22 November 2007
Soccerex will provide opportunities for Gauteng creative industries to
showcase their creativity, design aesthetic, innovation and international
standards of quality from 25 to 29 of November 2007 at the Sandton Convention
Centre.
Gauteng is recognised as the hub of the South African creative economy and
that it is a better way to expose this diversity and creativity through working
with Soccerex to integrate music, dance and craft into an international soccer
event.
The arts and culture programme at Soccerex is part of an integrated approach
the department has adopted to capture the excitement and thrill of soccer.
The Gauteng Makarapa Commission for 2007 was launched at an artists'workshop
on Saturday, 17 November 2007.
Makarapas, decorated safety helmets, are a well known and uniquely South
African way for local soccer fans to make their allegiances felt, and the sight
of them at big matches is always an eye-shattering feast. The Gauteng
Department of Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation, decided that, to get the
ball rolling for 2010 Soccerex this year would provide a brilliant platform for
showing where the arts and sports worlds meet.
The MEC for Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation, Barbara Creecy, said her
department decided to fund a professional arts commission to make unusual
Makarapas for the province's showcase of the sport-art connection in Gauteng,
which has seen some famous and some unknown professional artists as well as
student artists making their own unique Makarapas across three categories;
local teams, international teams and imaginary teams.
Monna Mokoena of AAW Art Project Management, the company who have
co-ordinated the project for department, says "Of course most of the artists
went for the fantasy category and the result are spectacular, ranging from
birds and Venda ladies to political work and one helmet made of seriously heavy
lead. I think we are on the way to our coming out ball in 2010 and this kind of
project sets a great, somewhat frenzied, very jubilant South African tone that
puts Gauteng out there in a really local bling style."
Another interesting project is the performances that will be happening
inside and outside the convention centre. The department is working in
partnership with Gauteng-based performing artists and dancers to host a vibrant
and entertaining event that adds vibrancy to the Sandton business district.
This will definitely provide international visitors with a truly unique Gauteng
experience.
A photographic exhibition will trace the history of South African soccer as
captured and curated by the Market Photo Workshop.
The mix of art forms and activities ranges from performances by the
Johannesburg Philharmonic orchestra and Multi Arts Initiative of South Africa
(MuiSA). Soccerex should reach as many Gauteng communities and enterprises and
this will be achieved in incorporating a wider base of artists, musicians,
performers and photographers.
There is so much to see and experience at this inaugural Soccerex and the
department is working on using this as the building blocks for future Soccerex
and the 2010 Fifa World Cup.
For more information contact:
Nomazwe Ntlokwana
Tel: 011 355 2578
Cell: 083 507 8068
Issued by: Department of Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation, Gauteng
Provincial Government
22 November 2007
