Heritage Month at Artscape

Artscape's Heritage Festival celebrates our diverse cultures and identities through indigenous, contemporary and international artistic works in dance, music and jazz. This year will be no exception as we present this festival, albeit a short one, via our virtual platforms.

The flagship festival emphasizes the need for South Africans to celebrate unity in diversity, through promoting social cohesion and inclusivity of our unique, colourful cultural heritage. The festival provides residents of Cape Town, itself a melting pot of divergent cultures, the Western Cape as well as South Africans at large with a platform to encourage dialogue about their values, aspirations and visions as we work together towards a united, inclusive and dignified South Africa.

The festival kicks off with the online performance of Mantis and The Bee - a humorous exploration of /Xam mythology while the origin of life will showcase too. Developed by the Jungle Theatre Company, this children's show is based on a story of the first people. Mantis and the Bee were created by the Rain and the Flame to go on an epic journey in search of life. They get involved in an action comedy adventure in a world before the earth was created. Discover the magic hidden inside the stories of the first people called /Xam. The production, in association with the City of Cape Town, goes virtual on the 16 September and will delight throughout until the 31 October.

The Kingdom of Ubuntu production was first staged as a musical concert in 2019 at Artscape Theatre to pilot the idea towards a full-scale musical. This year, 2020, the production returns as a full musical theatre spectacular celebrating the heritage and diversity of South Africa through music, dance, poetry, drama, storytelling, and African fashion. This musical concert will prove that there is power in combining forces to build one beautiful world together. Moreover, it proffers the audience a glimpse into the future of a South Africa that is free from the obstacles and boundaries of the current. It is written by Elvis Sibeko - an internationally acclaimed award-winning dancer and choreographer specialising in what has become known as African contemporary form. Produced in association with the Department of Sports, Arts, and Culture it is due for broadcast from 24 -30 September 2020.

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