Showing posts with label South Africa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label South Africa. Show all posts

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Global video project tours Vietnam

Project 35, an international exhibition of video works selected by 35
curators around the world, will be launched by Independent Curators
International (ICI) on Sept.23 and is expected to attract audiences in
Hanoi, Hue and HCM City.


Each of the curators were
invited to choose one work from an artist they think is important for
audiences from around the world to experience. The resulting video
selections are divided into four parts that will play over the period of
one year.


The selections will also be presented
simultaneously in an increasing number of venues world wide. The
project, which was initiated by ICI in New York , has made its way to
Vietnam thanks to San Art, the country's most active independent art
space.


Project 35 celebrates ICI's 35-year life span
as an organisation that connects emerging and established curators,
artists and institutions, and fosters the building of international
networks.


The exhibition opens with videos focusing on
wide-ranging and controversial subject matter, including the uprisings
and protests in post-colonial South Africa , the urban roads of
modern-day HCM City , and the crime-filled streets of Bogota ,
Colombia .


Screenings are free and the first four
screenings will take place simultaneously in Hanoi 's Goethe Institute,
HCM City 's Cafe Cao Minh and Hue 's New Arts Space beginning at
6.30pm on Sept. 22.


The first session offers nine
works, including the works of Vietnamse artists Tuan Andrew Nguyen and
Ha Thuc Phu Nam , both of whom currently live and work in HCM City
. The two artists were selected by HCM City-based curator and San Art
director Zoe Butt.


Other artists were selected by the
director of Objectif Exhibitions, Mai Abu El Dahab; the chief curator of
the Mori Art Musuem in Tokyo, Mami Kataoka; an adjunct curator at the
University of California Berkeley Art Museum and the Pacific Film
Archive, Constance Lewallen; the artistic director of Philagrafika 2010,
Jose Roca and senior lecturer and head of the Fine Arts Studio Practice
in the Department of Visual Arts at the University of Stellenbosch,
South Africa, Kathryn Smith.


The selected works will
demonstrate the diversity of content and style that the single-channel
video can captures, including You Tube-style narrative to documentary
format to clay-mation to digital animation. The videos show a variety of
approaches from creating performance installations to reformatting a
Walt Disney classic.


The project has already been
screened in Albania , Mexico , Sweden and the US among others,
and will continue to expand as more venues and chapters in the video
series emerge. The project is expected to screen in 19 countries over
the course of 2010 and 2011./.

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Thursday, September 9, 2010

FIFA to consider axing extra time at World Cups - Blatter

fifa
FIFA President Sepp Blatter
Photo: Reuters

FIFA is to consider abolishing extra time at the World Cup and going straight to penalties if knockout matches are drawn, the federation's president Sepp Blatter said on Thursday.

Blatter also said that FIFA would look at ways of encouraging teams to play a more attacking game after a flurry of low-scoring contests in the early stages of this year's World Cup in South Africa.

"In the first few matches of the group stage in South Africa, we witnessed some teams that went out to avoid defeat, that were playing for a draw from the outset," he told FIFA's website (www.fifa.com).

"This is a topic that I would like to discuss at upcoming football and technical committee meetings.

“We have to try to find a way to encourage free-flowing football in tournaments like the World Cup, with teams playing to win.

Blatter's remarks differ from an interview he gave to the German magazine Focus last month, when he was quoted as saying FIFA were considering penalty shootouts to provide a winner when drawn matches ended goalless.

"Often we see teams set themselves up even more defensively in extra time, in an attempt to avoid conceding a goal at all costs.

"To prevent this, we could go directly to a penalty shootout at full time, or reintroduce the golden goal rule. We'll see what emerges from the Committee meetings."

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Thursday, September 2, 2010

UEFA bans vuvuzelas from European competition

ken vuvuzelas
A sticker forbidding the blowing of vuvuzelas is seen on a door of a mall in downtown Bloemfontein, June 15, 2010
Photo: Reuters

Vuvuzelas have been kicked out of European competitions after UEFA said that the controversial plastic trumpets drowned out supporters and detracted from the emotion of the game.

The plastic horns became a hallmark of the World Cup in South Africa, producing a monotonous droning sound, often likened to a swarm of bees, which provided a backdrop for every match.

But they will not be allowed in stadiums in UEFA competitions such as the Champions League, Europa League and Euro 2012 qualifiers after UEFA's ruling on Wednesday.

"European football's governing body has informed its 53 member associations that it has taken the move for reasons related to Europe's football culture and tradition, saying that the atmosphere at matches would be changed by the sound of the vuvuzela," said UEFA in a statement.

"The World Cup was characterized by the vuvuzela's widespread and permanent use in the stands," it added.

"In the specific context of South Africa, the vuvuzela adds a touch of local flavor and folklore, but UEFA feels that the instrument's widespread use would not be appropriate in Europe, where a continuous loud background noise would be emphasized."

Clear criticism

The statement then continued with a clear criticism of the controversial instrument.

"The magic of football consists of the two-way exchange of emotions between the pitch and the stands, where the public can transmit a full range of feelings to the players.

"However, UEFA is of the view that the vuvuzelas would completely change the atmosphere, drowning supporter emotions and detracting from the experience of the game.

"To avoid the risk of these negative effects in the stadiums where UEFA competitions are played and to protect the culture and tradition of football in Europe -- singing, chanting etc -- UEFA has decided with immediate effect that vuvuzelas will not be allowed in the stadiums where UEFA competitions matches are played."

The ruling appears academic as the vuvuzelas have shown almost no sign of catching on in Europe in the opening weeks of the new season.

The UEFA ruling is the latest development in an apparent backlash against the vuvuzela, although the word itself last month earned a place in the Oxford Dictionary of English.

Several English Premier League clubs banned the horns in July on safety grounds while they have also been barred from a number of rugby grounds in South Africa itself.

Olympic Games 2012 chief Sebastian Coe said he did not want them at the event in London.

They have also been banned from the current world basketball championship in Turkey on health grounds. FIBA, the sport's governing body, said it was too loud, especially in indoor arenas, and fans who flouted the ruling would be kicked out.

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Sunday, August 22, 2010

Oracle octopus gets behind England's 2018 World Cup bid

paul
Octopus Paul, better known as the so-called ''octopus oracle'' swims in front of a soccer ball in his tank at the Sea Life Aquarium in the western German city of Oberhausen July 9, 2010

Paul the oracle octopus has become an ambassador for England's bid to host the 2018 World Cup, officials said on Friday.

Paul, who spends his days in an aquarium in Germany, became a hit at the World Cup in June and July when he revealed an uncanny knack for predicting the outcome of matches.

The two-year-old creature, who was hatched at a Sea Life Center in Weymouth, England, has joined David Beckham, Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton and singer Sting among the bid ambassadors.

While Paul has officially retired from football punditry, his signing is a rare piece of good news for a bid which has suffered a stormy ride so far.

"After his success during South Africa 2010, Paul the Octopus is undoubtedly one of the biggest names in football so news of him becoming an official England 2018 Ambassador is tremendous for the Back the Bid campaign," fellow ambassador and former Liverpool and England player John Barnes said.

Paul will not be jumping tanks to support the bid, however, as he is settled in his aquarium in Germany.

During the World Cup in South Africa he became a celebrity when he correctly predicted the outcome of eight consecutive matches, including the final, by selecting food from boxes adorned with the national flags of the competing teams.

Paul's support is timely as FIFA's inspection committee is due in England next week to inspect the bid.

England's is one of five bids to host the 2018 tournament and one of eight bids to host the 2022 tournament. The hosts for both tournaments will be announced in Zurich in December.

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