MOPP.org.za

The Cape Town Month of Photography 2008

a triennial festival

Thurs 2 October - Sat. 1 November 2008

Cape Town’s ongoing photographic triennial celebrates the photographic image as a unique space where the real and the metaphor engage and stimulate exploration and self expression. It is a festival which provides a rare platform for communication between local photographic communities, inviting inter-regional exchange, circulation and dialogue. It also aims to compete within the global photographic arena and to support the current positioning of South Africa as a world cultural site and hub of photographic vision and practice.

The festival will be presented as a series of exhibitions, events, seminars, workshops and master classes in photography and related themes, the core program running in Cape Town with the possibility of satellite exhibitions and events taking place in other parts of the country. For, although a local event, the month-long festival encourages and welcomes the participation of photographers, galleries, museums and photographic centres elsewhere.

The opening of the principal event in Cape Town will take place at 6pm on Thursday October 2 at the Castle of Good Hope, which will host a number of solo and group exhibitions. Other events and exhibitions will open at a variety of venues on different occasions throughout the month. The festival catalogue will showcase not only the core exhibitions, but also the fringe and satellite items.

MoP4 promotes opportunities for South African photographers to gain both local and global exposure. It will play a pivotal role in giving prominence to photography as a valuable cultural resource promoting cultural tourism. This festival hopes to continue the tradition of presenting an evolving collective vision of our contemporary life, and creating a comprehensive network between diverse photographic communities, including documentary, commercial and fine art practitioners, amateur associations and learners, all of whom are given a forum for expression.

CHECK out this one

Home Sweet Home is a celebration of Banksy’s street art in his home city of Bristol. This book places him in the context of 3D, John Nation from the Barton Hill Settlement, Inkie, Nick Walker and the other artists and musicians who were instrumental in linking Bristol to the original New York hip hop scene.

It is the most revealing account of Banksy’s formative years and contains more than one hundred images of his Bristol art, as well as pictures of Banksy at work, many of which have never been published before.

Steve Wright, Venue magazine’s Art Editor, traces Banksy’s roots back to the rave culture of the Nineties and draws a rounded picture of an artist who is most famous for anonymous.

The book, which has been released by Tanget Books, shows on 104 pages Banksy’s early works as well as a lot of material from the past days. For fans and critics this book is a great completion to the title “Wall and Piece”.

Most interesting we find the discussions in the book of the demographic that is mainly hyped about his work and whether or not he will stay this hyped in the art scene. Opinions differ very much and only time will tell who is right.

Hi everybody,

I hope you’re all doing well, and had a great weekend!

I’d like to invite you all to the closing down party for MOPP 2008. It will happen on Saturday 22 March 2008, from 3pm till late, at the gugulethu shebeen (one of the cafe circuit outreach venues).
Bring cash for the bar, cameras for the fun, warm clothes in case you stay all night…

Directions:

ps also have a look at david’s event - search on facebook for an event called “Home Street Sweet — Playback Sessions”