Attending events

If you are attending a major event in Newtown be alert - The Newtown Management District warns visitors not to be intimated by entrepreneurial 'car guards' who poach patrons from designated parking areas. These 'car guards' demand a fee of R50 or more because, according to the 'car guard', there is no more parking available anywhere else. Ignore these 'car guards' and proceed to Newtown designated parking at Market Theatre, 1 Central Place, Mary Fitzgerald Square, the Bassline or Sci-Bono. (refer to map)

Events

Foreplay at the Market Theatre 12th January 2010 - 14th March 2010
The Market Theatre presents the South African State Theatre’s production of Foreplay written and directed by Mpumelelo Paul Grootboom starting on ...
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The Market Theatre presents The Pen 18th January 2010 - 21st February 2010
When you want to find the truth and finally get it, can you handle it? Or will it drive you ...
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What's on at Drum Cafe 22nd January 2010 - 30th March 2010
Drum Cafe launches the Drum Cafe Gold Package and more. For info contact 011 834 4464 or email info@drumcafe.com ...
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Photographic Exhibition at Museum Africa 3rd February 2010 - 28th February 2010
A photographic exhibition ‘Child Labour’ by Dr. Magubene opens shortly at Museum Africa at 121 Bree Street in Newtown. For

News

I am not afraid exhibition at Joburg Art Gallery

In celebration of the Market Photo Workshop’s 20th anniversary, the acclaimed photography exhibition, I am not afraid, the Market Photo Workshop, Johannesburg, will be opening at the Johannesburg Art Gallery on Sunday 7 February 2010. The opening will be preceded by a panel discussion on the day at 2pm also to be hosted at the Johannesburg Art Gallery. The discussion will look at the role of documentary photography within the museum environment, and the impact of redefining documentary works as art objects.

The panel discussion will address the role of documentary photography in a museum context, and also discuss the impact of documentary works re-contextualised as art objects.For more information regarding the exhibition, or for press images, please contact either:

Antoinette Murdoch (Johannesburg Art Gallery) 011 725 3130, antoinettem@joburg.org.za or
Tim Zeelie (Market Photo Workshop) 011 834 1444, timz@marketphotoworkshop.co.za

The exhibition has been made possible by generous sponsorship from the Austrian Embassy, The Market Theatre Foundation and the National Arts Council. Read on about the panel discussion.

The Newtown 2010 Festival - bringing Joburg to the world

Newtown, the cultural hub of Johannesburg, is hosting a cultural festival for the duration of the Fifa World Cup in June, to show the world just what Joburg - and South Africa - has to offer. The Newtown 2010 Festival offers a month of music, dance, theatre, spoken word poetry, literature, craft, film, photography, science, outdoor performances and visual art held in a variety of indoor and outdoor venues.

The Newtown Management District has received funding from the Lotteries Board for a 2010 programme for Newtown. The funding will be used to market Newtown, for a legacy project, and the Newtown Festival itself. The Lotto funding will be used to create an atmosphere in the precinct that is fresh, energetic, creative and uniquely South African. Located in the heart of the city, with safe and easy access from Nelson Mandela Bridge and Carr Street interchange, Newtown is awash with theatres, art galleries, restaurants, museums, dance studios, craft markets, nightclubs and jazz spots.

Home-made musicians

Wow! Some people overcome the odds through sheer creativity ...

Moving into Dance update: Highlights of 2009

Highlights of the year include:

* Moving into great new premises, next door to the old premises. Constructed at a cost of approximately R7-million, the new facility features three new state-of-the-art studios with sprung dance floors, mirrors and abundant natural light, as well as a computer room where dancers can learn to use computers, or improve their knowledge.
* Three MIDM students scooped 1st, 2nd and 3rd places at the CIT:Y Festival Awards. Teboho Matlala came first and Julia Burnham came second in the dance categories.
* Senior dancer Fana Tshabalala has joined French choreopgrapher Michel Kelemenis’ company Compagni Plaisir d’Offrir in Marseille, France, following a collaboration between Kelemenis and MIDM.
* The creation of the new work Ken Arok by resident choreographer Thabo Rapoo.

Calling all donors/funders of Con Hill and Greater Newtown Development Companies

Blue IQ Investment Holdings (Pty) Ltd, as a majority shareholder of Constitution Hill and Greater Newtown Development Companies, would like to call on all the donors or funders in the projects pertaining to the above mentioned companies to confirm the amount of funding provided/donated and whether funding was conditional or not.

JDA tender notices and invites

The Johannesburg Development Agency (Pty) Ltd (JDA), agency of the City of Johannesburg, invites tenders from companies requiring office space to make proposals for office space available at the Bus Factory, 3 President Street.

The Johannesburg Development Agency (Pty) Ltd (JDA), agency of the City of Johannesburg, invites tenders from small café, coffee shop or canteen operators to tender for the small shop at the Bus Factory, 3 President Street.

Hard hats for soccer mania: Fun and employment

Newtown Projects is a creative arts centre which was established earlier in 2009, to produce hand painted Makarapas, in response to expected demand generated around 2010 soccer mania. This has turned local innovation into employment!

Makarapa’s? Yes, from construction sites and gold mines, to carnival soccer mania, Makarapa's are as crazy as South Africans are inventive. Where else would you expect to find the most utilitarian of mining and construction site safety equipment turned into a head dress of wild exuberance and personal expression?

Like the Brazilian carnival features plumes of ostrich feathers and shimmers of sequins, South African soccer mania features plastic hard hats reformed as cut-out, folded-up, brightly painted personalised head-ware! Visit Newtown Projects at unit 4g, in the Mills
at 66 Carr Street.

Moshito reflects on another successful outing

The numbers are in and the Moshito Music Conference and Exhibition is reflecting on another successful outing that has seen the annual event cement its standing as Africa’s premier music industry event. Now in its sixth year, Moshito 2009 drew close to 500 delegates a day throughout its four days at Museum Africa in Newtown, Johannesburg.

Save for the Northern Cape, there was representation from all nine provinces, Africa, Europe, Australia, North America and South America.

The official programme featured 20 international speakers and a host of South African contributors who gave their input on many of the key issues facing the South African music industry, including how to grow digital music sales in South Africa, exporting domestic music internationally, meeting piracy head on and stimulating the live music scene in South Africa and Africa.

Newtown - Centre of Arts Training Excellence

Background
The Newtown Management District in the past has undertaken a survey of training by the various training organisations in Newtown. This survey was always problematic because of the diversity of training that takes place in Newtown and hence the results of the survey were not reliable or useful. It was decided that a more qualitative approach to the training be undertaken in order to produce a useful document that can be used for publicity for Newtown and its training organisations.

Introduction
Newtown may appear on the surface to be a tourist trap with a collection of coffee shops, a market and a few restaurants and clubs. But look a little deeper and you will find it’s an important training centre, where the youth, and particularly the disadvantaged youth, are trained in a variety of skills – often free of charge – which equips them adequately for the competitive world of the arts.

Next time you turn on your TV, attend the theatre or visit an exhibition, chances are high that the actors, announcers, photographers, artists, dancers and directors you see, or who made the programs, were trained in Newtown – Africa’s centre of the arts.

Photo: Elvis (Kenneth Nkosi) and Tumi (Rapulana Seiphemo) on the road in the Eastern Cape in a scene from White Wedding. They were both trained at the Market Laboratory.

Ever heard of the Unity Gallery?

The Prince of Newtown, otherwise known as S'thembiso Twala, is a famous and much-loved feature of the Joburg city arts landscape, and has been for over 20 years. A defining feature of Joburg's so-called Newtown Cultural precinct before its re-discovery and gentrification, Prince has three defining features over and above the work of art that is his life:

- He makes staggering African fashion out of a range of skins and other (often waste) materials.
- He plays a mean bass guitar.
- He has pioneered an increasingly well-recognised brand of 'knife and fork' jewellery across the Jozi arts scene. His work retails from his leather pouch, or at the Unity Gallery.

Silos gets some colour

The Silos development in Newtown is one of the most exciting developments to take place in South Africa in 2009/10. They will become a colourful showcase which changes the skyline of Joburg’s creative district forever.

Previously owned by Premier Milling, they were the first silos in the Johannesburg area. The shape of these buildings lend themselves to exciting designs, and thanks to a sponsorship by Dulux, strong colours have been used to ensure that these building achieve worldwide exposure in architectural publications. Construction is anticipated to start in January 2010 with completion and occupation planned for December 2010, so as to enable investors to maximise the chance of finding a tenant, as January is “peak season” for finding tenants in the Newtown / Braamfontein / CBD area.

BASA awards come to Newtown

There was no doubt that the star of the night at the 12th Annual Business Day BASA Awards, supported by Anglo American, was South African arts in all its manifestations!

From the gigantic S.A. G.U.R.U. (South African Great Ubuntu Recycled Universal) puppets that greeted guests to the on-the-spot art creations of Anthea Moys and Roberto Pembo, contributions by Sibikwa Theatre Co and Dinkies Sithole, the scintillating live performances courtesy of Crazy for Jazz, the beautiful artworks by the Keiskamma Art Project, and Gcina Mhlope’s inspirational speech, South African arts proved it’s alive – and thriving!

The night was a celebration of the forward-thinking and committed businesses whose support of a wide variety of arts projects is contributing to their strength and sustainability. As the Minister of Arts and Culture, Minister Lulu Xingwana, told those gathered in the forum | turbine hall in Newtown, “I commend Anglo American, Business Day and all the other sponsors who have made a commitment and chose to empower artists and cultural workers”. Minister Xingwana urged South African businesses to keep supporting the arts – in particular projects in rural and peri-urban areas.

4th World Summit on Arts and Culture

On the evening of Tuesday 22 September 2009 the National Arts Council of South Africa and the International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies (IFACCA) will host the opening ceremony of the 4th World Summit on Arts and Culture.

The following day, all delegates will travel to Museum Africa, in Newtown – the cultural heart of Johannesburg – for the opening keynote speech, and will have three days to discuss and debate the theme ‘Meeting of Cultures: Creating Meaning through the Arts’. The summit will incorporate South Africa’s Heritage Day on 24 September, and throughout the week delegates will have the opportunity to attend performances at Arts Alive, Joburg’s annual art and culture festival.

Hobby Expo at Sci-Bono

According to David Kramer, CEO of Sci-Bono Discovery Centre, “the aim of the expo is to promote interest in the public and particularly young people in controlled model hobbies and to increase understanding of control technology”. The four days of the expo are bound to be an eye opening experience to the thousands of people who are not that familiar with the hobby. On Thursday the 3rd and Friday the 4th September school kids will get to learn from experts in the field of control technology and also go through the basics of building their own models. Advice on starting a school club for RC models will also be at hand. The Saturday and Sunday programme is planned as a fun-filled family weekend. Displays and information sessions have been scheduled and the attraction also features 4 wheel drive radio controlled trucks covering the rugged terrain of the Car Park. And for those in the family that are not entranced by the models, there is the usual collection of amazing interactive science exhibits. Entry fee of R5 per person on weekend and a family fee of R15 for 3 or more in a group apply.

For more information contact Thami Malinga at 011 634 8400/8457.

Ramij's Restaurant and Pub opens in Newtown

Rami J’s Restaurant and Pub known as RJ’s opened its doors formally to the public last week Friday. It operates in Johannesburg near Mary Fitzgerald Square in Newtown. It is managed/ owned by two sisters. It will operate seven days a week and specialise in African dishes eg mala mogodu, ditlhako tsa kgomo etc.

Arts Alive set to move into a dynamic new era

The annual Arts Alive Festival is set to move into a dynamic new era. South African Brand Solutions company ZANUSI will manage the event for the next three years. Already the team is hard at working on creating a programme for the event between 3 -30 September 2009 that dovetails with the City of Joburg and Zanusi’s vision to define Johannesburg as a leading arts and culture destination on the African continent.

Says Nomahlubi Simamane, Zanusi’s MD and founder: “Arts Alive already has a very strong foundation and we plan to build on that to create a month-long programme of activities that draws on Arts Alive specific events, as well as the many amazing arts and culture activities that take place in Joburg during the month.”

Newtown's Dada Masilo as Carmen wows Grahamtown audiences and critics alike

Dada Masilo of the Dance Factory in Newtown choreographed and performed Carmen to full houses at this year’s National Arts Festival in Grahamstown. Just read what the critics had to say:

`Simply superb!...The way Masilo moves is breathtaking…pliable, and sexy…There may never have been a bolder, more erotic Carmen…joins the list of brilliantly choreographed and danced performances accomplished by this bright star which is Masilo, and the packed house and ovation on its opening performance is…further testimony to the fact. If you have the slightest glimmer of interest in dance, you cannot miss this work of art. And if you are not interested in dance in the slightest, you must see this work, for it’ll change your mind.’ Steve, Artsblog, The National Arts Festival Blog, Thurs 2 July, 2009.

Welcome

Welcome to Newtown 2010

The Newtown 2010 Festival is bringing Joburg to the world. Newtown, the cultural hub of Johannesburg, is hosting a cultural festival for the duration of the Fifa World Cup in June, to show the world just what Joburg - and South Africa - has to offer. The Newtown 2010 Festival offers a month of music, dance, theatre, spoken word poetry, literature, craft, film, photography, science, outdoor performances and visual art held in a variety of indoor and outdoor venues.

The 2010 programme will include traditional music and dance, busking, and open stage in the public space, a dance, music and theatre programme in the venues appropriate to these arts, as well as in the galleries, museums and restaurants unique to Newtown. Watch this space for details!

Attractions

So much to do

Newtown is the creative capital of Johannesburg with a world class offering of theatre, dance, music, art, photography and crafts - all for your entertainment. Newtown's key attractions include the world famous Market Theatre, MuseuMAfrica, Sci-Bono Discovery Centre, Bassline, Dance Factory and SAB World of Beer.

Eating Out

It's all about the food

Keeping in the tradition of diversity, Newtown offers the visitor an array of options when it comes to places to eat, from light contemporary meals to traditional African food.

Venues

Looking for a venue to hire in Newtown

Our Venue listing gives you the opportunity to see where you can host your own function in Newtown. There are many interesting and unusual venues for late night parties, large-scale corporate events, conferences, concerts and exhibitions. If you are looking for a location in Newtown for a film shoot, please contact the Newtown Management District office on (011) 833-6323 or download 'Soaring to new heights' for more information about Newtown as your ideal venue for an event.

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