“I want everybody to be happy,” chirps Henri Vergon, deputy director and cultural officer of the French Institute of South Africa. “I want Xoliswa to be happy, I want the artists to be happy, I want every audience member to be happy. I want everybody to have a smile.”
Damn right he should — now, a week before opening. Vergon is talking about his hopes for Playtime, Johannesburg’s new and upcoming autumn festival. He’s also referring to his partner in arms, Xoliswa Ngema, the Johannesburg Development Agency’s (JDA) project manager for Newtown.
Parts of the historical hub are looking spruced up these days. Crispiest of all must be Fordsburg’s new housing developments waiting for residents to move in. Then there is French light artist Patrick Rimoux’s reworking of the Mary Fitzgerald Square, with its rows of wooden sculptures, all glowing in blue and white light that can be seen from the Soweto-bound freeway by night. By day, below the endless stream of cars, road workers build the off- ramp long regarded as vital for the regeneration of what was once called “the cultural precinct”.
It is here, in these public spaces, that Vergon and Ngema hope to see the smiles of a public meandering, for five days, from video art installations to poetry readings and movies. It’s here that the two hope to see a speckled crossover of Jo’burg types: black inner city residents, arty beatniks and — most surprisingly — city-shrugging suburban whites.
Ngema is emphatic in her assertion that JDA’s agenda includes the formerly privileged sectors of society who once brought their liberal attitudes, and rands, to the Market Theatre to play. “We are a city, JDA is an agency of the city. Why cater for one part of the population?” Ngema asks, then answers: “There must be ownership of the city by all citizens.”
As part of a fresh cultural drive Playtime will initiate a number of events intended to reinvigorate the Newtown neighbourhood. Vergon claims the area is now full of productive tenants occupying warehouses and office blocks that had stood empty for so long.
So, Playtime serves as a prelude to the relaunch of the concert hall Mega Music on May 24, Africa Day celebrations on May 25 and 26, Youth Day celebrations on June 16 and a women’s festival earmarked for August.
The Playtime festival, as its name suggests, has an emphasis on what Vergon calls “feelgood” events that will, “build bridges between disciplines”.
A feature film programme will include Ntshaveni wa Luruli’s Chikin Biznis, United States cult director Jim Jarmusch’s Night on Earth, Congolese filmmaker Mweze Ngongura’s La vie est Belle, Frenchman Jan Kounen’s Doberman and Julian Schnabel’s Basquiat.
A short film section will include Susan Glanville’s Seeing Ourselves, Dumisani Phakathi’s An Old Wives Tale, Lionel Ngakane’s Jemima and Johnny as well as three projects emanating from the Mama Afrika collective of women filmmakers.
Video installation comes from as far afield as Morocco and Cameroon (see The art of pushing buttons). Local contemporary artists at Playtime include Robin Rhode, Steven Cohen, Tracey Rose, Kay Hassan, Moeketsi Koena and Karl Gietl.
There will be poetry sessions featuring Siya Ngcakani, Peter Makurube, Ndox and Thokizani Mthiyane. Each evening will round off with a party night at the Horror Café featuring wellknown performers like the Admiral, Appleseed, Golliwog and Unity, as well as DJs who have formed part of the venue’s hit Politburo sessions.
Patrons taking a break will find drinking holes situated around newly landscaped gardens in which they can enjoy the brisk autumn air.
Playtime runs from May 1 to 5 in the Newtown precinct. For information call Henri Vergon at the French
Institute of South Africa on (011) 836 0561, 083 726 5906 or e-mail: [email protected].