National Arts Festival opens call for 2021 Festival Fringe

The festival went online last year when the pandemic restricted gatherings and prevented a live festival from taking place. The month-long digital 2020 Virtual National Arts Festival drew over 80,000 local and international visitors to the festival site and showcased productions that included WhatsApp plays, robot-sketched portrait sessions, music concerts, theatre, dance, documentaries, retrospectives and more.

Singer Nipho Hurd in concert on the Virtual Fringe at the 2020 Virtual National Arts Festival

Giving an opportunity to artists 

The National Arts Festival put out a call late last year for artists to propose works for the curated programme of the 2021 festival. Now the festival is asking artists who are interested in presenting work on the 2021 Fringe to tell them more about their ideas for live and digital work that could be part of the Fringe.

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The Fringe has been an important catalyst for the careers of many artists over the years. It focuses on work that has been created and produced independently of the festival and not curated by the festival’s artistic director and committee. Traditionally, it is the space where independent artists have the freedom to experiment, test work on audiences and gain visibility with other artists, producers and creators.

A scene from Little Red Riding Hood and the Bad Metaphors, a live production that was staged at the 2019 National Arts Festival in Makhanda

The National Arts Festival has waived the registration fee for artists to enter their work on the festival’s online platform, the vFringe, and there are no commitments to payment needed when artists or producers send in an expression of interest. The festival team is working to create low-cost production packages to help make it more affordable for artists, who have been hard-hit by the impact of Covid-19, to participate.

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National Arts Festival CEO Monica Newton notes that it’s a precarious time for the arts with so few platforms for work threatening not only the livelihoods of artists, producers, writers and technicians in the sector but also restricting opportunities for artists to create and present new work.

The National Arts Festival is hoping that we can continue to play our part by providing a platform where artists can be seen and heard, regardless of circumstance. Now more than ever, artists need spaces where their ideas and contributions can be created and experienced by audiences in South Africa and across the world. We are living in strange and uncertain times but, as was the case last year, we know we can host the Festival by being adaptable and resilient.

To submit a National Arts Festival expression of interest Fringe form, artists can visit the festival’s website www.nationalartsfestival.co.za