GIPCA Live Art Festival

Catch 11 days of music, dance, theatre and more with this citywide festival

The Gordon Institute for Performing and Creative Arts (GIPCA) is proud to present the second annual Live Art Festival from Wednesday, 27 August to Sunday, 7 September 2014.

This year’s fiesta showcases 39 innovative performance art works in the areas of dance, music, theatre, visual arts, architecture and literature, all of which will be performed in various spaces around the city, including UCT’s Hiddingh Campus, the Cape Town City Hall and several clubs in and around Green Point.

The event has been curated around six main themes - namely Framed (and Framing), Body and Mortality, Femininities, The Periphery as Threshold, Republic and The Abject Object - and features works by both local and international performers and creatives.

Specifically, audiences can expect to see the likes of Anthea Moys, who won the inaugural Standard Bank Young Artist Award for Performance Art; award-winning choreographer Boyzie Cekwana; influential South African puppeteer Jill Joubert; breathtaking dancers Sello Pesa and Mamela Nyamza; innovative British performance artist Brian Lobel; and Jelili Atiku, a Nigerian multimedia artist who uses his work to shed light on issues of human rights and injustice.

Much like the Infecting the City festival, the  Live Art performances have been grouped into nine different programmes, and audiences are encouraged to follow a programme from start to finish. Tickets are priced per programme as opposed to per show; details on prices are listed below.

WHAT NOT TO MISS AT THE 2014 GIPCA LIVE ART FESTIVAL

IMPOSSIBLE AUCTION:This collaborative work, presented by performance artist Anthea Moys, actor and director Gerard Bester and writer Gwydion Beynon, takes the form of an interactive art auction. The piece, which falls under the theme of Framed (and Framing), encourages audience members to bid on 50 extraordinary works, ranging from re-enactments of influential performances to works by contemporary creatives. The production aims to give ordinary onlookers the chance to participate in the high-stakes world of auction-bidding while also learning a thing or two about the context and history of life art. The show is scheduled Wednesday, 27 August at the Cape Town City Hall.

19 BORN 76 REBELS: Breaking away from the normative presentation of the struggle against Apartheid, this work reassesses the significance of the historically important year 1976. Part dance, part theatre, this moving work, which features under the theme of Republic, was showcased at both the 2014 National Arts Festival and in France during the 2012-2013 France-South African season. The production, which is the brainchild of Mamela Nyamza and Faniswa Yisa, will be performed on Saturday, 6 September at the UCT Hiddingh Campus to remind us how much agency simple gestures of authority carry.

CAUGHT: This piece, which appears in the Femininities programme, explores the physical interplay between two black women who find themselves trapped in a small room will only a single bulb as their source of light. Using the language of contemporary dance, the work sheds old silhouettes to reveal new and exciting forms. The piece is choreographed by Nomcebisi Moyikwa and performed by Maipelo Gabang and Ntombizandile Nonyathi. Caught will be performed on Friday, 29 and Saturday, 30 August at the Cape Town City Hall.

COMPLICATED ART FOR DUMMIES: Combining comedy and live music, Ntando Cele uses her white alter ego, Bianca White, to interrogate issues of power and prejudice. Bianca, who is a talk show host, seasoned world traveller and expert on the European art scene, presents her latest ‘life class’ – and the result is a hilarious take on the European need for suffering and what is lacking in African art. Complicated Art for Dummies takes to the stage on Tuesday, 2 and Wednesday, 3 September at the UCT Hiddingh Campus.

INFLUENCES OF A CLOSET CHANT: This work (The Periphery as Threshold) explores the challenges of otherness in sexuality – the complex nature of cultural appropriations and social prescriptions, what constitutes gender and gender roles and who ultimately defines it. Using the metaphor of the closet, the work positions the individual’s choices against biological and sexual ones. This piece will be shown on Friday, 29 and Saturday, 30 August at the Cape Town City Hall.

IN SEARCH OF “I-DEA-OLOGY” [AN] NKRUMAHIST READING: This participatory, collaborative, mixed-media event is performed by Ghanaian artist Bernard Akoi-Jackson, who presents a fascinating consideration of the themes of ideology, nationalism, belonging, self-determination, the teachings of Kwame Nkrumah, the aspirations of Thabo Mbeki and the mighty notions of the African Renaissance. The work, which falls under the theme of Republic, is to be performed on Saturday, 6 September at the UCT Hiddingh Campus.

MY MINUTES: Playing on Andy Warhol’s notion of “15 minutes of fame”, this show invites audience members to take centre stage. Given 3 minutes on stage, attendees must decide for themselves how they will react to this social call. My Minutes, as part of the Framed (and Framing) theme, will show on Tuesday, 2 and Wednesday, 3 September at the UCT Hiddingh Campus.

QUARTIER SUD: This piece is comprised of a series of theatre, dance and performance art productions that explore the concept of illegal immigration. The work is based on Cameroonian performer Christian Etongo’s personal experiences, as well as his research into the human body, rituals, dance and art-action. Quartier Sud, which falls under the theme of The Periphery as Threshold, appears on Sunday, 31 August and Monday, 1 September at the UCT Hiddingh Campus.

UN-MUTE: Un-mute (under the theme of Body and Mortality) is based on Andile Vellem’s experience of being a deaf dancer and  using sign language as the source of movement vocabulary. Bringing together performers of varying backgrounds, Vellem explores what they would like to ‘un-mute’ – whether it may be their feelings, ideas, social norms or expectations. The piece is choreographed by Andile Vellem and performed by Nadine Mckenzie, Themba Mbuli and Zama Sonjica. The work takes to the stage on Thursday, 28 August at the UCT Hiddingh Campus.

ROUGH MUSICK: Inspired by early English medieval practices that aimed to shame petty criminals using a brutal cacophony, Gavin Krastin creates an engaging visceral experience for his audiences. Through the clashing of images and activities taken from Gaelic folklore, Welsh “sin-eating” ceremonies, psycho-sexual role-playing fetishes and bogey-man mythologies, Krastin creates a striking theatrical work bound to have you on the edge of your seat. Rough Musick will be performed on Sunday, 31 August and Monday, 1 September at the UCT Hiddingh Campus. The work falls under the Periphery as Threshold theme.

For further information regarding the featured productions and various programmes, consult Gipca.uct.ac.za.

TICKETS FOR GIPCA LIVE ART FESTIVAL

Tickets for the event are priced per programme and can be purchased online via Webtickets.co.za or at the door. A season ticket entitles you access to all programmes.

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