Lore Watterson is the Editor-in-Chief and Publisher of Creative Feel Magazine
This being the first issue of the new year, it is time for us to decide what is going to be covered over the upcoming months, creating our own timeline of special events and important dates in the arts and culture environment for the year. It is all very exciting, but also scary to already be discussing what is going to happen in October or November.
Throughout 2019, Germany will be celebrating 100 years of the Bauhaus movement and in this issue, we have put together a short history of this extraordinary approach to design. We will also be celebrating this centenary in future issues by exploring key figures and designs of the 20th-century design movement.
It is also 100 years ago that women in Germany were allowed to vote for the first time in January 1919. ‘The war to end all wars’ had been fought and the strong women’s rights movement at home influenced the decision to give the suffrage to women in Germany. In the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the right to vote was also granted in 1918 but was limited to women over 30 (compared to 21 for men and 19 for those who had fought in World War One), until 1928 when it was amended to allow women over 21 to vote.
Of course, in many nations, women’s suffrage was granted before universal suffrage. In South Africa, adult white women were given the right to vote in 1930, but it was not until April 1994 that South Africa’s first all-race elections were held, leading to the first democratic parliament in South Africa. Peter Storey, whom we interviewed about his new book, remembers the excitement and joy so well. There are going to be lots of ways for Creative Feel to celebrate all of these milestones, particularly through our strong Legacy Series.
I would also like to add my personal voice to the farewell of Michelle Constant, who is leaving BASA at the end of February. I remember when she took over from Nicola Danby so well. In typical Michelle fashion, she was worried about the big shoes she had to fill and the difficult task that lay before her, but characteristically, she just got going with a lot of passion, energy and great ideas. Now ten years later, it is amazing what Michelle has achieved during her time at the head of BASA – see the well deserved ‘praise songs’ in this issue. Fortunately for Creative Feel, while Michelle is leaving BASA, she is going to continue writing for us and we have already discussed some really interesting plans for her column. As she herself says, watch this space and see what this energetic, passionate lady comes up with.
As to stepping into big shoes and filling them, it was always going to be a great challenge for anyone picking up the baton from Michelle, but we here at Creative Feel are really excited that the BASA board decided on Ashraf Johaardien. Having worked with Ashraf since 2009, we have seen that there really are no shoes too big for him to fill. Ashraf has tackled his different positions with great ability and BASA will be just the right challenge for this great and knowledgeable arts administrator.
