Pan Macmillan

The Alliance Française of Johannesburg, Dibuka, and Pan Macmillan are proud to bring you a day in Paris on Thursday 18 March. Enjoy “Intimate Paris”, a conference by Rachel Uziel at 12:00 PM followed by the opening of Eric Miyeni’s photographic exhibition, “A Letter from Paris” at 6:00 PM.

Entrance is free and copies of Eric Miyeni’s A Letter from Paris: Essays and Photographs will be on sale. The exhibition runs from Thursday the 18th March to Thursday the 1st April.

Event Details

• Date: Thursday, 18 March 2010
• Time: 12:00 PM “Intimate Paris” Conference with Rachel Uziel
  6:00 PM Opening of Eric Miyeni’s “A Letter for Paris” exhibition
• Venue: Gallery Gerard Sekoto,
  Alliance Française of Johannesburg,
  Cnr Kerry & Lower Park Drive
  Park View
  Johannesburg
• RSVP: Pauline, 011 646 1169,
  culture.jhb@alliance.org.za
  www.alliance.org.za

Book Details

• A Letter from Paris: Essays and Photographs by Eric Miyeni
  EAN: 9781770101722
  Find this book with BOOK Finder!

Moeletsi Mbeki has made it his business to know what’s going on in Africa and to study the reasons behind the continent’s struggles. His extremely popular and widely recognized work on the subject, Acrhitects of Poverty: Why African Capitalism Needs Changing, provides the backdrop to a recent speech he gave to AFRICOM (U.S. Africa Command) members in Stuttgart, Germany, as part of the AFRICOM Speaker’s Series:

“Security and Development in Sub-Saharan Africa: Looking to the Future”

Africa’s colonial legacy

The challenge facing Sub-Saharan Africa is not State building as many analysts believe. The immediate challenge most of Africa faces is society building.

Building a viable, sustainable and stable society requires the establishment and development of legitimate, socially hegemonic group or groups that can then build a viable state. This was what European colonial powers failed to do in Sub-Saharan Africa before they departed in the mid- 1950s to early 1960s. Instead they left behind a semblance of a state which had no social anchors. This was what led to Africa’s instability during the last half a century. This instability continues to this day in many countries despite a few signs of hope, in a handful of countries.

The most important factor in the creation of a stable capitalist society is the rise of a property owning class that controls extensive assets. On its own, this class of property owners is not sufficient to create a stable society because in order to develop the assets of these property owners and make them profitable, the owners require the technical and managerial skills of professional and artisan classes, generally referred to as the middle class. The bargaining power of this middle class also acts as a restraining influence on the political power of the large property owners.

• Read the complete article at Africom.mil

Book details

• Architects of Poverty: Why Africa’s Capitalism needs Changing by Moeletsi Mbeki
  EAN: 9781770101616
  Find this book with BOOK Finder!

Trend guru Dion Chang – who recently hosted the 2010 Flux Trend conference – candidly answers questions for Izimvo about what’s in vogue, a few of his favourite things and living in Johannesburg:

Q: The all important personal profile. How would a close friend introduce you at a social event? i.e. Name, age, company, interesting fact etc.

A: Dion Chang, Trend Analyst from Flux Trends.

Q: Tell us something that not many others know about you. This could be anything from a phobia to your favorite movie.

A: People who read my column know me quite well. I also release a lot of personal information through online services such as Twitter. The stuff that people don’t know, they shouldn’t know and are not going to know.

As for my favorite movie of all time, a movie that really made an impression on me is Blade Runner. It was the first movie that was a realistic look at what the future could be.

• Read the complete article

Book details

• The State We’re In: The 2010 Flux Trend Review edited by Dion Chang
  EAN: 9781770101661
  Find this book with BOOK Finder!

A speaker to look out for at this year’s Flux Trend Conference Menzi Mthethwa, gives us a preview of what he thinks 2010 holds in store for corporate social investment campaigns. More of his and other trend spotters’ insights are available in The 2010 Flux Trend Review.

As we start seeing the biggest global economic meltdown on our review mirror, corporate social investment campaigns will never be the same again. We can expect innovative campaigns that we have never seen before.

In other words, fundraisers (NGOs, NPOs and companies) will be going that extra mile in making sure that people show interest in their campaigns. Those who will not try to evolve – and are expecting cheques because they feel they are entitled to donations since they are helping the poor – will be left behind. It’s a harsh reality.

• Read the complete article at BizCommunity

Book details

• The State We’re In: The 2010 Flux Trend Review edited by Dion Chang
  EAN: 9781770101661
  Find this book with BOOK Finder!

Image courtesy Bizcommunity

Editor of the The State We’re In: The 2010 Flux Trend Review and local fashion fundi Dion Chang says conspicuous consumption is old hat. We’re all into “Emphatic Economy” and innovation now. Design-wise it might just be one of the best things to happen in a long time.

Conspicuous consumption is so “last season”. This is the message from trend analyst Dion Chang.

At a presentation yesterday, he said 2008 had been the year of the “wake-up call, while last year was a global peak year”, an expression that describes a year when a way of life comes to an end.

The previous peak year, he said, was 2001, when fear of terrorism in the US came to dominate global events.

The global recession that began in 2008 reached a trough last year, throwing millions of people out of work. The outcome, Chang said, was the start of an “empathetic economy” – the topic of his presentation, in which “value systems changed drastically” and companies, communities and families collaborated to survive.

• Read the complete article in the Business Report

Book details

• The State We’re In: The 2010 Flux Trend Review edited by Dion Chang
  EAN: 9781770101661
  Find this book with BOOK Finder!

In a preview article for a book that’s coming out from Pan Macmillan later this year, the Sunday Independent’s Maureen Isaacson asks, Who is the real Mandela – the person who lives practically in his own media-and-Hollywood generated shadow? Vernon Harris of the Nelson Mandela Foundation is in charge of directing the “memory archive” of Madiba’s papers. Isaacson speaks to him about the task of curating the legacy of a legend:

Nelson Mandela is in danger of being swallowed by Morgan Freeman and Hollywood.

Even as celebrations for the 20th anniversary of Mandela’s release from prison conjure memories of the stoical “prisoner in the garden”, the face of liberation, the Gandhian reconciler, there is an attempt to rescue him from the jaws of his admirers.

Among those looking for the nuances once associated with Mandela, man of many faces, is the memory team at the Nelson Mandela Foundation, in Houghton. It is hard at work, retrieving the light and shade that fashioned Mandela the dancer, boxer, lover, husband, lawyer, comrade, revolutionary, guerrilla leader and statesman. We are familiar with some of these.

But what was really happening in the heart of the man who at 75 went to the hustings, leading the ANC’s election campaign as he faced down the possibility of a rampant right wing onslaught?

Did anyone ever know?

• Read the complete article

Photo courtesy Daymix

The Cow Artworks was the hottest place to be in Joburg’s trendy Parkhurst last Thursday: Famed broadcast personality, actor, author and now photographer Eric Miyeni launched his latest literary offering, A Letter from Paris – a collection of essays and photographs capturing his visit to the City of Light in 2007 – at the jazzy venue, which was packed to the rafters.

Cellist Kutlwano Masote provided the music as guests mingled in the gallery taking in Miyeni’s black and white photographs on the walls. The French Ambassador to South Africa, Jacques Lapouge, was introduced as the guest speaker.

Praising the book and its approach, which, for once, has an African observing and commenting on European culture, La Pogue said, “Black people have been brutalised for centuries. To heal we need moments to be proud of, we need something that focuses our attention in the world to find joy, and the will to be better and successful.” Acknowledging Miyeni’s well-known outspokenness Lapouge added, “we find it interesting that someone like you could experience our capital city during the Rugby World Cup”.

When it was his turn to take the floor, Miyeni sincerely thanked Ambassador Lapouge, and paid tribute to the former French Ambassador to South Africa, Denis Pietton, remembering him for his “easy smile and deep understanding and love for this country”. Miyeni included IFAS Director Laurent Clavel, and Alliance Francaise’s Frédéric Jagu in his thanks for supporting the work.

“I hope you like the work,” the author quipped, “and if you don’t, write vigorously in protest!” Miyeni honoured his mother Mavis, who was present, “for all the goodness” in him and for teaching him to “stand on his feet”.

Wrapping up, he reminded guests that the walls were filled with his debut photographic work and playfully advised readers to read his book the “traditional way”: “patiently start where the book begins and work you way through to the end”.

Post the speeches the DJs took over and the real party started. Even Joshua Lindberg was spotted popping over to the gallery while on his evening walk with his dog!

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Book details

• A Letter from Paris: Essays and Photographs by Eric Miyeni
  EAN: 9781770101722
  Find this book with BOOK Finder!

Eric Miyeni will be launching his latest oeuvre, A Letter from Paris in Parkhurst, Johannesburg this evening. Ahead of the event, the Sowetan published this profile of the author and photographer:

ERIC Miyeni, the actor, radio personality and author, has come up with a journal of essays and photographs depicting French society. The journal will be launched today in Parkhurst, northern Johannesburg.

Called A Letter from Paris, the publication is poised to cause some interest in Johannesburg’s intellectual circles given the author’s background as a polemicist.

This journal follows Miyeni’s visit to Paris in 2007, accompanied by his trusty pen and camera, where he spent two weeks keenly observing the city’s architecture, its history, its people and culture.

• Read the complete article

• Click here for book launch details

Book details

• O’Mandingo!: The Only Black at a Dinner Party by Eric Miyeni
  Book homepage
  EAN: 9781770091870
  Find this book with BOOK Finder!

• A Letter from Paris: Essays and Photographs by Eric Miyeni
  EAN: 9781770101722
  Find this book with BOOK Finder!

SA’s favourite fashion fundi cum trend strategist Dion Chang has made a prediction that, if correct, will see the world change in ways we’ve never before imagined: according to Chang, first female century in history is underway, starting now:

Forget green energy and socially responsible businesses, the biggest driving force of entrepreneurial activity and global leadership is likely to come from one source – women in business.

Highly-rated South African trend strategist Dion Chang identifies this as the “the start of the female century” in his latest Flux Trend Review release.

He points to research that shows that in 2009, for the first time, more women than men were employed in the US workforce. A big contributor to this is the fact that the industries hardest hit were banking and manufacturing, traditionally dominated by males.

• Read the complete article

Book details

• The State We’re In: The 2010 Flux Trend Review edited by Dion Chang
  EAN: 9781770101661
  Find this book with BOOK Finder!