Department of Arts
The South African season in the UK is a programme that is funded by the Department of Arts and Culture, with the objections are as follows:
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- To promote people-to-people contact, institutional collaboration and programmes that will have the potential for long-term impact and sustainability
- To connect new generations of creative professionals and audiences in SA and the UK
- To foster skills transfer and development, sharing expertise and innovation in developing the creative careers of young people
- To promote the growth and sustainability of the sector including a strong emphasis on audience development, economic growth and market access
- To showcase and promote SA and UK arts and culture that will present work that challenges and updates perceptions of contemporary culture and creativity in both countries
- To promote and showcase the inclusion of professionals and emerging artists with disability by building on the rich legacy of working in the performing, visual and creative arts in the UK and SA
The South African Season in the UK worked closely with the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games and Edinburgh Festivals. South African artists featured prominently in almost all of Edinburgh Festivals this year, including Edinburgh International Festival, Edinburgh Art Festival, Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival, Edinburgh International Book Festival and the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo.
The Edinburgh International Festival will presented three major South African works on its programme. The productions were: Inala – a dance piece which will incorporate South Africa’s internationally acclaimed Ladysmith Black Mambazo; Ubu and Truth Commission, a critically applauded theatrical multimedia production by Handspring Puppet Company which highlights the atrocities of apartheid; and Exhibit B, by Brett Bailey of Third World Bunfight, is the second instalment of the Exhibit series. Exhibit B is an infusion of performance and exhibition examining themes of the colonial history of Europe and the UK in Africa.
The Edinburgh Visual Arts Festival featured Thembinkosi Goniwe’s curated exhibition which included artists: Kay Hassan and Mary Sibanda.
