Cultural heritage records and preservation

It’s Heritage Month – UJ Archives Celebrates the lives of our heroes and heroines who laid down their lives for our freedom

📅 Date: September 17, 2024

Heritage Month is a significant period dedicated to recognizing and celebrating the diverse cultural heritage of various South African communities. This month, particularly highlighted by specific heritage days, serves as a key moment for people to reflect on their past, celebrate cultural diversity, and foster social cohesion.

This year’s National Heritage Month in South Africa is launched by the Department of Sports Arts and Culture under the theme, “Celebrating the lives of our heroes and heroines who laid down their lives for our freedom”. The theme highlights the Resistance & Liberation Heritage Route Programme and focuses on selfless struggle heroes and heroines who sacrificed their lives for liberation.

Archives are vital in preserving a nation’s historical records and cultural heritage. Cultural heritage is not merely a historical artefact but a living, breathing testimony to a nation’s resilience and unity in diversity. Through these celebrations, the stories of the past are preserved and passed down to future generations, ensuring that the cultural heritage remains vibrant and valued.

University of Johannesburg (UJ) Archives and Special Collections unit has a diverse collection of our heroes and heroines, which can be accessed through this Link:

https://ujlink.uj.ac.za/search~S9/?searchtype=X&searcharg=freedom+figters&searchscope=9&sortdropdown=-&SORT=DZ&extended=0&SUBMIT=Search&a

UJ Choir’s Echoes of Heritage: A Night of Unforgettable Choral Music

📅 Date: August 4, 2023

Fresh from the Vrystaat Arts Festival where ‘Echoes of Heritage’ won the prestigious Vryskitters Award for Best Musical Composition, UJ Choir and Mbuso Ndlovu will take to the stage to showcase this award-winning work on 4 August.

This innovative contemporary music performance composed by UJ Artist in Residence, the talented Mbuso Ndlovu, and performed by the world-renowned University of Johannesburg Choir is a highly anticipated one-night-only event. ‘Echoes of Heritage’ is an extraordinary body of work consisting of eight original compositions and six arrangements. Through a harmonious fusion of captivating choreography and evocative storytelling, this performance beautifully illustrates the profound significance of cattle ownership in indigenous African societies.

Drawing from the lyrical beauty of seven distinct South African languages, UJ Choir pays homage to a myriad of traditional South African choral music styles, offering a truly enriching cultural experience. Mbuso Ndlovu, currently participating in the UJ Artists in Residence Programme (AIR), expressed his excitement, stating, “Being part of the AIR programme has provided me with unparalleled freedom to explore and expand my creativity.”

Choir Master, Renette Bouwer says, “The collaboration with our choristers’ impressive interdisciplinary abilities were put on full display as they worked towards this performance. I am continually impressed with their ability to embrace the emotional seesaw of this work and to see them feeding off the enthusiasm of the crowd.”
With only one performance, ‘Echoes of Heritage’ will be presented at the UJ Keorapetse William Kgositsile Theatre on 4 August at 19:00 Tickets are limited and are available online for R100 on https://tinyurl.com/EchoesUJ.

For more information, please contact Frank Modiswe via email on acmarketing@uj.ac.za.

Event Details

Date: 4 August 2023
Time: 19:00 – 20:20
Venue: UJ Keorapetse William Kgositsile Theatre

Tickets: Limited availability. Purchase online for R100 on https://tinyurl.com/EchoesUJ
For more information, please contact Frank Modise at acmarketing@uj.ac.za.

Dante & Mashudu – Bridges Italy and South Africa

📅 Date: March 23, 2023

Following the 700th anniversary of the death of the supreme Italian poet Dante Alighieri celebrated in 2021, the new play “Dante & Mashudu” will be staged in South Africa. The project, promoted by the Embassy of Italy in Pretoria, the Consulate General of Italy in Johannesburg, the Consulate of Italy in Cape Town, the Italian Cultural Institute in Pretoria and the Dante Alighieri Societies in South Africa, in collaboration with UJ Arts and Culture, was born from the idea of creating a theatrical show that acts as a cultural bridge between Italy and South Africa.

The writer of the script, Chariklia Martalas, in collaboration with the WITS University and the Dante Alighieri Society in Johannesburg, reimagined Dante’s journey in the afterlife – described in the Divine Comedy –  but with South African characters. The Johannesburg School of Mask and Movement Theatre put it on stage thanks to an extraordinary and young cast composed by Daniel Buckland, Lerato Sefoloshe, Walter Goqo, Tebogo Machaba, Campbell Meas and Aminos Jaca. In addition, the work has been made possible thanks to the director Mlindeli Zondi, the producer Nokuthula Mabuza, the designer Kyla Davis and the sound designer Yogin Sullaphen. Special thanks also go to the creator of the masks used, Roberto Pombo, and the creator of the puppets, Imile Wepener.

Dante & Mashudu is a play based on the thought that dead poets must guide living poets through the afterlife on a journey of poetic reckoning. It is now Dante’s turn to guide a poet, as he was once guided by Virgil, and so he comes to take her through Inferno and Purgatory. During her long journey, the protagonists meet South African famous characters, including Jan Van Riebeeck and John Dube. As the play continues, Dante becomes Mashudu’s friend showing that friendship can cross centuries and contexts because poets share their role no matter the society to which they belong. Both connected by their unwavering commitment to their own moral imagination, Dante and Mashudu create, at the same time, a link between the Italian literature and the South African history.

For more information, performance dates and tickets, visit the official online site of the event https://italianculturalinstitute.co.za/dante/.

The show Dante & Mashudu will be held in South Africa, following the schedule below

Monday 20^th March – the Atterbury Theatre, h. 19:00 , Pretoria.

Thursday 23^rd March – UJ Arts and Culture, h. 19.00 , Johannesburg.

Saturday 25^th March – Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre, h. 19.00 , Durban.

Thursday 30^th March – Magnet Theatre, h. 19.00 , Cape Town.

A story as old as the sands of time :: UJ Arts & Culture Presents ‘1001 Nights’

📅 Date: October 23-28, 2023

In October, UJ Arts & Culture unveils 1001 Nights, a captivating reinterpretation of timeless tales by playwright Ismail Mohamed. Under the adept direction of Resident Director Jade Bowers, this enchanting production promises to transport you into a world where magic and storytelling intertwine.

To do justice to this timeless work, Jade Bowers, has convened a cast of some of the best storytellers in the industry such as Dolly Louw, Musanete Sakupwanya, Ilse Klink, Sivuyise Kibido, Marcus Mabusela, and Katlego Nche. Matthew MacFarlane’s evocative compositions and Daniel Buckland’s artful choreography enrich the experience, with students from UJ Arts Academy adding their talents to the ensemble. UJ FADA Industrial Design students craft the stage, while UJ FADA Fashion Design students bring the costumes to life.

1001 Nights promises to transport you into a realm of theatrical play and enchanting storytelling. Set against the backdrop of Shahrayar’s palace, where the King has vowed to behead his brides, it follows Queen Scheherazade’s ingenious plan to captivate him with tales, facing death each dawn. Queen Scheherazade weaves her tales to captivate the heart of her king, highlighting the enduring magic of narrative and its ability to transport us to distant lands and cultures. Through these stories, we explore themes of love, adventure, and the resilience of the human spirit, reminding us of the universal nature of human experience. Resonating with a South African tradition, the work is a celebration of the power of storytelling.

1001 Nights goes beyond its captivating narratives to explore deeper themes of diversity, transformation, and cultural tolerance. Rooted in the rich history of the Middle East, the 1001 Nights tales reflect a tapestry of influences from Arabic, Egyptian, Sanskrit, Persian, and Mesopotamian literature. The production aims to spark conversations about history, religion, and the shared human experience, ultimately promoting understanding and unity among communities.

“The chance to experiment with our African tradition – storytelling – to contribute to societal transformation and impact withing the context of these rich narratives really excited me,” says Resident Director of UJ Arts & Culture, Jade Bowers.

“Representation matters, this production is an exploration of our histories and cultures through storytelling. Storytelling has run through our veins for centuries- and our blood flows from the East, from the North and from the West. This production is, hopefully, one small insight into the stories of our ancestors,” she emphasises.

A 1001 Nights follows the success of previous productions that have been produced alongside the Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture’s Interdisciplinary Theatre Programme, which challenges second-year students across the faculty to collaborate in designing sets, costumes, and marketing collateral. Launched by the Executive Dean of the Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture, Prof Federico Freschi in 2017, this award-winning programme facilitates interdisciplinary collaboration and learning and has since inception benefitted more than 1300 students who have participated in the programme.

Reza de Wet’s African Gothic was produced for the pilot of the programme followed by Franz Kafka’s iconic Metamorphosis that won the Naledi Theatre Award for Best Set Design in 2019. Let the right one in adapted from best-selling Swedish novel and award-winning film by John Ajvide Lindqvist and adapted for stage by Jack Thorne, was produced the following year before the pandemic resulted in a two-year hiatus of the programme and we are thrilled to have been able to resuscitate it with the presentation of Hlakanyana in 2022 that went on to win eight Naledi Theatre Awards.

Experience the captivating magic of 1001 Nights at the UJ Arts Centre from 23-28 October.

Tickets are now available on Plankton. Tickets for registered students are R80 and R100 for general admission.

Amal’ezulu a multi-movement theatre work comes to UJ

📅 Date: November 2, 2023

Amal’ezulu is a multi-movement theatre work for a male chorus, narrator and instrumental ensemble composed by 2023 University of Johannesburg Artist in Residence, Pieter Bezuidenhout. The musical work is based on extracts from the volume of poetry by esteemed Zulu poet, Benedict Wallet Vilakazi. The text of the work is based on both the original Zulu poems written by Vilakazi, the literal translations done by Mandlenkosi Sikakana and the rendered English verse by Florence Friedman. Vilakazi is widely considered the father of modern Zulu poetry.

Amal’ezulu will be presented as a musical journey of Vilakazi ‘s poetry and his depictions of KwaZulu-Natal. The production will be premiered at the UJ Arts Centre on the 2nd of November 2023, and subsequently performed again at the MOgale Festival in Tshwane on the 4th of November 2023. Through instrumental and vocal music, guided by a spoken word artist, the work will seek the musical meeting point between correct cultural interpretation and musical evolution. First published in 1945, this volume was written during the ten years he spent living in Johannesburg, in ‘exile’ from his birthplace, KwaZulu-Natal. The poems in this collection represent a turning point in Vilakazi’s life; they express yearnings for the beloved land, animals, and ancestral spirits of his rural home, as well as expressions of deep disillusionment with the urban life he encountered in the ‘City of Gold’.

The production will be presented in both Zulu and English. The production will be conducted by American-based South African conductor, Charlotte Botha. Pieter Bezuidenhout (Composer and pianist), Puno Selesho (narrator), Veni Cantare (Male chorus), Magdalene de Vries and Wian Joubert (percussion).