When Life Happens uses visual and performance art to spark debate and raise awareness about HIV and Aids. The week-long festival kicks off this weekend.

Sylvia 'Magogo' Glasser's highly acclaimed work, Blankets of Shame, will be performed by the Moving into Dance Mophatong Company

W

HEN Life Happens, an art and culture festival, uses entertainment to deal with pressing social issues, so raising awareness and leading to debate.

The week-long HIV and Aids awareness initiative is being held to coincide with World Aids Day on Saturday, 1 December. With dancers, musicians, poets and visual artists, the festival takes place at various venues around Newtown from 2 to 9 December – and the events are free.

Festival organiser PJ Sabbagha says that art not only helps to make serious issues such as HIV and Aids accessible to the public, but it also provokes critical thought and debate.

"In a world dominated by news headlines of war, soaring oil prices, climate change and the pursuit of democracy it amazes me that HIV and Aids seem to have become marginalised and erased from our social conscience," Sabbagha says.

"If one considers that a human tragedy equivalent to that of the Twin Towers terror attack [on New York in 2001] unfolds weekly in South Africa alone, why are we failing at all levels of government and society to respond? … The When Life Happens HIV and Aids arts and culture festival continues in its commitment [that art is] a powerful vehicle for social mobilisation and dynamic social change."

What's on
The festival opens on Sunday, 2 December with an exhibition at Museum Africa. It will run until the festival ends. Some 30 artists are taking part, and artworks created by HIV-positive children and Aids orphans during the When Life Happens workshops will also be exhibited.

Sylvia "Magogo" Glasser's highly acclaimed work, Blankets of Shame, will be performed by the Moving into Dance Mophatong Company at the Dance Factory on Wednesday, 5 December and Thursday, 6 December at 7.30pm.

According to the festival organisers, Blankets of Shame explores the concept of stigma and denial through imagery relating to the abuse of women and children, rape, paedophilia, Aids and healing. It symbolically lifts the "blankets" of silence surrounding these issues through a ritualistic journey interweaving dance, music, the human voice and fabric.

Then, the newly named 2008 Standard Bank Young Artist for Dance, Dada Masilo, is to perform in a programme of new, contemporary dance on 7 December at 7.30pm, 8 December at 6pm, and 9 December at 2.30pm at the Dance Factory.

Works by choreographer Sello Pesa and his Ntsoana Contemporary Dance Theatre will be featured.

An evening of cutting-edge performance poetry and contemporary urban South African sounds will rock the Bassline on Thursday, 6 December. DJ Kenzhero; Tumi, of Tumi and the Volume; DJ Papercut; Afurakan; and Khethi are on the bill. The show starts at 8pm.

When Life Happens runs from Sunday, 2 December to Sunday, 9 December at various venues around Newtown. Entrance to all the events is free. For more information, email PJ Sabbagha at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Related stories:

• City speaks out about HIV and Aids
• All systems go for 46664 concert
• Join the campaign against abuse