After 11 days, 300 shows, 43 venues and thousands of visitors who laughed, wept, danced, shopped, ate, drank and walked through the dusty streets of Makhanda; the 50th National Arts Festival has ended.
“There were so many highlights, it is really hard to choose,” CEO Monica Newton said.
“Performances by Mandisi Dyantis and Siphwo “Hotstix” Mabuse to sold-out crowds were electrifying, confirming the cross-generational appeal of the National Arts Festival (NAF).
“There was a deep sense of pride; reaching 50 is a milestone, particularly in the arts which are especially vulnerable to economic fluctuations.”
Artists expressed their frustration at technical malfunctions; visitors felt unsafe due to the lack of street lights.
“We worked around the infrastructure problems by creating temporary solutions.
“Street lights in Makana municipality face ongoing vandalism throughout the year.
“While some street lights worked in some areas, others could not be repaired in time for the festival.
“Unfortunately, many of the lights that were repaired in preparation were vandalised just before the festival opened.”
The Standard Bank Ovation Awards ceremony on Saturday night celebrated productions from the Fringe programme, including East London shows Sarafina! The Musical by Sonwa Sakuba Institute for Performing Arts, Faith in Love by Mava Gqeba and the band Can of Worms.
Founder and director Sakuba said: “I am over the moon; it’s great for this specific show to be recognised. We have suffered many difficult circumstances this year.
“We have worked hard and to win an Ovation Award has been amazing.”
Students at Walter Sisulu University’s fine arts department exhibited “30 Years of Student Creative Voices” in the main foyer of the Albany Science Museum.
Fine arts lecturer Sonwabiso Ngcai said: “It’s unfortunate that there was a bit of deterioration in attendance and the vibe it used to have. Before, when you came to the festival off the N2 you would see colours and lights, almost like at Christmas.Walking through town you feel it in the advertisements, you would see stalls and acts in the street and now it’s just a ‘normal’ town.”
Festival goer Oliver Kingwill, 26, from Cape Town, spent a week in Makhanda with friends, attending about three shows a day.
“I have been to four NAFs and this year had very high-quality shows.
“People have been saying that because of Covid-19, people have become homebodies therefore attendance is low and yet most shows I’ve been to have been well attended. People have been saying that the Fest has no more ‘big hits’ or international shows any more, but I feel the Fest is engaging more with contemporary South African work.”
The final weekend had its usual influx on Friday afternoon; packed shows included Standard Bank Young Artist for Theatre Kgomotso “MoMo” Matsunyane’s piece Ka Lebitso La Moya, Rob van Vuuren’s Very Big Comedy Show and the solo satire Namaste Bae: Blessings & Kombucha and crowds perusing the stalls of the Village Green.
Award-winning interdisciplinary artist Gavin Krastin, 36, from Makhanda, stood outside the Monument building for five hours a day from Wednesday until Saturday dressed as a “gnome in mourning” to raise funds for the Live Art Arcade and to raise awareness of the crippling state of arts funding across SA.
Wearing black overalls, boots and a black-coned “dunce-meets-gnome” hat, Krastin — 2021 Standard Bank Young Artist Award for Performance Art — stood next to a huge sign that read “Curator at Work” alongside a short blurb and a red bucket for donations, collecting about R300 per day.
“There seems to be a feeling of discontent and confusion with regard to arts funding in SA,” Krastin said.
“There are many large, established organisations facing major financial shortfalls.
“A lot of young artists and middle career artists also trying to establish organisations have spoken to me and expressed their frustration on how much time, energy, and hard-core work goes into applications, pitches and meetings for absolutely nothing to come about.”
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