‘Hallett is a Cape Town based photographer. Born in Hout Bay he taught himself the art, beginning his career as a street photographer. After establishing close associations with writers and artists he gave up his clerical job and became a staff photographer with a local newspaper. Hallett made a poignant personal document of District Six, a part of Cape Town that had been declared white, forcing all black inhabitants to be removed and their property destroyed. In 1970 he left South Africa to work for The Times of London. Hallett took a personal interest in the exiled South African artists living in Europe and his collection houses a strong selection of those artists. Hallett has taught photography in Europe, America and Africa and continues to take a motivated interest in community-based arts projects in our country. He returned permanently to South Africa in 1995. In 1997 he was jury member of the World Press Awards. Hallett is currently working on various personal projects involving the Red Cross Children’s Hospital, Muslim families in Cape Town, and preparing an exhibition on Black Life in the city during the 1970′s’.

The ’2008 World Wildlife Photographer of the Year’ exhibition is on at the Iziko Museum in the Company Gardens, Cape Town.  Visiting times – between 10.00am and 5.00pm daily; until 15th March, 2009.

At the National Art Gallery, Company Gardens, Cape Town, you can see William Kentridge’s multi-channel projected work entitled I am not me , the horse is not mine, an installation of eight film fragments. Visiting times – between 10.00am and 5.00pm Tuesday to Sunday; until 8th March, 2009.

‘William Kentridge’s multi-channel projection installation of eight film fragments, entitled I am not me, the horse is not mine, was first presented to international acclaim at the Sydney Biennale in June 2008. The work is based on the absurdist short story, The Nose (1837), by Nikolai Gogol, in which the pompous government official, Kovalyov, wakes up one day to find that his nose has taken on a life of its own and gone for a walk around the city of St Petersburg. In a sequence of comical scenes, the main character attempts – with increasingly ridiculous efforts – to chase after his nose, recapture it and stick it back on his face.

I am not me, the horse is not mine stems from the artist’s ongoing interest in the roots and development of modernism: a mixture of the absurd, the self-reflective (and the ‘self-divided’) and its many forms of fragmentation. It also deals particularly with Russia’s response to modernism in the 1930s and the histories and terrors of oppression. This exhibition was made possible by the Goodman Gallery’.

Entrance fees at both the above venues are as follows:  Adults R15.00; Pensioners and Students R5.00

Strydom van der Merwe has repeated his swathing of red material around oak trees, this time at Kloovenburg – well known vineyard in Riebeek Kasteel. Tip:  buy their Shiraz!

Just a link for the blog that I personally believe is a must-see for every photographer on the planet. It is a touring exhibition of photographs and movie clips called “Ashes and Snow” by artist Gregory Colbert.

The exhibition has been visited by over 10 million people, making it the most successful exhibition by a living artist in history.

The site is flash-based and bandwidth hungry, which makes an ADSL connection or a lot of patience a necessity.

The gems are mostly under the “EXPLORE” option. Definitely the most evocative photography I have ever seen.

JJ

Note that the link JJ provided links directly to the Enhanced Experience but there is also a Basic Experience accessible via a link from the home page.