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This year’s Arts Alive International Festival offers a jam-packed schedule of dance, poetry, art and music – a line-up sure to entice all Joburg culture vultures.
JOBURG is gearing up for the 17th annual Arts Alive International Festival, which showcases a wide range of cultural treats, including theatre, poetry, visual arts, music, dance and film.
The city’s arts, culture and heritage director Steven Sack
This year’s Arts Alive programme was launched on 12 August in anticipation of the festival which runs from Thursday 3 September until Sunday 27.
Opening night will be staged at the Mary Fitzgerald Square in Newtown and is by invitation only.
Joburg executive mayor Amos Masondo will open the event, which will offer guests a variety of musical entertainment – from a children’s choir to a performance by jazz singer Dorothy Masuka.
According to the city’s arts, culture and heritage director Steven Sack, “This year’s programme proves that Arts Alive is not just a highly anticipated fixture in Johannesburg and nationally, but is fast becoming a defining global cultural festival that confirms our great city as the cultural hub of the continent and a real arts destination.”
Dance performances
The 2009 festival will offer a range of dance performances with both a local and international flavour.
Freedom to Dance is a hip-hop and house extravaganza which is set to beat out tunes and moves on 4 September at Carfax. Audiences can look forward to performances of Michael Mascot’s The South African Messiah.
Dance fans can also look forward to the South African Ballet Theatre’s production of the classic Giselle at the Joburg Theatre. Thailand’s Grand Festival, in partnership with the Royal Thai Embassy, will provide a glimpse into Thailand’s culture through performances, arts and crafts at the Zoo Lake on 12 and 13 September.
A long-standing event at the festival, Jazz on the Lake, featuring Xolisa Dlamini and Tebogo Moloto, will remain on the schedule for this year. The free family concert will take place on 6 September and offer festival-goers a six-hour musical treat.
The 2009 line-up includes international artists from Senegal: Omar Pene and Le Super Diamano.
Susheela Raman and Sam Mills will stage Shared Histories, while Indian classical dance will be offered by the Nrityagram Dance Ensemble, Shree, while contemporary dance will be staged by the Daksha Sheth Dance Company, Sarpagati.
Sokfevro from Brazil will also perform at the festival.
The 2009 Joburg Arts Alive International Festival officially begins by showcasing dance in all its forms
Local stars performing at the festival include Afro-roots artist Selaelo Selota, Tsepo Tshola and the Standard Bank Young Artist Jazz Trio of Concord Nkabinde, Kesivan Naidoo and Mark Fransmann.
Local hip-hop act Zulu Boy will offer his traditional-influenced style of dance.
African Connections will be performing a mix of music at the festival, which includes Mingas (Mozambique), Dudu Manhenga (Zimbabwe), Tarika Be (Madagascar), Xala (Senegal), Etran Finatawa (Niger), Baponga (Gabon) and Gang of Instrumentals (South Africa).
Book fair
An African Connections book event, which will be held at the Soweto Library in association with Xarra Books and the Alliance Francaise, will take place on 24 September and surely complement the African Connections music show.
The Arts Alive Visual Arts programme will include an exhibition titled Braam Kruger Retrospective at the University of Johannesburg Art Gallery from 2 to 23 September.
The Arts Alive programme will also offer a film festival, which will include workshops for developing writers and filmmakers in Soweto.
Theatre offerings at this year’s festival include Jozi Ma Sweetie – Ode To Joburg, on 16 September, and Alternate Spaces, a revival of township theatre.
A programme titled Poetry Slam forms part of the African Connections series of events at the Alliance Francaise and the Soweto Library from 21 September to 30 September. Other events in this category include Speak the Mind Sessions, which combine the spoken word and beat poetry.
Partnerships
The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has embraced and endorsed the Joburg Arts Alive International Festival. Such a partnership will ensure that audiences and fans are kept informed.
“The SABC is proud to, for the fifth consecutive year, be one of the partners of the 2009 Arts Alive International Festival. As a proudly South African brand, the SABC is committed to uplifting our beautiful nation,” says Nisha Jones, SABC sales director and acting marketing manager.
“Public broadcasting is about citizen empowerment – but so is arts and culture. It pushes the boundaries of communication – as does the National Public Service Broadcaster. The SABC is a firm believer of mutually beneficial associations with aligned brands and initiatives such as Arts Alive, in a quest to fortify and celebrate our arts and culture.”
Festival organisers have appointed brand solutions company Zanusi to manage the event for the next three years.
“Arts Alive already has a very strong foundation and we plan to build on that to create a month-long programme of activities that draw on Arts Alive-specific events, as well as the many amazing arts and culture activities that take place in Joburg during the month,” says Nomahlubi Simamane, Zanusi’s managing director and founder.
“We are ecstatic about possibilities that exist with Arts Alive,” says Simamane. “We are taking a well-established brand that already has many loyal followers and taking it to the next level. It’s a chance to position the City of Joburg as a real arts destination for the city’s residents, the province, the country, the continent and the world.”
Other key attractions at this year’s festival are the multiple partnerships and collaborations, which include the Indian Shared Histories programme, partnerships with the Royal Thai Embassy, the Austrian Embassy, Jamaican Embassy, the Soweto Festival and the National Arts Council.
Arts Alive 2009 has an outreach programme consisting of workshops, shows and collaborative events, taking place in Joburg’s townships and other areas that are not regularly serviced by the arts and culture community.
Coinciding with the festival will be the fourth World Summit on Arts and Culture, which runs from 22 September to 25 September. It’s the first such summit to take place in Africa.
The summit will incorporate arts and culture policy-makers, funders and representatives of international, regional and national artist networks – this will amount to 400 delegates from over 70 countries.
In addition, the 2009 Moshito Music Conference and Exhibition will take place at Museum Africa from 2 to 5 September.
Arts Alive is a month-long festival that is sponsored by the City of Joburg.
For more information contact Rami Nhlapo on (011) 886 0502 or email
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
. Alternatively visit www.artsalive.co.za.
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