Zula Culture 7th of February
LOVE


J. I think it is appropriate to start off with Charlotte Coetzee, from Vino du cap, introducing Akkerdal this month. THANK YOU, you are always making sure that there is a wine tasting set up for every Zula Culture.
This will contribute to Cape Town ’s wine drinking culture by giving people the chance to taste hand crafted creations out of the heart of the Boland! There is a lot of creativity involved in the art of wine making. Mind you….I still have a lot to learn about the appreciating wine, how about you Zoe?!!!

Z : If it’s wet and smooth then I’m appreciating it! So Jolette, empty your mind of all that has happened since and cast your mind back to the last Zula Culture, did you feel the Love?

J : I feel happy about the synergy of the exhibition, and the way that each artist interpreted the theme, LOVE! There was a whole build up to the exhibition night with artists consulting each other and keeping me up to date with their creative growth and challenges of their artworks.

Z : The exhibition room looked amazing. The new red walls looked so right for the theme and the hanging hearts that Lara was exhibiting created the illusion of them suspended in mid air around the middle of the room.

J : I love Lara Kruger’s work, she experiments with all kinds of materials. Her instillation of hearts, which rounded of the exhibition room, was made out of recycled plastic bags. Love for the environment! They were beautiful, with words of inspiration on them. There were a lot of messages being communicated to the viewers by the artists.

Z ;(back to lara) It really balanced the room and brought the artwork off the walls and into an interactive space. One person who for me really reflected Love for your Environment was Tony, what an amazing bloke. The interview he gave was so engrossing that me and Vusa could have just sat on that coach and listened all night long. Hemporium is a fantastic brand that have passionate people behind it working towards a cultural revolution that could empower South Africa beyond belief and make massive steps to the country being self sufficient. His talk was not only massively engaging with visual objects to back up his facts, but it was so educational, I really learnt so much from him and I truly support everything he has the balls to stand for.

J : Through their product range they educate consumers on hemp, and all the amazing, earth friendly products this sustainable plant can be made into, we can all be part of creating a greener planet by supporting these products. And No you cant smoke this plant!

Z: It’s always a hard responsibility to take on board that you as the small little consumer have the power to place your support on industry to start the change. He really got that across and seeing as the audience were hanging off his every word, lets hope he changed the minds of a handful of consumers.
Jolette, your cloths looked amazing hanging on the walls I was so gutted that you had a buyer for that patchwork skirt, I’ve put my order in though!

J: My mini collection for this exhibition touched a few subjects on LOVE. Love for your environment, Love for your people and country, Love for yourself and Love for creation. I used a combination of hemp, recycled fabric, re-fabrication, information boards and brochures to communicate my theme. I think it is essential to be conscious about our environment and our people, to see how we can be part of the solution. If we all join these efforts it would be easier to take bigger steps towards a better tomorrow for our precious environment and us. See contact sheet for websites on some of these topics. And get involved!

Z: There’s not that much time left either to be able to make drastic changes. We have to take the pot smoking hippie image out of being green, and allow it to be a big part of every household’s consciousness.

J: Nicola Carstens, with her label Dictionary made artworks to touch the senses, beautiful textile prints! I wish that I could be the proud owner of all five canvases! Jani introduced Indian head massage, a tangible expression of mystery and magic, practised in villages through out India. Part of everyday life. I should really treat myself to more of these!! Imagine the contribution to ones well-being! Love yourself! We are the best assets we have!

Z: I was so gutted that I didn’t get a head massage, I was seeing so many people blissed out and dribbling, she looked very good at what she does. I have managed to cut a deal though and we will be asking her back to another Zula Culture….and I’m first in line!

J: Diaan de Beer, a fine photographer expressed his love for the beauty of a woman, and his love for a discontinued material, Polaroid. These black and white photographs made many heads turn! Love for creation! I was delighted to have Noluthando Kewuti photographs in the exhibition room, capturing stories of life celebrations, humour and tragedy. Love your people!

Z: The photographs looked really striking mounted on the wall. The black and white prints really captured love, and as for Noluthando’s prints; I thought she had captured township life so beautifully. The little boy coming out of the bin really stuck in my mind.

J: I really loved the energy of the stalls on the balcony selling a range of products and clothing. We Had Carmen Ziervogel and Tammany Kavannagh with their stall FABLE, beautiful earrings, clothes and toys!! Hemporium had hemp products ranging from clothes, jewellery, fabric, skin products to the seed that you can eat (the seeds is soooo nutritional). And all of these products are eco friendly…. hemp is a weed and doesn’t need any pesticides…. I still have to find out a bit more on the production of these products?

Z That was so sweet of Carmen to give you a pair of earrings. She sold quite a few on the night. Impala earrings are so spot on for you.

J: Aren’t they just, I really like them. The performance by Sylvester was as romantic as always! He was one of the inspirations for February’s theme.

Z: Hasn’t he got a voice that just makes you melt. As soon as we decided on the theme for this month he popped straight into our minds. He supports Zula a lot as an artiste and plays regularly on Tuesday night acoustic sessions, and is now playing the balcony sundowner sessions on Friday between 5 – 7pm, so come check him out.

J: Zoe, what can I say, you and Vusa make a good team!

Z: It’s lovely singing with him as we always worked in different projects before we moved to South Africa. I think you are going to see more of us together as we have started to write songs, and they are sounding pretty good if I do say so myself.

J: Unfortunately I missed Sarah performance on the red couch!

Z: That was amazing, I think you just saw the part when they were behind the coach taking their cloths off, what a moment to walk in! It started with Sarah looking at her phone waiting for a guy to call and she captured that horrible feeling we all go through at some stage when we are waiting….and waiting, then the phone rings and male dancer joined Sarah on stage and they began a very contemporary dance that flowed in synergy together so beautifully. If I was with a guy like him, who cared more about the newspaper than me, I think I’d leave. It showed how beautifully dance can work in a bar environment though.

J: Wow, I really really enjoyed the Capoeira performance! The movement was so beautiful, a dance defence!

Z: The interview they gave afterwards was great as well. Through puffing and panting they explained where Capoeiera came from and started. It is always so empowering when you see bodies working in such tight unison and with so much trust.
Then the night speeded past us again and before we knew it, it was time to have the final act which was a band called Cool Meditation. They are a new band and they had never played in Zula before. What a nice bunch of guys and they played sweet reggae music to dance out the theme of love.

So, any form of love before it comes from anywhere needs to come from you, to yourself. It’s lovely the whole exhibition picked up more on that theme, and love for your environment other than the normal love theme of February that we all put too much stock in. The stock needs to be added to the love inside before it comes from any other place.
Thanks to everyone who was involved and helped February Zula Culture to be an enriching success!

J: Don’t miss out on Zula Culture on the 7th of March, for a true Cape Town celebration!

Peace & Love,
Zoe and Jolette

... Lara's hearts

... Tony of Hemporium

... Jolette's creations

... Hemporium on the balcony

... Sylvester, romantic as ever

... Sarah's dance

... Capoeiera


... Jolette and Co.