Wits Art History Department in the 1980s Once upon a time a very long time ago, in a past life, I taught History of Art at Wits (for over 20 years). Traditionally art history courses in colonial institutions emphasized western art with some local subject matter included. However, the Art History Department at Wits was […]
Read More »Most creatives like to claim complete originality. In later life Picasso famously denied being influenced by African art when painting Les Demoiselles d’Avignon in 1907, even though there was ample source material in what was then the Musée du Trocadéro in Paris. So Moerdijk, the architect of the Voortrekker Monument, was not alone in denying […]
Read More »Load shedding (planned) versus power outage Eskom, a South African parastatal, is the country’s main supplier of electricity. For reasons too depressing and lengthy to go into here, there is a serious national shortage of power supply. So for some 12 years now South Africa has been subjected to what it terms ‘load shedding’, which […]
Read More »Finding treasure at Liz at Lancaster Some time ago in BC days (Before Covid) I made up a treasure hunt for one my young grandsons who was having a week-end sleepover. What excitement as he hurtled from one clue to another, each clue carefully zig-zagged at the furthest possible distance from each other around the […]
Read More »In B.C days – not millennia ago – just Before Covid, a friend and I were walking along the Spruit at Delta Park. We saw a man with a home-made poop-scoop, hard at work around the local land mark known as the Blue Bridge which crosses the Braamfontein stream. I was fascinated and went to […]
Read More »Despite day 107, Level 3, Stage 2 ….. Liz at Lancaster is well-prepared South Africa is currently in Level 3 Lockdown (with 5 being the most stringent imposed at midnight on 26th March 2020 and 1 being the lifting of all restrictions), PLUS we are Stage 2 load shedding (rolling 4 hour power outages), with […]
Read More »Self-contained units provide ideal social distancing Here are 10 reasons why Liz at Lancaster Guesthouse provides optimal accommodation for Level 3 and 2 stay overs Direct access from your car to your unit. No reception check-in, lifts or corridors. All rooms have separate entrances and enclosed private outdoor spaces Staff and management live on site […]
Read More »Please don’t treat South African citizens like fools You had us all on-side Mr President. Only yesterday I sung your praises. But then the Minister of Cooperative governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) announced the Level 4 Lockdown regulations due to come into effect tomorrow 1st May. The reversal of the lifting of the ban on […]
Read More »On Thursday 23rd April (4 weeks after Lockdown), President Ramaphosa addressed the nation to announce a phased relaxation of lockdown measures in South Africa. Nobody could give a more cogent response than Herman Le Roux in his Facebook post which has been dubbed “Saluting Our President“. I have copied it verbatim here: I just listened […]
Read More »Melandri’s message to others in Europe On day 3 of lockdown in South Africa (around 29th March) a piece from an Italian novelist was doing the rounds on social media. At that stage she had been on lockdown in Rome for 3 weeks and had written a letter to fellow Europeans, laying out the range […]
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