Bongani SiqokoHuman Rights Day
Speech-making politicians and music groups turning air into sound will compete for attention in Sharpeville at this weekend’s commemoration of the Sharpeville massacre in 1960. Youth development and cultural education are firmly on the Human Rights Day a genda of the township-based Ideas Exchange International (IEI).
IEI executive director Nicho Ntema says the organisation will be hosting exhibitions, drama perfomances, poetry recitals and schools programmes and will make the biennial presentation of its Meerkat Award at the Sharpeville Resource Centre on Sunday Marc h 22. This year’s recipient of the award is composer Ntate David “DK” Khunou, who is being honoured for his dedication to the development of chora l music. Ntema feels strongly that the annual March 21 focus should shift from politics and music to a more vigorous promotion of South Africa’s cultural heritage as events to mark the day were “slowly losing weight – nothing was given back to the commun ity”.
Highlights of IEI’s programme will be performances by the Busang Arts Collective, and an exhibition of photographs of the massacre which will be opened at a gala ceremony at the Es’kiArt Gallery at the resource centre tomorrow, Saturday March 21.
The March Truth Exhibition – which has engaged Sharpeville’s scholars and students in practical history programmes, previews and lectures this past week – will be open to the public from Sunday until the end of the month.