Celebrate winter and the 10th Hermanus FynArts Festival from 10 – 19 June with family, friends, and like-minded festival-goers. Share ten days of looking, learning, listening, and actively engaging against the backdrop of Walker Bay.
Louis Jansen van Vuuren | Iris III
The festival opens once again under the baton of Richard Cock at the Dutch Reformed Church in Hermanus and closes on Sunday 19 June at the Dutch Reformed Church in Onrus with a performance presented by the Cape Town Youth Wind Ensemble. This concert will be conducted by Faan Malan. Between these two concerts, Hermanus will be alive with jazz, ensembles, recitals the Enlighten Marimba Concert as well as the first-ever Choir Celebration with seven primary schools in Greater Hermanus taking part.
Two theatre productions to look forward to are Gertrude Stein and a Companion, a theatre production about the American novelist, poet, playwright, and art collector who, with Alice Toklas, found refuge in the bohemian decadence of Paris where they entertained avant-garde writers and painters such as Ernest Hemingway and Picasso, and SMILE, a new one-man musical show that celebrates the genius of Charlie Chaplin in a multi-media experience. And lastly, Music al la Carte is a journey of dance of some of the most popular magical moments from well-known musicals by the dancers of Dance for All (SA).
Dance for All 4
The Strauss & Co Series of Interviews and Presentations opens on Saturday 11 June with the presentation of the FynArts Legacy Award to David Kramer. This award is presented each year at the discretion of the FynArts Advisory Board for its longstanding and distinctive contribution to the arts in South Africa and beyond. David will be interviewed by journalist and poet, Danie Marais.
The line-up in the Strauss & Co Series includes a wide range of topics, from an exploration into the visual languages of Pierneef by Ian Hunter, an art specialist at Strauss & Co, and a presentation entitled Art of the Ocean by Kate Jonker, an award-winning photographer of quirky and vibrant marine life, to two richly illustrated and historical presentations about the lives and careers of Chanel and Dior, by Felicity Jervis. Also on the programme is the deeply personal memoir, Every day is an opening night, a talk by Des Lindberg about his 55-year career together with Dawn, and a conversation between Barbara Masekela and Christopher Hope about her memoir, Poli Poli. A number of discussions such as Prisons: Promise or Peril, by Edwin Cameron and Why a Kaaps Dictionary? a question answered by Adam Haupt are also included.
Saturday the 11th has become the traditional day for the opening of all the FynArts group exhibitions and many exhibitions in private galleries. In celebration of FynArts 10, an exhibition of work by all seven previous Festival Artists will be found at the FynArts Gallery and a bumper Sculpture on the Cliffs exhibition of work by fifteen sculptors who have previously taken part in this exhibition will be installed at Gearing’s Point. Art in the Auditorium is an exhibition of small sculptures by a range of current and past artists who have previously also installed works on the cliffs.
The first exhibition to open will be the popular ceramic exhibition held at the Windsor Hotel. There is no ordinary, comprises thirty-eight ceramicists, and is curated by Liz Coates. This opening will be followed by the openings of Sculpture on the Cliffs and the exhibition of the Festival Artists curated by Marilyn Martin. Later in the afternoon Ebb and Flow, the art of thread, curated by Dal Botha, will be opened at the Marine Hotel.
Displaced
Monique Day Wilde
Workshops for all levels of proficiency will be offered for those interested in enhancing a skill or learning a new one. Topics include a variety of painting techniques, ceramics, photography, musical performance, the art of re-using fabric to make string and string products and sculpting wild-life in clay. Two 2-day workshops are offered, these are Mindfulness for Beginners with Merle Levin, an international facilitator with many of experience in meditation and mindfulness, and Creative Breaththroughs by Don Shay, based on the Artist’s Way programmes.
As always, each day is spiced up with food, wine, and other tastings. From Monday 13 – Friday 17, five chefs will each present morning and an afternoon preparing and presenting dishes on a theme of their choice. These vary from Always Fresh, Fusion, Foraging, Overberg Mediterranean and Say it with Cheese. On each Saturday festival-goers take a tasting journey through the Hemel-en-Aarde wines at the Marine Hotel. A mini-series of wine tastings will take place at the Wine Glass. Curated by Melvyn Minnaar, this includes Three Personalities, Eighteen Different Vital Wines as well as a blind tasting – What do you Taste? Well-known local, Paul du Toit will be back once again, also at the Marine Hotel, with a gin and brandy tasting. Overberg Honey Company and Klein River Cheese will join forces to stimulate the palate in less common pairings.
The full programme and e-booklet are available at www.hermanusfynarts.co.za as well as the link to sign up for the FynArts newsletter. Bookings can be made on webtickets.co.za, also via hermanusfynarts.co.za, and telephonic with Chantel Louskitt, administrative coordinator on 060 957 5371. For further information contact Mary Faure, FynArts Director on 084 600 7058.
All Covid regulations, applicable at the time, will be strictly adhered to for the safety and comfort of all FynArts supporters. At this stage tickets are limited as only 50% occupancy of all venues is currently permitted.