The ultimate battle of the wands kicks off in the Mother City this September!

Eleven provincial teen wizards will be locked in the ultimate battle of the wands when the 2016 Western Cape Junior Magician Championships is hosted at Milnerton High School  on Sunday 18 September, 2016!

Hosted by the College of Magic, Cape Town’s only magical arts organisation, the Championships is billed as the ultimate battle of the wands, testing the mettle of young magicians in the quick-fingered art of Close-up Magic and the grandiose illusionary techniques of Stage Magic.

Forget Hogwarts’ Triwizard Cup - the Championships contestants are vying for the 2016 Western Cape Junior Magician title, top honours and opportunities to perform at international magical events!

As the competitive spirit reaches an all-time wizardly high, Milnerton High School will be transformed into the ultimate magical battle ground with the Close-Up event at 2pm and the Stage contest at 4pm.

In addition to these charming events, audiences can see street buskers throw down the magical gauntlet in the Street Magic Contest, showing off their impressive skills in card magic, puppetry, coin effects, juggling and balloon-modelling.

Celebrating 36 years of teaching the art of magic and its allied arts as well as vital life-skills to children and adults in 2016, the College of Magic, a non-profit organisation and the only one of its kind in the world, is thrilled to once again host the not-to-be-missed Western Cape Junior Magician Championships:

“The Championships event is a fantastic platform for our young magicians to get a taste of what it is like to compete professionally in the world of magic. I’ve had a sneak peek at the creative acts our contestants are preparing and they are incredible. Join us and see them for yourselves! ”says College of Magic director David Gore.

Tickets for the Championships start from R100 and are available at www.collegeofmagic.com/tickets.For more information about the 2016 Western Cape Junior Magician Championships, please contact the

College of Magic on +27 (0) 21 683 5480 or visit www.collegeofmagic.com.

This winter school holiday, families are invited to experience endless childlike wonder with their little ones at the 2016 Traditional Children's Magic Festival in Claremont, Cape Town from Wednesday 29 June to Saturday 2 July, 2016. 

It is non-stop thrilling indoor fun as the College of Magic, the Mother City's only magical arts organisation, once again hosts this four day programme of unbelievable magic shows by more than 50 of the city's top magicians, jugglers, clowns, escapologists and more.

 From the must-visit magical Photo Booth for a memorable family photo session and hands-on magical training workshops to exhilarating game stations and amazing performances by special guest artists, this year's Festival is not-to-be-missed! 

A ticket to this affordable family experience includes an enchanting walkabout through the College's century-old building with numerous surprises waiting around the next secret door; a meet-and-greet session with our resident magical bunny; a surprise-filled goodie bag for each visitor and so much more. 

Celebrating 36 years of teaching the art of magic and its allied arts as well as vital life-skills to children and adults in 2016, the College of Magic cannot wait to welcome mini-magic fanatics and their loved ones to its mysterious Victorian manor in Claremont:

"Each year we see hundreds of Cape Town's families flock to the Festival, eager to be entertained and captivated by our large troupe of amazing performers. The 2016 event is bigger, better and even more magical than ever before so escape the blistering cold and join us for this heart-warming, must-attend family event "says David Gore, director of the College of Magic. 

The Festival will be held at the College of Magic, 215 Imam Haron Road in Claremont, with the two-hour show programme running daily at 10:30 am and again at 2:30 pm.

Get your tickets and experience the wonder of magic …

Tickets for the 2016 Traditional Children’s Magic Festival are from R80 and include a free goodie bag. Book yours TODAY at www.collegeofmagic.com/tickets.

For more information about the festival and the College of Magic, please visit www.collegeofmagic.com or call +27(0)21 683 5480.

UNRAVEL - to unravel is to undo the twisted, to solve, clear up, to fathom and come to terms with.

"This body of work  is autobiographical in a sense that each artwork represents an aspect of my own process in coming to terms with my own truth, and an expression of that. Coming out as a gay man, a father and husband a few years back, initiated the process of carefully unraveling an old life without breaking the strands and connections I have with my family. It is in the unraveling of the old and the process of reweaving where beauty lies, although difficult and painful at times.

As in life, so in art - the technique that developed throughout has also been an unraveling of my paint style. The liberating process of taking the artwork apart as it is broken down into emotional brush and knife strokes, smearing paint into loose strands of colour to form a new whole. This approach gives the viewer the opportunity to weave their own imagination into the artwork - to fill in the missing detail. Ultimately my work is an exercise in letting go, into the truth of the moment, letting the artwork happen as it is. True." - Floris van Zyl

The exhibition will run concurrently online  for those unable to attend.

For more information and to preview or purchase work prior to the opening please visit the website.

Show Opens: 02 April 2015, 5pm - 9pm

Exhibition continues until 18 April 2015

61 Shortmarket Street, (between Loop and Bree) Cape Town.
Gallery hours: 10-5 weekdays, 10-2 Saturdays.

About Floris van Zyl

Floris van Zyl is a contemporary South African artist based in the Midlands of Kwazulu Natal, South Africa. Born 1971, he grew up in Pretoria and was drawn to the arts from a very young age. He qualified as a Graphic Designer in 1993 where after he started his own design agency. By 2009 he relocated to the countryside and started painting full time. He brings to his work the analytical eye of a graphic designer but tempers this formality with a loose, almost reckless method of applying paint to his canvas.His subject is rendered in blocks and dabs of colour often built up layer upon layer achieving his intention of, “creating images that work at a distance but become even more rewarding at close range.” He explores these combinations of natural and man-made shapes in his portraits and figure studies where the human form is sometimes set against rigid formal structured shapes. Inspiration comes from many sources: “I am influenced and inspired by my own life, also by observing the lives of other people”. Before making a mark on the canvas Floris determines what he calls the subject’s emotional climate. “It is more a feeling than anything else.” Next he considers the technical aspects of the subject, such as its shape, textures and colours. “I decide how I can use these to promote the feeling I want to achieve. I have a general idea of the ‘feeling’ of the painting before I begin. I find the appropriate references and the correct way to paint it, so that there is nothing Inessential or unrelated to the topic in the process. It is difficult to describe, but I like to be direct and to the point with the subject. Much of my work is expressive so there is always something new for the viewer to notice and discover, even after long inspection. My work is an ongoing process of self-challenge and evolution, I don't like to get stuck on a recipe. I want to give people the opportunity to enjoy and interpret my work largely for themselves.” Floris sells his paintings on great demand across the world. Quite a large numbers of these are direct commissions from local and international collectors. He frequently participates with great success in local and international exhibitions and his work has been published in various authoritative art publications. 

Available work can be viewed online at StateoftheART

Santa's Story, a theatre fundraiser for street children in need of trauma therapy Santa's Story, Aviva Pelham's beautiful and uplifting one-woman musical revue about her mother, Santa Erder, is coming to Theatre on the Bay in February 2015.

Thanks to Aviva's generous support, opening night, Tuesday, 3 February 2015,  is a theatre fundraiser. The money raised will be used to put (at least) 14 Cape Town street children through a drama therapy programme with Zakheni Arts Therapy Foundation. Your R200 ticket includes a welcome drink, the 75 minute show and heaps of gratitude from the fundraising team! For bookings, please email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 081 243 4771

Please see the attached flyer for more information on the show that has toured Germany, Finland and will soon be seen in New York.

The eCommerce Africa Confex is proving to be Africa's most influential eCommerce gathering as we bring you face to face with the key individuals in the industry. The conference agenda will cover all things eCommerce, from how to expand your business into Africa to the survival and flourishing of SME's and small businesses. 

Raphael Afaedor, Co-Founder of Jumia and CEO/Co-Founder of Supermart, together with Simdul Shagaya, CEO and Founder of Konga.com will both be sitting on a panel discussing how to sell into Africa and grow your business beyond South Africa. 

Raphael is part of the advisory panel that has been consulted to tailor the event agenda. He co-founded one of Nigeria's largest online stores, Jumia, in 2012 and has since left to start Supermart, an online platform that allows the consumer to shop from over 18 000 grocery items. Simdul is the CEO and co-founder of recently Naspers-invested, Konga.com which is known as Africa's answer to Amazon.com. He was on Forbe's list of "The 10 Most Powerful Men in Africa 2014" and also won "Entrepreneur of the Year" at the 2013 All Africa Business Leaders Awards. 

SME's and startups can gather valuable insight during a panel that will discuss what small businesses, without the big corporate budgets, can do to build a business that will not only survive but thrive and flourish in the eCommerce industry. Panellists for this discussion include:

• David Muller, Managing Director of CyberCellar

• Phaedon Gourtsoyannis, Founder of Cape Coffee Beans

• Gary Hadfield, CEO of loot.co.za

• Olivier Chas, Managing Director and Co-Founder of CitySlicker

The eCommerce Africa Confex takes places on the 3rd and 4th February 2015 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.

Should you wish to register as a delegate or are interested in sponsor or exhibitor opportunities, please contact Greg Johnson on 021 180 4700 or email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. 

StateoftheART is delighted to present 'Contra Natura' (Against Nature) by Werner Ungerer. This work consists of 18 loose sheets of calligraphy and text, contained in clamp-shell box.   Contra Natura is a short story hand-illuminated in a medieval calligraphic hand "gothic textura quadrata". The digital and the archaic worked hand in hand in the production of this work which took Ungerer two years to complete.

The story follows a modern day priest teaching at a Catholic school. He confiscates an image torn from a fashion magazine from one of his pupils. The image is of a semi-naked man. The Priest is completely taken over by this image and undergoes a crises of faith. He exiles himself to an island retreat in the hope of re-connecting with his faith. In complete isolation, the power of the image grows stronger and its hold over the Priest more intense. As the depression of the Priest escalates we are drawn deeper into his internal struggle and ultimate psychological collapse. In the end he confronts himself and the story takes on a more surreal turn. He survives a violent attack by an unknown assailant (The Devil?) on the beach. He has a near death experience during which he encounters mythical versions of his mother and father. His mother is the Veiled Woman in Black sitting in a dead cornfield in the heat. His father is Legion – a mad prophet sitting on a dune in the desert, overlooking a fallen city. They serve as the Priest’s guide as he travels through the underworld and moves closer to resolve and acceptance or farther away from it.

"The title “Contra Natura” or, Against Nature was selected not only for subversive reasons. It also had a more direct meaning in that I needed to invent a new work-process for myself. I normally work very much on an intuitive level, often abandoning works mid-way and going off on different tangents. With this work I wanted to go against my own nature and submit myself to severe processes of order, structure, tradition and discipline." - Werner Ungerer

Opens at 6pm on the 4th September

04.09.2014 till 20.09.2014

StateoftheART
61 Shortmarket Street (between Loop & Bree)
Cape Town

10am - 5pm week days
10am - 2pm Saturdays or by appointment  

For more information contact Jennifer on +27 (0)724709272 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.