Digital space joins NAF arena

The National Arts Festival is launching a digital arts festival this year, giving visitors a glimpse into a future where culture increasingly intertwines with technology.

The Creativate Digital Arts Festival will run from Thursday June 28 to Sunday July 1 in Grahamstown as part of the larger festival.

“Creativate seeks to explore the space where creativity, innovation and technology converge,” NAF chief executive Tony Lankester, co-curator of Creativate with Toby Shapshak and Ashraf Johaardien, says.

“It’s a playground for artists and audiences interested in how the digital age is helping to bring our imaginations to life, and who want to experience the creative tools of the future.”

The programme comprises a mix of lectures, workshops, film and performances, focused mainly in one Creativate Hub at Eden Grove on Rhodes University’s campus.

“The festival is for the curious and creatively minded – we want audiences to check in with us in the morning and spend a full day wandering through the spaces and events we have created. We’re expecting the events to appeal to those aged 12 to 80, and technical fluency is less of a pre-requisite than an inquiring mind,” Lankester says.

Shapshak, editor-in-chief and publisher of Stuff magazine, said the organisers had invited “some of South Africa and the world’s brightest thinkers” to share their insights.

For example, Monika Bielskyte, described as “a futurist with an artist’s eye and an inventor’s mind”, headlines the Creativate Engage series, as a mindbending journey through what could be. She will share her experiences in designing Sci-Fi worlds for the entertainment industry.

Other lectures include:

• William Kentridge – collaborator, filmmaker and museum designer Yoav Dagan.
• WeChat founder and CEO Brett Loubser, who asks if artificial intelligence could ever replace artists.
• Tom Gray, a UK-based South African innovation consultant will reflect on the worlds – and opportunities – created by virtual and augmented reality.
• Maximillian Kaizen shares her insights into how artists can use new tools to make their careers sustainable and to build independence using tech and storycraft.

In addition, there will be performances which blur the borders between genres and traditional forms, bringing technology into the arts arena.

The Creativate programme also will feature international performances showing how artists are integrating technology into their work.

• In a Swiss production of Hamlet, author and director Boris Nikitin rewrites the Shakespeare play to transform it with a mix of experimental documentary play and music-theatre.
• The Danish production of Doghouse is a 20-minute virtual reality play which an audience of five people experience through headsets.

A critical part of Creativate, says Lankester, is giving participants the opportunity not just to hear about new tools and technology, but to roll up their sleeves and to play.

In addition, a series of films and installations will showcase new techniques and approaches. Visit www.nationalartsfestival.co.za for more information.

Most Creativate tickets are R25 to R30.

Further information from: creativate@nationalartsfestival.co.za