The National Arts Festival is celebrating 50 years of art, culture and creative communities this month!
Makhanda, South Africa (04 June 2024) — South Africa’s longest-running arts festival, the National Arts Festival, is heading towards a marvellous milestone this month as the days wind down until its 50th birthday!
Half a century of bringing together art, culture and creatives is certainly no small achievement. Not only has the festival created a space for people from all over the country and the world to interact with different perspectives and enjoy the company of their own, it has also played an imperative role in helping us make sense of our South Africa and dreaming of a better one.
From 20 June to 30 June, the 50th anniversary of the National Arts Festival of Makhanda will bring together theatre, dance, visual arts and music. There will be over 200 options on the events programme where slices of culture past, present and future will all have their own stage and mediums as the five decades of South Africa’s creative conversations get the chance to be honoured.
“We don’t just our 50th as a chance to reminisce. With the milestone of 30 years of democracy in the same year, we’ve taken this opportunity to cast our gaze forward to the next ten years. In this regard, we’re borrowing from Indlulamithi Scenarios who believe that Weaver Work is the Way forward.
“The sociable weaver co-creates its home by working in collaboration with hundreds of birds to sculpt one giant home that they all inhabit. As South Africa’s longest-running and most diverse arts festival, the National Arts Festival provides a platform to co-create, along with artists, audiences and changemakers, our future nation.”—National Arts Festival.
You can take a look at the full programme here.
Sources: National Arts Festival
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