MSHR’s Source Fold Compositor is a generative computer music system inside a virtual reality environment, inside a physical installation. The light and sound in the installation is modulated by the VR user as they traverse the virtual realm, which is mapped onto the physical room.
Doghouse A dining room table with chairs is placed in the middle of the room. The table is set for five and on each plate awaits a VR headset and headphones. Artists Johan Knattrup Jensen, Mads Damsbo, Sophie Stougaard, Benjamin Engell, Sebastian Teschemacher, Katrine Bruun and Ole Boise
A CITY, presented by UJ’s FADA and the National Arts Festival / Photo: Jan Potgieter
A CITY, presented by UJ’s FADA and the National Arts Festival / Photo: Jan Potgieter
A CITY, presented by UJ’s FADA and the National Arts Festival / Photo: Jan Potgieter
Director: Gopala Davies | Featured Artists: Mpho Osei-Tutu, Liezl De Kock, Zak Hendrikz and Alby Michaels | Company: UJ Arts & Culture (a division of FADA) in association with the National Arts Festival | Written by: Greg MacArthur
Presented as a gallery installation or tableaux vivant, A CITY is an intimate, personal study of four artists/friends who tell the story of a famous friend who died under mysterious circumstances, and how he transformed them.
There is a beer garden at the new Village Green, now at Victoria Girls’ High School in Beaufort Street, Grahamstown / Photo: Ryan Bruton
Children get their hands dirty at the new Standard Bank Village Green in Beaufort Street / Photo: Ryan Bruton
Feeling it at the National Arts Festival / Photo: Jan Potgieter
Out and about at the new Standard Bank Village Green Fair / Photo: Michelle Hodgkinson
Grahamstown’s High Street / Photo: Michelle Hodgkinson
Out and about at the new Standard Bank Village Green Fair / Photo: Michelle Hodgkinson
Out and about at the new Standard Bank Village Green Fair / Photo: Michelle Hodgkinson
Out and about at the new Standard Bank Village Green Fair / Photo: Michelle Hodgkinson
Out and about at the new Standard Bank Village Green Fair / Photo: Michelle Hodgkinson
Out and about at the new Standard Bank Village Green Fair / Photo: Michelle Hodgkinson
Out and about at the new Standard Bank Village Green Fair / Photo: Michelle Hodgkinson
Out and about at the new Standard Bank Village Green Fair / Photo: Michelle Hodgkinson
Out and about at the new Standard Bank Village Green Fair / Photo: Michelle Hodgkinson
Out and about at the new Standard Bank Village Green Fair / Photo: Michelle Hodgkinson
Out and about at the new Standard Bank Village Green Fair / Photo: Michelle Hodgkinson
Out and about at the new Standard Bank Village Green Fair / Photo: Michelle Hodgkinson
Out and about at the new Standard Bank Village Green Fair / Photo: Michelle Hodgkinson
Out and about at the new Standard Bank Village Green Fair / Photo: Michelle Hodgkinson
Spotted at the new Standard Bank Village Green Fair / Photo: Michelle Hodgkinson
There’s lots to see and do at the National Arts Festival, including activities, street performers, buskers and craft at the Standard Bank Village Green Fair, now located at Victoria Girls’ High School in Beaufort Street, Grahamstown.
Phumulo Masualle, the Premier of the Eastern Cape speaks at the official opening ceremony at the National Arts Festival on 27 June 2018 at the Guy Butler Theatre in Grahamstown / Photo: Jan Potgieter
Mayor of the Saartjie Baartman Municipality Cr Khunjuzwa Eunice Kekana at the official opening of the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown / Photo: Jan Potgieter
The official opening of the 44th National Arts Festival, held at the Guy Butler Theatre in the Monument, Grahamstown, 27 June 2018 / Photo: Jan Potgieter
The National Arts Festival has opened amid a joyful Eastern Cape celebration at the Monument on Wednesday evening that also noted the centenary years of home-born legends Nelson Mandela and Albertina Sisulu.
Minister of Arts and Culture Nathi Mthethwa reminded Festival-goers that the National Arts Festival remained a preserve of free expression: “It is where, as South Africans, we can be comfortable exploring who we are and being bold about what we stand for. It is where our artists speak truth to power and where we give meaning to our constitutional principles of free speech and free expression.”
Amid the celebrations, Eastern Cape Premier Phumalo Masualle extended his hospitality. “Welcome once again to our magnificent Province, the Home of Legends! It is my fervent belief that the Eastern Cape is home to South Africa’s warmest and most engaging people, and I join with each and every resident of our Province in welcoming you to this jewel in our artistic crown: the 44th National Arts Festival.”
The Eastern Cape’s MEC for Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture, Bulelwa Tunyiswa, commented that it was a significant year for the Province and the Festival. “This year’s National Arts Festival is one in which an emphasis is being placed on giving a voice to the voiceless in our society, something that is timeous and vital in our emerging democracy. At the same time, we recall and commemorate the legacy and values of two giants from our Province – Nelson Mandela and Albertina Sisulu, both of whom would have commemorated their 100th birthdays this year.”
National Arts Festival Festival Deputy Chair Elinor Sisulu gave thanks to the Office of the Eastern Cape Premier and Department of Sports Recreation Arts and Culture for “their recognition of the work that we do and for their support of the Festival”.
The stage being prepared for the Steven Cohen performance put your heart under your feet…and walk/to Elu / Photo: Ryan Bruton
An aerial shot of Settlers Dam. Grahamstown is a water-stressed area and visitors to the Festival are advised that the maximum daily allocation per person is 60 litres. Photo: Facebook / Grahamstown Residents Association
The Grahamstown community is pulling together to prepare their town for the annual National Arts Festival / Photo: Grahamstown Residents Association/Facebook
Photo: Grahamstown Residents Association/Facebook
The Grahamstown community is pulling together to prepare their town for the annual National Arts Festival / Photo: Grahamstown Residents Association/Facebook
The Grahamstown community is pulling together to prepare their town for the annual National Arts Festival / Photo: Grahamstown Residents Association/Facebook
The 44th National Arts Festival will open on 28 June and the citizens of Grahamstown have rolled up their sleeves to get the town ready for visitors to the annual arts gathering.
“We have been encouraged by the proactive way in which a group of businesses, committed government officials and some of our energetic residents have united to get involved in making Grahamstown a town we can all be proud of,” says National Arts Festival CEO Tony Lankester. “The activity ahead of the Festival is in full swing and visitors will be greeted by a clean and welcoming Grahamstown.”
From patching roads and filling potholes to clean-up campaigns initiated by the local schools, there is a lot going on behind the scenes to accommodate the Festival influx.
Unsolicited and uncurated, the 2018 National Arts Festival Fringe is yet again a vivid gathering of fierce, fearless, funny, charming, daring, warm and imaginative works. Here’s a sample of the theatre-line up at this year’s Fringe:
Award-winning playwright Juliet Jenkins brings wry social commentary to the Fringe with WOOLWORTHS
YOU SUCK AND OTHER INESCAPABLE TRUTHS, Klara van Wyk’s cleverly humorous commentary on teenage social anxiety and bullying
Siphesihle Ndaba’s SKINNED, a look at black female joy in a marginalised South African context
In SHATTERED DREAMS, the Abangani Theatre Group turns the spotlight on women and child abuse in a play directed by Jullian Seleke-Mokoto
Ameera Patel in BLACK, a family story about identity and race
J. BOBS LIVE – OFF THE RECORD, a game show theatre experience hosted by Jefferson Bobs Tshabalala
Richard Kaplan’s SELWYN AND GABRIEL stars Kai Luke Brummer and Mbulelo Oliphant
James Cairns in EL BLANCO
The Artscape’s NIGHT AND DAY, directed by Khayalethu Anthony
The Artscape’s IMBEWU
Billy Langa in the mesmerising TSWALO
Mike van Graan’s WHEN SWALLOWS CRY
Chris Weare directs the classic South African play, THE ISLAND
Daniel Mpilo Richards in Mike van Graan’s LAND ACTS
The eclectic music programme on the Fringe means there really is something for everyone.
ST PAUL’S GOSPEL CHOIR, a top sepostola (clap and tap) choir from Khayelitsha
Silver Ovation – HATCHETMAN, a folksy, blues band from Cape Town
BAM BAM BROWN aka Kieron Brown
MBUSO KHOZA and the KZN HERITAGE ENSEMBLE showcase amahumbo
Mmusi Morekhure returns from performing around the world with TENOR IN CONCERT
Siki Jo-An fuses African soul with operatic jazz in OPERA MEETS JAZZ
Nick Wilcox in ONE TALL TENOR MAKING MUSIC
THAMSANQA MATHONSI
combines music and interactive performance
Violinist Neo Motsatse, commemorates Albertina Sisulu in LETTERS WITH MA’SISULU
The eclectic music programme on the Fringe means there really is something for everyone. From Grahamstown’s own Celtic folk outfit SCOTTY AND THE TERRIERS to ST PAUL’S GOSPEL CHOIR, a top sepostola (clap and tap) choir from Khayelitsha in Cape Town.
Also from Cape Town comes HATCHETMAN, a folksy, blues band that always gets the crowd rocking. The ever popular, energetic musical game show LIVE JUKEBOX will be plenty of fun for the adults – and its counterpart JUKEBOXJUNIOR debuts in 2018 on the Children’s Programme
BAM BAM BROWN aka Kieron Brown returns from his travels to bring his zany mix of sounds and characters to Grahamstown audiences and MBUSO KHOZA and the KZN HERITAGE ENSEMBLE showcase amahumbo; the 18th and 19th Century music of the Nguni people.
The Albany Club will play host to PITCH AND PLAY, where musicians are invited to promote or jam on the open mic sessions while the audience enjoys a relaxed atmosphere and pub food.
Mmusi Morekhure returns from performing everywhere from Monaco to Brazil with TENOR IN CONCERT. His repertoire includes everything from classical pieces to Jacques Brel.Siki Jo-An fuses African soul with operatic jazz in OPERA MEETS JAZZ and Nick Wilcox sings a range of popular classics and contemporary pieces in ONE TALL TENOR MAKING MUSIC
Smile Music presents the tribute piece DEAR OLIVER TAMBO, a musical story about a young girl obsessed with knowing everything about Oliver Tambo and how he used his charisma for change. In LETTERS WITH MA’SISULU, 18 year-old violinist and 2016 Standard Bank Ovation Award winner Neo Motsatse, returns to NAF with a music production that commemorates Albertina Sisulu on the centenary of her birth.
A dip into the Dance programme at the 2018 National Arts Festival Fringe:
Flatfoot Dance Company’s DOWN TO THE MARROW
Festival favourite, the Cape Academy of Performing Art’s ELLIPSIS
RHYTHM OF MAKHANDA is Via Kasi Movers Theatre Company’s loose adaptation of the book The Return to Makhanda
A deep reflection on the Syrian war and its stories of horrific suffering and violence sees director/performer Kristi-Leigh Grasse’s SULLIED take a look at rape culture and a world immune to violence
HOPE DANCE PRODUCTION is a showcase of traditional Batswana dance and culture.
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GUY BUTTERY: THE MENDING will see the Standard Bank Young Artist for Music 2018 collaborate with artists to create cinematic soundscapes.
AFROPOETS, a one-night only (6 July) phenomenon, Urban Village, Madala Kunene, The Brother Moves On and Bongeziwe Mabandla.
Grammy Award winning artist SUZANNE VEGA will perform two concerts on 7 & 8 July.
CHORAL CONNECTIONS, performed by The Choir of Jesus College, Cambridge.
The GALA CONCERT and the CHILDREN’S CONCERT will be performed by the Eastern Cape Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Richard Cock and featuring pianist Charl du Plessis as well as 2018 Standard Bank Young Artist for Music Guy Buttery.
In partnership with the Standard Bank Jazz Festival, platinum-selling, proudly amaXhosa artist AMANDA BLACK.
AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS: CHAMBER MUSIC BY SA COMPOSERS from Liesl Stoltz features a collection of chamber music works for flute, cello and piano.
MAHUBE, an exciting regional music collaboration. Steve Dyer and Bokani Dyer have assembled an ensemble of 10 award-winning musicians.
In INDIGO, David Salleras and Christopher Duigan perform their own compositions as well as a selection of work from Spanish composer/saxophonist Pedro Itturalde.
