World Cup fever is rapidly spreading and the hosting of some
of the games in Cape Town, has inspired the Artscape Indigenous Arts
Department to establish a Cultural Village in Langa, Cape Town’s oldest
township, for the duration of the World Cup, to showcase and promote local
talent and to highlight traditional artwork forms.
The main activities of the Cultural Village will be hosted
from 10 to 13 June and from 8 to 11 July, in a variety of venues which
include the Guga S’thebe Centre, Johnson Ngwevela Civic Centre, Langa
Heritage Museum and the Marakana Park.
The main activities for the weekend of 10 to 13 June include
African Chorimba and Philharmonic Orchestra, opera, Living Heritage Jazz,
children’s activities which will include a Robben Island Outreach,
workshops, magicians and clowns. The activities for the period 8 to 11
July include indigenous orchestra and Mbira ensemble, Living Heritage
Jazz, Reggae Splash, and children’s activities.
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Aside from these performances, visitors can look forward to
watching matches on big screen for the duration of the soccer World Cup in
the lively atmosphere of a traditional beer garden, with food vendors
serving local specialities and Umqombothi (traditional beer). Both
weekends will feature buskers, guided tours, praise poetry, a marimba
festival, art exhibitions and traditional dance. Beadwork and other
traditional crafts will also be on sale in the craft market.
The manager of the Artscape Indigenous Arts Department, Mr
Mzwakhe Mdidimba says, “Artscape’s vision is to take arts to the people
and people to the arts (theatre). With the Cultural Village we also want
use the arts as a tool for economic growth and job creation, developing
small businesses through skills building, focusing on core disciplines
such as dance, music, theatre, literature, visual arts, hospitality and
heritage and generating opportunities through destination marketing. The
beneficiaries from the village will be men, women, youth, and the
physically challenged with an element of developing arts and culture at a
local level, which has the potential to grow and contribute to the
township livelihood.”
Artscape is proud to have the following partners on board
for the Cultural Village: the South African Heritage Resources Agency,
Robben Island Museum, Langa Heritage Foundation, Langa Development Forum,
Ladida Entertainment and Unitext Advertising Mediums.
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