A storm of culture is about to burst in Cape Town. Miles Keylock investigates the many events on offer at the One City Festival
The Cape Town One City Festival from September 20 to 26 is being hailed as the mother of all Cape Town festivals. This joint initiative of the Cape Times and the city of Cape Town offers the public a dazzling array of events and entertainment from quality jazz, innovative art exhibitions and fresh new theatre and dance to literary readings, panel discussions and community projects.
The festival isn’t merely an arts event though, it’s more of a cultural festival, an endeavour to bring the disparate Cape Town communities together in a fun, entertaining and educational way.
One City Festival co-ordinator, Mike van Graan, explains the thinking behind the event: “The whole festival has its roots in the One City, Many Cultures theme of the Cape Times, which itself has its roots in quite a divided city, with different groups being quite antagonistic towards each other. So the festival is really about creating a public space in which people can get to know each other, be less threatened by each other.”
Cultural tourism is central to the success of the festival. There’s a Cultural Tourism Expo at the Grand Parade and the Granary, a Khayelitsha Craft Market tour; a Gugulethu Tourist Route Street Signs tour featuring artists creating signs to highlight tourist attractions in that township. The idea of community involvement in the development of the arts is very important for the organisers, reflected in events like the ArtsCape High School Drama Festival being held at the Nico’s Arena Theatre
“We’re trying to attract less advantaged communities and the response has been gratifying especially from the youth,” says Van Graan. “But it’s going to be a process. We can prepare the greatest events but if some communities don’t come …”
>From the daily One City Hip-Hop workshops and performances to the series of community groups performing at the ESP Millennium Music Festival and the Hands Across the City Jazz Concert, the community-centered emphasis is strong. The Langa Stadium hosts the One City, Many Condoms Aids Awareness Concert featuring local hip-hop and kwaito artists such as Skeem, Ghetto Luv, E’smile and Dantai.
According to Van Graan, “the City of Cape Town’s health department is trying to get their message to that particular constituency, and we need to bring that whole constituency to the festival as well.”
Many of the events have therefore been designed to encourage participation from the broadest range of people. Van Graan is adamant that the first festival should “get the support of the people of Cape Town, before becoming a high-profile Grahamstown- type event. It needs to crawl before it can run.”
Amateur poter, photographic and mural exhibits will show in public spaces like De Waal Drive, the Main City Railway Station and bus shelters. The Videolab Home Video Short Film Exhibition includes a selection of the best short films entered in the “Show us the Mother” home video competition. In addition, the Cape Times hosts their African Cinema and Television screenings of short films, documentary and features at the Mannenberg People’s Centre, Yellow Door, Guguletu and the Labia cinema.
The festival’s music programme is diverse, with everything from the ArtsCape International Jazz Festival to classical recitals and club culture happenings. The jazz line-up has broad appeal. Besides The Shuttle Band (a collaboration between Nico Carstens, Eric Vloimans from the Netherlands and Cynthia Dewberry from the United States), featured artists will include Abdullah Ibrahim, Winston Mankunku, Sylvia Mdunyelwa, Selaelo Selota, Virtual Jazz Reality and the Alvin Dyers Quartet.
Superstar Salif Keita’s one-off performance of his Re-connection Tour, supported by local guitar-maestro Jimmy Dludlu is bound to be sold out. Likewise, huge crowds are expected at the club culture happenings: Balearic at Chilli & Lime/Longkloof Studios; the Geto 3000 launch of the Ill System Invasion Series at the Drum Caf with DJ Ready-D and the Burning Spear One Love Cultural Festival that’ll celebrate reggae, ragga and dub at the Burning Spear Centre, in Parkwood.
The whole business will round off with the Finale Concert featuring the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by George Michie.
Theatre, comedy and dance get an airing too with the One City, Many Comics talent search and the Standard Bank Dance and Theatre Festival.
Highlights should include comedian Marc Lottering’s 1 Singular Sinsation, Around the Fire Story Tellers by Rondom Mollo Tsomi, Mitchell’s Plain Freestyle by Angus Treu, I Am a Street Child directed by Mzwakhe Mdidimba, and Sabatsu Sesiu’s poetry performance titled Calabash. More established theatre gigs will include As the Cookie Crumbles with Ralph Lawson, Not the Midnite Mass, Virginia Woolf directed by Roy Sergeant and The Yellow Wallpaper with Claire Berlein.
On September 23 from 7pm to midnight, the Cape Times Art Night takes festival-goers on a comprehensive tour of city galleries and exhibition spaces. Various venues will show works of such new names as photographers Lily Turner and Tracy Gander at Bang!, a Cape Times cartoon exhibit at the the Beezy Bailey Art Factory, printmaker Peter Clarke in residence at the Lipschitz Gallery and photographer Dave Southwood at the Mark Coetzee Fine Art Cabinet. Coetzee’s gallery will also screen projections on to surrounding buildings.
Besides Art Night, there are several Month of Photography exhibitions worth visiting, particularly Staking Claims which includes work by Jane Alexander, Willie Bester, Randy Hartzenberg and Peet Pienaar. And if you’re after a bit of fun, then you could do worse than check out the Gauloises Art of Fishfinger 1999 exhibition of artists painting designer handbags to be auctioned with proceeds going to the Aids Foundation.
For those who like to meet, greet and discuss literature with poets and authors, the Cape Times Poetry and Literary Readings will be held at various restaurants around the city. Once again, familiar and unfamiliar names abound: Ashraf Jamal, Thabo Luthuli, Etienne van Heerden. Totally intriguing is the launch of A Black London South African Punk, the unauthorised autobiography of Awhi le Paabwa at the Stag’s Head, Gardens. Nice venue -it’s a strip joint!
Community involvement extends to businesses, who’ll be hosting exhibitions, lunches and panel discussions.
The Cape Times One City, One Book Festival allows publishers and booksellers to display their product at the Centre for the Book in Victoria Street, Cape Town. The same venue sees the Mail & Guardian/-Cape Times Cape Town One City Lecture Series, Panel Discussions and Debates, with topics ranging from literature, music and art to violence against women.
Outside of convention, there are many more general events not entirely art- related. The Parliament of World Religions is a multi-faith service on top of Table Mountain. South African cuisine is celebrated at the One City, Many Cuisines Lunch and at the Community Chest Cuisine Fair. Ballroom, square dancing and Tai Chi are demonstrated daily on the Grand Parade.
In addition, there will be a night market staged by the Night Traders Association in Plein Street, while a Vodacom Busker Festival will happen in various venues including the St George’s Mall.
Whether the One City Festival manages to achieve all of its goals this year is unimportant. As Van Graan contends, “It’s been a very big challenge to do in such a short space of time, but I’m looking at a three- to five-year period. It’s not going to be perfect by any means the first time round. But I think it’s going to create sufficient profile and goodwill to generate more resources for next year and the year after.
“Through this kind of festival, we may be able to realise a whole lot of other ambitions and dreams for the arts.”
For more more information call (o21) 488 4711 or visit www.onecity.co.za