Maggie Laubser A Window On Always Light

ÿ The artist Maggie Laubser no longer needs any introduction. In this publication focussing on her 149 paintings in the art collection of Stellenbosch University, art connoisseurs as well as art lovers are afforded the opportunity to closely follow the evolvement of her truly unique style and to actually share in the life of the person behind the canvas. Muller Ballot tells this story in an exceptional way by unfolding and interpreting her oeuvre within the context of South African as well as European Modernism.ÿ

This ethnography reveals how, faced with violence, economic insecurity, and volatile relations, Xhosa migrants in Cape Town, South Africa, establish burial societies and credit groups. It examines the urban poor's day-to-day struggles over money in post-apartheid South Africa.

For several centuries Cape Town has accommodated a great variety of musical genres which have usually been associated with specific population groups living in and around the city. Musical styles and genres produced in Cape Town have therefore been assigned an "identity" which is first and foremost social. This volume tries to question the relationship established between musical styles and genres, and social - in this case pseudo-racial - identities. In Sounding the Cape, Denis-Constant Martin recomposes and examines through the theoretical prism of creolisation the history of music in Cape Town, deploying analytical tools borrowed from the most recent studies of identity configurations. He demonstrates that musical creation in the Mother City, and in South Africa, has always been nurtured by contacts, exchanges and innovations whatever the efforts made by racist powers to separate and divide people according to their origin. Musicians interviewed at the dawn of the 21st century confirm that mixture and blending characterise all Cape Town's musics. They also emphasise the importance of a rhythmic pattern particular to Cape Town, the ghoema beat, whose origins are obviously mixed. The study of music demonstrates that the history of Cape Town, and of South Africa as a whole, undeniably fostered creole societies. Yet, twenty years after the collapse of apartheid, these societies are still divided along lines that combine economic factors and "racial" categorisations. Martin concludes that, were music given a greater importance in educational and cultural policies, it could contribute to fighting these divisions and promote the notion of a nation that, in spite of the violence of racism and apartheid, has managed to invent a unique common culture.

A monograph on the life and work of one of South Africa's finest 20th-century artists. It positions artist's work in the context of contemporary South African and international art.

For the first time, the 92-metre frieze of the Voortrekker Monument in Pretoria, one of the largest historical narratives in marble, has been made the subject of a book. The pictorial narrative of the Boer pioneers who conquered South Africa’s interior during the 'Great Trek' (1835-52) represents a crucial period of South Africa’s past. Conceptualising the frieze both reflected on and contributed to the country’s socio-political debates in the 1930s and 1940s when it was made. The book considers the active role the Monument played in the rise of Afrikaner nationalism and the development of apartheid, as well as its place in post-apartheid heritage. The frieze is unique in that it provides rare evidence of the complex processes followed in creating a major monument. Based on unpublished documents, drawings and models, these processes are unfolded step by step, from the earliest discussions of the purpose and content of the frieze, through all the stages of its design, to its shipping to post-war Italy to be copied into marble from Monte Altissimo, up to its final installation in the Monument. The book examines how visual representation transforms historical memory in what it chooses to recount, and the forms in which it is depicted. The second volume expands on the first, by investigating each of the twenty-seven scenes of the frieze in depth, providing new insights into not only the frieze, but also South Africa’s history. François van Schalkwyk of African Minds, co-publisher with De Gruyter writes: From Memory to Marble is an open access monograph in the true sense of the word. Both volumes of the digital version of the book are available in full and free of charge from the date of publication. This approach to publishing democratises access to the latest scholarly publications across the globe. At the same time, a book such as From Memory to Marble, with its unique and exquisite photographs of the frieze as well as its wealth of reproduced archival materials, demands reception of a more traditional kind, that is, on the printed page. For this reason, the book is likewise available in print as two separate volumes. The printed and digital books should not be seen as separate incarnations; each brings its own advantages, working together to extend the reach and utility of From Memory to Marble to a range of interested readers. For more material you can browse at Stanford's database "Voortrekker Monumentality: a digital archive".

Abuse by Farm Owners

In the last decade, the incidence of acute poisoning in the developed world has risen considerably, so that hospital admissions from this cause now repre~ sent a significant part of the work load of most medical units. The purpose of this book is to provide an up-to-date account of the diag nosis and treatment of all the clinically important poisons. Throughout the text the aim has been to emphasize the mechanisms of toxicity - wherever they are known - so that a rational approach to therapy may be devised. In addition, substantial chapters have been devoted to the psychiatric assess ment of self-poisoned patients and to the role of the laboratory. Two styles of presentation have been adopted. Certain topics are discussed in depth either because of their clinical importance or because recent data have become available concerning pathophysiology or treatment. In contrast, when subjects have been well described previously in general medical texts, for example, carbon monoxide poisoning, the discussion is far more brief and to the point. A similar style has been adopted with recently introduced drugs, where little is known about the effects in overdose. The value of cer tain chapters, especially those on poisonous plants and snake bites, has been enhanced by the inclusion of a large number of colour photographs.

The Cape Flats, a windswept, barren and sandy area which rings Cape Town, is home to more than a million people. Many live here in sprawling shack settlements. The post-apartheid state is attempting to eradicate such settlements by providing formal houses in planned residential estates. Raw Life, New Hope is a longitudinal study of the residents of one such shack settlement, The Park, who moved to new, 'formal' houses in The Village, at the turn of the millennium. It introduces readers to core social science topics and modes of theorising. Over 17 years the author has traced how ordinary people attempt to live in accord with their ideals of decency under almost impossible circumstances, and the effects of material changes in their lives after 1994, including the provision of housing. Photos, maps, anecdotes, recipes and philosophical reflections on subjects that arose during conversations elicit a sense of the everyday and of how people try to solve the problems of poverty