JAY PATHER FOR NAF

National Arts Festival announces new Festival Committee Chairman

The National Arts Festival has announced that Sibongile Khumalo, the National Arts Festival Board Vice-Chairman and Festival Committee Chairman, will be stepping down following the 2010 Festival, ending her four year tenure which began in August 2006.

Khumalo received the Standard Bank Young Artist Award for Music in 1993 and was appointed onto the Festival Committee in 1996. She has served on various Festival bodies for 14 years and has been a significant influence at the Festival during this time.

"I am privileged to have been a part of the National Arts Festival, an insightful mirror of our society as our young democracy was born and now continues to evolve,” Khumalo said. “It has been an empowering and affirming journey, but now it is time to step aside and hand over to others as the Festival continues being the barometer, the heart and the thought leader of our artistic world."

Khumalo’s successor to the Board, and as Chairman of the Festival Committee, will be Associate Professor at the University of Cape Town Drama Department and renowned South African choreographer, Jay Pather.

“Jay joined the Committee in 2006 and has won the respect of both Committee members and the Board for his insightful views on the role of the arts in society,” Board Chairman Ayanda Mjekula said. “He is a thoughtful, bold and engaging administrator and practitioner. He is also a cultural activist with a vision, passion and determination that we hope he will bring to bear in his new role. We look forward to him playing a significant part in the process of defining the Festival in the South African context.”

Thanking Khumalo for her work on the Committee, Mjekula noted her “firm but fair” approach to the Festival’s deliberations over the years. “Sibongile has always maintained her integrity as an artist and as an iconic representation of all that is excellent in South Africa’s arts world,” he said. “Through her leadership she has made an indelible impression on our work and, while we respect her decision to step down and are enthused about the possibility of working with Jay in the future, we know that we are losing a passionate and experienced member of our team.”

Pather also paid tribute to Khumalo’s contribution to the Festival: “The National Arts Festival is an extraordinary barometer of what South Africans are thinking, feeling and saying,” he said. “To be asked to lead the artistic committee is an honour and I am particularly mindful of the stature and insight that Sibongile brought to the role. I look forward to working with the committee as we continue to ensure that the Festival holds the place it has in the South African dialogue.”