Image: MICHAEL PINYANA
Sport, recreation, arts and culture MEC Fezeka Nkomonye has hailed the first virtual National Arts Festival in the Eastern Cape a success.
In a statement released on Friday, she said close to 200 local artists and crafters had benefited from the R13m investment made by the government towards the festival.
This had been made possible by the extensive use of government theatres such as the Port Elizabeth Opera House and the Guild Theatre in East London as well as the Market Theatre, the Joburg Theatre in Johannesburg and the Artscape in Cape Town, she said.
The theatres were used to film content.
“Though the virtual festival robbed the province of the face-to-face interaction that created a buzz of activities in the small town of Makhanda, it has also been a platform for artists to repackage their work,” Nkomonye said.
“They need to really venture into the fourth industrial revolution to make money. Covid-19 has shown us that we need to find alternative ways of doing things.”
Nkomonye said hard work needed to be done to ensure that the creative industry did not die amid the pandemic.
“The virtual festival did not only make it possible for struggling artists and crafters who have had no source of income for the past four months to put food on the table.
“This exposed them to the global stage, these artists and crafters enjoyed a following of close to 80,000 people from social media,” Nkomonye said.
Nine productions from the Eastern Cape had featured in the curated and creative programme, while the virtual Fringe festival included 49 productions and exhibitions by Eastern Cape artists.
The Eastern Cape Jazz showcase featured 12 bands and 58 artists filmed performing live at the Guild Theatre and the Port Elizabeth Opera House.
According to the statement, 100 crafters from all districts in the province were showcasing products on the virtual Village Green.