The National Arts Festival in Makhanda is an annual celebration of the arts on this continent. Artists and audiences engage and create unique cultural experiences.
We bring you some photo highlights from the festival, captured by photographer Alet Pretorius.
A scene out of ‘SELEKANE’ at the 2024 National Arts Festival on Day 09 on June 28, 2024 in Makhanda, South Africa. (Photo by Gallo Images/Alet Pretorius)A scene out of ‘The Last Country’. It is an immersive and deeply moving Empatheatre production starring Mpume Mthombeni, Faniswa Yisa and Sibulele Gcilitshana, with a play text drawn from the 30 oral histories of migrant women collected as part of a greater research and advocacy project. The production weaves together the stories of Ofrah from the DRC, MaThwala from Ndwedwe in KwaZulu-Natal, Aamiina from Somalia, and Aneni from Zimbabwe. (Photo by Gallo Images/Alet Pretorius)Litha Booi during a ceremony held as part of ‘ArtTalk 50/30: Reparation. Redux’. This ceremony forms part of a discussion series that explores the deep existential questions humanity faces with key thinkers, artists and healers. In recognition the debilitating and transgenerational nature of the violence South Africans have experienced, ArtTalk 50/30 gathers story-tellers, musicians, an indigenous local farmer and a survivor of the Marikana massacre, amongst others, for a trans-disciplinary cleansing ritual which seeks, through film, song, dance and story-telling, to extend the dialogue to the non-human environment: the land, the ancestors, the soil, plants and animals. The intention is to heal ourselves and the land while exploring future imaginaries. (Photo by Gallo Images/Alet Pretorius)Standard Bank Young Artist of the Year (Jazz) Darren English. (Photo by Gallo Images/Alet Pretorius)Artist Mook Lion during a talk about street art and murals in Makhanda. He is also involved with a street art project that activates Makhanda’s public space with a collaborative and site specific large scale public mural by a dynamic crew of Makhanda based artists. (Photo by Gallo Images/Alet Pretorius)Standard Bank Young Artist of the year (Music), Zoe Modinga during a performance of ‘nomthandazo: amahubo’. (Photo by Gallo Images/Alet Pretorius)A scene out of ‘1789’, an interactive performance about Freedom and Liberty. (Photo by Gallo Images/Alet Pretorius)A scene out of Afronauts. (Photo by Gallo Images/Alet Pretorius)Festival attendees enjoy the sunset at the Monument during the official welcoming ceremony at the 2024 National Arts Festival on Day 01. (Photo by Gallo Images/Alet Pretorius)Performers getting ready in Makhanda. (Photo by Gallo Images/Alet Pretorius)A festival attendee looking at posters promoting shows at the festival. (Photo by Gallo Images/Alet Pretorius)A performer prepares. (Photo by Gallo Images/Alet Pretorius)Justice Albie Sachs during a walkabout for the exhibition ‘A Luta Continua: Reflecting on 30 years of democracy through Constitutional Court Art Collection’. (Photo by Gallo Images/Alet Pretorius)The Sundowner Concert. This show takes place in the Monument Atrium every evening of the festival at 5pm, is a showcase of various performances happening in the NAF Fringe programme. (Photo by Gallo Images/Alet Pretorius)A scene out of Afronauts. (Photo by Gallo Images/Alet Pretorius)A scene out of ‘1789’, an interactive performance about Liberty, Equality and Fraternity. (Photo by Gallo Images/Alet Pretorius)A man selling soapstone sculptures polishes a rhino. (Photo by Gallo Images/Alet Pretorius)Pichi Keane performs in the drag cabaret ‘Freshly Squeezed’. (Photo by Gallo Images/Alet Pretorius)Cast members interact with the audience outside the venue before the show ‘1789’. (Photo by Gallo Images/Alet Pretorius)
