Midwinter seems like a strange time to be celebrating Caribbean culture, with its hot and sticky associations. But that’s exactly what a new Jo’burg- and Cape Town-based arts festival is offering: a glimpse of some of the best current work from the African diaspora.
So, when the gang returns home from Grahamstown’s National Arts Festival this week there will be lots to do. The newly launched Urban Voices is the latest cultural bash in an already gushing line-up of city-based festivals that bring the African audience closer to its counterparts abroad. It is the project of an organisation called the Southern African Arts Exchange and it will run for a month, bouncing between the country’s two major centres. The initiative appears to have grown out of the departure of organiser Roshnie Moonsammy from the Arts Alive International Festival where she functioned as director until 2000.
Moonsammy’s strong cultural links, forged under her tenure with Arts Alive, have served her well and she now presents a festival that is backed by international donors. These include the Ford Foundation of the United States, the Prins Claus Fund of The Netherlands, the French Institute of South Africa and SABC’s Metro FM.
In structure, Urban Voices spans the month of July and rounds off on a high note when reggae idol Buju Banton takes to the Standard Bank Arena on August 10. Banton has been a star since the age of 21 when, in 1993, he released what was to become Jamaica’s safe-sex anthem Willy don’t be Silly. He is known as a DJ (the Jamaican equivalent of a rapper), and is the current hero of Jamaican dance halls. At Urban Voices he will be performing with a 12-piece band.
The French Institute of South Africa (Ifas) is responsible for the gig that kicks the festival off in Johannesburg on May 5. Last weekend Ifas showcased three accordion players — from Madagascar, France and South Africa — brought together for a collaborative residency that culminated in performances nationwide. This weekend the Bassline plays host to legendary Congolese rumba guitarist Papa Noel who teams up with Cuban tres player and guitarist Orbe Ortiz for one performance only.
The following week at Johannesburg’s refurbished Megamusic, on July 19 and at the Bassline on July 20, there will be shows by Jamaican guitarist Ernest Ranglin. Ranglin is remembered for his knockout appearance at Womad last year, and for his guest appearance on funky French outfit
St Germain’s hit album Tourist.
Ranglin will be backed by a power line-up of locals including Khaya Mahlangu on saxaphone and Vusi Khumalo on drums. Ranglin is the closest thing one gets to an image of Nelson Mandela playing the electric guitar.
Local theatre audiences will also be familiar with the work of Sarah Jones who returns to the country with her two solo performances Surface Transit and Women Can’t Wait. Jones takes a satirical look at the hip-hop movement of her native New York. Performances take place at the Market Theatre Laboratory on July 19 and 20 and at Cape Town’s Baxter Theatre Concert Hall on July 31 and August 1.
Jones also forms part of a spoken-word festival being held within the Urban Voices festival itself. This will take place at the Baxter Theatre and at Megamusic on July 26, 27 and 29, and includes slam poet Saul Williams, local veteran poet Keorapetse Kgositsile and Jamaican poet, musician and activist Mutabaruka.
Urban Voices incorporates a workshop programme in which luminaries will share their methods of production with participants — for no charge. Places in the workshop schedule are limited and booking is essential.
As the month of cultural infiltration progresses it will be enlightening for locals to hear what Africans from the diaspora have to say about their complex cultural identities.
Tickets for Urban Voices 2002 can be booked through Computicket on Tel: (011) 340 8000,
083 915 8000 or 0861 400 500. Details can be found on www.computicket.com or on www.artsexchange.co.za