Are we missing something here?

The Grahamstown National Arts Festival may perhaps be one of the most anticipated events in South Africa and yet the attendance has nothing to show for it, it is completely unjustified. This festival has been running for a number of years, it is an event that takes place annually. However this year’s event is by far the worst in terms of the attendance, hype and entertainment.

But what has caused this dilemma? What exactly went wrong and can it be rectified before it comes to an end, if possible at all? “The problem is that the festival was initially held in Village Green and now in Rhodes University, it is because of this that people are gradually losing interest in the Festival”, said one of the sub-wardens at Rhodes University. The lack of interest shown in this year’s festival is also affecting the number of people that go out and actually watch some of the stage productions.

We also have attended a few shows and have had to witness to the poor attendance. Some of these productions do not even fill half the venue. This should be a worrying factor amongst performers. I mean the main reason why they are here is to showcase their production, but it does not take a brain surgeon to realise that that the stage production cannot possibly succeed without the audience. With that being said, the numerous PR people attending good shows, may actually spread the word and for those who are performing again may at least stand a fighting chance at improving the audience’s attendance.

But sure enough, the show must go on. But this will not bring any comfort to the street vendors expecting to make decent sales during this festival. The decreased number of people around the festival in comparison with previous festivals will affect the vendors, in negative way, because chances of making adequate profit are very slim.

By Busisiwe Busenga and Sesethu Malgas

Deadself

Reflection of meaningful messages through dancing

Deadself is a production that refers to social movements and environmental issues relevant to the present time. The movements that were displayed on Thursday night, 30, at B2 Arena Hall were for youth to make sense of the real covert world.

The piece is choreographed by Vuyani Hoboshe who studied kinesics. “Our creativity looks at what is happening in our community”, Vuyani said.
This is a show that creates present time gestures, imaginations, memories and movements in a physical dance form with a contemporary style. Clapping of hands shows encouragement whereas sounds of water, birds and frogs stand for remarkable memories; elders have been to the forests searching food for their children.

“The intended message is to encourage youth to take what they have (dancing talent) and utilise it to the best rewarding feedback”, said Zuks Tinise, one of the artists. “There is no need for youth to keep on practising what they don’t know, rather understand that life is not fair but constitute vision” he added.

“The overall message is that youth of today should cease mourning for the dead and start working hard to create a brighter future”, Vuyani insisted.
Songs like Daddy please don’t go by Freshly Ground are used to emphasise a point that one needs to be responsible for their life as one of the shady days there will be no shoulder to cry on.

By Moses Moreroa

THE FESTIVAL'S HELPFUL AND FRIENDLY SUB-WARDENS

By Akhona Valashiya

Rhodes University is using its student residences to accommodate thousands of people coming to see the Grahamstown National Arts Festival.

Each resident has a maximum of three sub-wardens who manage the residences 24 hours a day making sure that guests feel welcome and are taken care of. These sub-wardens are Rhodes University students who applied for the job; they sacrificed their school holidays as well as a chance to enjoy the Festival like everyone else to take over this huge responsibility.

Sinethemba Poni is a 3^rd year BA student at Rhodes University and she is a sub-warden at Adamson House, she is working hand in hand with other two fellow students. She said she applied to be the sub-warden because she wanted to know how it would be like and also to make her C.V look good.

“ This is my first time as a sub-warden and I am enjoying this job because I got to meet new people; sometimes it’s frustrating because of the big number of guests we are responsible for”, she said.

These sub-wardens are committed, friendly and on duty 24/7 ready to assist and answer and listen to any queries guests might have, making the Festinos’ stay and the artists’ stay at Rhodes easy and pleasant.

“The National Arts Festival is the voice of the Arts”

This is according to the Director of the Arts Festival Ishmael Mohammed.  Each year thousands of artists, business owners, art lovers and locals brace the cold to be a part of this awesome experience. 

Not only is it Africa’s largest Arts Fest but it is also the third largest contributor to the economy of Grahamstown.   The unemployment rate in South Africa has been high on the agenda of the government and Ishmael Mohammed said that the festival is a wonderful opportunities for Grahamstown locals to think creatively about job creation.  The population of the area doubles during Fest which means that there is a great demand for accommodation.  Rhodes University is one of the institutions that offer accommodation to guests in the area.  Schools have offered their sports fields as camping spots and many homes turn their work into B&B’s. 

When asked about the role of government in promoting and investing in the Art industry he acknowledges that South Africa is a very complex state.  People have argued that instead of spending millions of Rands to build an Arts centre it would be much better to build houses for the homeless.  He did however say that he is pleased with the current minister of Arts and Culture, Paul Mashatile.  He said that it is great that the art industry in South Africa now have a minister who interacts with people in the Arts and is actively involved in bringing about change in fest and how it can contribute to the people on a larger platform.  

He also challenged artists saying although the arts industry is not as stable; they should get out of their negative state of mind and expose people to their art.  The industry can only be one of the major money spinners if government together with artists work together to promote their work.

Pearl Nicodemus & Thabiso Sihlali

Music for your soul by Wordsuntame!

By Bongiwe Tutu


“Come and be filled with thirst quenching insight via song, profound reasoning to stimulate life changing moments. Journey with us through the natural mind as it goes beyond human thinking” that is the formal slang from the music group; Wordsuntame.

The performance by this group was that of a vibrant reggae rock show which established the participation of the crowd as soon as it began. This performance was, to my surprise very gripping and enjoyable. A melody of just two voices, a guitar and a shaker moved the grounds of the Bots Gardens and brought some warmth to the cold night. The performance consisted of an integration of well known tunes such as "No woman no cry" by Bob Marley which got the crowd singing along hysterically.

The artists were performing their track list from their CD which is available at ILAM for only R40. It’s a fine tuned track list so much that I bought my own copy there and then! It entails strong and meaningful lyrics that are the personal experiences expressed by the two singers, going by their name “words untamed” they speak their mind. Their genre is a melting pot of rap-in-motion and poetry, rock and soul. Their music mesmerized the crowd, leaving us with goose bumps all the way through. When it came to the end of the show the crowd insisted that they play one last time and everyone got up and danced to their liberating performance. "Wordsuntamed" is going far and you have to get that CD as soon as possible.

If you would like to see for yourself before you purchase your own CD, you can catch them in a number of perfomances at the Grahamstown National Arts Festival. They will be performing at Equilibrium on the 30th June at 15h00 and at 18h00, on the 6th July at 15h00, on the 9th July at 15h00. They will also be performing at Urban Lounge (Bots Gardens) on the 2nd July at 18h30, 4th July at 14h00 and on the 10th July at 14h00.

Daniel makes pizza traditionally

Pizza from the street

Here is that time of the year when people all over the world visit Grahamstown to attend the amazing National Arts Festival. The National Arts Festival gives all those talented people from all divergent tribes the platform to show-case their products.

Interesting things are happening and off great concern the food festival. Daniel Griffin is a young man who is greatly recognised for his innovative mind of inventing a traditional wood fire oven.
Daniel makes pizza in an open air using a traditional oven that use fire wood. ” I am glad that most of my customers appreciate the excellent cooked Chinese foods”, Daniel implied.

Daniel of all trades won the first prize in Best Meal Award on his chinese recipe. “The prominent flavor of the lime leaves distinguishes it from a typical Thai green curry. What gets me going is the uniqueness that I keep on practicing everyday”, he said.
His main emphasis is to bring to limelight that traditional method makes the best pizza with that so many customers have proved in their remarks.

“First we were wondering if pizza can be made on street, but then got to prove the delicious traditional pizza that pops out our money”, said Sheryl Latingale, one of the customers.

To show his brilliant works, Daniel has been published in the House and Leisure, Garden and Home magazines.

Daniel is not only talented in cooking but in pottery. He makes some traditional pots called Tajine which are used in Morocco and North America, that is designated to promote the return of all condensation to the bottom pot.

By Moses Moreroa and Portia Makore

Art in the context of Christian faith

by Wendy Ngcobo and Cindy Mthembu

“Nobody who comes to Grahamstown has to ask for directions to the Cathedral”.

This was the highlighting at this year’s spirit Fest .The Cathedral is one of the ancient buildings in Grahamstown. Spirit Fest is an item presented at the Grahamstown National Festival of the Arts. This is art in the context of Christian faith and items such as gospel music, lectures, worship and dance are offered.

 One of the highlights this year was a book Grahamstown Cathedral: A Guide and Short History by Charles Gould that was launched. Jeanette Eve introduced the new guide which is a continuation of the older guide. “I dedicated myself to the rewriting of this guide” said Eve explaining the hard work she did putting together the second guide. She thanked everyone including Dean Andrew Hunter who played a fundamental role in bringing the book to life.

She has been sceptical at first as she already had many projects that she was doing but was happy and excited about the finished product. Local is Lekker “, she said .She emphasised  that she was happy to say that this book was written ,updated and now released in Grahamstown . Eve gave a vote of thanks to the Cory library for preserving a lot of the archives about the Cathedral.

She described this as a part of Spirit Fest and a beautiful work of art. This book is being updated the first having been updated in 1927 ,”It will help regular worshippers as well as visitors” said Eve. It was done as the Cathedral has seen so much, even those who think they know the Cathedral will find some things that are new in this guide.

               

With many people coming to Fest, Christians who want to worship and ask God for guidance and people from other religion that are interested in finding out or just want to listen to gospel music can come to this historical and sacred place.

Grahamstown National Arts Festival 2011 bigger and better

THE GRAHAMSTOWN NATIONAL ARTS FESTIVAL 2011 BIGGER AND BETTER

By Akhona Valashiya

Out of thousands of applications to participate at the 2011 Grahamstown National Arts Festival 600 art shows made the cut.

The Festival which started in 1974 has become a tradition for Grahamstown residents over the years and organisers say it gets better each year. International producers and talent scouts from countries as far as the Netherlands, France, the DRC, Ruanda, the UK, Mali, Morocco, Argentina, Egypt, Nigeria and more came to this year’s Festival to scout new talent.

 The Festival Office’s media spokesperson Gilly Hemphill said this year is better in terms of the media coverage and the Festinos’ turnout compared to last year where the Festival was clashing with the FIFA soccer world cup.

Adding something new to the Festival, the Post Office will be launching its introduction of indigenous postal stamps during the Festival on Sunday the 3rd of July, the postal stamps will allow people attending the Festival to post things anywhere in South Africa directly from the Festival.

“ However each year has its challenges and this year our biggest challenge is power failure which interrupts the shows, we also have a new technical team and its always a challenge working with new people but so far everything is going according to plan”, said Hemphill.

It has only been three days and according to the Festival Office all is going according to plan and schedule.

We shall sing for Our father Land

Soldiers who have fought in the liberation of a fictitious African country return to civilian life being homeless and with no jobs. After fighting in their country’s war for independence, these soldiers started fighting for the survival, living in the cold without acknowledgement from the public park.

The play consists of three casts who successfully swapped from diverse and dynamic characters; this is the reason of audiences blown away.
“It is with enjoyment that everyone admired the performance and I am thankful for their support’, said Itumeleng Motsikoe. Motsikoe, one of the directors thanked everybody who made the show possible; late Thursday, 30, at Masonic Back Hall just after the play.

Zakes Mda, writer, believes that hard work pay-off, following the achievement where We shall sing For Our father Land won the first Amstel playwright of the Year Award in 1978.
“I am satisfied with the performance and the most significant thing that makes me happy is to see people coming in numbers. This contribute to the success of this year’s National Arts Festival", Zakes declared.

festival and the arts

Art fever All around the Grahamstown Festival

Word is already out and people are buzzinng with excitement and much anticipation for the Grahamstown National Arts Festival. People from all works of life have come in numbers to experience this incredible event. Regardless of the winter chills, the event has not only attracted audiences but also a lot of artists who are keen on showcasing their artwork in order to impress and put their names out there... A lot of talented individuals have been able to step it up and execute their best work. This artwok of a wired statue, of which at first glance stunned me because i thought was a real person but in actual fact is a typical example of the talent that can be found in and around the festival. This wired person is representing the jazz festival which is taking place at this year's Grahamstown Art Festival.

By Busisiwe Busenga

WE GET THE MESSAGE

There we are, hitch-hiking, trying to find a way to the MONUMENT, way up the hill in RU, it is windy and freezing cold. Nokuthula and I are going to computicket to find out about the ticket sales for the Festival. You must wonder how that went. Lol...a computicket employee told us they are "NOT allowed to talk to the media" and sent us to the Festival offices. Makes you wonder: Are WE, the media taken as the 'enemy'? OR are they just NOT authorised to speak to us?

Down the monument we went, and yes we found the Fest Office. We talked to the CEO, Tony Lankester,curiously asking him about the Festival ticket sales. He politely told us they cannot give us that kind of information YET, he can only distribute it halfway through the Festival...REASON BEING: Either way the media can negatively affect the ticket sales. How? You may ask yourself. Oh well, If the ticket sales are sky rocketing and we publish that they fear the sales may drop. Again, if the ticket are not selling and we publish that, they fear that people may lose interest and consider the Fest borring and decide not to come.

Well, we guess we are going to have to wait just a little bit more to find out more about the ticket sales. Makes you really wonder thou: HOW ARE THE TICKET SALES GOING?

Keep wondering...maybe, just maybe we might get the answer for you in NO TIME at all.

By Sesethu Malgas

Fest joyous carols

Shyly smiling at the thought of me asking for a profile interview, she humbly lets me in. Her polite and friendly nature makes me feel at home. Carol Leff, originally Polish has always enjoyed being part of the Arts Festival. She religiously attended the festival over the years. Dating back to before 1990 when she was only a student, this is when her love affair with arts began. She expressed her artistic side through the form of bead work, which she sold to the locals during the fest.
Her position as an Administrative Co-ordinator in the institute of the Study of English in Africa

(ISEA), was due to her wanting better for her children. This is not her ideal job but it is not a far cry from her love of creative expression. She deals with the orchestration of events such as the ‘Wordfest’ that deals with promotion artist and the newspaper ‘Cue’ which covers all the events that operate during the Art Festival.

Her shyness takes a back seat as she excitingly tells me about how vibrant visitors and locals become during this time. The attitude is contagious and fills the atmosphere as a car guard shows car drivers their parking spot with a beat.
Although this is a fun time for her, it is business as usual as the office still runs during this time. Lectures are held as per schedule and the office buzzes with art enthusiast asking for direction. She describes the time as intense because this time of the year most of her time is devoted to ensuring everything runs smoothly.
With people like Carol Leff, one can surely count on having well organised fun.

Author : Pumla Luthuli

Fest joyous carols

Shyly smiling at the thought of me asking for a profile interview, she humbly lets me in. Her polite and friendly nature makes me feel at home. Carol Leff, originally Polish has always enjoyed being part of the Arts Festival. She religiously attended the festival over the years. Dating back to before 1990 when she was only a student, this is when her love affair with arts began. She expressed her artistic side through the form of bead work, which she sold to the locals during the fest.
Her position as an Administrative Co-ordinator in the institute of the Study of English in Africa

(ISEA), was due to her wanting better for her children. This is not her ideal job but it is not a far cry from her love of creative expression. She deals with the orchestration of events such as the ‘Wordfest’ that deals with promotion artist and the newspaper ‘Cue’ which covers all the events that operate during the Art Festival.

Her shyness takes a back seat as she excitingly tells me about how vibrant visitors and locals become during this time. The attitude is contagious and fills the atmosphere as a car guard shows car drivers their parking spot with a beat.
Although this is a fun time for her, it is business as usual as the office still runs during this time. Lectures are held as per schedule and the office buzzes with art enthusiast asking for direction. She describes the time as intense because this time of the year most of her time is devoted to ensuring everything runs smoothly.
With people like Carol Leff, one can surely count on having well organised fun.

Author : Pumla Luthuli

Managing Cue

Brian Gaman, the Project Manager of Cue, the official National Arts Festival Newspaper, is a motivated and incredibly knowledgeable man. Holding a Bsc Honours Degree in Microbiology and Plant Pathology, he has since over the years found where his heart is; writing. Gaman now lecturers at the Journalism and Media Studies Department (JMS) at Rhodes, teaching JMS levels 2 and 4, boasting an energy and a charisma fit for a  creative guru.

“Being Cue Project Manager comes with many responsibilities such as general organising like converting the teaching space every year into a newsroom as well as seeing to the fund raising, this being the biggest responsibility by far,” says Brian.

Cue has three main goals. It focuses on training journalism students in newspaper production, specialising in writing and the reporting the arts. “It is good to be exposed to a functional newsroom,” Brian says, validating for bringing students into the practical world of journalism. Over the years, Cue has served to the needs of the artists and pays great attention to putting together a good arts paper.  “It also caters to the needs of the audience providing information, show reviews as well as enlightening the public on controversial issues during the festival,” Brian says.

Brian previously worked for a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) in Pietermaritzburg, Kwa-Zulu Natal, as a consultant for subsistence farming and travelled throughout the province until he became a father to a baby girl which changed his priorities. He then travelled less and eventually started a publication, writing and designing news letters of updates and advice for farmers. He thoroughly enjoyed it and then decided to do some freelance work and one of the companies he wrote for was an agricultural publication in Australia. Brian however eventually grew tired of it, saw opportunity and brought his freelance clients and started publishing by himself. Later, he then applied for a position at Rhodes University and has been part of the Journalism and Media Studies department since.

Brian recalls one of his hellish moments at Cue was years ago when Cue moved from one newsroom to a different building that was not done with the desks or wiring. “I spent the entire night before the festival wiring, drilling and setting up computers and I was at the edge of breaking point.” There was a moment when he thought that there just might not be newsroom; the thought alone to him was beyond scary.

Brian finds the festival very significant as it allows space for the Arts to be highlighted. “Grahamstown being a small town with not as much entertainment available as a big city then makes no room for distractions and full attention is given to the Art,” Brian explained. Brian is passionate and enthusiastic about his work and has dreams of Cue having a life outside of the festival. He firmly believes that art gives a country soul, and if art diminishes, the country diminishes.

By: Duschanka Hitzeroth

D7 Live

A group of 7 male artists who go by the stage name of D7 Live are an acapella group, have been the opening act for the successful Freshly Ground. They have also shared the stage with artists such as Imogen Heap, Vusi Mahlasela , Goldfish, Arno Carstens, and Just Jinger.

This group uses their vocals to create their music. The sounds they make are all made from the mouth which allows them to create their harmonies and unique contemporary tunes.

The group has been together for 3 years and of the 2 years they’ve been formed have used the National Arts Festival, held in Grahamstown as their platform to gain experience. This has allowed them to gain more publicity and become more popular.

Last year they were awarded the Standard Bank Ovation Award at the Festival. These guys are professionals and do live performances from weddings to launches to corporate gigs.

Currently, they are working on recording songs for their first album. They have not been able to give a specific date as to when we can expect their album but for now you can catch them performing at the Cuervo Music Room during the festival from the 1st to the 4th of July.

By Nokwazi Khumalo

Intonjana

Pearl Nicodemus

I just sat through an hour of sheer torture. Intonjana is a traditional Xhosa play that went on for what felt like hours and hours... *all for the love of art, or what resembles art* ... read more on mavchronicles.blogspot.com/2011/07/that-was-just-baaaaaaaaaad.html

Young Butana making the most of the Arts Fest

Pearl Realmav3riQ Nicodemus

It’s that time of the year again when hundreds of people flock to Grahamstown for 10 days to attend the National Arts Festival.  There is an array of choice, with over 500 shows to choose from.  The shows range from Jazz, opera, cabaret, drama to stand-up comics and folk music.  International and local artists on different scales come to showcase their talent to the many ‘artsy fartsies’ who made their way to the bitterly cold town.  But among the thousands who have travelled long distance to perform or simply witness the grandeur of Fest, are the many locals who decide to also capitalise on the merry ambiance.   

Thirteen year old Butana Nkona from Ndlovini does mime acts for extra money during fest.  He lives with his mother and grandfather.  He also works with his grandfather on the roads to earn some money.  He says he only does this during fest and when it is all over its back to school as usual.   When asked about how much money he usually makes, he seemed slightly uncertain and hesitant to reveal.  Eventually he let up and said he makes around R30 per day.    He said that some people give generously but others just refuse. “Abantu baya sipha kodwa abanye baya nqaba”.  Butana also introduced me to his friend, Snethemba Sandi (17), who washes cars during Fest.  
 

It is pretty clear that the Arts fest is not just beneficial to businessmen or professional performers, but locals as young as Butana who are grasping the opportunity to make a quick buck.

Gary Thomas

Gary Thomas is a talented guitar artist that has South African music lovers in awe. Originally from Durban, but now living in Cape Town, Thomas has toured the country sharing his original sound.

He started playing guitar at a very young age and says that his sound has evolved as he has grown. Thomas has studied music at The University of Kwa-Zulu Natal, majoring in classical and jazz guitar. He arrived at the unique sound that he has currently after moving to Cape Town, where his music became more experimental. Thomas continues to experiment and he believes in order for him to do this he must live a mobile lifestyle, continuously moving to different places.

After releasing two albums, Wooden Boxes and Thought Hunting in 2009 and Contraption Distoria in 2010, he performed at the Grahamstown National Arts Festival for the first time in 2010. Even though the world cup stole a lot of his limelight Thomas still gained a lot of recognition and praise. He has returned to the festival this year after releasing an EP in May.

His music appeals to a wide audience and while some people may put him into a box with other folk artists, Thomas believes that his music does not fit any specific genre and thinks of it as “just music”.

Thomas’s plans for the future include a year of performing on an intensive countrywide tour and a possible European tour. He also suggested that another album might be on the cards.
There’s no doubt that Gary Thomas is going places with his distinctive sound and down to earth personality.

By: Megan Deane & Devaksha Vallabhjee

Think!Fest

When we first met Anthea Garman, convenor of the Think!Fest lecture series, she was rushing into the lecture that was about to kick off the two week programme. After the talk we got to sit down with her over a cup of coffee and discuss this year’s Think!Fest. It is evident that she is passionate about her work as she spoke freely about the series with little prompting.

In the months leading up to Think!Fest, Anthea looks out for anything interesting that could become a part of the series. After months of collecting interesting ideas, she contacts potential speakers from a range of fields including everything from art and politics to neuroscience and health. Anthea is also approached by many people interested in speaking during the festival as they use this as a platform for exploring many relevant issues.

Anthea ensures that the lecture series attracts a wide range of people by including a diverse variety of topics. Some of the categories this year include youth leadership, the inner workings of the human brain, economics and development as well as many more.

At first glance it may seem that Think!Fest is aimed at an academic audience but it became clear that this isn’t so as we saw the mix of people attending the lecture. Anthea explains that the lectures facilitate a cross-over between academic and public spheres where academic leaders are encouraged to come out and speak to ordinary members of the public.

She also stresses that the programme would like to see a younger generation taking part in the series. Over the years she has included many topics such as hip-hop and graffiti as an attempt to make this happen. However, even though topics are successful, they are not repeated as Anthea tries to keep the programme up to date and current.

Every show promises to inspire thinking and spark new ideas so if something grabs your attention this year, don’t hesitate to attend because Think!Fest only comes around once a year. 

By Devaksha Vallabhjee and Megan Deane

Artists showcasing their art at the Grahamstown National Arts Festival

Rus Judda  showcasing shoes he makes by hand

By Wendy Ngcobo

photo by Wendy Ngcobo

The Grahamstown National Arts Festival has attracted many artists to come and showcase their arts including Rus Judda who is a designer specialising in shoe making.

Rus has been coming to the flea market at the Festival since 2005 to sell his shoes. His normal day starts off early in the morning as he has to set up his stall and be ready for business.

He grew up making shoes and has used this as a way to make money and support his family. Coming from Port Elizabeth, the Festival has received him well as his merchandise sell like hot cakes amongst the locals. ”I have to pay a fee to set up my stall but its nothing compared to what I make”, he said.

He started out repairing shoes and now he designs and makes them.Rus's  shoes are made from scratch by hand with leather he purchases from PE Leather. This is a talent that he has had for many years now and it gets better as he grows older.

His only complaint is the many of the stalls that don’t sell anything that has to do with art.”They take up a lot of space and it’s supposed to be an art festival”, he said. But for now he is just happy to be at the festival.