National Arts Festival rewards arts community as festival closes

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Outgoing National Arts Festival artistic director, Ismail Mahomed.

ARTISTIC excellence was celebrated at the National Arts Festival on Sunday morning (July 10) when the winners of the 2016 Standard Bank Ovation Awards were revealed at a ceremony which also honoured outgoing National Arts Festival artistic director, Ismail Mahomed.

Commenting on the impact of the awards, Mahomed said: “The Ovation Awards have earned a significant gravitas in the arts sector. They have become a barometer for audiences and visiting arts managements about productions that should not be missed. Artists at the festival have been bold and have used their talents and skills to engage with burning issues in the most creative ways.” Continue reading

Standing Ovation Award for Gary Gordon

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GARY Gordon, the “father of South African physical theatre”, was presented with a Standard Bank Standing Ovation Award at a reception held at the Monument in Grahamstown, in honour of his “longstanding creative energy in South Africa’s cultural life and his enormously significant contributions to the vitality of the National Arts Festival’s main, fringe and arena programmes”. Continue reading