Gitanjali Pather is the chief operating officer of the African Bank Market Theatre in Johannesburg. She says that the chief aim of the Women’s Arts Festival is ”advancing a women’s agenda in the arts”.
Chief operating officer? Pather’s job description makes it sound like she runs a construction company. And looking at the Newtown Cultural Precinct these days — midway through its multimillion-rand refurbishment — it’s not entirely untrue. Pather resigned as MD of the Durban Playhouse last year, amid backstage politics and a scandal after discovering a taped meeting of board members indulging in racist conversation.
Pather is still deeply upset about the incident: ”It was a silly gossip session about me and the fact that I am Indian.” At the time she felt that the board needed to be reined in, and was not used to a woman being in control. ”I was tired of them treating the Playhouse as their own personal playground … at every turn in my career I’ve experienced sexism, racism and strong anti-intellectualism,” Pather explains.
”You know that racism exists, but when you actually hear people discussing you so overtly in racist terms … it’s traumatic and awful.” Although warned not to bring it into the open with threats like ”you’ll never work in the arts again”, as well as being accused of political naivety, Pather chooses not to ”play the game”. She asserts: ”You have to be true to something.”
The Department of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology conducted an inquiry into the matter and asked certain board members to resign. For Pather it was a moral victory, but unfortunately the Playhouse began a slow decline. With Pather’s exit the Women’s Arts Festival that she conceptualised in 1995 migrated to the Market Theatre.
Various factors, including the Playhouse saga, seem to have strengthened Pather’s resolve to stage the festival. Not least is her commitment to and the courage of her convictions. ”Its all still a boys’ club,” she maintains of the arts.
There’s also her background of growing up in Chatsworth, Durban, where women are expected to be submissive and are without status.
”Intelligent and educated women in key positions are not immune from the restrictions placed on Indian women,” Pather explains. Choosing to go into an industry that she thought would be more in touch and reflective, Pather was disappointed to find that bigotry, stereotyping and chauvinism existed just as much. ”The boys’ club affects what we see, job opportunities, and the portrayal of women. The festival takes on all of that in a very real way,” Pather explains.
Produced by women, the festival highlights their concerns and reflections. ”Rape statistics don’t even shock us anymore,” says Pather, ”it’s symptomatic of a society without respect for women.” She is unapologetic about the festival being for women artists only, ”it irks me that we have to work so much harder and be so much smarter and are judged harder”. From producers to lighting designers, writers, directors and a production manager, all are female.
For Pather, the festival initially was an opportunity to create work for those who weren’t usually afforded such a platform. There is no set theme and the programme reflects women’s issues. Pather has included work that she feels gives women a chance to voice their concerns without bowing to commercial pressures.
The line-up includes diverse artists such as Miriam Makeba, an icon of survival, and plays like Is Every Sperm Still Sacred?, written and performed by Irene Stephanou in which she takes the mickey out of the Greek community. Six Inches, written and performed by three women, is a ”dense and complex work about sexuality”. There is also the series of Mama Africa films, which is made by women. Pather feels these are but some of the works that ”challenge us as women”.
Pather goes on to say that ”women’s rights always came second to the struggle”. The festival is about women breaking through structures and practising what they preach. ”We’re nurturing that wild voice that says fuck you,” Pather says softly but determinedly.
It’s a sad reality that many women participate in shows that meet market needs in order to put food on the table. ”They make what people will pay to see.” Pather understands this but adds, ”Women have to compromise all the time. We’ve been robbed of our ability to really challenge the status quo and impact on our world.”
This festival is about allowing women with often untapped skills a place to work and to have opinions without being forced to sacrifice their truths or their integrity.
It’s more about the artists than the audiences, allowing them to tussle with their experiences and find fulfilment.
You may not be dazzled by the pizazz, glamour and polish, but you will witness sincerity and true artistry that reflects the process and respects its content. ”The work is a response to their environment — not a response to their economic environment,” Pather says. ”There’s an absence of feminist discourse. In a country absorbed by primary issues like health care and housing, women’s issues are made to seem frivolous, but they must exist alongside each other.”
The festival is sponsored by Transnet and the Johannesburg Development Agency. Pather explains: ”They approached me. I’m sad that it’s not happening in Durban, it’s a pity. But there’s a great synergy happening here and it remains true to the initial concept. They decided to make it happen, despite the refurbishment of the Newtown Cultural Precinct.”
By the time the festival opens, Pather assures me that most of the road works will be completed: ”We understood the upheaval and the cost, but in the long run it was the only way to do it.” According to Pather the theatre has never really been closed — works have been performed at theatres around the city.
During the festival Pather and her sponsors are ensuring that the artists are paid well and supported by the infrastructure: a rare and beautiful thing.
Witnessing the untamed experiences and feelings of our women creative artists is a crucial way of evaluating and judging where we are as a nation. Pather says: ”Art that has changed the world has never been the popular, market-driven voice.” What better role could the arts serve, and the question remains: in a country where a third of women can expect to be raped, is it really relevant to ask whether a festival such as this is necessary?
The Women’s Art Festival runs at the Newtown Cultural Precinct from August 9 to 11. Venues are the African Bank Market Theatre, Kippies, the Market Theatre Laboratory, the Couch and Coffee Restaurant, Nicky’s Restaurant, MuseumAfrica, Mary Fitzgerald Square and the Photo Workshop. Musical highlights include Miriam Makeba, Tamara Dey, Judith Sephuma, Vicky Sampson, the Dark City Sisters, Gloria Bosman and Cutt Glass. Theatre higlights include Irene Stephano’s Is Every Sperm Still Sacred? Movie highlights include the Mama Africa series of short films. There will be a photographic exhibition and artwork by Gail Neke.