“My Body My Space” 2023 arts festival is set to showcase local talent over four days of interactive, site-specific performances, in and around, The Forgotten Angle Theatre Collaborative’s Ebhudlweni Arts Centre, Emakhazeni, Mpumalanga.
Themed “Sibuyel’ emphakatini” (we are back in the community), it is funded by the National Arts Council and focuses on artistic works curated around human rights issues.
Founded on the principles of creating socially and environmentally conscious work, MBMS 2023 comprises a selection of commissioned performances, workshops and training programmes.
“The festival is really committed to a level of arts activism, to bring to the fore and into public spaces, artists' representations and expressions of their complex and critical things that they are living with.
“This is so we can see and experience lived realities, things that South Africans are living with and are confronted with daily basis,” said PJ Sabbagha, founder and artistic director of The Forgotten Angle Theatre Collaborative.
According to Sabbagha, the programme aims to create opportunities for basic human rights to access and inclusion through the vehicle of the arts.
“The festival also includes the Arteries Programme, a Fringe programme that is shaped by community activations and performances and features performances and workshops aimed specifically at children, youth and people with disabilities.
“And we’re hoping that the audience will walk away with new experiences, new insights about themselves and how they relate to the world, a new understanding of the realities that people live with, and new ways of interacting with other people.”
The festival runs in the latter part of March across various sites.
Some of the notable events to look out for includes the programme on Friday, March 24, where the Ebhudlweni Arts Centre by luminaries from Mzansi’s contemporary dance heritage, including Lulu Mlangeni, Vincent Sekwati Mantsoe, Nicholas Aphane, and Oupa Sibeko will showcase their works.
On Saturday, March 25, audience members will be guided on foot through the streets of Machadodorp to see diverse performances from both established and community-based artists.
The programme leads the audience to and from various sites including a car park, a taxi rank, under trees, a field, courtyards and driveways and even traffic intersections with dance makers and performers including: Smangaliso Ngwenya, Lucia Walker, Thuli Binda, Kasi Shack Theatre, Ashley Jordan (UK), Drama For Life, Thapelo Kotolo and Mcebesi Bhayi (Sibikwa), Vuyani Dance Theatre, Moving into Dance, FATC interns and local cultural dance groups.
“My Body My Space” arts festival is open with free access to the public.