Look this is not something i wanted to go into, as i thought the last thing Observatory needs was another dispute in regards to the festival.... However I am not going to put up with any gossip going wildly out of control...
Im currently working on similar issue based projects which hope to integrate arts and culture into communities in a manner which is inclusive and participatory, for all the people, and not just the ones that feel comfortable turning up to community meetings that sometimes can feel quite non inclusive and maybe not as productive as they could be.. I personally dont have that problem, but as many of you are aware this issue does exist, not just in obs, but all over. I tried to highlight the local issue during my speech at the bijou cinema, the launch of the obs fest, to try and induce more people to turn up to these meetings, but you know what its like when trying to get people to put in non paid time... On the Gugelctive issue, at no point did i say that i was bringing this exhibition to the festival, I speak to Riason Naidoo of the Iziko Museums on a reasonably regular basis, and i would never put him in this type of position... secondly we were intending to platform some of the gugelective's work, specifically Dathini who had agreed to take part, as did many documentary photographers, musicians, and artists from previously disadvantaged areas. The reason for this, and this is one of the reasons my and julia did not get on, is i think its important to integrate this type of content, which may not necessarily be considered classical art into Obs fest type events, to platfrom and challenge the perceptions of the cape town environment, that its exclusively a space where communities are divided, and run by just middle and aspiring upper class for there own sense of moral justification... something I strongly disagreed was happening, and which i thought had the potential of damaging the Cape Town and South African brand, as well as not creating the right environmental for a broad based inter-cultural dialogue... I am not a classically trained artist or curator by a long chalk... but i like to think i am some one that is up for participating in and challenging the pertinent issues that are facing communities, not just in observatory and cape town, but where ever these prejudices and misinformation issues exist... I intend to continue to do so... i hope that these developments and challenges have not negatively impact to badly on the community, and i just wish there was a more broad base of people to participate in these types of developments in Obs, as i am sure that these issues wouldn't continue cropping up.. On Dec 8 2010, 9:13 am, "Julia Teale" <[email protected]> wrote: > Dear Anton, I was involved in the festival at the beginning. I am also the > Chairperson of the OCA Arts Committee. I tried to work with Chakan Hislop > and found him dishonest and disingenuous from the start. I voiced these > misgivings and removed myself from the situation as my opinions were not > valued. It was then decided by all of us, that I and my commitee would have > nothing to do with the visual art component of the festival. The last thing > I heard was that Chakan had organized with the National Gallery to bring > Pierneef to Gugulective - a show worth over 100 million rands, to Obz! > Please. > > > > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Twigg, Anton" <[email protected]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Tuesday, December 07, 2010 9:39 PM > Subject: RE: [obsnw] Re: Shopping at Spar etc during the Obs fest > > "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change > the world. > Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." > - Margaret Mead > > I don't think that the people involved in the organization of the festival > went out of their way to inconvenience the citizens of Observatory, or in > fact enrich themselves. From what I understand they managed to salvage a > situation that would have scared off the most adventurous event organizer. > > I certainly cannot point a finger at the running of the event as I did not > get involved. If you feel you made every contribution to a successful event > that you can then by all means feel free to criticize. > > I for one don't want to live in Wisteria Lane, and think Obz needs things > like the festival to make it the interesting, vibrant, cosmopolitan suburb > that it is. > > Let's give credit where credit is due, and use the appropriate forums to > build a better community. > > Anton Twigg > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of > Biddy Greene > Sent: 07 December 2010 06:39 PM > To: The Observatory Neighbourhood watch > Subject: [obsnw] Re: Shopping at Spar etc during the Obs fest > > "The festival got permission from the Business owners to close off the > area." > > Is it legal for "the business owners" to stop me walking up the street > unless I pay? Closing off vehicular traffic (who can drive round > another way) is quite different from making people have to pay - or go > far further afield - if they want e.g. a litre of milk. My husband did > in fact manage to talk his way in without paying, but that's not the > point. > > There was at least some other stuff to eat, btw - John got some really > nice kebabs from Ganesh. > > This was a fiasco; but surely we can get it right next time...? > > On Dec 7, 2:28 pm, "Julia Teale" <[email protected]> wrote: > > I was given to understand that it was obligatory for Obs residents to pay > > R30 per person to have weekend access to the area whether they were > > interested in the festival or not. It disgusted me but I coughed up R90 > > anyway (there are three of us in the household) as I realized it was too > > late to complain about this decision and request something more realistic. > > I was then issued with pathethic paper armbands with halloween logos that > > we had to cut off when we needed to shower and then laboriously reattach > > with sticky tape each time we wanted to enter our own shopping district. I > > disagree with the notion that the festival was a success. It was cobbled > > together last minute and a bunch of generously minded musicians agreed to > > perform. The stalls were horribly boring, selling rubbishy tourist tat and > > the only food to be had was borewors. And we call this a Festival of > > Arts!!!!! My heart went out to those clubs and pubs who had paid musicians > > to play and had to charge an entry fee to cover costs. The attendance at > > these places was poor because people resented having to pay yet another > > entrance fee. What a fiasco. I suggest that next year you call it what it > > is "The Obz Beer Fest" or the "Obz (now carefully monitored) Bender", or, > > more playfully, "The Obz Jol" but please, not the Observatory Festival of > > Arts. If you wish to understand why, please attend Grahamstown Arts > > Festival, or Outshoorn Festival. > > > Further, as a concerned and interested resident, I would like to see, > > publically posted, clear accounting for the event. What money came in, > > what was paid out and to whom, and who benefited financially from the > > event. I think as a resident I have a right to this knowledge as it will > > affect my support of any kind of this event in the future. > > > Julia Teale ----- Original Message ----- > > From: Ancois Bester > > To: [email protected] > > Sent: Monday, December 06, 2010 4:56 PM > > Subject: Re: [obsnw] Shopping at Spar etc during the Obs fest > > > Hi Jo, > > > The festival got permission from the Business owners to close off the > > area. Gate staff did however use their discretion where residents were > > concerned and the policy was to let folks pass to be able to do their > > shopping at Spar or visit the video store. > > > Best, > > Ancois > > > On Mon, Dec 6, 2010 at 3:03 PM, Jo-Anne Stolk <[email protected]> > > wrote: > > > Hi all > > > On Saturday my husband and I thought we'd pop into Spar but were > > foiled when we saw that the whole precinct was gated off (the gate to > > the parking lot was locked as well). I didn't see anything about > > access to shops for residents and we sure weren't going to pay the > > entrance fee just to buy a bottle of cooldrink at Spar. Were the shop > > owners aware that non festival-goers wouldn't be able to shop there? > > Was any provision made for residents needing to access these shops? > > > Jo > > > -- > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > > "The Observatory Neighbourhood watch" group. > > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > > [email protected]. > > For more options, visit this group > > athttp://groups.google.com/group/obsnw?hl=en. > > > -- > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > > "The Observatory Neighbourhood watch" group. > > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > > [email protected]. > > For more options, visit this group > > athttp://groups.google.com/group/obsnw?hl=en. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "The Observatory Neighbourhood watch" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group > athttp://groups.google.com/group/obsnw?hl=en. > > The information in this email is unless otherwise stated, confidential and > proprietary to brandhouse Beverages (Pty) Ltd and is intended solely for the > addressee. 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