Newsletter 2/23

Ai: Butoh Ballet Performance

We are excited to host Ai, a performance by award-winning contemporary dancer jackï job and collaborators, from 17 to 21 March. Meaning ‘love’ in Japanese, Ai is a Butoh ballet, a form of Japanese dance theatre, and speaks about the impossibility of love and finding it in unusual spaces. In Ai jackï performs with acclaimed French ballet dancer Alexandre Bourdat, who has recently finished a performance season at the Royal Danish Theatre in Copenhagen. She also joins forces with her long-time collaborator, award-winning classical pianist José Dias.

Ai will be performed in the garden of the Irma Stern™ Museum, and its tour de force lies in the unusual duet between Jackï and a horse called Beauty. Within their meeting, the majestic and the mundane sensitively merge, and love is reimagined. Surrounded by green, audiences can delight in a dance between animal and human natures.

Join us for what promises to be an evening to remember!

• 17–21 March (performances daily, including on Sunday and Human Rights Day); performances start at 19.00

Tickets: R250, available from Quicket https://www.quicket.co.za/events/207532-ai-a-butoh-ballet-about-the-delicacy-of-love#/ 

Limited seating available

New Installations

The pink portrait room in the UCT Irma Stern Museum is a favourite for many visitors. Do pop in to see how we have recently re-installed this space, with some portrait paintings that have not been seen for a while now back on view.

Also new is a special focus on the so-called ‘Buli Stool’. This stool is attributed to the artist Ngongo ya Chintu, who lived from approximately 1810 to 1870 in the village of Kateba in what nowadays is the South Central Democratic Republic of Congo. In a magazine article, Irma Stern mentions that she bought this stool during her stay in Zanzibar. It appears in a painting Stern completed before her travels to the Congo. It is one of the most remarkable works in the museum’s collection, and we are excited to share it with you in more detail.  

We look forward to seeing you again at the UCT Irma Stern Museum.

With best wishes from the ISM Team