September sees the arts come alive in Johannesburg, report JUSTIN PEARCE and ITUMELENG OA MAHABANE
ARTS ALIVE 1995 will be smaller than last year. But the organisers of what is still Johannesburg’s biggest arts event promise it will be better organised and more focused than ever before, with a mix of South African and foreign artists featured in the 22 acts.
Johannesburg culture director Christopher Till contrasted Arts Alive, aimed at the Johannesburg population, with the Grahamstown Festival, which caters for an audience which has to trek across the country to the festival site. The city-based nature of Arts Alive is reflected in a popular culture emphasis (this isn’t dedicated Grahamstown festino territory, after all), and a fair sprinkling of free events. There’s a strong educational component to the festival, reaching to corners where no arts festival has gone before when British dub poet Lynton Kwesi Johnson conducts poetry workshops with prisoners.
LKJ, whose performances sold out last year before they’d been advertised, appears this year with his regular band which was missed by last year’s audiences. Arts Alive’s commitment to bringing South Africans the top performers from the rest of this continent is reflected by the presence of Senegal’s Isma`l Lo.
Visits by foreign artists are made possible by contributions from embassies, with government and corporate funding being channelled into performances by South African artists.
The scaled-down festival is the result of the transitional nature of the present local authorities, the Johannesburg Transitional Metropolitan Council remaining the major sponsor of the event. Organisers expressed frustration at being unable to expand the festival or to make longer-term plans, as the priorities of a permanent local authority will only become apparent after the muncipal elections.
The squeeze on festival resources has been eased by a certain amount of subcontracting of events: the musical fireworks event featuring the National Symphony Orchestra takes place under the auspices of Arts Alive, but is sponsored and organised by Volkskas.
While the geographical centre of the festival is the ever-growing Newtown Cultural Precinct, the festival comes to Alexandra for the first time this year. There are still events in Soweto, and the festival will open with Jazz on the Lake.
As ever, music appears to be the highlight of the festival. The most popular jazz show is likely to be Jazzlink, a collaboration of South African and international musicians, featuring Yellow Jackets saxophonist, Bob Mintzer and pianist Jasper Van’t Hof, here last year as part of the Guinness Jazz Festival. In addition to Sipho Gumede, the concert will showcase two young South African bands: The Jazz Hounds and Dondo. Isma`l Lo, known for his hit single Dibi dibi rec, is this year’s West African import.
The Alexandra Alive section caters for a youthful audience, featuring hip-hop flavour of the month Boom Shaka; veteran musician Condry Ziqubu; and jazz trumpeter Dennis Mpale, whose new pop-influenced album has made him another current sensation.
Puppetry is a major feature in this year’s theatre programme. The festival will host the African International Puppet festival, including Sunjata, conceived and directed by a French theatre company. It is a combination of West African songs, giant puppets and dance. The festival is also bringing Black Mime, a theatre company from the UK. Their new show, an exploration of the male psyche, was well received in London. Then there is Actionfest, a weekend showcasing the works of 20 productions from the greater Johannesburg area.
The newly revamped Dance Factory will host some 300 perfomances. The dance schedule will involve professional companies and youth and community groups. Some of the companies performing include one of the unsung highlights of the Grahamstown Festival, the Soweto Community Dance Project, as well as the Johannesburg Dance Theatre.
Arts Alive kicks off on September 10. A programme of all the events will be included as a pull-out in next week’s Mail & Guardian