…something borrowed, something blue! We’re pulling a lot of threads together to create something special for our upcoming Salon. The theme reflects, as always, the art on display, and in July, this will feature a project very close to our hearts: our RePAWposed (or should that be RePURRposed?) exhibition.

A Little Background on RePAWposed

This is a unique concept in which TEARS (The Emma Animal Rescue Society) gives us old or battered artworks that have been donated to their charity shops. Often these need just a lick of paint to bring them to life, and that’s exactly what happens: local artists rework, redecorate and reinvent these paintings in fresh ways, creating once-off pieces that are then auctioned to raise funds for TEARS. This is an unusual and innovative way to follow the green mantra: Reduce, Re-use, Repurpose, Recycle (or Upcycle). It also dovetails with the experience of adopting rescue animals to give them (and ourselves) a fresh lease on life.

How Words are Woven In

So we’ve been thinking about how we can use words the same way. Memory and memoir have been on our minds recently. Reaching back to the preparation done for May’s cancelled Salon, we were hoping to explore how memoir can heal trauma — whether we write it or read it. And so Dawn Garisch and representatives of the Life Writing Collective will appear this Tuesday to read poetry to us, and talk about how we can use memory as a form of reclamation, reinvention, or simply as a source of comfort and pleasure. (A bit like the joy a rescue animal can bring.) We’ll also read from Shari Daya’s about-to-be-released Land/Lines (Karavan Press), a debut collection of poems that’s a perfect example of how to map and mine memory to create something new. There will be some surprise readings as well, to chime with the “borrowed” theme, and if you bring your blues, we’ll help you transform them into something rosier.

Thrift Art with a Purpose

For the feel-good factor, please bring any clean pet bedding/baskets/utensils/toys/leftover medication — we’ll be collecting on the night to hand over to TEARS. And our charity anthology featuring South Africa’s best writers, Stray, will be on sale once again: remember, no commission is charged, and the books go for the low low price of R200, of which R120 goes directly to TEARS. It makes a purrfect present!

Almost forgot: the auction for the artworks enjoying a second life (maybe a ninth life?) will take place at the gallery on Saturday 6 July, 5.30 for 6pm. Last year’s event was a hoot — come and join us for the laughter and a delicious drink or two. If you come to the Salon, you can choose a favourite and come back to bid on it on Saturday night.

About the photo: I have attained one of my life goals by sneaking a pic of Boychik, my rescue tripod, onto this blog. He was found abandoned and desperately hurt in the middle of nowhere and rescued by a Noordhoek resident. One of the TEARS vets and the Noordhoek Vet Clinic team saved his life. He’s living proof of the possibilities of regeneration — and the power of love. And that’s what Tuesday’s readings will be about.