The Sophiatown Arts Festival returns with its full live version after a three-year hiatus.
Set to take place at the historical Trevor Huddleston Memorial Centre, in Sophiatown on Saturday, February 11, the festival features live music performances, poetry, exhibitions, children’s workshops, film screenings and vintage fashion shows.
Headlining this year’s festival is celebrated musicians Thandi Ntuli, Malcolm Jiyane and Adelle Nqeto.
Speaking to IOL Entertainment, Jazz muso and painter Malcolm Jiyane said he was excited to share his latest painting titled “Sore Fire Town. We Were Moved”.
Jiyane is the current artist in residence of the newly founded Sophiatown Arts Academy.
“Arts festivals are there to bring people together and this festival aims to do exactly that,” said Jiyane.
“I’m excited to be performing and also showcasing my latest art piece, which forms part of the history of Sophiatown.
“I was commissioned to do this piece as part of my residency. The piece mirrors the evil that was the forceful removal of what was once a beautiful and vibrant multi-racial community, by the apartheid regime.
“The aim was to do a march but due to rain, we're doing it indoors in future, we're still able to do the march because I believe that art doesn't belong in galleries, museums and the rich people’s homes.
“Art belongs to the people and I’m excited that the communities will be experiencing this historical piece,” added Jiyane.
Marking 68 years since the forced removals which started on February 9, 1955, this year’s festival takes place under the theme “Gathering the Ghosts”.
“We chose the figure of the ghost, and of being haunted, to address both the presence of beauty, the music, the resilience, the style, and the equally present unresolved matters, like land, commemoration and access,” he said.
“We invite the ghosts to gather; by trying new ways of being together, and experiencing art in this suburb together. We invite you to be surprised, to feel deeply that things are complex - and to spend time with people you haven’t met yet,” commented festival organisers Yavini Naidoo and Katharina Fink in a press statement shared with IOL Entertainment.
The festival kicks off on Friday, with an afternoon programme devoted to the youth. History alongside VR, photo workshops, a "Poetry in the Garden" session showcases local talent.
On Saturday, an outdoor market awaits the public, with a focus on books, arts, fashion and food. Book publishers, sellers and curators such as Black Ark, Bridge Books and Soweto Book Café will be present.
“We begin our programme by opening our specially commissioned writers and photographic exhibition organised by Tonderai Chiyindiko which features six young photographers, all of whom are graduates of the Market Photo Workshop, who produced work in response to this year’s festival theme.
“It is on show in the historic Alfred Bathini Xuma’s house, one of the few original Sophiatown houses that survived the forced removals. Alongside this show, an exhibition of the Kofifi digital archive displays a large collection of photographs and stories around Sophiatown, collected over many years,” explained Naidoo.
The Sophiatown Children’s Orchestra will present their beats following weeks of performance workshops.
“Sophiatown would not be Sophiatown without fashion. As a highlight of the festival, the OG Fashion Show will be hosting a fashion show by the people who shaped Kofifi.
“Sophiatown elders who will be swaying an ode to this special hood, and its ongoing contribution to the South African fashion landscape,” added Naidoo.
The festival is free and members of the public are encouraged to donate. For more information visit sophiatownartsfestival.co.za.