{"id":572,"date":"2005-03-20T08:44:19","date_gmt":"2005-03-20T06:44:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nathanielstern.com\/blog\/?p=572"},"modified":"2005-03-20T08:44:37","modified_gmt":"2005-03-20T06:44:37","slug":"572","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nathanielstern.com\/blog\/2005\/03\/20\/572\/","title":{"rendered":"Newsletter: Exhibition of Literary Magazines and Related Art Works"},"content":{"rendered":"

Maybe it’s the ex-comic book geek in me (well, uh, maybe not so ex?), the former Reggae\/Ska fanatic with over 500 albums, the obsessions I have with text as a mediation\/translation\/creation of art and history, or maybe it’s just really rad – but this show kicks @ss.<\/p>\n

siebrits @ newsletter: izwi<\/p>\n

Warren Siebrits, his wife (huge Wopko Jensma fans, and their first gallery – Metroplex – in Rosebank showed some of his subversive work from the mid-Apartheid era) and Michael Gardiner have collectively put together a show of rare South African literary magazines from the 50s through the 80s. As if the collection of covers – laid out in glass tables – weren’t enough, some of the less hard-to-find gems are in the open air for us to gape at whilst we turn the pages, and Siebrits has also found, and is exhibiting, paintings, photographs, drawings and prints by artists whose works were either featured, or who created cover art or illustrations for them.<\/p>\n

Says Siebrits:<\/p>\n

The aim of doing this was to reinforce the strong links that existed at this time between artists and writers working in South Africa, in their common goal to fight censorship and challenge the status quo with regard to the stringent limitations placed on freedom of speech and association during this era.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

newsletter @ siebrits: classic<\/p>\n

(Sidenote: apparently, Siebrits is a huge collector of stuff<\/i>. Magazines, Star Wars dolls, art, music – you name it; as a kid, this is the kind of man I wanted to be when I grew up, only my mom wouldn’t let me….)<\/div>\n

A bit more on the show, from Gardiner, another collector and scholar:<\/p>\n

The first focus … consists of a brief account of fifteen of the literary magazines published [from 1956 – 1978]. The account is designed to provide essential information about [them] and a taste of each magazine’s qualities.<\/p>\n

The second area of focus is the display of works by artists associated with five magazines on this exhibition: The Purple Renoster, The Classic, Wurm, Izwi and Staffrider. These works have been selected by Warren Siebrits.<\/p>\n

There are omissions that must be acknowledged. One, the round of interviews with editors is incomplete. Where possible, written accounts by editors have been consulted instead.<\/p>\n

Second, some magazines from this period have been omitted. These are: S’ketsh’ (1975 to 1979) and magazines from the early eighties such as Heresy, The Bloody Horse and Quarry as well as Taaldoos and Stet. They are part of the story and should be included in future accounts.<\/p>\n

A figure in this exhibition that merits particular mention is Wopko Jensma. He is associated with every magazine on display except three. His presence, therefore, runs like a thread through the story that these magazines tell. It is for this and more personal reasons that I dedicate this catalogue to Wopko Jensma, the wonderful artist and poet.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

My other favorite things are the knowledge bits, like the sticky note on the one of the covers that says “actually, this is issue number 2, not 3 – this is a misprint” and the articles that cover the history of their collecting and showing (where they found the zines, what interested them, etc), just as much as the history of the magazines themselves.<\/p>\n

This show is worth a lot more time than I gave it, and I plan to go back. You should, too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Maybe it’s the ex-comic book geek in me (well, uh, maybe not so ex?), the former Reggae\/Ska fanatic with over 500 albums, the obsessions I have with text as a mediation\/translation\/creation of art and history, or maybe it’s just really rad – but this show kicks @ss. Warren Siebrits, his wife (huge Wopko Jensma fans, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6,4,11,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-art","category-news-and-politics","category-poetry","category-south-african-art"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s9blZT-572","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":558,"url":"https:\/\/nathanielstern.com\/blog\/2005\/02\/25\/sekoto-to-sihlali-nine-black-pioneers-of-south-african-art\/","url_meta":{"origin":572,"position":0},"title":"sekoto to sihlali: nine black pioneers of south african art","author":"nathaniel","date":"25 February 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"ephraim ngatane's snow on location Sjoe. Between these, Dumile Feni at JAG, and the current show at Siebrits (titled and pictured), Joburgers and South Africans at large are being inundated with amazing, contemporary work by South Africans of color, as of late. It's great. Perhaps it's a way to (finally)\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "art"","block_context":{"text":"art","link":"https:\/\/nathanielstern.com\/blog\/category\/art\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":591,"url":"https:\/\/nathanielstern.com\/blog\/2005\/04\/22\/watercolours-and-works-on-paper-warren-siebrits\/","url_meta":{"origin":572,"position":1},"title":"watercolours and works on paper @ warren siebrits","author":"nathaniel","date":"22 April 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"kentridge's UNTITLED watercolor concertina, circa 1991 First, I gotta say that the siebrits site is just about finished, and it's already looking pretty classy... I like it when SA arts go live for the rest of the world to find! Woot. Second, as usual, Warren et al have put together\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "art"","block_context":{"text":"art","link":"https:\/\/nathanielstern.com\/blog\/category\/art\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":851,"url":"https:\/\/nathanielstern.com\/blog\/2005\/10\/21\/jo-ractliffe-warren-siebrits\/","url_meta":{"origin":572,"position":2},"title":"jo ractliffe @ warren siebrits","author":"nathaniel","date":"21 October 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Jo Ractliffe, from her Real Life series, at Warren Siebrits gallery, Johannesburg The beautiful and amazing Jo Ractliffe exhibits yet another beautiful and amazing show at Warren Siebrits this month. The show opened on Tuesday eve (I had to go and leave early, since I teach those nights) to a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "art"","block_context":{"text":"art","link":"https:\/\/nathanielstern.com\/blog\/category\/art\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":966,"url":"https:\/\/nathanielstern.com\/blog\/2005\/12\/08\/gerhard-marx-warren-siebrits-gallery\/","url_meta":{"origin":572,"position":3},"title":"Gerhard Marx @ Warren Siebrits Gallery","author":"nathaniel","date":"08 December 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"... brilliant work, and so forgive me if I gush a little too much...","rel":"","context":"In "art"","block_context":{"text":"art","link":"https:\/\/nathanielstern.com\/blog\/category\/art\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":787,"url":"https:\/\/nathanielstern.com\/blog\/2005\/09\/21\/sculptures-at-siebrits\/","url_meta":{"origin":572,"position":4},"title":"sculptures at siebrits","author":"nathaniel","date":"21 September 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"I didn't get a catalogue this time, so am admittedly at a bit of a loss about the work (I'm not exactly known for being an expert in African sculpture). There's a little bit about it on the Siebrits site. Still, the stuff is beautiful; is it just me, or\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "art"","block_context":{"text":"art","link":"https:\/\/nathanielstern.com\/blog\/category\/art\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1080,"url":"https:\/\/nathanielstern.com\/blog\/2006\/02\/18\/kentridge-subotzky-siebrits\/","url_meta":{"origin":572,"position":5},"title":"Kentridge, Subotzky, Siebrits","author":"nathaniel","date":"18 February 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Mikhael Subotzky, from Die Vier Hoeke and UmjiegwanaHit up the William Kentridge book launch - William Kentridge Prints - at David Krut this morning, and got a fresh start of drinking wine before noon. W00+! A beautiful book, some nice text, and an interesting opening by drama academic Jane Taylor,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "art"","block_context":{"text":"art","link":"https:\/\/nathanielstern.com\/blog\/category\/art\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Mikhael Subotzky, from Die Vier Hoeke and Umjiegwana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nathanielstern.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/02\/subot8.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nathanielstern.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/572","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nathanielstern.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nathanielstern.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nathanielstern.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nathanielstern.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=572"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nathanielstern.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/572\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nathanielstern.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nathanielstern.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nathanielstern.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}