Exchange
Studio Talks with Sukuma Mkhize

July 3 – July 24, 2019

A four part investigation into astronomy, sound and art, co-ordinated by Artist-in-Residence Sukuma Mkhize.

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Part 1
Music Notation & Sound Sculpture with Nicolaas van Reenen
3 July
11am-12.30pm

Part 2
Numbers & Print (speaker TBC)
10 July
11am-12.30pm

Part 3
Geometry into Sculpture with David Brits
17 July
11am-1pm

Part 4
Physics & Geometry with Professor Jeff Murugan
24 July
11am-1pm

*Sukuma Mkhize is an astrophysicist, tutor in mathematics & physics, published writer and radio host. For the months of June & July, Mkhize is Artist-in-Residence at A4 Arts, where he explores the intersection of astronomy and art. Mkhize's work transforms fundamental ideas in physics into sound and light sculpture.

Screening
A Story of Sahel Sounds - Screening

July 4, 2019

Movie night: A Story of Sahel Sounds (2016, 82min).

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Shot across three continents, ‘A Story of Sahel Sounds’ follows Christopher Kirkley’s multi-disciplinary project to explore the arts and music of the Sahel region through non-traditional ethnographic fieldwork. Parts road-trip movie, portrait and music documentary, ‘A Story of Sahel Sounds’ follows Chris from Portland to Niger, on the road from the capital to Agadez – the gateway to the Saharan Desert – as he meets with long-term collaborators and new artists.

Visa calamities, hair salons and a European tour intersect with dreams of America, where cell-phone recordings are pressed onto high-fidelity vinyl discs for audiences of the future. Amidst asymmetrical power differentials, expanding globalism and new possibilities to claim musical and artistic independence, the artists try to reach for success - on stages and on cellphones.

‘A Story of Sahel Sounds’ is screened as part of the exhibition 'Sounding the Void, Imaging the Orchestra V.1', curated by Bhavisha Panchia.

Music performed by: Talia, Takamba de Niambey, Mona, Hama, Fatou Seïdi Ghali, Les filles de Illighadad, Mdou Moctar, mamman Sani, Lakal Kaney, Etran de L`Aïr

Residency
Sukuma Mkhize
June 10 – July 31, 2019

Artist-in-Residence Sukuma Mkhize.

︎ Go to Project Page

︎ More info...

Sukuma Mkhize is an astrophysicist, tutor in mathematics & physics, published writer and radio host. For the month of June, Mkhize is artist-in-residence at A4 Arts, where he explores the intersection of astronomy and art. Mkhize's work transforms fundamental ideas in physics into sound and light sculpture.

Exhibition
Sounding the Void, Imaging the Orchestra (Vol. 1)

June 6 – August 15, 2019

Sounding the Void, Imaging the Orchestra V.1: A multimedia exhibition curated by Bhavisha Panchia.

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How we listen determines what we hear - this is the central proposition of a new project curated by Bhavisha Panchia opening at A4 on Thursday the 6th of June.

The artworks in Sounding the Void, Imaging the Orchestra V.1 utilise audio phenomena that vary in medium; from vinyl records, video and installation to podcasts, web releases and performance lectures.

Featuring works by internationally acclaimed artists Vivian Caccuri, Chris Chafe, Nick Cave, Andrew Pekler, Robin Rhode, Sahel Sounds, and Jenna Sutela, in addition to a selection of podcasts from Phantom Power and audio media from Nothing to Commit Records, the project pursues the question: What kind of generative opportunity lies in the act of tactful listening?

Accompanying the exhibition is a public program of talks, workshops and seminars. These exchanges will feature practitioners working in various disciplines, probing the poetic, speculative and critical capacity of sound and listening.

Proto~

Taschen Pop- Up

May 15 – July 15, 2019

TASCHEN Pop- Up Book Store.

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German publishing house TASCHEN opens a pop-up shop at A4 Arts Foundation.

The curated selection of books features expert practitioners across artistic mediums including books about the artists Marlene Dumas, Ren Hang, Wolfgang Tillmans, Nobuyoshi Araki and Zaha Hadid.

Internships

CCA Internship Programme

April 10 – July 26, 2019

Centre for Curating the Archive (CCA): Student mentorship and exchange.

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The Academy at A4 Arts provides interns from the UCT's Centre for Curating the Archive (CCA) with mentoring, support, and a place for research. The internship programme offers hands-on experience in modalities and curatorial practise. It recognises the imperative to create spaces that accommodate contradiction and dissonance in order to support the new generation of curators.

Students develop a personal research project during their time at A4:
Nathalie Viruly researches the current CAPS curriculum for visual arts in South Africa. Her self-motivated project looks at elements of Obstetric Violence and The Fourth Trimester.
Aaliyah Ahmed works on a plan to map the curatorial underground of Cape Town. Her self-motivated project investigates images and traditions of Islamic practice in Cape Town’s local and diasporic Muslim community.

Exchange

Lego Robotics

September 22, 2018 - July 27, 2019

Lego Robotics workshops with ORT SA CAPE and Early Birds, Mfuleni.

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ORT SA runs twice monthly lego robotics workshops at A4 Arts for children from communities across Cape Town.

Working with groups of twenty young people on a Saturday morning, the facilitators offer a program that teaches robot-building, the value of team work, concentration, mechanics and app-based learning, and play.

The workshops use robotics to challenge children from six years of age and older to develop innovative solutions to challenging problems.