INFECTING THE CITY: the Spier Public Arts Festival returns to Cape Town for the fourth time from the 21st to 26th February 2011 to shake up and energise the Mother City.
A project of the Africa Centre (http://www.africacentre.net/), this public arts festival places provocative, innovative art in the communal spaces of the City’s Central Business District (CBD). Everything on the festival programme is free and accessible to everybody.
The theme for the 2011 Festival is Treasure, which encapsulates the vibrant and cosmopolitan diversity of Cape Town. The Festival invites everyone to appreciate, take ownership of and celebrate the cultural riches that are often overlooked, neglected or discarded. The Festival will explore through original new art works: a variety of cultural expressions that often exist on the margins of society; what we consider waste; the people that make our City work; and the rich architectural and natural wealth of the Cape.
Some of the cultural gems that will be showcased include the chanting of Sufi sacred texts by a group of Senegalese men, a martial art based on the knife-fighting techniques of the Cape Flats, hip-hop 'B-Boy duels', and the traditional riel dances of Khoisan farm workers.
The Festival hub will be located on the newly refurbished Forecourt of the Cape Town Station – the 'Gateway to the City', which celebrates its 150th anniversary in 2011. A highlight at the Station will be a music stage hosting three daily concerts featuring the sounds of our diverse cultural communities: from Japanese Teiko drummers to Congolese folk songs, and symphonic Goema to Xhosa initiation songs.
A collective of visual artists will also be developing art works throughout the Festival on the Station Forecourt. They will be creating large-scale works out of recyclable materials taken from the daily domestic garbage of five specific communities in Cape Town.
Across the City, a number of local and international artists will make works that reveal several hidden City treasures such as underground rivers, forgotten heritage sites and intriguing people.
Introducing Public Arts to the youth, Infecting the City’s educational programme 'Arts Aweh!' proudly sponsored by Santam, will bring 120 Grade 10 school learners into the City every day to engage with the arts and the riches of the City.
Says Brett Bailey, Infecting the City’s curator: "Infecting the City 2011 is a Festival for all the people of Cape Town. The City’s various communities all have their distinctive cultural expressions. The arts of Xhosa stick fighting, Indian sari-wrapping or European opera singing all have long traditions and deep subtleties. These arts are the rich carriers of culture and history. It is a delight to be able to display a variety of the Cape’s gorgeous gems in the beautiful treasure box of our City."
Festival schedule: http://www.infectingthecity.com/2011/the-festival/schedule/
More Information:
http://www.infectingthecity.com/
http://www.africacentre.net/
Enquiries:021 422 0468
More Images: www.infectingthecity.com/2010/news/gallery/
Videos from the previous Festival:http://www.youtube.com/user/InfectingtheCity
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Find us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/InfectingTheCityTreasure
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