At the original Wandie's in Soweto, in Vanessa's office with Don Laka, Thabo Leshilo, Zwelakhe Sisulu at his office, Vanessa's daughter Tay and her friend Michelle at the African Crafts Market, Rosebank Mall; Iris and Gillian's daughter Malaika, all in Johannesburg, and sand sculpture, Durban Beach; Kim Berman, South African artist, discusses her work with U.S. textiles artist Mary Hark at the Art and Social Justice Conference.
Car Follies:
On Sunday, the 14th of March, I made my way back to the airport to exchange my bigger car, whose left side rear view mirror was dangling, for a narrower model and a GPS. The GPS lady and I often disagreed and she would have to go about “recalculating” in her snotty British accent, but I felt slightly more confident as a driver.
Back to Pretoria
On Monday the 15th of March, I got up very early – near midnight, 3 a.m. and then 5 a.m., due to three cell phones, two borrowed from the guesthouse proprietor, went off at those times. I had an 8 a.m. meeting in Pretoria with Mary Metcalfe, an ANC comrade who was appointed by Zuma as Director General of the Higher Education and Training Department. I got there early and bought a newspaper – thankfully, because the interview did not start till after 9 a.m. Her assistant Ivy was friendly; Mary was delayed at the University of Pretoria. She was apologetic and gracious and gave me as much time as I wanted.
Then I met John Mojapelo again and we went to UNISA, the largest university in South Africa, most of it distance learning. John received his undergraduate and law degrees there. The complex is vast (see photos). It also occurred to me that some of my colleagues would be quite happy here – you’re a professor, but there are no students around. We were there to have John sign a dozen copies of his book and mail them to Peg Simpson in Washington, D.C., for a future book party. We plan to Skype in John if we can’t figure out a way for him to get there. Afterward, even though he had a Supreme Court filing deadline to meet, John took me to Union Buildings, according to my guidebook, “designed by the renowned architect Sir Herbert Blake to house the administrative offices of the Union of South Africa in 1910…the impressive Renaissance building with its Cape Dutch and Italian influences may be admired from the peaceful gardens.” Also in the peaceful gardens:
Shopping! See photo John took of me bargaining with a Zulu woman. (separate blog entry)
I notice that often when black people, however dressed or situated, meet other black people, they go immediately from English to another language. (South Africa since 1994 has 11 official languages.) John explained that the language of blacks in and around Pretoria historically is Sepidi, although he said now, with migration and immigration, a black person could very well speak another language entirely. I also learned that the beautiful hills he can see from his home study are called Matjieskop. John is in his 70s, but still maintains an active law practice and office near the courts downtown and is working on updates and additions to his Lady Selborne book and on his autobiography. Elizabeth is principal of a school and will retire in August. Already, she has business plans with her relatives, John told me. Although I did not meet her, since she was spending the weekend with her mother, their 3-year-old granddaughter lives with them.
Gender Links, Wits, Seafood
On Tuesday, I once more visited Gender Links and met with four staff members who briefed me on its various programs. I also visited Anton Harber in the new quarters of the journalism program at Wits – the University of the Witerwatersand. We discussed its focus on post-graduate education, for fourth-year students (about 20 each year) and its mid-career program, aimed at older students, particularly those of color, who may not have had the opportunity to go to university, but get credit for life and work experience to enter this intensive journalism training program. That evening, I brought take-away seafood (found out it’s linefish, not lime, and could be any one of a variety of whitefish caught that day; prawns, calamari, chips and Greek salad) to my friend Liz’s, where I spent the night and go reacquainted with her dog, cat and once-a-week domestic worker Nora. The two share a long history…
Vanessa et al
On Wednesday, I moved to the bedroom off the office of JTComms, a PR agency specializing in representing artists, particularly musicians, created by Vanessa Perumal. Note photo of me with one of her clients, Don Laka, who wrote all the songs on his new CD Poison. I worked side by side on my computer with her and her hard-working staff – she graciously let me use an Internet plug-in. Much of the afternoon I spent contacting Niemans in hopes we could meet for dinner the following night. It was the only consistent Internet access I have had in this country (I’m writing this in my Durban hotel room, which, once again, has promised – for a fee – Internet, but it’s not working and the receptionist just referred me to a woman she described as the only other American staying here (Mary from Madison, Wisconsin) for help. She said hers worked yesterday, but not today.
Zwelakhe
On Thursday, I had a wonderful conversation with Zwelakhe Sisulu at his lovely, tasteful, art-filled office set in a large garden in a calm Northern suburb. Once a freedom fighter, son of the legendary Walter and Albertina Sisulu, founder of the New Nation newspaper, he now has vast interests in mining, energy and media.
I had hoped to meet Gail Smith, editor of City Pulse, and someone recommended to me by Dr. Lisa Brock and by Renee Ferguson, a television investigative journalist in her Nieman class. Lisa and I are hoping to bring Gail to CCC for a visiting professorship in Fall 2010. Sadly, Gail lost her mother Shirley earlier this week. Vanessa and I went to the funeral in the neighborhood where Shirley grew up, taught typing to generations of students, and was a friend to all. The church was filled to overflowing.
Thabo, Mbo
Later that afternoon I met with Thabo Leshilo, ombusman and columnist for Azusa, and then toured Soweto with Mbo Mashile, sister of the now- famous performance poet, Lebo Mashile, whom Vanessa represents. Mbo, he eldest sister, born when her mother was only 15, was born here. The two younger sisters (the other is a chemical engineer) were born in Providence, Rhode Island, and have dual citizenship. Lebo is a Glamour magazine woman of the year and is featured in the current British Airways magazine.
The skies were threatening as we drove south toward Soweto, a sprawling township where leaders of the struggle lived. We visited the Hector Pieterson Museum in Orlando West Township, commemorating the Soweto Uprising of 1976. The government had declared that all education must be conducted in Afrikans. The students planned a peaceful march. On the 16th of June, the students marched, stones were thrown, and shots rang out, killing a boy who had joined the march out of curiosity. After this violence, students at all levels, including university, demonstrated. The museum, opened by Nelson Mandela in 2002, includes oral histories from people who were there, artifacts, and documentary photographs, including the signature photograph of a young man (who has since disappeared) running with Hector’s limp body in his arms, his sister Antoinette screaming in anguish at his side, toward the only clinic where the doctor pronounced the boy dead.
While we and many school children were in the museum, a huge thunderstorm hit, with hail and heavy rain pounding the ceiling and the windows. At closing time of 5 p.m., Mda and I drove around to see the former homes of Walter Sisulu and Nelson Mandela, the home of Soweto TV (a community-based, television station that launched to years ago), located between a church and a primary school, and ended up at a famous bistro (in their rougher incarnations called shebeens in the townships), Wandie’s, for a cold drink and reflection. The same airline magazine for March 2010 writes, “Chef-patron Wandi Ndala is the granddaddy of township destination-dining, and his tavern-style eatery is still one of the best in the business.”
That evening, all of us – Vanessa’s children Tay and JJ, her husband Dees and Mda went to dinner at a seafood place in the Rosebank Mall.
At the Mall
On Saturday, I drove Tay and her friend Michelle (soon to move to New Zealand) to the post office to mail some books, souvenirs and excess clothes and then to the mall to visit the African craft center. It was fun – and a big responsibility – to drive these 12-year-olds around. Unfortunately, each celebrity they asked me if I knew – Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber, never met him/her, but we had fun playing in the African market and taking silly photographs, such as one with a woman dressed as a bride to attract customers.
Braai at Iris's and Gillian's
That afternoon and evening, I was at a braai at the home of Iris Dawn Parker, a photographer and filmmaker I had met in Chicago, and her partner Gillian, a business professor (strategic planning) at Wits at their beautiful home in Parktown North. Excellent food, conversation, and a 9-minute preview of her documentary in progress. In 1998, Iris came to South Africa from the U.S. and taught photography to 10 children in a township 45 minutes from Johannesburg. The film traces their life stories since then. Among the guests was Professor Tawana Kupe, Dean of the Arts Faculty at Wits, whom Vanessa had told me about, and a woman who spent two decades as a New York City police officer before moving to South Africa. And, of course, their darling, talkative 2-year-old daughter, who sat on my lap.
Sunday morning, said good-bye to Vanessa, Dee's and their family and made it to the airport (no help from the crazy GPS lady! ). The trip should have taken less than half an hour on Sunday morning; she got me all tangled up downtown and then “lost satellite connection,” leaving me stranded. Luckily, I had an old-fashioned fold-up map, too, although it took me more than an hour to get there.
Then aboard the flight to Durban, my seatmate engaged me in a conversation about U.S. health care. I mentioned how efficient the system was in Costa Rica when my daughter and I were bit by a scorpion. He told me he recently took a fishing buddy to the hospital when a complex fishing lure/hook got embedded in his hand, and the total bill was 15 Rand (about $2). Turns out the buddy is Stelios, the husband of Peg Simpson’s friend Julie I’m supposed to meet on this visit to the Durban area. Small world, indeed!
Art and Social Justice Conference
No one met me at the airport, as promised by the first Art and Social Justice Conference. Two hundred Rand later, I arrived at my modest hotel (though conveniently located)…no Internet (yet)… two other Americans going to the conference are also staying here – one is at the Savannah College of Art and is originally from Ethiopia. She was imprisoned in Somalia for 10 years! The other is a textiles artist from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. We walked across the street to the Durban Art Gallery (note giant taxidermied elephant head). Wonderful exhibit of street childrens’ work. Stiltwalkers from Bremen, Germany, sister city of Durban, described a suitcase project where refugees write poems and statements and display items of significance inside the trunks. Albie Sachs keynoted and after, I got to meet his wife, Vanessa, an architect, and their 3-year-old son Oliver. I also met a fascinating woman from Sudan, who also works with homeless children and many other. The streetchildren created art about their basic needs – health, shelter, education, food — in an exhibition that opened tonight. Earlier in the day, they played soccer in the Street Child World Cup. “By putting on their national football shirt and representing their country, it is hoped that street children will begin to be owned by their countries, not disowned,” according to a representative of the Durban Art Gallery.
Monday, March 22 – a public holiday for Human Rights. The holiday is really March 21, commemorating Sharpeville, where people were peacefully protesting the pass laws in a march on this day in 1960. Police opened fire, klling 69.
All-day conference at the Durban University of Technology. Fascinating presenters from all over the world, from a young Wyoming undergraduate talking about the culture of skateboarding to a distinguished Zimbabwean, a former librarian whose grown sons are a journalist living in Scotland and a banker living in New York. Another woman from Zimbabwe, a teacher, delivered a poem on saying no to gender violence. A woman from Latvia and another from Montreal came from Saudi Arabia, where they are teaching art to women at a university. Ela Ghandi, grand-daughter of Mohatma Gandhi is the chancellor of DUT and said she spoke as a human rights advocate, not an artist. Kim Berman, who pioneered the “paper prayers” project for people infected and affected by HIV-AIDS. Now 12 years old, the project “provides a model for the adaptability, resourcefulness and creativity required to sustain arts programmes founded on the ideal of social transformation toward a just and equitable society.” In the catalogue for the exhibit, Berman notes: “a Paper Prayers print is a fragile and ephemeral item, made with humble materials after a few hours’ work. Despite its size, these small items have collectively had a broad impact in confronting the HIV/AIDS pandemic in South Africa.” The base of the effort was in Artist Proof Studio, which burned to the ground after an electrical short in an appliance sparked an explosion that killed co-founder Nhlanhla Xaba. on the 9th of March in 2003.
“Several weeks after the fire, the artists worked in teams to build collages from the remains of the burnt prints. The resulting large-scale panels that were produced are arguably some of the strongest work ever to emerge from APS. One series of three panels were about ‘Past,’ ‘Present’ and ‘Future;’ The other three were titled ‘Conflict,’ ‘Conversation’ and ‘Reconciliation.’ “ The work has expanded and received support from, among others, the Ford Foundation and Johnson & Johnson.
It’s such an eclectic group of people here for this conference, making for stimulating conversations throughout the day…
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