matjieshowntell

Questions and answers for www.dazeddigital.com
Photostudio highlights to be posted here on Monday! Keep watching!

For the uninitiatited what is Matjiesfontein Show & Tell?

“Show ’n tell” is a platform for everyone’s creative explorations. The aim is for everyone to contribute in the old fashioned way: perform, play and present in the tiny town of Matjiesfontein over a long weekend.
Matjiesfontein is a Victorian “edelgesteente” (gemstone) located in the semi-desert Karoo. In prehistoric times, it was an inland sea, with strange reptiles and fish. In its colonial heyday, the town attracted dandies, damsels and plain old roughnecks. It is one street long, belongs to one man and consist of a victorian hotel filled with real antiques.

How does it work?

Everyone that comes to the weekend has to come up with a creative contribution to present. You could sing a song, bake a cake, juggle grapefruit during breakfast, play chopsticks on the bar piano, dj, recite poetry, challenge a rabbit on the tennis court, exhibit you favorite things or tell a ghost story … “Show ’n’ tell” is not a commercial undertaking - all participants are responsible for costs, logistics and technical requirements of their contributions. There is no added charge to see any of the shows.

How do you describe your role in it?

Originally I visited the town and came up with the concept, now I see my role as a kind of conductor of ideas - I group people's creative contributions together and shape it into a rough guideline program for the weekend. But once were are in the town the weekend becomes a happening that takes on its own shape. The weekend gets created by the people who come.
I also run the daily blog www.matjiesshowntell.blogspot.com from where accommodation bookings and other info about the weekend gets posted.

What kind of person does it attract - do most people contribute something?

The mix of people who came this year were from within various creative fields - designers, poets, actors, photographers, musicians, writers , architects - but the idea is not for it to be exclusive to professional artists only - I believe everyone has some creativity in them and Show 'n Tell wants to challenge people to express their creativity in an informal situation. The town can only accommodate 100 people - we were 75 this year, so its also a small enough group for it not to be intimidating. People have to state their contributions to book accommodation, so yes, everyone contributed in some way.

Do you think the event has grown from last year?

Last year was the first year it happened - it has definitely grown since then. I attribute the success of 2007 to the blog - the blog didn’t exist in 2006. This year people read the blog daily and understood the concept of the weekend better. It was also compulsory for people to state their creative contributions this year before the weekend, so more people contributed where last year people came to be entertained. This year, we all entertained one another.

What were the highlights from this year? (can you describe 3-4 key events)

The whole weekend was such a magical happening and being in the little victorian museum town in spring created a continuous sense of play and wonder. It is hard to highlight specific events. Every single contribution was heartfelt and special - people went through a lot of effort.
Greg Lomas and Julia Merritt did manage to draw the weekend together through their contribution. They set up a self service photostudio in one of the antique lounges of the Lord Milner Hotel. Almost everyone present at the weekend came to take their photographs after Sunday evening’s vintage dress up dinner. People were very playful and posed and acted in-front of the camera - it gave everyone there a group sense which was great.
The tennis tournament on the old broken tennis court was also a highlight for many. The tournament was a creative contribution and the tennis team decorated the court with streamers, tinsel and plastic flowers. The weather was so lovely on the Sunday afternoon - people dressed in their funny tennis outfits, drank lots of g&t's and had a laugh. The game consisted of mixed doubles only and the rules were made up by a crazy dressed- up umpire who teased and insulted the players. The "breaking news team" (another contribution) covered the tournament and the weekend.
Both nights had live bands and musicians performing.. there was a massive open-air cinema in the garden, slideshows in a weird coffee house, French social games were played, poetry readings, free yoga class, a wishing tree, homemade short film screenings, landscape art , other exhibitions, dj's and lots of other events around town.

Why Matjiesfontein?

The town is a declared heritage site - it has a rich history of entertainment, murder, mayhem and magic and one can feel the magic tapestry of gallantry, ghosts fact and fiction. The victorian buildings and antiques are well preserved and feels like a magic set waiting for something to happen. It’s isolated and forgotten in the semi desert - so I felt it is the perfect place to have a weekend of play and escapism.

And next year? When will it be? Any thoughts on what you'd like to do
for year 3?

Show 'n Tell falls over the South African public holiday of National Heritage Day. Heritage Day is the end of September - spring time in South Africa. Everyone is usually in a very good mood over this time of year, and it falls just before the busy summer months.
I would like the weekend to stay informal and non- commercial and playful. Like I said the town can only accommodate 100 people so numbers will have to stay limited. Show 'n Tell is not trying to be an arts festival of sorts, more just a creative get together, and I hope it can stay non serious in this way.
I also hope for 2008 that more people will get involved in organizing the logistics of the weekend so it can continue organically.