Third Film Evening in Cintsa - Friday 31 March

The 3rd Film Evening at The Hearth of Cintsa - we're screening Ernest et Célestine at 6pm, followed by The Secret of Kells at 7:30. Bring blankets, deck chairs and picnic baskets and join us under the stars for an evening of animated delight! R20 for single feature/R30 for double/R50 adults w. wine. Shop 3 Atalaia Building, Cintsa Drive, Cintsa East

Brief plot synopses for the two films: 

Ernest et Célestine (French w. Eng subtitles)
This whimsical animation featured at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival and was the first animated film to win the Magritte Award for Best Film, among others. Based on the series of books by Belgian author & illustrator Gabrielle Vincent, this comedy-drama features the journey shared by Ernest the troubadour from the surface-dwelling bear world and Célestine the artist & dreamer from the underground mouse world whose unusual friendship is put on trial by their respective bear-fearing and mice-eating communities. Directed by Stéphane Aubier, Vincent Patar and Benjamin Renner. Running time 75mins.

The Secret of Kells
A remote medieval Irish abbey, a forest sprite, a young boy and an ancient unfinished book filled with secret wisdom are some of the elements of this fantastical animation which premiered in 2009 at the Berlin International Film Festival. Directed by Nora Twomey & Tomm Moore. Running time 79mins.

Work in progress

Tersia Vermaak at work on one of her 'Haiku' paintings, and its current state:

'Represent': students go public

Advanced class pressure is on to move outdoors and sketch in a very open space.  Today we went down to the Cintsa East beach entrance to sketch from plants, buildings and moving people.  The result was a great series of story-like drawings. The students had to take these home and 're-present' their captured scenes into larger drawings:

Second Film Evening in Cintsa

Introducing: our second Film Eve, next Friday 17 March. We're screening Basquiat (1996, 106 mins) starring Jeffrey Wright, David Bowie, Benicio del Toro, Dennis Hopper, Gary Oldman, Courtney Love, Claire Forlani, Christopher Walken and Willem Dafoe. It is a biographical drama based on the life of American postmodernist/neo expressionist artist Jean-Michel Basquiat who used graffiti as a foundation to create collage-style paintings on canvas. Directed by Julian Schnabel, it popularises the myth of Basquiat as a young, gorgeous, doomed, yet ultimately transcendent black male artist who gets scooped up by the art establishment of his time. Please join us next Friday at 6:45 for 7pm. R50 with wine or R30 BYO. Hope to see you there!

March statement/what we're really about

Art is often considered an expensive luxury that only a small, elite portion of our society can afford and/or understand.

The Hearth showcases contemporary art products by both local and international artists that cater to a wide range of tastes and are affordable to all wallets.

By opening up an inclusive, free-minded space for exploring, creating, sharing and thinking about an Art that can serve as a vital part of our society's well-being and be a source of dialogue around re-imagining and re-designing our world, we aim to be the metaphorical 'fire in the family hearth' and the creative hub of our village, Cintsa East.

detail from Jeff Rankin's 'Total sacrifice' on display at The Hearth

The Hearth is home to a fine art studio gallery and shop, drawing class, and film theatre where we use art to invite a way of being and seeing that encourages thought, kindness, and intelligent movement through the world, and to challenge the limited cultural constructs that can repress and confine change and growth in our lives.

The common misperception that art is perhaps a product of leisure, no more than an impractical whim acting from the wayward desires and undisciplined senses of the idle or the insane, for example, is deconstructed and transformed into the rather more useful idea that art can be a healthy outlet and portal for sharing a diversity of ideas and for mapping newer, improved philosophies to guide us into life and the future.

Prospective clients, visiting friends and students at work can enjoy a cup of coffee here; young people come and use our art library for inspiration and reference after school; our walls carry a fresh, accessible and uplifting selection of exciting images and ideas that everyone can enjoy and appreciate.  The Hearth also has a small succulent nursery and a garden area at the back which serves as an event venue.

We stock paintings, drawings, prints, calendars, fabrics, illustrations and ceramics.