Umtiza Arts Fest back with exciting line-up
The Umtiza Arts Festival is returning next month and it promises to be an exciting experience for art and music enthusiasts across Buffalo City Municipality.
The Guild Theatre, East London Museum and Ann Bryant Art Gallery have teamed up to create an entertaining lineup that expresses the talent the Eastern Cape possesses in the art, music and drama spaces.
The event will take place from May 24 to June 4 across the three venues, as well as a few other locations around East London.
The organisers of the event have so far already announced some of the performers of the festival, namely Ntsika Ngxanga, Phumlani Mtiti and Sakhile Simani, among others.
Ngxanga, who has made a name for himself as a soulful African adult contemporary artist, shared his excitement for performing with Umtiza as a headline act and being back in East London after many years.
“Umtiza Arts Festival is one of the most amazing live music platforms in SA, if not in Africa, and being one of the headline acts for this year’s edition is truly
humbling. It’s such an honour for me to bring such a big production to eMonti for our people to see it first before I take it abroad. This is the epitome of ‘charity begins at home’.
“I haven’t been to eMonti in years and to me it feels like a homecoming of sorts and I plan to leave my heart on that stage.
“This will be the best show everyone will attend this year and buying that ticket before they sell out will be the most amazing gift you’ll ever give to your mind, body and spirit,” said Ngxanga.
The Ann Bryant Art Gallery will be showcasing various exhibitions during this time, including the Umtiza Visual Art Exhibition, the Umtiza Schools
Visual Art Exhibition and the East London Fine Art Society’s Anything but Painting Exhibition.
There will also be a major exhibition in the main gallery of the Ann Bryant titled “Past, Present and Future”.
Promotion for the festival will officially start with the International Jazz Day on April 30.
The organisers of Umtiza have extended an invitation to BCM-based musicians to submit their profiles and join the lineup of performers of the festival.
Profiles can be submitted to any arts centre in the metro. For more information, check out the Umtiza Arts Festival Facebook page or contact 043-7430-704.