Seethal will begin the position in September 2026, where she will lead Ireland’s cultural engagement across Southern Africa, with a focus on building cultural capacity and developing partnerships in the region.
Seethal has served as artistic director of the National Arts Festival (NAF) since 2020, taking on the role at a particularly challenging time for the arts sector.
She played a key role in shaping the festival’s online programme during the Covid-19 pandemic before helping to reshape its curated programme in the years that followed.
Her work also extended to the Festival’s Schools Programme, which continues to bring final-year school learners to the Festival for an immersive arts experience.
During her tenure, Seethal helped shift the festival's audience and artist demographics to better reflect South Africa’s diverse languages, cultures and identities.
Her programming included bringing pantsula and voguing to the Rhodes Theatre and Box stages, presenting international circus at the Guy Butler Theatre and developing new work with community-centred performing arts groups.
The festival has also seen a younger and more diverse audience emerge while navigating the growing relationship between the arts and technology.
Beyond the main festival programme, Seethal was involved in projects including the National Playwright Competition and the festival’s facilitation of the Mandela Bay Arts Festival.
Her time at the NAF also saw her develop partnerships with arts organisations across Africa and internationally, with a particular focus on bringing global South cultural narratives into wider conversations.
Seethal’s next chapter will continue that international focus. During her time at the NAF, she developed an association with Theaterfestival Basel in Switzerland and will spend some time there between her two roles.
She will co-convene Watch & Talk, a programme bringing together emerging international artists, alongside Katherine Omole.
Reflecting on her departure, Seethal described the 52-year-old festival as a South African institution and said that navigating the challenges faced by the arts sector had been no easy task.
“It’s been an absolute honour working with the festival team,” she said, praising the people behind the event for the work they put in throughout the year.
Looking back on her time at the NAF, Seethal added that the role had given her the opportunity to engage more deeply with South Africa’s arts landscape.
“We have so much inspiration, hope, creative solutions to contribute to our fast evolving world,” she said. “Wherever I am placed, I wish to continue contributing in this direction.”
New National Arts Festival CEO Palesa Kadi thanked Seethal for her contribution to the Festival over the past six years.
“While I'm sorry Rucera will not be working with us, we sincerely appreciate her contribution to the programmatic arc of the festival these past six years,” Kadi said.
She also noted that Seethal’s new position could create opportunities for continued collaboration between the festival and Ireland’s cultural sector.
The National Arts Festival has now begun the process of recruiting its next artistic director. In the meantime, creative direction will be overseen by the festival’s artistic committee.
