Diary: Divine designs, sleeping beauty, blank projects and body count

Ruan Galdino in The Sleeping Beauty. Photo supplied

Decorex in the Mother City

Decorex Cape Town, running from 6 to 9 June at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, promises an unmissable experience for design enthusiasts.

Among many attractions, visitors will have the opportunity to watch a sustainable, low-cost house being built live at the show over the course of four days. The sustainable house will be made out of sandbags. 

A number of décor and fashion brands will display their work, among them MaXhosa, which will showcase a fresh new line in a dedicated display. Designers and brands from across the country, such as Okhre Collective, JH Interiors, Anna Correira, Mezzanine, Artep Studio, Hocus Interiors and Mink Studio bring their designs to collaborative exhibitions: the Decorex House by Private Property, Lexus Designer Pods, and Plascon Vibrant Harmony Designer Pods.

For 100% Hospitality, Belgotex will create a spectacular hotel-inspired scheme. To bring this to life, the floor coverings brand will collaborate with Hesse Kleinloog.

Catch The Sleeping Beauty at Joburg Theatre 

Preparations are under way at Joburg Ballet for performances of The Sleeping Beauty.

Italy-based ballet mistress Sophie Sarrote brings a captivating production of the classic ballet to the Joburg Theatre from 28 June to 7 July. 

Tchaikovsky’s music will be played live by the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra at seven of the nine performances.

Audiences can expect a display of talent as Joburg Ballet’s leading dancers, along with three distinguished guest artists, alternate in the leading roles. 

Sarrote’s vision promises a blend of great choreography and enchanting storytelling.

With its combination of world-class music and exceptional dance, The Sleeping Beauty is set to be a highlight of the Johannesburg cultural calendar. 

Tickets available at Joburg Theatre’s box office, by calling 0861 670 670 or online at www.joburgtheatre.com or www.webtickets.co.za.

Kresiah Mukwazhi + Shaun Motsi at blank projects

Artists Kresiah Mukwazhi and Shaun Motsi have exhibitions at blank projects gallery in Cape Town, which will run until 6 July. 

Mukwazhi’s show, titled Body Count, features a new series of textile collages and paintings. 

It continues the artist’s inquiry into the female body as a political instrument and a contested site upon which the power dynamics of patriarchal society are played out.

The exhibition takes its title from the double meaning of the phrase, which refers not only to the number of people killed in a singular event but also, in more colloquial terms, the number of sexual partners a person has had.

Shaun Motsi presents a series of four oil-on-linen paintings titled Browns. The artist describes his approach as striving for “something in between a poetics of non-disclosure and what-you-see-is-what-you-get”. This sentiment guides viewers toward a cohesive experience with Motsi’s latest works, which resemble giant squares of nut-studded chocolate.

— Compiled by Lesego Chepape