Celebrate Africa Day in Jozi

Monday, May 24, 2010

Johannesburg - Literature, music and art will celebrate Africa Day, with a variety of activities at a host of venues across Johannesburg.

Africa Day is held on 25 May each year, and each year Joburg uses the day to pay tribute to its rich heritage and the diverse languages, ethnicity and cultural backgrounds that make up its residents, reports Joburg.org.

On the day, the continent's achievements and its efforts to better the lives of its people are recognised. The 25 May is a public holiday in many of the continent's countries.

This year, marking the 47th Africa Day, the City of Johannesburg has arranged a special programme as well as planned events throughout the month. These range from a book fair to school festivities.

In celebration of Africa Week, on 25 May, a book fair has been arranged by Joburg's library and information services unit that will highlight the importance of indigenous literature, languages and writers. On 26 May, there will be Africa Day Celebrations at four high schools in Soweto.

These schools will each represent an African country, exhibiting its art and culture. The Bassline in Newtown will host musical greats from across the continent on Reggae Night. Pops Mohammed and Zimbabwe's Oliver Mtukudzi will also perform.

Africa Day will also be celebrated through four major exhibitions at the Johannesburg Art Gallery. The main event will be an Afro-Cuban display entitled Without Masks, says Antoinette Murdoch, the chief curator at the gallery.

Opening on 25 May, the exhibition will feature work from 25 contemporary Cuban artists, curated by Orlando Hernandes. It will comprise 80 pieces, covering work from 1980 to 2009.

"We have chosen this brief period of Cuban art because in many ways it is in this interval when the treatment of Afro-Cuban themes acquires new characteristics that remarkably contrast with relatively stereotyped, idealised or picturesque nature predominant in former periods, particularly during the entire 19th century and a good part of the 20th century," Hernandes said.

He describes the collection as being a "work in progress", which will include pieces by artists from various generations. A range of mediums will be on show, such as paintings on canvas and wood; watercolours; drawings; engraving such as xylograving, silkscreen and collography; collages; patchwork; installation; soft sculptures; photography; video installation; and video art.

Artists from Africa are exhibiting their works in a huge show at Museum Africa. The show is also a parallel event of the World Cup, which runs from 11 June to 11 July.
Called SPace: Currencies in Contemporary Art, it opened on 11 May and will run until 11 July at the Newtown venue.

At the official announcement of the exhibition on 16 September 2009, Sibongile Mazibuko, the head of the City's 2010 Office, said it was part of what the City intended to add to the World Cup as a "truly African event".

"This is an important pan-African contemporary art exhibition recognised as an official 2010 FIFA World Cup(tm) host city event."

The City's portfolio head of community development, Bafana Sithole, said: "When the World Cup has come and gone, there should be something of value left behind ... This exhibition is meant to portray the continent's diverse cultures and for African artists to showcase their work. It is also meant to draw global attention to Africa."

Africa Day commemorates the founding of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was established on 25 May 1963 in Addis Ababa, in Ethiopia. On that day, 30 leaders from African countries signed a founding charter with the hope that all African states should unite so that the welfare and wellbeing of their peoples could be assured.

The OAU is the predecessor of the African Union (AU), which aims to secure democracy and human rights on the continent, and sustain Africa's economies by ending intra-African conflict and creating a common market.

The AU's membership is made up of 53 African nations and is designed along the lines of the European Union, an economic and political confederation of European nations. At present, it has the power to promote African economic, social and political integration.

The AU was formed in 2002 with the objective to protect Africa's security.