November 28, 2005
By Tammy O'Reilly
ARTISTS have gathered in Newtown to drum, dance, rhyme and paint the message of HIV /Aids into the hearts and minds of people at a festival dedicated to bringing about awareness of the disease.
The third annual When Life Happens festival takes place at various venues in Newtown from Sunday, 27 November to Saturday, 3 December. Organisers are not only promising a fabulous line-up of well known and amateur artists, but also performances that plainly send out the message that HIV/Aids affects us all.
"The arts in South Africa had a strong agenda during the 1960s and 1970s and that was to express what apartheid was doing to the people. Now we have a different responsibility and that is to make people aware of the effect of HIV/Aids," says festival co-ordinator PJ Sabbagha.
Its focus is not on prevention, rather it is about getting people to talk openly about the disease. "We need to develop our capacity as a society to address HIV/Aids because this problem is not going away. It is about tolerance, understanding and support."
The Dance Factory hosted the official opening last night, and will continue to present moving dance pieces for the duration of the festival. Works by award winning choreographers Constance Kau and Greogory Maqoma, performed on the opening night, will be repeated on Monday, 28 November from 7.30pm to 9pm.
"Our vision is to put HIV-positive people and the arts at the forefront of HIV awareness and to build important, meaningful relationships with artists involved over the years," Sabbagha says.
HIV/Aids-inspired visual arts exhibitions will be held at the Bus Factory for the duration of the festival. On Saturday, 3 December 20 artists will paint a mural on the wall of the Workers Library. Short films about HIV/Aids have been acquired from African countries and will be shown at Museum Africa.
On Saturday, 1 December, also World Aids Day, theatregoers can catch Amatops, directed by Samson Mabuza, at the Laager Theatre, or SSH BOB…, a farce, directed by Makhosin Dlamini, at the Barney Simon Theatre.
Both shows begin at 8.15pm and tickets are R25.
A full day of youth-focused activities is planned for the last day of the festival. This includes the Zasekhaya Arts and Culture Market, a fashion show and a concert hosted by youth radio station Y-FM at the Newtown Precinct Park. Popular local acts MXO and 340ml will perform.
There is only an entrance fee to the theatre performances; entrance to all other performances, concerts and exhibitions is free.
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