Now that the dust has settled around the most well-attended National Arts Festival to date, Grocott's Mail caught up with its director, Ismail Mahomed, to hear his take on the highs and lows of the 11-day event.
Now that the dust has settled around the most well-attended National Arts Festival to date, Grocott's Mail caught up with its director, Ismail Mahomed, to hear his take on the highs and lows of the 11-day event.
From a number of international theatre collaborations, learning from past mistakes and appreciating the support of the Grahamstown community, “this year’s Festival was an overwhelming success in terms of audience turnout, quality and vibrancy,” said Festival director Ismail Mahomed.
It seemed as if even the weather was playing along to make this year’s Festival a stunner. Mahomed said that although most visitors came from afar and make their arrangements and bookings in advance, the weather does however affect the turnout of day-visitors from nearby areas.
One of the most prominent features of this year’s Festival was the French Season, which stems from an agreement between the South African and French governments involving exchanges in trade and culture.
“The cultural aspect was launched in Grahamstown with at least eight French productions,” he said, after a long-term bond already existed between the countries due to the Arts Fest. Mahomed said the number of foreign seasons are constrained by their budget however, and they also prefer to limit them to keep the Festival predominantly South African.
Another feature that Mahomed was proud to present to the public this year was the Season of Solo Theatre that featured six brilliant single-actor productions including SA's master of satire Pieter-Dirk Uys. Singling out two productions during the interview, Mahomed named French production Vortex and Brett Bailey’s performance art piece Exhibit A as extremely popular Festival highlights.
He had plenty to say about Exhibit A, which he said was one of the most striking pieces. “People were moved, both intellectually and emotionally.” But not everything could go according to plan, Mahomed said, and “festivals are about risks. We have to let the artists experiment; sometimes experiments work, sometimes they don’t.”
One improvement that Mahomed said was necessary to make is a supplement to the Festival programme. “The addendum is necessary due to changes in casting and so forth,” he said. Sometimes Fringe artists, who have to raise their own funding in order to participate, can't actually afford to come to the Festival and changes have to be made to the programme last-minute.
On the subject of the Fringe, he added, this year's was packed with the biggest number of shows in the Festival's history, he said. The various mini festivals such as SpiritFest, Think!fest and the Jazz Festival also enjoyed the support of large audiences and Mahomed said there was a lot of flow between them. As far as local participation goes, he said the Festival is committed to encouraging participation from artists in Grahamstown and the surrounds.
Many locals took part in the street parade that signals the end of Fest. “This year’s street parade had over 300 people and is growing every year, not only in terms of numbers but also in terms of organisation,” he said.
He also mentioned that the Festival is always very dependent on institutions such as the municipality, the various local schools and the university whose co-operation and input is essential to its success. “The Festival is very dependent on the citizens of Grahamstown to provide the hospitality and ambience necessary,” he said.
“The success of this year’s Festival speaks volumes for the community and all those involved.”
