The French are making sure they contribute to our artistic and cultural riches. Diane de Beer runs through their 2015 network of what to expect as presented by the French Institute of South Africa and the Alliance Française Network highlights
Dance
Sello Pesa, the South African choreographer from Ntsoana Contemporary Dance Company, presents his latest work Simunye: We are one… at Dance Umbrella. He collaborated with French researcher, Dominique Malaquais.
• A double bill showcases South African choreographer Fana Tshabalala’s duet Between Us and Beninese choreographer Marcel Gbeffa’s solo Derriere le Rideau.
• Combining forces, Toyi Toyi by Cie Hors Série (France) and Via Katlehong (South Africa) with three dancers will be presenting their collaboration on April 2 and 3 in Bordeaux, France, based on the historical theme of post-apartheid.
Music
• Swiss musician Nicolas Fraissinet on piano will travel from Joburg and Pretoria to Cape Town and Durban making music (courtesy of the Swiss Embassy and the Alliance) from March 17, playing his voice as a vibrant instrument, full of emotions, pain or pleasure with the words inspiring the variations.
• Rumbaccordéon (France and Congo) on March 18 in Pretoria, March 20 in Cape Town, March 21 in Durban and March 27 in Joburg, is a duet that offers a musical cross between Congolese rumba (Papa Noël) and French accordion (Viviane Arnoux).
• An artist described as on the verge of hitting the headlines, Marema (2014’s RFI Discoveries award winner) will perform on March 21 in Durban, March 26 in Cape Town, March 27 in Pretoria and March 28 in Joburg. Marema’s music is sharply influenced by the acoustic music of Tracy Chapman.
• French trumpeter Pierre Dutot will perform concerts with a strings orchestra and lead master classes at the College of Music of UCT, with an additional concert at the Greenmarket Square Church (trumpet and organ) all between April 20 and May 3.
• Described as one of the hottest rising young French bands, Poni Hoax are probably the first band to fuse Gallic dance beats with a solid rock ’n’ roll attitude and a soupcon of suavity which they say was last seen when Serge Gainsbourg was at the height of his powers. They will be in the country in May.
• Fête de la Musique, a worldwide celebration moves from Melville to Newtown on June 27, with much joy as there are many communities in the surrounding areas to add to the richness of sound. Other artistic ventures in the precinct will be embraced.
• Always pushing contemporary boundaries, pianist Jill Richards pays tribute to French composer, Pierre Boulez, which includes music by Boulez, Cage and Stockhausen, as well as discussions and a film. Titled Day of the Giants, this classical celebration is on June 29 in Joburg.
Photography
• La Route du Jazz is an exhibition by France’s Samuel Nja Kwa, a photographer and journalist who retraces the history of music in Africa throughout the world. The exhibition is based on his book and will be presented in Durban from September to October.
Film
• Waterberg to Waterberg by Andrew Botelle tells the story of what happened to Samuel Maherero after the battle of the Waterberg in 1904. One minute he was the most influential leader in Namibia, the next he was running for his life with a bounty on his head. The screening will be followed by a debate with the film director. To be held on April 9 in Joburg, Gaborone and Mbabane.
• The hugely popular European Film Festival 2015: A Woman’s World will be held from May 8 to 17 in Cape Town, Durban, Joburg and Pretoria at Cinema Nouveau and included is this year’s Best Foreign movie, Ida, as well as the movie for which Marion Cotillard was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar, Two Days, One Night. Other movies included will be the latest and the best from Europe in the past two years and screened for the first time locally.
• One of the world’s film classics, Fritz Lang’s Metropolis (1927), will be screened in October in Joburg, Cape Town and Maseru accompanied by a modern band in a spectacular Cine-Concert.
• Kunjanimation, to be held in November in Cape Town, screens internationally-acclaimed animated feature films and is a platform to promote the animation industry. It provides a unique opportunity to network directly with the international industry.
One offs
• A Museology Seminar will be held from May 26 to 29 in Joburg and this four-day event with European and South African partners aims to engage the youth to develop new audiences and curatorial skills with South African museums, galleries and art places.
• Cirquons Flex, to be held in November in Joburg, Port Elizabeth and Maseru, is a Reunionese circus company founded by Virginie Le Flaouter and Vincent Maillot which promises unique features in this world of play.
THEATRE & FOOD
Theatre
• Le premier home by Albert Camus (his last novel) was adapted and will be presented by French actor Jean-Paul Schintu in Cape Town and Joburg on March 23 and 26.
• French director, Jean-Paul Delore, returns to South Africa following his last play Ster City which told the story of this country for another artistic creation based on Macbeth titled Quand meme (anyhow/ whatever). As he will be here in July, it might be for the National Arts Festival where the French will be involved, but only announced later.
Cuisine
• Good France/Gout de France is a worldwide gastronomy event that will be held on March 19. A thousand chefs from all over the world serve a “French dinner”
on one night only, among them seven restaurants in South Africa including in Cape Town: 5 Spin Street, Freres Bistro and in Joburg: EAT restaurant, Sel et Poivre, The Forum Company. Presented with the support of Atout France.
• Semaine du Gout (Week of Taste) will be held in September in South Africa and neighbouring Zimbabwe. A series of workshops around healthy eating will take place in schools in these two countries.
BOOKS & ART
Literature
• Book launch of Les Sud-Africains by Valerie Hirsch on March 5 in Pretoria and March 11 in Joburg. Freelance Belgian journalist, Hirsch, based in Joburg since 1996, explores the evolution of racial identities since 1994.
• On March 12, La Route des Clameurs by Ousmane Diarra, the third novel by the Malian author, explores the terror that happens in his country and shows how madness took possession of men.
• A Tribute to André Brink will be held on March 13 to remember him through readings of extracts of his books in as many languages as possible.
• On Est Foutu by Matthews Mngadi, translated from Zulu to French by Michel Lafon, will be launched on March 31 in Joburg, and April 1 in Pretoria. Set in 1980s apartheid, the story relates the challenging journey of a South African Zulu family who have to move to Durban to survive. Both authors will travel to Durban’s Time of the Writer: International Festival of Writers from March 16 to 21.
• One of the biggest crime genre festivals, Quais du Polar, March 27 to 29 in Lyon, France will host local crime author Mike Nicol, two other South African authors and a South African journalist who have been invited to take part in this festival.
• The Franschhoek Literary Festival from May 15 to 17 will host, among others, French author Romain Puertolas and French crime authors, Olivier Truc and Franck Thilliez, and Helene Fischbach, the artistic director of the literary festival, Quais du Polar.
art
• Mame-Diarra Niang is in residency at the Stevenson Gallery, Joburg, to create a new exhibition until March 31 and Michel Duport has just arrived at the Nirox Foundation for a creative residency until March 2. His work isn’t based on the relation between painting and sculpture but on the transformation of the painting into sculpture.
• A photography exhibition titled Femmes en résistance (Women in resistance) will travel from March to August from Cape Town, Durban, Pretoria and finally Joburg. They represent more than half of the world, but many women are still excluded from their countries’ economic, political and social life.
• Bambo Sibiya, 2012 Absa L’Atelier Gerard Sekoto Award winner, presents his exhibit after his residency at the Cité Internationale des Arts de Paris as part of his prize around the country. Last year’s winner, Mbavhalelo Nekhavhambe, travels to Paris for his residency from October until March.