Looking for a New Perspective
Monday, 2nd February 2015
Looking for a new perspective – Foto Fence, Grahamstown
Grahamstown – City of Saints, Sinners, Students. Really? Or is that now an old fashioned viewpoint? What’s your take on our 200-year-old city? What image stands out for you as being ‘typically Grahamstown’? Where’s your favourite hidey-hole, watering spot or hangout space? What is it about Grahamstown that makes you grin… or grit your teeth? We would like to know!
The National Arts Festival’s Foto Fence Project is a citywide competition that asks Grahamstonians to look around their city and ‘take a snap’. Entrants stand a chance to win a prize, learn a bit more about photography and have their pic exhibited. The four broad categories, City / Land Scapes, Afro-futurists and Selfies, Life Up-close, and Live Action, lend themselves to free interpretation and the judging panel is hoping to discover fresh new perspectives on life in the City.
The competition is open to everyone – there is no age restriction – however all photographs must be taken within the Grahamstown / Rhini or Makana Municipality region. The closing date is 13 February 2015 – photos can be uploaded to Facebook (www.Facebook.com/fotofence), emailed to fotofence@gmail.com or dropped off at the Makana Tourism offices. Entrants will need to complete an application form which will be sent to you or that can be downloaded from www.creativecity.co.za. A maximum of 5 photos per person will be accepted. No fancy photographic equipment is required – you can take your pic on your cell phone. Don’t be put off by technical jargon in the application form, we’ll contact you if your pic doesn’t conform to the tech requirements – help is on hand!
Devised by Rhodes lecturer and photographer Brent Meistre, Foto Fence is part of the Festival’s Creative City initiative in partnership with the European Union and Rhodes University. As head of the judging panel, Meistre hopes to identify potential new creative photographers and, ultimately, offer them training and mentorship through the Makana Arts Academy.
R10 000 worth of cash prizes will go the way of the winning entries in the four categories and photography related prizes will also be up for grabs. Finalists’ photographs, together with work from established local photographers, will be on display in a unique outdoor exhibition hung on the fences around Fiddlers Green – the Foto Fence! Winners will be announced on 4 March 2015 after which the exhibition will be officially opened.
For full details on the competition, please visit www.creativecity.co.za or contact Carolyn on 046 603 1103.
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More Info
The Creative City Partnership sees multiple partners - the National Arts Festival, Makana Municipality, the Eastern Cape Department of Sports, Recreation, Arts and Culture, Rhodes University, Fingo Festival and Makana Tourism - join forces to guide Grahamstown toward becoming a centre of creative excellence beyond the annual festivals and institutions for which the City is already known.
Within the ambit of the Creative City project is a partnership between the National Arts Festival and European Union, which has created the Makana Arts Academy. The Academy aims to identify talented, creative individuals in the City who are seeking mentorship and training so that they are better equipped to embark on professional careers in the creative sector.
