Cape Town hosts a recital for piano and horns

20 April 2017 - 12:59 By MELANIE FARRELL
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Rhino Disharmony aims to disrupt our thinking, and on Thursday a mini-Carnegie Hall performance is set to disrupt Cape Town.

Concert pianist Tian Jiang and Cape Town Youth Choir — both of whom have performed in the legendary New York City venue — will fill Haggie Hall at St Cyprian’s school in Gardens with song.

The Rhino Disharmony concert includes Jiang, Freshlyground lead singer Zolani Mahola, two ballet dancers and cartoonist Zapiro sketching on the side.

There will also be a small crash (herd of rhinos) on display from Janice Ashby’s The Rhinos Are Coming project.

Rhino Disharmony artist ambassador Jonathan Shapiro (Zapiro) said environmentalism was his first cause when he was at primary school in the 1970s.

“I was lucky to have a couple of teachers who picked up on the topical environmental issues and my first activist poster was about pollution and the effect that it was having on the world,” he said.

“By the early 1980s we were aware of nuclear power and the issues of radiation (should something go wrong). We started Koeberg Alert and we tried to prevent the building of the plant.

“In 2010 I did a rhino cartoon because 200 rhino a year were being killed and the cartoon shows Africa’s Big Five with the rhino a helicopter filled with rhino horns.

“Five years later there were 1,200 a year being slaughtered. Why? Because the Vietnamese killed off all of their own rhinos. Now they’re killing ours.”

Fellow artist ambassador Beezy Bailey’s eco-awareness also developed during his childhood on a farm.

“There were rhino on the farm and I remember their majesty. I was inspired by what Rhino Disharmony founder Fabrice Orengo de Lamazière and artist Marion Geiger were doing to protect them.

“I donate artworks to environmental initiatives such as World Wildlife Fund and Art for Africa. My biggest project has been raising funds to plant over 3,000 trees in the Cape Flats urban area with Greenpop.”

Anthony Watterson, director of Rhino Disharmony and Tian Jiang’s agent, was “born into an environmental family.

“In 1961, my father was involved in creating the WWF. He drew the panda used as the logo. I still have his threadbare panda from the 1950s. I hope to continue my father’s work for the WWF by doing similar work with Rhino Disharmony.

“I am a bit of a closet greenie but I believe in clean fuel and I support Enel Energy’s initiatives to promote clean fuel in South Africa, mainly through the use of wind turbines and solar energy.

“I wholeheartedly support Elon Musk for his endeavours in space exploration, e-cars and now improving and adapting solar roofs on buildings, making houses self-sufficient and clean.”

Bailey is emphatic. “Am I a greenie? Most definitely. I plant organic vegetables and trees and recycle. I’m very aware of the plight of our planet and how we are ruining it for future generations.”

Zapiro adds: “I would do more cartoons about animal conservation, but trying to keep up with the rapidly shifting political climate in South Africa and global politics leaves me with little time to focus on the environment. In the meantime I support organisations like Rhino Disharmony.”

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