The National Arts Festival reported “solid and consistent” support for the arts in a tough economic environment, as it announced its 2016 attendance and sales figures. Continue reading
National Arts Festival
The Wits Trio plays Brahms
The Wits Trio returns to the Wits Atrium, S W Engineering Building, Wits East Campus, Braamfontein, at 3 pm on July 24 for their fifth concert since the Trio’s inauguration in 2012. It is a much anticipated event that delivers an unforgettable music experience with talented Zanta Hofmeyr (violin), Maciej Lacny (cello), and Malcolm Nay (piano). Continue reading
Missed Grahamstown? Then make sure you head to Wits University for some of the best at the fest
B!*ch Stole My Doek stars Shona Johnson
If you missed the recent National Arts Festival there is no need to despair as the 969 Festival will be kicking off on July 13 with an exciting theatre line-up, which includes standout productions hot off the Grahamstown stages.
Running until July 24 at the Wits Theatre in Braamfontein, Johannesburg, the 969 Festival features 20 theatre, dance and music, ranging from local dramas and comedy to innovative concepts from abroad. Continue reading
National Arts Festival rewards arts community as festival closes
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
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
Free National Arts Festival app for festinos in Grahamstown
Visitors to the National Arts Festival can carry their plans in their pocket with the Festival’s 2016 mobile app. Free to download from both IOS and Android stores, the National Arts Festival app is a portable Festival-planner that enables online bookings and stores users’ e-tickets on the go. Continue reading
Moses Tladi Unearthed at the National Art Festival
Iziko Museums of South Africa is hosting the first major South African exhibition of the work by Moses Tladi (1903–1959) at the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown until July 10, after its debut at the Iziko South African National Gallery in Cape Town.
The exhibition at the Albany History Museum, entitled Moses Tladi Unearthed, will provide the visitor with an exceptional opportunity to view the work of this enigmatic artist. Cited as the first black artist to have exhibited formally in South Africa, Tladi developed a reputation as a realist landscape painter. Continue reading
AfriQueer to shine a light on gender-based hatred at NAF
The cast of Drama for Life’s Afriqueer.
As the world reels from the Orlando shootings and the African LGBTI community continues to face violent repression, the Drama for Life production AfriQueer promises to strike a timely and resonant note at this year’s National Arts Festival.
This powerful site-specific work will have two performances daily – at 4pm and 8pm – at the scenic Botanical Gardens in Grahamstown, from June 30 to July 3. Continue reading
Catch Erin Fourie at the Maritzburg Musicians Club
Erin Fourie
Maritzburg residents are being asked to support acting and singing super star, Erin Fourie, to help her get her show to the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown.
She will be performing at the Maritzburg Musicians Club at La Casa in Quarry Road, Pietermaritzburg on Tuesday, June 28, to take her student theatre piece #SirensRock to the festival. Continue reading
Hexagon to host previews of National Arts Festival shows
Sugar stars Nkanyiso Mazibuko and Nompilo Jili. Photo: Supplied
THE Hexagon Studio Theatre in the Hexagon Theatre complex at the University of KwaZulu-Natal Pietermaritzburg campus is holding a preview of two productions – #SirensRock and Sugar Sugar – which are heading to the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown.
The shows can be seen at 6 pm and 7 pm on Friday, July 1. Tickets R40 per show available at the door only. Continue reading
theluvvie 