Songs have been sung, plays performed, poetry spoken, art enjoyed; once again the month-long Arts Alive festival was a success.
THE 2009 Joburg Arts Alive festival ended on a satisfying note yesterday. Over the month-long celebration, there was a wide-ranging programme that covered various arts disciplines including theatre, poetry, visual arts, film, dance and music.
Enjoying the Jazz on the Lake
Organisers said this year’s Arts Alive provided an educational and cultural experience to the many diverse groups who attended events.
Some of the festival’s long-standing offerings include Jazz on the Lake, which this year took place on Sunday, 6 September. The annual free family concert gave Joburgers a six-hour treat of entertaining music.
Arts Alive is an annual programme of cultural events hosted by the City of Johannesburg and sponsored by the City’s directorate of arts, culture and heritage.
International artists in the line-up included Senegal’s Omar Pene and Le Super Dimano, British-Tamil musician Susheela Raman and Brazil’s Spok Frevo Orchestra. Representing South Africa was Tsepo Tshola, Zulu Boy, Xolisa Dlamini and Tebego Moloto.
Two of the strongest components this year were theatre and dance. Several performances took place on many of Johannesburg’s stages, including Jozi Ma Sweetie, an original musical that paid tribute to the wiles and ways of Jozi and the women who have called her home.
In a bid to reach as many people as possible, especially those in disadvantaged communities, shows were performed in community halls and churches. This was done to revive township theatre, a cue taken from the godfather of community theatre, the late Gibson Kente.
Kente believed strongly in the importance of plays that could be rotated and performed in many theatres.
From Jozi Ma Sweetie
Part of the visual element was the film festival, which focused on workshops for writers and filmmakers in Soweto with the aim of providing a platform for the development and exposure of talent in the township.
Dance fans also had plenty to do, with the dance segment including the South African Ballet Theatre’s performance of Giselle, Indian classical dance from Nrityagram Dance Ensemble and contemporary dance by the Daksha Sheth Dance Company.
Poetry was also high on the agenda, with slam poetry an exciting addition to the programme. Slam poetry slam originated in Paris, started by young French poets, and has spread to at least 50 countries.
Story tellers and poets from South Africa, Ghana, Zimbabwe, United States and other African countries came together to read and recite original work during the month.
A now regular and much anticipated part of Arts Alive is Shared History: The Indian Experience in South Africa. Running until Monday, 5 October this year, the annual event exposes audience to the taste of Indian food, dance, music and culture.
It began with performances from the Tribhangi Dance Theatre and Sarpaghati Dance Company, whose dances are inspired by the worshipping of snakes in Indian culture.
Words on Water was another popular event in Shared History. Internationally acclaimed Indian and South African authors engaged in conversation on some of the most prolific writings and insights for the first time.
Taking part in Words on Water: Pnina Fenster
Participants in the festival included Ramachandra Guha, Amit Chaudhuri and Valmiki Ramayana, Angela Makholwa, Zukiswa Wanner and Pnina Fenster. Discussions included literary depictions of Joburg and Calcutta and post-colonial politics.
Another interesting addition to this year to Arts Alive was African Connections. It brought a large gathering of African musicians to Joburg to perform alongside their South African peers.
Adding an oriental flavour was the Thailand Grand Festival, which featured a Thai puppet show, Thai handicraft displays and a silk fashion show, and plenty of Thai food.
Participating institutions included the University of the Witwatersrand, the National Arts Council, the Thai embassy, Alliance Francaise, the Indian embassy and the Austrian embassy.
