Shifty September kicked off on Monday 1 September with the opening of the What you won't hear on the radio exhibition at Alliance Française in Parkview.
The exhibition, on display for the entire month of September tells the story of Shifty Records and explores themes such as censorship of music during the apartheid era, the Voëlvry movement and the James Phillip's many incarnations.
The project which was initially based around documenting the Shifty story and preserving their archive has now grown into a whole month of events combining exhibitions, documentary screenings, panel discussions and ending with the Shifty Heritage Music Festival: : Viva la Différence! on 24 September at Bassline, Newtown.
Tickets for the festival are only available in rewards packages through our crowdfunding project. To get tickets log in to the Shifty September Thundafund site and select the reward package you want. All of the packages except the Sending Shifty Love from Afar package indlude at least one ticket, plus other great Shifty stuff.
For example: Select the Voëlvry (Almost as free as a bird) package and get 2 tickets to the festival, plus 2 x 30 years of Shifty re-release CDs – to be launched in September 2014 - Gereformeerde Blues Band - Eet Kreef and Koos Kombuis double album, plus;
- Voëlvry (DVD)
- Voëlvry (CD)
- Voëlvry – die toer (CD)
- Gereformeerde Blues Band surprise – digital download of rare live audio recordings.
In order to raise funds to cover the costs the Shifty September team is also running an online auction. The auction includes gems unearthed during the project such as:
- Original silkscreen 'Forces Favourites' poster;
- 3 x original silkscreen vinyl record covers of the only Happy Ships album 'Sound Future' released in 1984;
- South African artist Brett Murray has also kindly donated five of his famous lights, made especially for Shifty.
Shifty September in the media:
Andrew Donaldson, Shifty September: Come on baby, 'Do the Lurch', Times Live, 29 August, 2014.
Nina Oosthuizen, The music they didn't want you to hear, South African Broadcasting Corporation, 28 August 2014.
Evan Milton, Rebooting Shifty Records's mighty rebel yell, Mail & Guardian Online, 29 August, 2014.
Support Shifty September and win “The Vinyl Solution”, Bushradio 89.5 FM, 29 August, 2014.
Celebrating South Africa's anti-establishment record label, South African Broadcasting Corporation, 31 July 2014.
Special thanks to our partners and funders: Shifty Records, Alliance Française; Atlantic Philanthropies (through SAHA); Southern African Music Rights Organisation (SAMRO) Foundation; National Arts Council (NAC); Business and Arts South Africa (BASA); Spier.
