National Arts Festival’s skills transfer programme reaping benefits.
During June 2009, with a small funding grant from the National Arts Festival, Rhodes student Richard Antrobus (graduate of the Rhodes University drama department) gathered five unemployed young men from Grahamstown’s township community and put them through a skills-transfer programme which culminated in the establishment of Phezulu, the first-ever South African theatre company whose core expression is performing on stilts.
Phezulu (meaning “upwards” in isiZulu) is the new hope that the five interns, alongside Antrobus as the sixth member of the company, who made their debut at the National Arts Festival last year found when they put on their stilts and learnt to stand tall. This was the start of a life changing journey that would see them take home a pay-packet for the first time. Since the launching of this community engagement initiative last year, the five men have been able to secure regular performances, and have been able to continuously earn some money for their work.
According to Festival Director Ismail Mahomed, “Richard Antrobus hadn’t only given these men the right to stand tall and be counted, but he gave them the power to take giant strides in a way that they had never done before. This kind of partnership which focuses on effective skills transfer will shift community theatre artists from the realm of unemployment to initiatives that will have a more measurable impact on the way they are able to participate in the creative industries.”
The Phezulu Stiltwalkers are one of the many arts development initiatives at the National Arts Festival. As a trendsetter for South African festivals, the National Arts Festival will continue to demonstrate its strong commitment to being a socially responsible and environmentally friendly festival. The Festival’s Hands On! Masks Off! Programme sponsored by Business And Arts South Africa and the National Arts Council will once again present a series of workshops aimed at strengthening the entrepreneurial capacity of the arts community.
The Festival’s Remix Laboratory will increase its residency from 65 artists in 2009 to 100 community-based artists in 2010 who will be exposed to a series of performances and creative workshops led by some of the country’s most finest arts practitioners.
The Phezulu Stiltwalkers and the Arts Factory, coupled with the Festival’s ARTReach Project will lead a number of productions that will travel from the festival stages to present performances in Grahamstown’s clinics, hospices, prisons and old age homes, reinforcing the festival’s mission to articulate the “Arts for All” campaign in real terms.
Click on the National Arts Festival advert on this page which will take you to the official website where you can locate the full festival programme as well as booking details, etc.
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