You cannot separate food, stories, and place. Food frames and contextualises the culture, history, social order, and of course, the politics of a place. Food is personal. Nothing proves this more than the the latest shitshow courtesy of the Department of Land Reform, Agriculture and Rural Development’s (DALRRD) Food Safety Authority (FSA). In a naming …
It’s holiday time for kids, and I can honestly feel the seismic shift in happiness. I still remember watching the second hand move, and then the collective breathing in, and silence… And then the shrill gleeful sound of the school bell shattering through our bodies. Today these two gorgeous young whipper snappers came into the …
‘There are no big stories left, just paths through the clutter and the inevitable soft landing.’ (Ivan Vladislavic) The other day I emailed my hero. I was thinking about Jono and my vision for Hilton, BOOMTOWN, the gallery, and storytelling. Who’s the landmark writer that I want to attach to a mural? Only one name …
I wrote this piece sporadically throughout last week, and didn’t have much time to edit it, or to engage with it. In between finding last minute quotes for an extra stretch tent, making decisions about generators, doing some painting, chasing up on vendors, helping to put a gallery space together, and remembering to buy toothpaste …
‘Wake up Jaqui; it’s time to go to the Royal Show!’ On this occasion, it was 3 am, I was in Room 36 at the Hilton Hotel, and my brother Nicholas thought it would be bloody hilarious to wake me up from my slumber to enjoy a few seconds of euphoria, before realising it was …
The right stories come at just the right time. They’re like Gandalf that way. Just before every septic tank in the Msunduzi Municipality hit the fan, I sat down to watch Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. The film had a mixed response in the US, and I’m not here to defend my position on its …
Never before has dressing for one’s body type been more relevant. I mean let’s be honest, Lockdown was a fucking disaster for most of us. No gyms, limited exercise potential, 24-hour access to the fridge with zero surveillance from work colleagues (thanks to “camera off”), and ‘I deserve another biscuit there’s a pandemic out there’. …
National Lockdown: Day 76 Six years ago, I broke my rule- ‘don’t read or engage in the comments section’. The shit hit the fan. I was called every name under the sun. My crime? I responded to an article listing the most expensive schools in the country. I said that just because these schools are …
National Lockdown: Day 53 In another dazzling display of what the actual fuckery, it appears your average South African layman/woman isn’t the only person making his/her own homebrew. Minister of Trade and Industry, Ebrahim Patel, seems to have been smashing back the pineapple beer with gay abandon. Patel’s Moonshine is clearly made of stronger stuff …
National Lockdown: Day Five I’m happy to report that the past couple of days have actually gone pretty quickly. It turns out that being busy really is the best way to make the time pass. And sure, I haven’t done any exercise, I haven’t watched the latest season of Ozark, I’ve been limiting my phone …