Deadline: September 2,
2016
Artists interested in taking part in South Africa’s National
Arts Festival (June 29 to July 9, 2017) have just weeks left to submit their
proposals for the Main Programme.
The Festival is accepting proposals for work across all
genres - theatre, dance, music, public art, installations, performance art and
exhibitions - until September 2, 2016. Fringe applications will open in October
2016 and run until mid-January 2017.
The 2017 National Arts Festival is looking for bold,
courageous work that responds to the theme
Art and Disruption. “We want to examine how the arts challenges mainstream
ways of thinking, its responses to disruptions to the status quo, as well as
how it disrupts conventional artistic boundaries and conventions to create new
artistic territories,” incoming Executive Producer Ashraf Johaardien said.
The call for application extends beyond South Africa, while
South African artists are encouraged to work collaboratively with artists and
companies from the African continent and beyond.
Proposals that are not bound to the Art and Disruption theme are also welcome, as the intention is to
present a programme that positions NAF as a prominent platform for innovation,
experimentation, reflection, entertainment and celebration.
For the 2017 National Arts Festival, four elected members of
the Artistic Committee will curate the core of the Main programme: renowned
violinist Samson Diamond (music); curator Ernestine White (visual arts);
dramatist Warona Seane (theatre); and dancer and choreographer Gregory Maqoma
(dance).
National Arts Festival Artistic Committee Chair Brett Bailey
explains the process: “In consultation with one another, and with the other
members of the Artistic Committee, these four curators will work through
submissions, select proposals and approach artists who they believe will enrich
the Festival programme.”
Johaardien, who will work closely with the Festival’s
Artistic Committee throughout the selection process, hopes that artists “will
do more than think outside of the box” when responding to the theme, Art and Disruption. “For me, this theme
asks artists to throw away the box completely. Airbnb has revolutionised
travel, Uber has reshaped transport, and Netflix has changed the way we digest
television. I am hoping we see submissions that do the same for the arts.”
Jade Bowers, the 2016 Standard Bank Young Artist for
Theatre, who premiered her new work Scorched!
at this year’s Festival, encourages artists to enter for 2017. “The National
Arts Festival has always been a place where my work could find footing and gain
traction. The Main Programme has, for me, been a benchmark for amazing work
happening all over the country.”
Neil Coppen, who presented Animal Farm to rave reviews at the 2016 Festival, also feels that
the National Arts Festival offers artists good exposure. “The National Arts Festival’s
Main Programme offers an incredible opportunity for artists to get their work
seen on a national and even international level. We all know how expensive and
difficult it is to tour work to Grahamstown and to be granted a platform of
this nature and with the additional support, publicity and guidance of the
Festival, means that one is really able to prioritise the art over the mountain
of admin that such processes tend to entail. I'd encourage everyone I know to
apply.”
2016 Standard Bank Young Artist for Dance Themba Mbuli
agrees, “As a young creator I've presented two of my works already at National
Arts Festival. Not only has this platform broadened my audience locally but it
has kept me in contact with other international platforms through producers who
have seen my shows during the Festival. This is a great platform to network
and present your craft to the world. I'd recommend young artists not to miss
this opportunity.”
For more details and to download the full Call for Proposals
document, go to the Artist Zone on the Festival’s website: www.nationalartsfestival.co.za
or click on the banner advert at the top of this page.
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