MY DAY EIGHT (JULY 11)

Report from artSMart Editor Caroline Smart on the final day of the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown.

Today was the final day of the National Arts Festival and by all accounts – and certainly from my own perception over this past week or so – it seems to have been a great success from all aspects.

The day started off on an very sad note when I received a call from well-known Durban artist Andrew Verster to tell me that Aidan Walsh –his partner of over 40 years and another extremely highly respected artist – had died early this morning (July 11).

This was such sad news – not only from a professional and national viewpoint because it leaves a large rift in the South African visual arts scene, but because Aidan had put up such a sturdy and pro-active fight against his illness with Andrew’s solid and ever-present support.

Andrew Verster is on the board of the National Arts Festival but was unable to attend the festival this year as he needed to be with Aidan. The wave of sympathy and support welling from this corner of the Eastern Cape must surely have reached tsunami level by the end of today when the news had finally filtered through to fellow artists and friends who knew and loved Aidan as well as to those who immediately sent messages of support to Andrew to help him through this extremely difficult time.

However, in the midst of grief comes a rising of new growth and energy – such is life. Top KZN arts publicist Illa Thompson and I met with Festival Director Ismail Mahomed and Festival CEO Tony Lankester later in the morning to try to solve the problem of the KZN presence at the festival. I was horrified to learn at the media function earlier in the festival that at one time KZN productions and audiences represented the largest sector of the festival. This involvement has now dwindled to below 20%.

This is not right, KZN!

How have we become so insular as a province when we have the fountainhead of the arts less than two hours away by plane/festival hopper or 12 hours away drive through Transkei and we are not coming on board to appreciate what the country has to offer? This year, KickstArt catapulted KZN back into the limelight with Wit which has stunned audiences and media alike. It’s time to reclaim our presence here in Grahamstown, KZN arts lovers. So prepare for some powerful motivation coming your way.

The festival is extremely fortunate to have two like-minded and pro-active leaders like Ismail Mohamed and Tony Lankester – they bounce ideas and energies off each other, their imaginations searching through alternative routes to find effective solutions. Projects are sparked off and captured within the space of a few minutes. By the time our meeting was over, Illa and I left armed with enough weapons of gentle persuasion to lure KZN arts lovers back to the festival through partnerships, packages and passion!

The weather has been incredibly kind – we’ve had sun every day and the temperature has remained around the 22 degree mark. There are rumblings of thunder out there in the night as I write and there is the threat of rain tomorrow which will be wonderful for this rain-starved area of the Eastern Cape but sad for the Village Green which will be open tomorrow. However, the new Village Green will take rain in its stride, there’s lots of space and it won’t become the quagmire it would have been back at Fiddler’s Green. So there’s always a positive side to everything.

Signing off from the National Arts Festival 2009 in Grahamstown – Caroline Smart