Tuesday 23rd August

Twelve days ago, I celebrated the end of my residency at Bellagio with a final swim in the invigorating waters of Lake Como.

And to answer a question many asked when I got back, no, I did not see George, either on his motorbike or on the lake or in a restaurant, but nonetheless, I had had an extraordinary time.

As I stepped off the plane in Cape Town, my phone rang. Shahena Wingate-Pearse, the daughter of Naz Ebrahim, a monumental figure in the dying days of District Six in the 70s and 80s, was in town. Shahena left the city more than thirty years ago because her marriage to a white man was illegal, then, and she was back now to launch Naz’s autobiography at the District Six Museum the following day.

My portrait of Naz Ebrahim, taken in 1981

The book is called The Truth is on the Walls, which is what Naz wrote on the walls of her Rochester Street home, Manley Villa, in 1981, when it was one of the last houses standing in the demolished District Six. Veteran journalist John Battersby has written the foreword.

Shahena Wingate-Pearse, John Battersby and Drizzie Ebrahim

For me, the book launch at the Museum with everyone remembering ‘those days’ was a sad pleasure. How much more authentic would this city be if District Six was still the energetic heart of the city, instead of a desolate, almost empty space.

Sunday, August 7, 2011

My time at Bellagio is coming to an end. In fact, I’m the last resident here, alone in the vastness of the Villa grounds. I thought I would feel a bit deserted when the last four residents (except for me) departed for Malpensa airport last Thursday, but in fact, as I drift around in silence, a not unpleasant mood of gentle melancholy and retrospection has set in.

It's been extraordinary being here. Imagine a country house party which goes on for weeks, except that each day you get to work at whatever you want to all day without the stress of your daily life back home. Occasionally there’s a spot of croquet or tennis in the late afternoon and three times a week a pre-dinner presentation from one of the other residents about their specific project, projects which have ranged from composing music for operas to discovering new black holes in space.

One evening, I ran a workshop rather in the style of the Other Voices series I have been working on, to be followed by a next-day shoot. The question to all the resident scholars was: What does in mean to be here at Bellagio? The response: WE”RE NOT REALLY HERE.

It’s definitely been almost too good to be true.