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Al Lê Die Berge Nog So Blou – Johannes Kerkorrel

Tien Jaar Later – Johannes Kerkorrel The FAK-Sangbundel is a collection of songs put together by Die Federasie van Afrikaanse Kultuurvereniginge. It was first put out in 1937. The songs were those regarded as important songs in the Afrikaans culture. One of the songs that would make it into this collection is ‘Al Lê Die Berge Nog So Blou’ (translates as ‘Even though the mountains are still so…

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#Al Le Die Berge Nog So Blou #Groep Twee #Johannes Kerkorrel #Mimi COertse #Snotkop #Sonja Herholdt #Youtube

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Nel Cor Piu Non Mi Sento - Mimi Coertse As much as I disliked it at the time, I miss doing classical singing.

#Nel cor piu non mi sento #Mimi Coertse

Congratulations to this year's Arts and Culture Trust Winners!

An enormous congratulations to Mmakgabo Mapula Helen Sebidi, Mimi Coertse and Mannie Manim for being awarded 2011 Arts and Cultural Trust South Africa, Lifetime Achievement Awards for visual arts, music and drama respectively.

Mimi Coertse, Mmakgabo Mapula Helen Sebidi, and Mannie Manim with their Lifetime Achievement Awards.

At an an awards luncheon hosted at Monte Casino’s La Toscana in Johannesburg last week, these three accomplished artists were lauded for their contribution to South African and international culture and society. The South African newspaper The New Age described the winners:

Sebidi’s story is both compelling and inspiring. She’s worked her way up from humble beginnings to an acclaimed artist. She was born in 1943 in Marapyane (Skilpadfontein), in the Hammanskraal area of Limpopo, then called Northern Transvaal. Her introduction to art was through her mother and grandmother, and she stresses the importance of acquiring traditional skills in order to be an artist versed in a vital culture. After moving to Johannesburg she worked throughout the 1960s as a domestic for a German couple with whom she formed a friendship atypical of its time and place. As well as learning European-style cooking, she pursued her passion for dressmaking. It was thanks to her employers that she attempted art as a profession. Inspired by Heidi, her boss, who painted, dyed cloth and decorated furniture, Sebidi decided that she must find a teacher for herself and settled under the leadership of John Koenakeefe Mohl. Not at ease in the city Sebidi returned to Marapyaane in 1975 to care for her grandmother. Within her art she refined her skills with rigour and self-discipline. During the early 1980s Sebidi began improving her clay technique at Katlehong Art Centre and became interested in pottery and sculpting, and taught her skills to the children. Later she enrolled at Bill Ainslie’s Johannesburg Art Foundation.

Helen Sebidi accepts her award last week

In 1989 she won a Fullbright Scholarship to travel to the US, where she worked at the Millay for the Arts in Austerlitz, New York. The same year she won the Standard Bank Young Artist Award. Throughout the ’90s the artist travelled and exhibited all over the world including the UK, Holland and the US. Sebidi is best known and most celebrated for her paintings of intense, tightly knotted oil surfaces that are rendered in 3D. Often her works depict the social impact of the racial divide and the impact this has on women in society. Mannie Manim has spent more than 50 years of his life involved in theatre. From producer, lighting designer and theatre manager, Manim’s name is known across the industry. According to the music man it was a play called Good Friday that changed his perception of theatre forever. Along with the likes of Barney Simon, Manim formed part of the pioneering team that opened The Market Theatre in the 1970s, challenging the apartheid system and allowing people of all races to watch poignant works that played on its stages. Manim has since managed the theatre complexes at Wits in Johannesburg and the Baxter Theatre in Cape Town and served on the State Theatre Board. Today he operates as a freelance lighting designer and producer. The final lifetime award winner, Mimi Coertse, was recognised for her contribution to the South African music scene. Coertse studied in Vienna at the Academy of Arts and Science. After her successful performance in 1956 as Queen of the Night in Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute) by Mozart, she became the youngest member of the permanent company of the Vienna State Opera, where she remained for 20 years It was during this time she sang at Covent Garden in London, and in 1966 she received the honorary title of Kammersaengerin (Chamber Singer) from the Austrian president. To enable young South African singers to study abroad, Mimi started the Mimi Coertse Bursary in 1958, benefiting many singers. Mimi returned to South Africa in 1973, and performed regularly in opera in Cape Town and Pretoria. In 1983 she launched her bi-annual project, Mimi, which enabled young aspirant opera singers from all over South Africa to be introduced to the audience at a gala concert with orchestra. Many of South Africa’s well-known artists made their debuts at this gala including Virginia Davids, Jannie Moolman, Sibongile Mngoma and Kaiser Nkosi to name but a few. She also started The Black Tie Ensemble to benefit, yet again, those who had a desire to study and develop their talent and opera skills. Coertse has, like Sebidi and Manim, received many awards during her career. One of the of the most prestigious was the gold Austrian Cross of Honour (Arts and Science) for her contribution to the arts, which she received in 1996. This is the highest honour one can receive in Austria. It is good to see these pioneers receive the honour they deserve for their worthy contributions to the development of arts as an institution. They are indeed giants in their fields and one must admit – a highly inspiring group of visionaries. [email protected]