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National Arts Festival Experience 2021
K ga n y a b y S BYA 2 0 2 0 L u l u M l a n ge n i . Ph o t o : S h u d u f h a d z o L u b e n go
A F E S T I VA L O F S U RV I VA L A N D H O P E RU C E R A S E E T H A L A RT I S T I C D I R E C T O R O F T H E N AT I O N A L A RT S F E S T I VA L T h e 2 0 2 1 N a t i o n a l A r t s Fe s t i v a l w i l l a l w a y s be a reminder of how extraordinar y people c a n b e w h e n t h e y c o m e t o ge t h e r i n c o m m o n p u r p o s e . Ju s t w h e n y o u t h o u gh t t h e c h a n ge s c o u l d n ’t b e m o r e e x t r e m e a n d d e m a n d i n g and just when you had dusted yourself off from the las t one and squeezed out a new r o u t e , e v e r y t h i n g c h a n ge s a ga i n . R i d i n g t h i s r o l l e r c o a s t e r h a s b e e n n o m e a n fe a t b u t t h e agility and integrity of the people – the ar tis ts, producers, colleague s, co-creators, par tners, s tor y tellers and crew - who threw ever y ounce of their being into putting the 2 0 2 1 N a t i o n a l A r t s Fe s t i v a l i n t o t h e w o r l d , w a s t h a t ke p t u s a l l b r e a t h i n g t h r o u gh i t , reminded of purpose. O u r p r o g r a m m e e m e r ge d i n r e s p o n s e t o t h e p o s s i b i l i t i e s . Wo r k s h a d t o b e c o n s i d e r e d in practical terms, could they be s treamed or f ilmed if they could not be live, where was t h e g r o w i n g ge n r e o f o n l i n e w o r k t a k i n g u s a n d h o w c o u l d w e s h a p e t h i s i n t o a fo r m t h a t c o u l d h e l p p e o p l e m a ke s e n s e o f i t a l l ?
We t h o u gh t w e m a y s e e m o r e a n ge r, m o r e d e f i a n c e , b u t r a t h e r w h a t e m e r ge d w a s a m o o d o f r e f l e c t i o n a n d s u r v i v a l – go i n g within to f ind the s trength of our re ser ve s, tuning into our ar tis tic core to f ind solace, g r i e f, v o i c e a n d h o p e . Su r r o u n d e d a s w e w e r e b y t h e c a r n a ge o f C OV I D - 1 9 a n d a v o l a t i l e c o u n t r y, i t s e e m e d t h a t o u r a r t i s t s w e r e r e a c h i n g d e e p, ga t h e r i n g a t t h e f i r e s i d e t o t a l k o p e n l y a n d h o n e s t l y. S o m e ge n t l y l i t t h e w a y, o t h e r s s h o u t e d , o t h e r s i m a g i n e d d i f fe r e n t l i v e s a n d t i m e s a n d s o m e l o o ke d fo r w a r d t o t r y t o m a ke s e n s e o f w h e r e w e’r e h e a d i n g. I t t a ke s t i m e t o u n p a c k a p r o j e c t t h a t happens at warp speed. There is much to r e f l e c t o n a n d h i n d s i gh t w i l l a d d f u r t h e r layers of meaning as we see how the threads o f t o d a y w e a v e i n t o t h e s t o r i e s o f t o m o r r o w. T h i s w a s a Fe s t i v a l o f s u r v i v a l a n d c a p t u r i n g a moment of hopefulness.
