Durbs unleashed

Providing ample proof that artists, playwrights, actors, musicians and filmmakers are at the forefront of the exorcism of one of society’s most pervasive demons is a string of exhibitions, plays, film festivals and concerts that coincide with the World Conference against Racism, which takes place from August 31 to September 7.

It is a truism that one of the primary functions of art is to hold a mirror up to society, forcing it to recognise its shame as well as its glory. With this idea in mind, many an artist considers him/herself duty-bound to express their moral indignation against injustice, to affirm the humanity of the downtrodden and raise the voices of the oppressed to be heard by the ignorant and the oblivious.

Spearheading the artistic dimension of the conference is the United against Racism Concert, which draws together a host of stars from the African and South African musical firmaments to release uplifting sounds at the Absa Stadium on September 1. Says Deputy Minister of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology Brigitte Mabandla: “The concert is a celebration and affirmation of the important role that arts and culture plays in building a shared humanity.”

Reflecting different “African Union” regions, the artists include Khadja Nin from the Eastern Zone; Himad Baroudi from the Northern Zone; Salif Keita from the Western Africa Zone; Kanda Bongo Man from the Central Zone and Mozambican Kapa Dech from the Southern Zone.

South African artists include Miriam Makeba, whose association with the United Nations dates back to her impassioned address on racism and apartheid to the general assembly as a newly exiled young singer. Also on the bill are Juluka, Jonas Gwangwa, Caphius Semenya, Letta Mbulu, Busi Mhlongo, Mdu, Joe Nina and the “Young Africa” initiative, a digital bond of beats and urban culture from Senegal, South Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola.

The art of filmmaking and its role in social commentary is strongly in evidence with the highly impressive Film Festival against Racism, which boasts a powerful line-up of 52 documentaries, features and shorts from around the world playing continuously at four Durban venues (and surrounding areas via a mobile screening unit) until September 7. Entrance to all the films — a brilliant showcase of consiousness-raising cinema — is free.

On the artistic front, the Durban Art Gallery hosts a trio of powerful expressions — Lines of Violation: Comfort Women Survivors; Art against Apartheid and Imperial Ghetto — while the Kwa Muhle museum contains the fascinating Politics of Space: Apartheid Architecture, Urban Design and Spatial Policy, which examines the use of these elements in the implementation of apartheid. In the Bat Centre’s Menzi Mcunu Gallery, Durban-based international arts initiative Artists for Human Rights exhibit Denial and Revelation, which includes a selection of work from around the world that recently won them the prestigious Medaille d’Excellence awarded by the World Win Corporation, FETEXCEL, Youth Empowerment Summit and UN/NGO alliance in Geneva.

The realm of theatre offers no less compelling an expression of social conscience, with Kessie Govender’s landmark of protest theatre, Working Class Hero — first performed and banned in the 1970s — having been revived at the Playhouse Little Theatre to provide an interesting insight into exactly how much has changed in society since those dark days.

At the Kwa Suka Theatre in Greyville, Indaba Engizoyixoxa: The Story I am About to Tell You is a hard-hitting drama/documentary performed by the Mehlo Players with three survivors of apartheid human rights abuses from the Khulumani Support Group. Written in collaboration with South African poet Lesego Rampolokeng, the play unflinchingly examines the issues of truth and reconciliation, racism, brutality and injustice in 1996.

In all, a profound panoply of creative energy from the front lines of the struggle to create a world free from prejudice that ought to keep even the most detached scion of contemporary culture on their toes this week.