Ami Faku headlines State Theatre Women’s Month
WE’RE towards the end of Women’s Month, and to close it on a high note, singer and songwriter Amu Faku is headlining the State Theatre Women’s Month celebrations taking place this weekend.
The South African Music Award winner and multiple platinum-selling Afrosoul sensation will be performing on day two of the “Year of Charlotte Mannya Maxeke: Realising Women’s Rights” concert that will take place tomorrow and Sunday.
She will be sharing the stage with other phenomenal female vocalists in Afrosoul, Afropop, and jazz genres. These include Ncamisa Nqana, Amogelang Ralebepa, Dudu Makhoba, Gina Mabasa, ManaKomba and Rivoningo “Bonny” Nkuna.
The concert aims to celebrate the women of 1956, who marched to the Union Buildings in Pretoria to petition against the apartheid pass laws, which required black people to carry an internal passport everywhere they went.
“The State Theatre’s Women’s Month Celebration concerts are aimed at celebrating the women of 1956, and countless others that set the tone for gender equality and empowerment in a democratic South Africa,” says event co-ordinator, Nompumelo Skhosana.
“We recognise these heroines who exhibited the power and strength that women possess when they unite. The event will also put a spotlight on challenges (such as gender-based violence and unemployment) that women still face, as well as celebrating the success of women in all spheres of life.
“As a theatre, we are committed to creating access and opportunities for women artists and contribute to the building of a non-sexist and nonviolent South Africa,” she says.
The State Theatre is also commemorating Women’s Month with an exhibition titled Women for the Unification of Africa by Lindiwe Hlatswayo. The visual art installation is inspired by strong, bold, resilient, empowering, and authentic black women, who are occupying spaces to which they were previously denied access.
Using bead work as a medium, Hlatswayo depicts women as the elements of life such as the water, air, and fire of “the African revolution”.
The exhibition is now open to the public for free viewing until Sunday.