Posted by Gregory Franz on 08 December 2009 / Labels: Rose Korber

ROSE KORBER’s 18th ART SALON
14 December 2009 until 31 January 2010
48 Sedgemoor Road, Camps Bay, Cape Town- a comprehensive and varied overview of the current state of South African art -
- directed towards the demands of the contemporary collector -
- together with best possible works of established South African artists -
- in keeping with international trends -

The summer season sees many new and exciting events in Cape Town, but, for our art lovers, possibly none are awaited with as much anticipation as the annual ART SALON, curated by noted Cape Town art dealer and consultant, Rose Korber. Once again the Salon promises to live up to the high reputation of its previous incarnations, when it celebrates its 18th anniversary. The exhibition opens on 14 December 2009 until 31 January 2010 at ROSE KORBER ART 48 Sedgemoor Road, Camps Bay, Cape Town. Gallery hours are 10 am – 6 pm daily, including weekends and public holidays.The ART SALON – widely regarded as one of the key events in Cape Town’s visual arts calendar – aims to present a comprehensive and varied overview of the current state of South African art. Artists featured include William Kentridge, Robert Hodgins, Sam Nhlengethwa, Colbert Mashile, Richard Smith, Paul du Toit, Kevin Brand, Stephen Inggs, Robert Slingsby, Paul Blomkamp, Diane Victor, Deborah Bell, Claudette Schreuders, Nina Romm and Wendy Anziska.

Contemporary, younger artists have become increasingly important since 2000, and this year the Salon will have plenty to offer on this score, with artists such as Pamela Stretton, Peter Eastman, Sanell Aggenbach, Dan Halter, Kate Gottgens, Jaco Sieberhagen, Kathryn Smith, Alexandra Ross and Stuart Bird represented.

In addition to the traditional genres of landscape and figurative painting, the ART SALON will also feature some of the best in sculpture, photography, ceramics and contemporary Shangaan beadwork.

Leading ceramic artists on this year’s Salon include Louise Gelderblom, Astrid Dahl, Barbara Jackson, Hennie Meyer, Helen Vaughan, Ruan Hoffmann, Laura du Toit, Rebecca Tetley and Yvette McGee; while photographers of note include Stephen Inggs, Dale Yudelman, Kathryn Smith and Jurgen Schadeberg.

According to Korber: “This year’s Art Salon promises to have a more focused selection and is more directed towards the demands of the contemporary collector than ever before, while still showing the best possible work of established South African artists. We hope this year’s offering will be the most exciting ever’. ‘Given the economic crisis facing the world’, she adds, “art, and especially South African art, seems to have weathered this storm amazingly well – against the most dire predictions”.

For further information about this exhibition, please contact Rose Korber or Valerie Botha at ROSE KORBER ART.
Tel:
Fax: 021 – 438 6262
Mobile: /
email: roskorb@icon.co.za
website: http://www.rosekorberart.com

Source: http://capetownnatural.blogspot.com/2009/12/rose-korbers-18th-art-salon.html

Ginja, which has been on the Top 10 list forever, has not made the new top 20 list this year. Grande Provence in Franschhoek, currently on the Top 10 list, has also not made it onto the new top 20 list.   Haiku, and Bosmans at Grande Roche, are surprising omissions from the top 20 list.

The Prudential Eat Out Top 10 restaurants will be announced on 30 November.

Guests are desperate, and many did not think of booking for this period in advance, which traditionally is booked out nine months ahead of time in areas such as Camps Bay and Plettenberg Bay.  Von Ulmenstein, owner of the Whale Cottage Portfolio of guest houses in Camps Bay, Hermanus, Franschhoek and Plettenberg Bay, says that the increase in visitor numbers is very welcome for the Hospitality industry, given that South Africans have been burdened by several interest rate and petrol price increases, and have to tighten their belts – clearly something they have decided to delay until 2008!

Late minute bookings challenge the Industry to meet sudden demands, but many residents on the Atlantic Seaboard and in popular holiday destinations rent out private accommodation, so there always is “room at the inn”! New accommodation establishments open all the time, and many locals visit their family and friends, and are less likely to use the formal accommodation industry. Many visitors to Cape Town have had to accept that they cannot stay in Camps Bay and have had to look for accommodation in other suburbs of Cape Town. Guest house owners are excellent at passing on their overflow to other colleagues in the area, which means that guests wanting to book are almost always accommodated.

“Heavily populated roads to Hermanus and the Garden Route just after Christmas, and throngs of shoppers in popular shopping centers are proof of the vast numbers of out-of-town visitors in the Western Cape,” says Von Ulmenstein.

Their presence is certainly felt in shopping centres and restaurants.  Chairman of the Restaurant segment of FEDHASA Cape, Rey Franco, says that eating establishments in the Blouberg area are definitely experiencing an increase in visitor numbers, with double dinner bookings every night, and Cape seafood dishes an all-round favourite.

One of the challenges facing the Accommodation sector during this time of year, is that many suppliers to the Hospitality Industry close over the Festive Season, a practice that cannot be understood, given that the Hospitality Industry is at its busiest right now.

Also, staff arriving for work over the festive days is always a concern for accommodation management, given that most of their friends and family have annual leave at this time. Availability of basic service providers such as plumbers and electricians also is a concern, as their services are much needed in such a time.

FEDHASA is the lobbying body and watchdog for the South African hospitality industry nationally, and in all tiers of government on tourism, legislation, trading conditions, taxation, education and related industry issues.  The association services four segments: the Hotel segment, the Small Accommodation segment, Restaurant and Catering segment, and the Suppliers segment.

By contrast, South Africa as a country has slipped nine places to 21st in the world. Singita Private Game Reserve was the highest rated South African destination, while The Cape Grace Hotel and Londolozi Private Game Reserve also made it to the top 100 destinations list. The Cape Grace was the only South African establishment to make the top list of business hotels. In the Middle East, Africa and Indian Ocean Islands Leisure Top 20 hotel list, Singita was ranked 3rd, Cape Grace 7th, Londolozi 9th, Ellerman House 11th, Kwande Private Game Reserve 13th and Lion Sands Private Game Reserve 18th. The Cape Grace was ranked top for its staff and service. Pezula was the only spa to make it on the top spa list. SAA was voted as 9th best long haul leisure travel airline, in which category Virgin was voted as best in the world.

Photograph: Cape Grace on Cape Town’s Waterfront

South Africa has a new permanent representative in London, in the form of a new statue of its icon Nelson Mandela. UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown unveiled the statue in Parliament Square last month.

The USA was the lead international tourism source in June, and tourists from this country increased by 11 %, followed by the UK, Germany Australia and France. Overall, the international arrivals in June were 11 % higher than the year before, reports TravelHub.

Cape Town music fans are set to enjoy a summer musical feast, in the form of performances by Enrique Iglesias in October, Michael Buble in December, Elton John in January, and Celine Dion in February.

Locals are to be encouraged to travel in their own country, in a new Domestic Tourism campaign developed by SA Tourism. The campaign will focus on the affordability of local tourism products.

The tour operator association SATSA has called on the government to liberalise its air access strategy, in order to encourage more tourist arrivals from key source markets, reports TravelHub. Addressing the parliamentary committee on tourism, SATSA CEO Michael Tatalias said that only six of the 25 international tourism source markets identified by S A Tourism are serviced by SAA.

Tourists from Scandinavia are set to travel to Cape Town and the Garden Route in greater numbers this summer, with the arrival of MyTravel charter flights from Sweden and Denmark from November.

George Airport has opened a new terminal, and is expected to see one million passengers by 2012, almost double the current passenger numbers.

A name change that will be hard to come to grips with is that of the landmark Arabella Sheraton Hotel adjacent to the Cape Town International Convention Centre, which is now called The Westin Grand Cape Town Arabella Quays. The name change results from a joint-venture agreement with Starwood, giving Arabella exclusive rights to the Westin brand in South Africa and Namibia.

Chapman’s Peak has been an unfortunate victim of the heavy rainfalls experienced in the past winter, and is indefinitely closed to traffic so that potential rockslides can be avoided. Since opening in 2003, the pass has been closed for 132 days, reports the Weekend Argus. Cape Town residents travelling between Hout Bay and Noordhoek believe that there have more road closures since the rock catch fences were installed

Golf tourism is a lucrative segment of the tourism market for the Western Cape, reports Travel Hub. A study conducted by students at the University of Cape Town found that golfers tend to stay for 14 days, and spend R 13 000 on average on golf during their trip.

The region’s international golf course quality and accessibility rated highly in the study, while its value for money perception was only average.

Rock star Peter Gabriel, Richard Branson, Jimmy Carter, Former Irish President Mary Robinson, Archbishop Tutu, Koffi Annan, economist Muhammed Yunus and former Chinese foreign minister Li Zhaoxing met with Nelson Mandela to celebrate his birthday last month, and to form a group which they have called ‘The Elders’. The group will address global issues.

Franschhoek celebrated its most successful Bastille Day weekend ever in July, and the excellent weather as well as the involvement by Franschhoek farm owner Tokyo Sexwale were a recipe for success. Sexwale linked the Bastille celebration to Nelson Mandela’s release from the Drakenstein prison between Franschhoek and Paarl, formerly called Victor Verster, and a “long walk to freedom” was led by Sexwale from the prison to Franschhoek’s Huguenot Monument. The restaurants and vineyards put their wares on show, and the village was beautifully dressed in French finery. Sexwale’s media coverage for the event will not have harmed his campaign to become South Africa’s next president in 2009! Oddly, a sponsor was announced for the Festival a mere two weeks prior to its start, but it is understood that the sponsor did not pay its monies, and so received no visibility on the weekend of the Festival. However, all materials printed ahead and publicity about the Festival acknowledged Intaka Tech’s involvement as the sponsor. The relevance of the sponsor to the Bastille Festival and Franschhoek was questioned at the time of its announcement, given that the engineering company manufactures water purification plants.

The Top Ten list of countries from which tourists visit South Africa are, in order of importance, the UK, Germany, USA, France, The Netherlands, Australia, Canada, Sweden, India and Italy. In the first quarter of 2007 France, Australia, Canada and India showed good growth, says Travel Hub. Switzerland has dropped out of the Top Ten list, due to the monopoly of airline Swiss on the route, affecting ticket prices. Germany saw a decrease of 4 %, as its VAT was increased in January. In May China entered the Top Ten list, at the expense of Sweden. The German tourist decline continued in May, while the numbers from the USA, Australia, Canada, Italy, the Netherlands and the UK increased.

Official tourist statistics are accepted as being the best that are available, but travel agent and tour operator association SATSA has called for one central credible source of tourism information. The association is sceptical about the information supplied by Stats SA and by SA Tourism. Of the 8 million tourists counted for 2006, 6 million were from other African countries. African visitors can transit across South Africa’s borders a number of times a year, as much as twelve times in the case of Lesotho residents, leading to severe double-counting, says a report on Travel Hub. Furthermore, local residents with international passports are counted as tourists when they enter/leave South Africa on overseas trips, and this also influences the accuracy of the statistics.

Air travel internationally is up by close to 5 % compared to a year ago, according to the Cape Times. Last year 4,4 billion passengers passed through 1 640 airports in 178 countries. Atlanta is the busiest airport in the world, followed by Chicago O’Hare and Heathrow.

While some believe that the announcement that a 106 meter high statue of King Shaka will be erected on the banks of the uTheka River, about 90 km from Durban, could be mistaken for an April Fools’ joke, the statue is set to become a reality. It will be larger than the Statue of Liberty, and that of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro. The statue is to be completed by 2010, and will form part of a R 1,2 billion development, which includes a hotel, conference centre, restaurant, and art and crafts stalls, reports the Cape Argus.

Knysna’s recent Oyster Festival was a huge success, with a R 60 million income benefit to Knysna. The Cycle Tour attracted 6 500 cyclists and now is the largest mountainbiking event in the country, reports the Knysna Tourism Bureau. More than 200 000 oysters were eaten over the ten day Festival period.

The hospitality industry body FEDHASA says that the hotel industry is doing well, and that three star hotels in particular are attracting South African business and leisure clients, while international clients prefer to stay in 4 and 5 star hotels, reports Travel News Now. FEDHASA CEO Brett Dungan says that the internet has levelled the playing field, and that guest houses and B & B’s now compete head-on against hotels.

A blow to the tourism industry is the announcement by the airports company ACSA that it is doubling its airport taxes for all flights from October, reports Travel News Now. The company has justified its increases on the basis of its infrastructure requirements for the next five years.