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Celebration of Abundant Life at Spiritfest
Wednesday 24 June 2009
In many religious traditions art in its various forms is viewed as a vehicle for the expression of worship. At Spiritfest at the National Arts Festival, audiences are invited to participate in, or simply appreciate, this celebration of abundant life through the arts.
Grahamstown is home to people from a wide array of cultural and religious backgrounds, and has a rich heritage of national treasures related to the many historical churches and faith-based institutions. One of these is the landmark Cathedral of St. George and St. Michael that will serve as the base for most of the Spiritfest programme.
The Spiritfest programme gives festivalgoers the opportunity to engage in various interdenominational acts of worship.
On Sunday 5 July at 09:30, everyone is invited to join in the Festival Eucharist, conducted by the Dean, the Very Reverend Andrew Hunter. Reverend Canon Dr Peter Mtuze will deliver the message, and the music that will fill the beautiful Cathedral is Haydn’s Little Organ Mass, with a local choir and music ensemble, directed by the Music Director of the Cathedral, Barbara Stout. There will also be liturgical dance to songs of worship, led by Kati Ansell of the Christian Dance Academy, and a group of their dancers. At 18:00 on Sunday the 5th, previous Young Artists Award winner Concorde Nkabinde (2007), together with various gospel groups, will lead a combined service at the Trinity Presbyterian Church
The Taizé service in the Cathedral on Wednesday the 8th (17:30 – 18:30) will be a peaceful, worshipful and reflective candlelit evening with music from the Taizé community in France, led by an instrumental group.
The Road less travelled is a 45-minute programme on the 5th, 7th and 9th (18:00 – 18:45), consisting of scripture readings, classical music, prayer, silence and a liturgical act in the NG Kerk Building (corner of Hill and Market Streets). The church will be open from 17:30 – 19:00 for prayer and contemplation.
The popular Cathedral Marimbas is also back on the 3rd, 6th, 8th and 10th at 13:15. Performers include members of the Cathedral congregation, and boys from the Eluxolweni Shelter for Street Children performing sacred and secular music from Africa and abroad.
With Spot the Tune Wilf Stout, organist at the Cathedral will perform a mix of well known tunes, with a quiz and prize for the person correctly recognizing the most pieces. Dates: 7, 9 July at 12.30- 13:30.
Sacred Songs and Arias in the Cathedral, is a celebration of well known and much loved sacred vocal music, performed by soprano Liesl H. de Jager. Enjoy pure, uncomplicated, uplifting song, featuring music from Vivaldi, Bach, Schubert, as well as South African songs.
On Thursday the 2nd of July the Gospel Africa Opening Concert at the Trinity Church will fill the atmosphere with the passionate joy of gospel music, featuring Rhodes University’s popular Voice of Glory and gospel group Still 4 Eva. Tickets are R10.
On Friday the 3rd Gospel Youth and various visiting groups will be in concert, and on Saturday the 4th Concorde Nkabinde will present various Gospel music workshops, including Composing and arranging music and the Practical presentation of worship. In the evening, he will be in concert with Voice of Glory and Still 4 Eva.
Other workshops on Saturday the 4th at 14:00 include a liturgical dance workshop in the Cathedral presented by Kati Ansell, Director of the Christian Dance Academy in East London. Participants will be taught a dance, which will form part of the worship at the Festival Eucharist on Sunday 5 July at 9:30. All ages are welcome, and the cost is R20.
There is also a musical lecture, Masses of Haydn, which will be interjected with musical pieces sung by a live choir on 9 July. It will celebrate the bicentennial of this highly original and prolific composer.
Some of the unique exhibitions on display include the historic embroidery Cloths of Heaven. This amazing collection of intricate hand embroidery is on display at St. Peter’s. Some of the liturgical vestments date back to over one hundred years ago. This is a national treasure, with its astonishing colours and designs, and a charismatic ninety-something old nun explaining that the embroidery was done by a Sister Margaret Evelyn “… who was deaf, and who sat in her room overlooking Bots, year after year, embroidering away in blue and gold and green, saying a prayer with every stitch”. The Keiskamma altarpiece, made by the Keiskamma Art Project in Hamburg, is also on view in the Cathedral.
The Wilderness Encounters exhibition in the Cory Room presents Julia Skeen’s striking depictions of a landscape that has inspired some of the most powerful literature and spirituality in history. It comprises a combination of 20 drawings and oil paintings, inspired by the artist’s travels to the Judean desert in 2006. They provide the viewer with an encounter with the desert that paradoxically leaves the psyche calmed and refreshed.
The programme also includes a series of lectures on a variety of topics from 11:00 – 12:00 daily in the Cathedral. Andrew Hunter, the Dean of Grahamstown, who is currently doing a Masters in Canon Law through Cardiff University, will discuss Religious Freedom in South Africa today. Peter Rose, Professor Emeritus of Biotechnology at Rhodes University will explore the Christian response to two hundred years of Darwin. Afro Gospel, an art form that dominates the music industry in Africa, will be discussed by Tate Mhunduru who is a Zimbabwean musician currently completing a Masters at Rhodes University. Bill Domeris, Rector of the College of the Transfiguration and Canon Chancellor of the Cathedral will look at what’s new in the archaeology of the Holy Land, while Barbara Stout has prepared a musical lecture on the Masses of Haydn, celebrating the bicentennial anniversary of this prolific composer.
The diverse programme of this year’s Spiritfest is an open invitation for anyone to join in the extravagant expressions of worship and joyful celebration of abundant life through the arts.
The 35th National Arts Festival runs from 2 – 11 July 2009 and is sponsored by The Eastern Cape Government, Standard Bank, The National Arts Council, The National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund, The Sunday Independent and MNet.
For further information visit the website www.nationalartsfestival.co.za or telephone (046) 603 1103.
Ends
Note to Editors:
About the National Arts Festival: Now in its 35th year, the Festival began in 1974 and has grown to be one of the leading arts festivals in southern Africa. Its objectives are to deliver excellence; encourage innovation and development in the arts by providing a platform for both established and emerging South African artists; create opportunities for collaboration with international artists; and build new audiences.
ISSUED BY : THE FAMOUS IDEA TRADING CC
ON BEHALF OF : NATIONAL ARTS FESTIVAL
CONTACT : GILLY HEMPHILL
TEL : 021 886 4900
CELL : 082 820 8584
EMAIL : gilly@thefamousidea.co.za
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