South Africa: Arts Festival Transforms the Streets of Mpumalanga Town
The My Body My Space festival celebrates ten years of free access to the arts
The quiet streets of eNtokozweni (Machadodorp) in Mpumalanga were transformed into backdrops for vibrant and colourful public performances as part of the My Body My Space arts festival.
Hundreds of people from the town and surrounding communities came out for the tenth anniversary of the festival which ran from 10 to 15 March. The performances were free and aimed to create more access to the arts in rural Mpumalanga.
This year’s performances focused on climate change and the environment through dances, plays and public art installations.
The festival is curated by The Forgotten Angle Theatre Collaborative (FATC) which in 2015 relocated its operations from Johannesburg to the rural area of Emakhazeni in Mpumalanga. They established The Ebhudlweni Arts Centre to serve as a resource and arts hub for young people in the under-served, rural community.
Choreographer and festival co-curator PJ Sabbagha says art can sometimes be exclusionary, elitist and too expensive for many people. This is why the My Body My Space festival was created, he says, by bringing art into rural communities free of charge. “It’s about democratising and decentralising how we experience, and where we experience performance and art,” says Sabbagha.
The festival also included workshops for learners and youth at schools in and around the Emakhazeni area, as part of The Forgotten Angle Theatre Collaborative’s LEAP (The Local Education in Arts Programme). This programme provides dance and arts education to local children, as well as people with disabilities in the Emakhazeni Local Municipality.
The festival culminated with a jam-packed weekend of performances, with large crowds flowing through different streets as artists performed outside coffee shops, libraries, butcher shops, and even funeral parlours. The festival ended at the Kloppenheim Country Estate where artists showcased their talents among the rolling green hills surrounding the town.
By GroundUp.
