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Like all of us, Gil Scott-Heron was a profoundly flawed individual, battling his demons while reaching out for a seemingly illusive truth. What worth is there in our lives for the well-grounded, immacutely groomed Oprahesque superhuman role model for us mortals who...
For Pete's sake We Shall Overcome Singing and Fighting by Andre Marais During a recent concert performance on the Cape Town leg of his SA, tour, Bruce Springsteen took time out to pay tribute to the legendary American folk-artist Pete Seeger, who passed away earlier...
WHY THE NAME BLAQPEARL? Back in the day I was part of a hip hop group called Insidious Inc. The three males in the group, including my late brother, Mr Devious, all had stage names – of course I also wanted one! So being rarely aware of myself from a very young age...
First things first: if you are going to buy this book, I strongly suggest you purchase the limited edition black boxed special. Not only is the packaging itself an artwork, but it also does a good job of making an event out of an art book. Jeanette herself was quite...
The recent controversy about the artist Brett Murray's "The Spear" painting provoked furious verbal and other acrobatics. Those who opposed the public showing of the painting did so claiming not to be censoring an exposed penis per se, but to be objecting to the...
Nhlanhla Mtaka says the Spear controversy has unmasked us as a nation From tolerance to acceptance: The controversy over the Zuma painting has revealed us all to be racists In his book The Other Side of History: An Anecdotal Reflection on Political Transition in South...
Andrew Donaldson on why Brett Murray's painting has provoked such unhinged fury LET us get to the heart of the matter. In his affidavit, which forms part of the ruling party's legal bid to remove Brett Murray's The Spear from public gaze, the painting's subject,...
The controversy surrounding Brett Murray’s portrait of President Jacob Zuma has stirred up a hornet’s nest. On the one hand, it has elicited outrage even from people I know to have antipathy towards our head of state. On the other, defenders of The Spear feel that...
Mzukisi Makatse on freedom of artistic expression in South Africa The contextual and political understanding of the freedom of artistic expression in South Africa Now that the dust seems to be settling after the storm and hysteria occasioned by The Spear - Brett...