Arts Alive to light up Joburg
Romaana Naidoo
25 August 2009
Johannesburg is gearing up for the 17th annual Arts Alive International Festival, which takes place from 3 to 27 September and showcases a range of cultural treats, including theatre, poetry, visual arts, music, dance and film.
The 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.
'Defining global cultural festival'
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."
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.
Jazz on the Lake
A long-standing favourite at the festival, Jazz on the Lake, featuring Xolisa Dlamini and Tebogo Moloto, will provide another highlight. A free family concert, it takes place on 6 September and offers 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, with contemporary dance being performed by the Daksha Sheth Dance Company, Sarpagati.
Sokfevro from Brazil will also perform at the festival.
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
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).
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 as a complement to 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.
Film Festival
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.
The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is among the sponsors of the event. SABC sales director and acting marketing manager Nisha Jones says the national broadcaster has an important role to play.
"Public broadcasting is about citizen empowerment, but so is arts and culture," she explains. "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."
Promotion
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," she says.
"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."
Partnerships and collaborations
Other key attractions at this year's festival are the many 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 also 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, which will host 400 delegates from over 70 countries, will incorporate arts and culture policy-makers, funders and representatives of international, regional and national artist networks.
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.
Source: City of Johannesburg
