“celebrating and commemorating 60 years of the women’s march against pass laws”.
“THREATS OF WOMEN VOICES” is the theme for The Vavasati International Women Festival, 2016. The festival is hosted by the South African State Theatre, curated by the internationally renowned playwright and director; Napo Masheane (Village Gossip Productions)
The festival is named “Vavasati” (a Xitsonga word meaning women) to reiterate the power in women standing together. Her-story was written when 20 000 South African women, of all races…from all backgrounds united and marched to the Union Buildings on 9 August 1956, against pass laws.
Vavasati International Women’s Festival 2016 will kick start with an official launch on the 2nd of August. The night will be packed with speeches, a keynote address and various performances of some of the shows that will play during the festival, to show what can be expected from this year’s festival. The festival will be a package of theatre productions, dance and music performances, panel discussions, spoken word & jazz, art exhibitions, various workshops, fashion & photography, stand-up comedy, flea markets and outdoor open mic. Basically, the festival will be 26 days of all things art, from the 2nd to the 27th of August.
Since the festival is aimed to celebrate women’s month, most shows will be performed by women, with the content of the shows also centred on women.
Some of the shows people can look forward to, just to name a few are;
- Mama The Storm Is Outside by Napo Masheane and Micia de Wet: A theatre production inspired by different testimonies of young people in Free State, who were asked to put in their own voices, “a day in their lives”.
- You Think You Know Me by Linda Gabriel (Zimbabwe/Germany): A gripping one woman play that revolves around the life of a sex worker and her experiences.
- Panel discussions: All male panel discussion
: All female panel discussions
: LGBT panel discussions (Phyllis Klotz, Zanele Muholi, OUT)
- Spoken word & jazz: Myesha Jenkins (USA/SA) and Tselane Mashilo
: TJ Dema (Botswana) and Mutinta Bbenkele (Zambia)
: Napo Masheane and Fat Black Women Sing
- Art exhibitions: Stompie Selibe
: Khehla Chepape Makgato
- Workshops: Creative writing and directing (Clive Mathibe)
: Dance (Bafikile Sedibe)
: Acting (Alex Motswiri, Luzuko Nteleko)
Just as this festival is to celebrate women artists, Napo Masheane stands poised to be the first female curator to direct this festival, which has been hosted annually for the past three years. Masheane believes that women creative works must be given a strong voice. For additional information and interview requests, please do not hesitate to contact;
Village Gossip Productions: Office – 011 492 0154
villagegossipproductions@gmail.com
Dee Leshika: (Production manager) 082 690 7549 debraleshika@gmail.com
Kearabilwe Sekgetle (PR intern) 083 997 1570 justsaidy@gmail.com
