THIS WEEK'S NEWS

The !Kauru African Contemporary Art project 2013 Cultural Brokerage: Africa Imagined (Act 1) exhibition will open at the Pretoria Art Museum on 24 May 2013. This is the second year of this South African-initiated project which aims to stimulate conversations in Africa and internationally to facilitate a change of perceptions about the continent using the vehicle of contemporary art.

Explaining the exhibition title the curator, Melissa Goba says “the notion of ‘Cultural Brokerage’ within an African context received critical attention with Sylvester Ogbechie’s 2010 essay ‘The Curator as Cultural Broker: A Critique of the Curatorial Regime of Okwui Enwezor in the Discourse of Contemporary African Art’ (2010). It would appear that contemporary African culture holds a currency or value that is defined differently in Africa and the West. The ‘brokerage’, dissemination and interpretation thereof has seen the development of a discourse about African cultural production outside of the continent. The term ‘Cultural Brokerage’ when referred to in the context of ‘Popular Culture’ becomes problematic given the intersection and hybridity of cultures as expressed through television, internet social sites and other media.” Read more

SANAA celebrates the African continent and its creativity, and provides a platform for artists to showcase their works to public through an event positioned to elevate the status and appeal of their creative expressions. The SANAA Africa Arts Festival 2013 will include established and up-and-coming artists selected from 7 key genres: theatre, music, fashion, film, poetry, dance and fine art. The annual SANAA Africa Arts Festival, in association with the MTN SA Foundation, will take place at the WITS Theatre Complex and other venues around Johannesburg from 23 to 26 May 2013. It will present a spectacular showcase of South African & African artists across various genres – creating impact nationally, regionally and internationally as part of Africa Day 2013. Dance Forum, under the auspices of SANAA Dance curator Georgina Thomson, has compiled an exciting line-up of original dance productions for this year’s festival. Their line-up for SANAA 2013 includes the world premiere of Dominion (choreographed by Luyanda Sidiya) and Uncles and Angels (choreographed by Nelisiwe Xaba and Mocke J van Veuren). “This year’s SANAA Africa Arts Festival celebrates the spirit of Africa through artistic expression across the full spectrum of creativity; the ethos behind our programme selections for this year stays in touch with our heritage, but also moves rapidly into the ‘melting pot’ of cultures within the 21st Century and beyond. We hope to stimulate conversations and debate around the value of arts and culture for society at large, its lucrative business potential, and also offer a glimpse on the riches of the continent as offered by the festival,” explains Nonhlanha Matshazi, founder and director of the SANAA Africa Arts Festival.

Follow full synopses and show/venue details for the two Dance Forum-productions being staged as part of the SANAA Africa Arts Festival 2013, .