Durban, a Cogent African City

Durban, a Cogent African City
Author: Anna Irene Del Monaco
Publisher: Edizioni Nuova Cultura
Total Pages: 138
Release: 2018-04-30
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 886812873X

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The city of Durban is one of the most intriguing for architects and urban designers, due to its cultural and economic diversity on one the hand and its political evolution since its colonial formalisation, apartheid influences and its post-apartheid evolution, on the other. It is a city that expresses complex narratives in architectural form and expression, seemingly chaotic, yet within and upon a cogent overall structure. Perhaps, it is that very cogency in urban structure which facilitated its complex evolution, or perhaps not. This paradox forms the crux of the studies and applied research part of this book, and which defined the sites of focus for a collaborative studio workshop. Durban is a modern city which expresses the complex dynamics of an African city emerging from a historically colonial foundation. This provided an interesting context for engagement of the UNESCO Chair for Sustainable Urban Quality and Culture, notably in Africa. The institutional agreement between the UNESCO Chair, Sapienza University of Rome and the Durban University of Technology (DUT) was formalised in the year 2013, prior to an international workshop in China and the UIA 2014 in Durban, South Africa. The focus of the Chair and the curriculum outcomes of DUT, with regard to urban culture and the evolution thereof, created a mutually opportune association, with the possibility for contribution to the UIA 2014 conference in Durban. After deliberations and the necessary paperwork, the UNESCO Chair, in Association with DUT, were granted official space on the UIA Programme for presentation at the conference. This was received with much enthusiasm, which drew further interest and participation from students and Professors of Sapienza University of Rome and Tsinghua University of Beijing in China. Further representation of academics from Manipal University in India, School of Architecture University of Florida and Hosei University in Japan added much value to the collaboration in Durban.

Durban in a Word

Durban in a Word
Author: Dianne Stewart
Publisher: Penguin Random House South Africa
Total Pages: 164
Release: 2012-10-09
Genre: Travel
ISBN: 0143027573

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Thirty writers, thirty views of Durban. Each piece evokes memories of the city that has shaped them. With a wide range of voices, from John van de Ruit, Glynis Horning, Ronnie Govender, Kobus Mooman, Aziz Hassim and many more, Durban in a Word is a lush collection from South Africa's often forgotten city.

Durban 1942

Durban 1942
Author: G. R. Rubin
Publisher: A&C Black
Total Pages: 166
Release: 1992-01-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 9781852850807

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On 13 January 1942 hundreds of army and air force servicemen due to sail from Durban on the British troopship City of Canterbury refused to board the vessel in defiance of their commanders and of the British Military and Naval authorities in South Africa. Gerry Rubin sees this unusual and dramatic incident in the round. Besides examining the legal case itself, its precedents and its outcome, he looks at both the human factors involved and at the wider background. In so doing he deals with a little-mentioned aspect of the war but one familiar to hundreds of thousands of servicemen: the journey by troopship via the Cape to the Middle and Far East.

Durban Dialogues Dissected

Durban Dialogues Dissected
Author: Felicity Hand
Publisher: African Sun Media
Total Pages: 159
Release: 2021-01-26
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1928357652

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This volume provides an in-depth analysis of the work of Indian South African playwright Ashwin Singh, which, through the diversity of characters from all ethnic backgrounds, forges an inclusive South African identity. The essays in this volume show how Singh’s plays bring South Africa’s blatant prejudices and social ills to the forefront as only by confronting unpleasant realities can any far-reaching changes actually take place. The academics and cultural practitioners who have contributed to this volume approach Singh’s work from a variety of angles, ranging from history, psychology and experimental literary forms to the performance of the plays, the relevance of the stage directions and the symbiotic relationship between the playwright and the director. The contrast between the climate of optimistic political protest and the complacency and disillusion of the new democratic era is seen to reassess the actions of the past in the light of present outcomes.

On Durban's Docks

On Durban's Docks
Author: Ralph Callebert
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer
Total Pages: 254
Release: 2017
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1580469078

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Offers a new approach to the study of labor on the subcontinent and globally, questioning the relevance of the predominant wage labor paradigm for Africa and the Global South.

Tastes of Durban

Tastes of Durban
Author: David Bird
Publisher: Penguin Random House South Africa
Total Pages: 254
Release: 2018-07-01
Genre: Cooking
ISBN: 1432309528

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Durban is the largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, and the biggest port in Africa. It is a melting pot of African, European and Asian cultures, and is often used as a springboard for trips to the Drakensberg, the historical battlefield sites and the province’s abundant game parks. Its rich, multicultural heritage is reflected in the foods that are to be found throughout the city, from spicy, aromatic Indian cuisine and fish and seafood to dishes influenced by the Portuguese, Zulu nation and British. Tastes of Durban is a celebration of these foods that can be savoured here while on a visit and then recreated once you return home.

Durban Dialogues, Indian Voice

Durban Dialogues, Indian Voice
Author: Ashwin Singh
Publisher: Aurora Metro Publications Ltd.
Total Pages: 226
Release: 2017-07-05
Genre: Drama
ISBN: 1906582327

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Durban Dialogues, Indian Voice is an anthology of five engaging and eclectic South African plays by award-winning playwright Ashwin Singh. The plays selected, namely To House, Duped, Spice ’n Stuff, Reoca Light and Beyond the Big Bangs represent the complete array of Singh’s storytelling skills in drama as well as satire. Each play reflects, in different ways, on the complexities and contradictions of life in post-Apartheid South Africa, and focuses particularly on people of Indian origin and their relationship with other South African communities. The plays present a moving portrait of a unique array of characters and are also punctuated by Singh’s trademark humour. Each one is set in Durban, South Africa’s third largest and most diverse city, and they are described by renowned academic and critic Betty Govinden as ‘undressing Durban, as they take us away from the neon lights and “candy floss” to the reality of the underbelly of post-Apartheid urban and suburban existence’.

Durban Dialogues, Then and Now

Durban Dialogues, Then and Now
Author: Ashwin Singh
Publisher: Aurora Metro Publications Ltd.
Total Pages: 169
Release: 2017-10-20
Genre: Drama
ISBN: 1911501941

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A fine collection of contemporary plays by one of South Africa's leading playwrights. The plays selected, namely Into the Grey, Shooting and Swing cover topics such as social activism, the death of a friend and discrimination in sport. Described through Singh’s satirical lens, these thought-provoking plays bring us up to date with the challenges of life in post-Apartheid South Africa. They focus particularly on people of Indian origin and their relationships with other South African communities and chart the loss of ideals in the dream of the Rainbow nation. Includes: Into the Grey: A harrowing drama depicting the twenty-nine year association between two Durban activists who battle a variety of challenges as their country stumbles towards a bleak future. Shooting: A one-man play about the unchanging paradigm in Durban’s small town communities in the early years of democracy as a football prodigy’s dream is brutally shattered. Swing: A two-hander about the relationship between a mixed-race Durban tennis player and her father/coach as they confront many obstacles in a society which undervalues the girl-child. With a foreword by director Ralph Lawson and introduction by Pranav Joshipura, Associate Professor of English, Mahila College, Gandhinagar, India. A follow-up anthology of three hard-hitting plays to Singh’s successful drama anthology Durban Dialogues, Indian Voice (2013) which is now studied internationally. “Ashwin Singh’s plays, working in a contemporary idiom and style and context, become a place for us to set up house, to inhabit, a place filled with humour, compassion and insight. They categorically signal a disposition not to remain silent, not to remain indifferent, prompting us and nudging us to make choices about how we live in our world.” Dr Betty Govinden, KZN Literary Tourism “The ability to capture the lives and communities of Durban with both pathos and humour resonates in all Singh’s works. The plays pay tribute to the city’s cultural and aesthetic beauty but they also expose its underbelly of crime, corruption and racial tension.” Estelle Sinkins, Weekend Witness “As with his To House and Spice ‘n Stuff, Shooting author Ashwin Singh tackles his subjects head-on, using his considerable writing skills to blend important historical and contemporary issues with entertainment.” Caroline Smart, The Mercury About the author Ashwin Singh is an attorney, academic, playwright, director and actor. His first anthology of plays, Durban Dialogues, Indian Voice was published in 2013 by Aurora Metro Books. The book is being studied and/or referenced at a variety of universities in South Africa, India, Canada and Europe. Singh has also been published as a playwright in the collective anthologies, New South African Plays (Aurora Metro Books, 2006) and the Catalina Collection (Catalina UnLtd, 2013). He is also a published poet and academic author. Singh is a three-time national award winner via the PANSA Playreading Festival (the country’s foremost playwriting contest) with his plays To House (2003); Duped (2005); and Reoca Light (2012). He is also a respected stage and radio actor, having performed in a number of dramatic and comic productions. Singh also played a lead role in award winning UK director James Brown’s short film about child abuse, One Wedding and a Funeral.