Cradle of Creativity on Africa Day
ON MAY 25, we celebrate Africa Day (formerly African Freedom Day and African Liberation Day) which commemorates the foundation of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) on May 25, 1963. That adds up to 53 years of celebrating the strength and diversity of our continent.
ASSITEJ – an organisation which is focused on the harnessing of the creativity of young people – is presenting a mega African arts festival and congress in Cape Town, under the platform of the Cradle of Creativity. The festival and congress (both tagged The Cradle of Creativity) overlap with Africa Day. And ASSITEJ is presenting an Africa Day programme on May 25, at Artscape, curated by Mandla Mbothwe.
The multi-disciplinary event takes place from 2pm to 8.30pm on the piazza and inside the theatre complex and includes local and international artists and companies: performance, a puppet parade (The Janni Younge Puppetry Company), music (Dizu Plaatjies), drumming, spoken word, fire art and poetry. No charge to attend the outside programme.
ASSITEJ (Association Internationale du Théâtre de l’Enfance et la Jeunesse) was established in 1965 two years after Africa Day was ratified. ASSITEJ is commonly referred to by its English moniker, the International Association of Theatre for Children and Young People.
The organisation was set up as an alliance of professionals involved in theatre for children and young people. There are 83 centres around the world and we can be proud that the current president of ASSITEJ global is Cape Town’s Yvette Hardie, a post which she has held since June 2011.
ASSITEJ’s world congresses have been held in cities such as Warsaw, Prague, Madrid, Adelaide and Seoul – and this year, Cape Town got the nod. The Cradle of Creativity is a mammoth event with 20 000 expected to attend. In conjunction with the World Congress, the International Theatre Festival for Children and Young Audiences is taking place at Artscape and other venues from May 16 to 27.
The Africa Day programme is a small part of the Cradle Mankind International Theatre Festival for Children and Young Audiences, explained a modest Mbothwe prior to jetting off to the US on the International Visitor Leadership Programme – an exchange programme connecting professionals with American counterparts.
Mbothwe, who is artistic director at Magnet Theatre and a lecturer at UCT drama school, was until recently creative director at Artscape. He has worked extensively around legacy days which are significant to our country and the continent.
They are days which provide a catalyst for us to tell stories and open up conversations. Africa Day, is an opportunity to “resuscitate ourselves and restore and recover our identity – an African identity in all its colours – and ultimately find healing,” he reflected. “Recover, restore and celebrate: that’s what we are hoping to do with the programme. The cradle of humanity – the young people – that’s where it starts.”
As to what one can expect to encounter at Africa Day: “You’re going to a market place of stories, ideas, images, metaphors – and a place of exchanging these things.”
The Mbothwe Doni Collective – the company that Mbothwe runs with Thando Doni – will be presenting an extract from Ndabamnye no SS Mendi (I became one with SS Mendi), performed by Lulamile Bongo Nikani. The piece was inspired by the sinking of the SS Mendi troopship during World War 1 when 600 black sailors drowned in the English Channel when the steamship was rammed by a 11 000-ton liner.
I saw this stirring piece performed at the recent Infecting the City Public Art Festival. Through song, smells (such as incense) and words, one becomes immersed in the Mendi story. “Using SEK Mqhayi’s poem Ukutshona Kukamendi as a motif throughout, the performance highlights the contribution of Africans in the Great War, while also interrogating certain philosophical social practices.
“Creatively and critically the artwork commemorates our aesthetic sensibilities, the narratives of SS Mendi, and the impact their sacrifice had on the spirit of the nation,” noted Mbothwe at Infecting the City. The SS Mendi becomes part of the exchange of ideas and stories.
No charge to attend the Africa Day programme but charges may apply for shows inside the theatre complex on Africa Day. Tickets for other shows at the Cradle of Creativity festival are R50 for children; R75 for adults. Block booking discounts available. Book through www.computicket.com (0861 915 8000). For details http:// www.assitej.org.za