Durban
recently held its provocative and highly charged 18h edition of Poetry Africa
between the 13 - 18 October 2014. The festival calls upon wordsmiths and
writers, both established and emerging from throughout the continent to share
the stage for a week -long programme.
The
festival shoots off with a sold-out opening night followed by a series of open
mics, school and community outreach programs where the poets meet young voices
of the city. And similarly, the students enjoy a rare opportunity to engage
with established poets from diverse contexts ranging from Botswana, Nigeria,
Ethiopia, Ivory Coast, Maputo all across to Burkina Faso. The intense week is
closed off with by the Finale which is comprises of a long schedule of open
mic, pre-view of participating poets thereafter followed by a party with guest
artist ''Double-HP'' (HHP aka Hip Hop Pantsula).
I
shared some questions with Tiny Mungwe, festival director, as a reflection of
the festival and this was the direction of our conversation.
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Cultural & Creative Commerce - From the outside, the festival was a sobering
reminder of Africa’s wellbeing (or lack thereof), from your side, what are your
opening thoughts or reflections on the event?
Tiny Mungwe - Poetry Africa is a stage for a wide spectrum of African poets and
performers who write and speak on a range of topics facing the continent.
Naturally, a lot of that came out in this year’s edition. In addition we hosted
a closed conference by the Goethe Institut on African spoken word organising.
This was a rare opportunity for organizers to share insights into the
developments on the continent and give us as Poetry Africa organizers a chance
to gauge the landscape for poetry on the continents. At the end it was a mix of
good and bad news; which presents challenges and opportunities for organizers,
performers and audiences alike.
Cultural & Creative Commerce -From an audience point of view, the line
up seemed to have a very specific theme, was this ‘’theme’’ premeditated/
deliberate or was it an organic journey that the poets undertook towards? The
emerging topics were around the legacy of colonialism/ apartheid, identity,
capitalism and the recuperation of the black image.
There was no theme for the festival per se, but there was a focus
on spoken word as a form. This obviously draws from a diverse heritage of
orature that all cultures across the continent share. Topics in the festival
always centre around contemporary issues and this came out in the themes you
listed.
Cultural & Creative Commerce - Knowing you, through our interactions,
you have a very strong opinion regarding protection of artistic freedom of speech.
How would you gauge the festival in that respect?
Creating a platform for free expression is one of the objectives of
the festival (and indeed all three festivals organized by the CCA) and this is
done with support from key state institutions at various levels including the
city, provincial and national. This is something that we should be proud of and
always defend whenever it is threatened. Counterparts from other parts of the
continent, who were participants of this year’s Poetry Africa, were astounded
by how freely South African poets recited or performed pieces which were
critical of the powers that be. This tells us that we have a democracy that is
still robust but it does not mean that we should rest on our laurels as it were
and not raise our voices where free expression is suppressed.
Cultural & Creative Commerce - Off-stage and amongst the poets, what
were the emerging topics and discussions?
Generally poets spend the week in Durban connecting with each
other, learning about new counterparts and the work they are doing as well as
opportunities for future exchanges. This is a big by-product of a festival like
this one and often leads to collaborations with very unlikely people. We hope
to see the fruits of that in the coming months and years.
Cultural & Creative Commerce - From a festival organisers point of
view, what lessons did you take away to build on your own knowledge?
There are too many to list, as with every festival you are always
lessons that will become apparent in future editions.
Cultural & Creative Commerce - Poetry Africa is the biggest festival of
its kind on the continent and this comes with a lot of responsibility in terms
of charting the agenda for the African, both black and non-black, so what is
the future of Poetry Africa, how are you positioning the festival in light of
this?
I think the agenda is more clearly articulated by the voices the
Centre for Creative Arts (UKZN) puts on the stage. Our mandate is to create the
platforms and promote free speech. The rest is organic and hopefully represents
what the people are feeling and expressing on the ground.
Cultural Creative Commerce - Shortly after the Poetry Africa, you
went to Cape Town for another event, please tell us more about it?
Poetry Africa hosted two shows at the District SIX Museum where the
sequel to Insurrections was performed.
Insurrections was a collaborative
project with poets and musicians from India and Africa in conversation with
words and sounds from both regions covering the shared histories of resistance.
The sequel is entitled Mayihlome…Ahwaan and
will be developed further into and album.
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