The 47th National Arts Festival took place against a backdrop of turmoil. Planned as a hybrid event, the Makhanda-based Festival looked forward to reuniting with a small dedicated audience and community of artists for a live festival; but it was not to be as the country was moved to Level Four lockdown and all gatherings were banned. Prior to the enhanced lockdown, a new aspect of the Festival, the Standard Bank Presents platform, was successfully hosted in Cape Town and Durban for small live audiences, however, the Johannesburg leg of the programme went ahead without audiences due to spiralling Covid-19 cases.
In the end, the Festival was staged online; re-orientated and re-launched in a record ten days as a digital experience for all. Says CEO of the National Arts Festival, Monica Newton, “One of our clearest intentions for this Festival was to provide a space that would see artists and technicians working again. We are keenly aware of the severe impact of Covid-19 on artists' livelihoods, and we also know that they need to be seen and heard by audiences and their fellow artists from whom they have been cut off for so long. We are immensely proud of all the works that were part of the Festival programme this year and the contribution made to sustaining the arts sector as well.”
One of the Festival’s key sponsors is the Eastern Cape Government and the Eastern Cape’s Department of Sport, Recreation, Arts & Culture created plenty of opportunities for Eastern Cape artists to shine through the Eastern Cape Showcase, in the curated and jazz programmes and at home, where physical pop-up shops were arranged in Gqeberha for crafters hard-hit by the pandemic.
Says Eastern Cape MEC for Sports, Recreation, Arts and Culture, Ms Fezeka Nkomonye, "We were determined during these challenging times to ensure that our artists had an opportunity to transition from relief to recovery within their own creative spaces. The Department of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture applauds their willingness to rise to the occasion."
While the Festival still attracted a supportive and enthusiastic community of online fans, the number of visitors to the website was lower than in 2020. Newton puts this down to a combination of factors, “Our timeline hit several curveballs that we had to react to and it was a tough year to hold the attention of audiences. Online fatigue has really set in for many people and the unrest in South Africa happened right in the middle of the Festival so many people’s attention was rightfully on the situation that we found ourselves in as a country.” The Festival once again attracted an overseas audience, particularly from the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Sweden, Indonesia, Canada, India and Nigeria.
Newton believes online is here to stay. “We are hoping to return to live events and experiences as soon as possible but there are some interesting possibilities for the arts online and we want to incorporate them into future festivals. There are audiences around the world with a specific interest in the arts in Africa, there are ex-pats all over and, here at home, there are people who choose the online experience or are unable to join our live events - all of whom can get their fix of the arts online.”
Even though the Festival period has ended, the Fringe Live remains online for visitors to explore. Audiences are encouraged to look out for all the Standard Bank Ovation Award winners, including those shows that took the Gold, Silver and Bronze Awards.
