Arts and theatre makers are invited to submit their works for the National Arts Festival Curated Programme 2023.
The Curated Programme is the festival’s multi-disciplinary offering, giving local and international artists an opportunity to showcase their talent.
The NAF programme also features a Fringe, comprising works that are not curated but brought to the Festival and financed by the artists themselves.
The call for the Fringe is a separate call that will open on November 1 and close on January 13, 2023.
Meanwhile, artists working in performance and public arts, theatre, dance, visual art, music, poetry, illusion, comedy and are invited to submit their proposals for work to be presented at the festival, between 22 June and 2 July 2023, at its home town of Makhanda in the Eastern Cape.
The submission process is entirely online and proposals should be submitted by midnight (CAT) on November 22.
The selection is made by an artistic committee with representation from multiple genres and sectors working alongside the National Arts Festival’s Artistic Director.
The artistic committee has made the shift to alert artists to specific curatorial directions by putting forward thematic prompts for this year’s call.
These prompts are far-ranging enough to enable many entry points for artists, while also indicating a more focused approach to creating the curated programme along thematic lines.
“The Festival remains a platform for a range of works, some of which may not yet have been seen on commercial stages. It is also a space for works that are being reimagined or that have toured elsewhere in the world,” said artistic director, Rucera Seethal.
“The premise of the National Arts Festival has always been to create expansive worlds and moving experiences in South Africa. We are also focused on developing relationships, collaboration and professional association with artists on the African continent and internationally too.”
The 2022 National Arts Festival was attended by international producers and many artists who brought works to the festival went on tour those works across the country in the latter half of the year.
To submit a proposal, artists are requested to visit the NAF website.