PICTURES: Afropunk Joburg rings in the New Year
JOBURG – Joburg braves the rain to ring in the New Year at Afropunk Fest.
For more than 15 years, the Afropunk Festival has defined culture in the world of music and has morphed itself into a melting pot of multiculturalism, diversity and progressive thought – catering for people of all races, genders, colours, creeds and tastes.
For two days, Joburg’s Constitution Hill played host to the second instalment of the Afropunk Festival as it was the meeting point on 30 and 31 December with a fire line-up that included the likes of Kaytranada, The Internet, Thundercat, and Flying Lotus who gave the crowd amazing performances. The line-up also included truly amazing performances by local sensations Trompies, Faka, Thandiswa, Youngstacpt, Dope Saint Jude, BCUC and astounding beats by Muzi.
Winners of the Afropunk Battle of the Bands, Red Robyn and Ikati Esengxoweni, opened the festival’s proceedings. Red Robyn, a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from Durban and Port Elizabeth’s Ikati Esengxoweni, a soulful acoustic duo from Port Elizabeth, won the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to amaze crowds at the internationally-acclaimed festival at last year’s Battle of the Bands.
“Afropunk is more than a music festival – it represents a fusion of cultures, languages and colours from all around the world. It is a transformative festival that reminds us that we all belong; that there is so much more that unites us than divides us. It provides the platform for expression of a shared vision – of a world free from racism, sexism, ableism, ageism, homophobia, fatphobia and hatred,” said Dawn Robertson, CEO of Constitution Hill.
The Afropunk Solution Sessions returned to Joburg ahead of the main festival for two nights of live events. The people’s forum-turned-critically acclaimed podcast was presented in collaboration with Red Bull Amaphiko, a platform for social entrepreneurs, which promotes and uplifts people creating change in their communities, and was hosted by veteran American social activist and podcaster, Bridget Todd.
The Solution Sessions featured the two founding members of the Black Lives Matter movement, Patrisse Cullors and Alicia Garza as well as South African LGBTI activists Thami Kotlolo and Thokozani Ndaba and American author and filmmaker Dream Hampton.
