organised by type01 (www.type01.com), dplanet.org and Daddy Buy Me a Pony. Coinciding with the annual international Design Indaba, the festival's aim is to square up local practitioners with their international counterparts for a one-off evening of cultural exchange, idea-splicing and genre-busting. However, a spat between the organisers of the two events means the international guests of the Indaba sadly won't be participating in the NMUF. But there's still a great (local) line up including Conduit, the Daddy Buy Me a Pony bunch, Damian Stephens (www.dplanet.org), Evan Mathis (www.morevisual.com), Francois Naude (www.altsense.net), George + Gareth (www.radarboy.com), Marcus Neustetter (mnprojects.cjb.net) and others.

Alongside presentations, discussions and interactions, 'NMUF.02' features 'Battle Zone' which gives competing crews/individuals 10 minutes to "perform" using their media of choice. Crowd reaction and a panel of judges decide the winner. 'NMUF.02' showcases art, installations, sound sculptures, showreels, projects, collaborations and works from a variety of local and international arts and digital communicators. There will be an afterparty at the venue too. A small donation will be requested at the door to help cover venue and equipment costs.

Saturday March 2 from 5pm

The Valve, 32 Parliament Street Tel: 083 366 8792 Email: damian@type01.com (Damian Stephens) or homeless@mweb.co.za (Stacy Hardy)

Regular NMUF.02 Cape Town updates: www.dplanet.org
Info about NMUF internationally: www.nmuf.org
Info about the most recent event in the Netherlands: adapter.dopesyndicate.com
Info on the Design Indaba: www.designindaba.com

Freelance photographer Pieter Hugo presents his first solo show, 'Margin', before flying off to Italy to take up a post at Fabrica design school. According to the press release, 'Margin' "deals with the absurdity and beauty of the mundane, and paints a unique picture of life on the periphery of South African society. Hugo's documentary style of photography captures the banal elements of life and elevates them to the magical."

Hugo's work has appeared in a range of local magazines and group exhibitions. This is the first in a host of upcoming photographic exhibitions with the Month of Photography commencing very soon.

Opening: Thursday February 21 at 7pm
Closing: April 15

The Cold Room Photographic Gallery, 143 Harrington Street
Tel: (021) 447 4183
Email: pieter_hugo@hotmail.com
Hours: Mon - Fri 8am - 5pm, Sat 8am - 1pm

Painter Arlene Amaler-Raviv and photographer Dale Yudelman first collaborated at the AVA in 1999. The show comprised both new and archival photographic images printed onto aluminium plate. Amaler-Raviv worked paint and overlayed images onto these, most recognisably that of a large, perpetually walking man.

This, their second collaborative endeavour, is entitled 'Where the Mountain Meets the City'. Images printed onto glass and aluminium take the viewer on a journey down Cape Town's Long Street. Amaler-Raviv has worked on these images, superimposing different aspects of daily life in the city, recreating and shifting the boundaries of the original landscape.

Opening: February 7 at 6pm
Closing: March 31

Temporary Space, 232 Long Street (near the corner of Buiten Street), Cape Town
Tel: 083 434 7100
Email: mlmart@mweb.co.za
Website: www.urbanart.co.za
Open: Mon - Sat

Alex Hamilton's new paintings, mandalas inspired by a range of cultures, were exhibited in Holland and Spain last year. Now Hamilton returns to a familiar space in Cape Town. Azara is the restaurant located where Hamilton opened the original Bang the Gallery four years ago. In typically flamboyant fashion, Hamilton says: "To embrace and charge the past with a new energy and attitude and to showcase my development is part of the reasoning why I decided to exhibit at Azara. It is truly a beautiful space for my new works to make their entry." Hamilton will show this year in Dublin, Ireland, and Dortmund, Germany.

Opening: January 28 at 6pm
Closing: March 28

Azara, Heritage Square, 92 Bree Street, Cape Town
Tel: (021) 426 5094 or 422 1477
Email: alex@alexhamilton.co.za
Website: www.alexhamilton.co.za
Hours: Mon - Sat 12 - 3pm, 7 - 11pm

Previously shown in Durban, this exhibition of 31 prints by South African and international artists is part of the HIV/AIDS Print Portfolio and Bilboard Project of the organisation Artists for Human Rights, which aims to promote greater awareness of HIV/AIDS and its effects on individuals and communities. Local artists who contributed to the project include Trevor Makhoba, Gabisile Nkosi, Mduduzi Xakaza, Sue Williamson, Judith Mason and Judy Woodborne, while Yusuf Arakkal (India), Deryck Healey (UK) and Amira Wasfy (Egypt) are among the international names. The exhibition includes banners and billboards designed to take the artists' messages to the people. A limited edition portfolio of signed and numbered prints is for sale to raise funds for the organisation.

Until March 24

South African Museum, 25 Queen Victoria Street, Cape Town
Tel: (021) 424 3330
Fax: (021) 424 6716
Hours: Daily 10am - 5pm
Entrance R8 (children, scholars, pensioners, Friends free)

A collaboration between the Terrence Higgins Trust, Network Photographers and people living with HIV, this exhibition uses photography and personal testimonies to communicate the human story behind the AIDS pandemic. The images and text present the personal experiences of people, reflecting the issues and emotions that confront them in living or working with HIV/AIDS.

Since the exhibition was seen at the National Gallery in 1995, it has travelled extensively, visiting India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Europe, the USA and Australia and has grown and changed significantly with new stories and photographs being added at each stop. New work reflecting experiences from Cape Town and environs will be added here. Next year will also see the start of a tour to nine regions in Mozambique, where local stories will form a central part of the exhibition. Organisers hope to extend the tour of the 'Positive Lives' gallery show to other cities in Kenya, Uganda, Malawi, Zimbabwe and South Africa, along with their outreach programmes.

This event is made possible by volunteers from 'Positive Lives' in the United Kingdom and continued support from the Levi-Strauss Foundation. It tours with the support of various sponsors including Glaxo-Wellcome, AIDS Trust of Australia, the Elton John AIDS Foundation, the British Council, Roche Products and Drik Gallery.

'Positive Lives' has a full educational programme which includes guided tours of the exhibition every Wednesday lunchtime. A full programme for school groups, including paper prayer workshops, quilt-making workshops and tours of the exhibition, and free educational pamphlet are available. Information volunteers will be present in the exhibition at all times. To arrange workshops and seminars, contact Dammon Rice at (021) 448 0117 or 082 673 8604. For more information on theproject contact Kevin Ryan at positive.lives@tht.org.uk or visit www.positivelives.com.

Opening: December 1
Closing: March 24 2002

South African National Gallery, Government Avenue, Company Gardens, Cape Town
Tel: (021) 465 1628
Fax: (021) 461 0045
Website: www.museums.org.za/sang
Hours: Tues - Sun 10am - 5pm

This exhibition, part of the Month of Photography, consists of photo-based art works made by staff and students in the Fine Art Department at the University of Stellenbosch. There are two components to the exhibition: work by students is thematically linked under the title of 'Excess', while the staff component reflects lecturers' individual areas of research. With contributions from the visual art, jewellery design, visual communication and art theory departments, the exhibition promises to "explore diverse approaches to photography and extend the boundaries of photographic art-making practice". Staff members include Jean Brundrit, Alan Alborough, Keith Dietrich, Katherine Bull and Vivian van der Merwe.

Opening: April 3 at 6.30pm
Closing: April 28

Sasol Art Museum, 52 Ryneveld Street, Stellenbosch
Tel: (021) 808 3524
Fax: (021) 808 3669
Email: usmuseum@sun.ac.za
Hours: Tues - Fri, 9am - 4.30pm, Wed 9am - 8pm, Sat 9am - 5pm, Sun 2pm - 17pm

Christine Dixie offers several definitions of 'Hide' - the title of her exhibition - In her press release. "To conceal" or "to lie concealed" is juxtaposed with various other meanings including "the skin of an animal". She includes an obscure use of the word to describe "a portion of land in Saxon times (sixty to a hundred and twenty acres) sufficient to support one family".

In this exhibition, which was presented last year at the Ibis Art Centre in Nieu Bethesda, Dixie shows etchings, objects and installation pieces. All explore the notion of "divisions and boundaries, the territorial membranes that divide inside and outside in socio-historical as well as psycho-geographical terms". The works are personal; they are also implicitly and explicitly political. Dixie's work is described as being rooted "in both the concrete and fantastical experience of the South African landscape - inner and outer - placing it within a tradition of landscape art particular to the Eastern Cape".

Dixie was born in Cape Town in 1966. She studied at the University of the Witwatersrand and the University of Cape Town. She is currently a lecturer in the Fine Art Department, Rhodes University. She has participated in numerous group exhibitions and held several one-person shows.

Opening: Thursday March 7 at 6.30pm
Closing: March 28

US Art Gallery, corner Dorp and Bird Streets, Stellenbosch
Tel: (021) 808 3524
Email: usmuseum@maties.sun.ac.za
Hours: Mon - Fri 9am - 5pm, Sat 9am - 1pm

Darling resident Nicolaas Maritz is showing new paintings and prints at the Dorp Street Gallery. The exhibition includes brightly hued paintings on glass, two-colour linocuts as well as his characteristic enamel-on-board paintings. The works run the gamut of his familiar subject matter of still lives, portraits of cats and various memento mori images. Included is a series of linocuts made for a book of poems by Gerrit Komrij, the Dutch poet laureate, entitled 'Forgotten City and other Poems'.

Maritz showed most recently at the Elsie Balt Art Gallery in Darling and at the Irma Stern in Cape Town. His work is to be found in most major South African collections.

Opening: Saturday March 2 at 11am
Closing: April 3

This exhibition of work by Sheila Cussons is presented as part of Stellenbosch's Afrikaans Woordfees 2002 programme. Showcasing both her visual and literary works, it is entitled 'The Artist - An Osmosis: Poet and Painter'. On Saturday March 2 walkabouts will be conducted at 11am and 2pm by Amanda Botha and Adrie van Eede, both from the Department of Afrikaans at the University, at a cost of R5.

Opening: Wednesday February 27 at 6.30pm
Closing: March 31

Sasol Art Museum, 52 Ryneveld Street, Stellenbosch
Tel: (021) 808 3524
Fax: (021) 808 3669
Email: usmuseum@sun.ac.za
Hours: Tues - Fri, 9am - 4.30pm, Wed 9am - 8pm, Sat 9am - 5pm, Sun 2pm - 17pm

The Sasol Art Museum pays tribute to modernist icon Pius Pahl, born in Germany in 1909 but resident in Stellenbosch for the past 30 years. Pahl was part of the Bauhaus, the cradle of the International style, and his work embodies its credo. Pahl is a skilled carpenter, builder, glassier, designer, artist and architect. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe was his teacher and friend and his associates included Le Corbusier.

Pahl lectured in architecture at the University of Cape Town from 1952 to 1954. He is well known internationally and has received several awards, including a gold Medal from the South African Institute of Architects. Some of his work is included in the permanent Bauhaus exhibition in Berlin, Germany.

Opening: February 16 at 10.30am
Closing: March 31

Sasol Art Museum, 52 Ryneveld Street, Stellenbosch
Tel: (021) 808 3524
Fax: (021) 808 3669
Email: usmuseum@sun.ac.za
Hours: Tues - Fri, 9am - 4.30pm, Wed 9am - 8pm, Sat 9am - 5pm, Sun 2pm - 17pm

The beautiful wine estate of Spier will form the backdrop to the first Spier Outdoor Sculpture Biennial this month. With works commissioned from a selection of South African artists, joined by Urs Twellman from Switzerland, the biennial will serve to broaden the base of Spier's annual arts festival, which up to now has focused on the performing arts.

Initiated and administered by Public Eye, the Outdoor Sculpture Biennial aims to nurture national and international awareness of Spier and the Cape region. Similar events in the UK, Italy, Denmark and France have captured the public imagination, inspired discussion and created a new awareness of the surroundings.

The biennial comprises two parallel exhibitions. The first takes place on the Spier estate and includes work produced in the studio as well as on site. Participants are Susan Reid, Jacques Dhont, Deborah Bell, Willie Bester, David Brown, Jo O'Connor, Randy Hartzenberg, Sean Slemon, Bruce Arnott, Nicole Meyer and Swiss artist Urs Twellman. The second exhibition is at the Jan Marais Nature Reserve and features work by Sanelle Aggenbach, Elmarie van der Merwe, Terry de Vries, Marco Franzoso, Hettie de Klerk, Jacobus Kloppers, Dannie Carstens and David Jones.

During the biennial there will be workshops and talks by the participating artists and Sunday tours by trained guides. The art works will be for sale. Alongside the exhibition, a Public Art Symposium will be held in March which will attract academics and other experts in the field to share ideas, problems and future plans for outdoor exhibitions. See Exchange for details of this part of the event.

Opening: Thursday January 17 at 6pm
Closing: March 31

Spier Wine Estate and Jan Marais Nature Reserve, Stellenbosch
For more information contact Public Eye on 448 1087
Email: bobman@iafrica.com