8 to 11 June marks this year’s celebration of dynamic local poets – both young and established – through The Naked Word Festival. Says co-founder Javier Perez, “The theme for 2017’s festival is ‘I Speak of My Inherit-Age’. This theme was chosen precisely because one of the most exciting aspects of contemporary SA poetry is its ability to access the ancestral connections disrupted by a history of displacement, and adapt the ancestral to a modern era.”
The festival of syntactic intrigue and lyric luminosity kicks off Thursday 8 June courtesy of Grounding Session, whose weekly open-mic sessions at The Drawing Room here become an evening of specially selected local poets, including Lwanda Sindaphi, Pakama Mlokoti and Busisiwe Mahlangu.
Friday’s official Opening Night segment at Theatre Arts Admin Collective (Observatory) sees, amongst others, the Lingua Franca Band, C.Y.P.H.E.R., Khanyiso Mabodla and Javier Perez offering the audience an indication of the variety in store over the weekend.
Origins of the fest
“The first Naked Word Festival was launched in May 2016 with the aim of uncovering and rediscovering a contemporary South African poetics in its most raw essence. We wanted to celebrate a new generation of poets who come from a distinctly spoken word tradition and who were actively pushing boundaries towards a new language, sound and aesthetic that reflect current struggles and realities. As the festival’s name suggests, we strive to strip away any and all adornments and superficiality in poetry, to create a platform that speaks the absolute bare truth,” says Perez.
Saturday morning starts off with S’Gela Sam Slam, where 14 high school learners have been invited to present poems reflecting on their subjective experiences of life in contemporary SA. Noon promises an exciting stage production by C.Y.P.H.E.R. which interrogates the inherent cultural and political displacement of postcolonial SA life – exploring ways of reclaiming a seemingly lost pre-colonial world of identity.
Expect to be stimulated, provoked and enthralled
Saturday evening offers Naked Slam, where established local poets will deliver their work. Expect to be stimulated, provoked and enthralled..
Naked Slam is followed by an event I, personally, am most intrigued by. ‘Orange faces, White souls’ promises an intervention of sorts – an event that will challenge and affect the audience as much as, though in different ways to, its performers. Here ex-convicts will take the stage, re-presenting themselves to the public through poetic self-expression. A most inspired idea!
After this, ‘Sundowners’ will combine musicians and poets to move the audience and participants into moonlit kingdoms of night.
Sunday wraps up the festival through the inter-generational panel discussion ‘Keeping the old, embracing the new,’ featuring many of the poets, young and established, explored through the course of the four-day fest, and the all-female ‘Izwi La-Manina’, where poems by Malika Ndlovu, Khadija Heeger, Primrose Mrwabi, Toni Stuart, Dejawu Tafari and Kristina Medero will taste the air.
MICK RAUBENHEIMER spoke to co-founder Javier Perez
Tell us about the origin of the fest?
“We recognised a growing tendency, especially by aspiring young poets, to emulate Western styles and forms of performance poetry, looking to YouTube for inspiration instead of right here in their home cities. We also noticed that existing literary festivals did not do enough to promote our indigenous languages. In response, the Naked Word Festival was designed as an affirmation, declaration and exploration of the future of a distinctly South African poetry, one that is richly multilingual and innovatively multidisciplinary. We intentionally invite poets who perform in a wide range of languages, because it reflects the complex and beautiful diversity of South Africa.”
What events/poets are you most excited about?
“We are so excited to have poets travelling from across South Africa to gather at our festival. We will have 5 provinces and 6 cities represented in the line-up. Nationally recognised poets such as Katleho Shoro (Johannesburg), Busisiwe Mahlangu (City of Tshwane), Thuthukani Ndlovu (Bloemfontein) and many more will be sharing the stages with Cape Town’s own renowned poets like Toni Stuart, Siphokazi Jonas, Jason Jacobs and more. The caliber of poetry is incredible! As soon as audiences enter the venue, they can expect to be transported to another world, as we deliver a concentrated dose of South Africa’s finest wordsmiths with fusions of afro-futuristic music, elements of theatre, and more.”
The Naked Word Festival is presented by Lingua Franca Poetry Movement, a spoken word company based in Cape Town and funded by Western Cape Government, Department of the Premier.
What: The Naked Word Festival
Where: Theatre Arts Admin Collective in Observatory, Cape Town.
When: 8 to 11 June, 2017
Web:
https://web.facebook.com/events/936348429801014/?fref=ts, http://linguafrancapoetry.co.za/events/
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