SA SeASon in the UKGLASGoW

JULy / AUGUSt 2014

ARtS AnD CULtURe PRoGRAMMe

Partners

Department of Arts and Culture, South AfricaGlasgow City CouncilGlasgow LifeBritish CouncilACTSA (Action for Southern Africa former anti-apartheid movement in the UK)National Film and Video Foundation, South Africa Nelson Mandela FoundationMitchell LibraryGlasgow Concert HallsCreative ScotlandThe South African High Commission in the United Kingdom and Northern IrelandBrand South AfricaThe ArchesDepartment of Sport and Recreation, South AfricaSASCOC (South African Sports Confederation and Olypmic Committee)

As we celebrate 20 Years of Freedom, we want to declare that the City of Glasgow holds a special place in our South African hearts. Significantly, it was the first city in the world to hon-our former President Nelson Mandela with the Freedom of the City. We, therefore wish to acknowledge Glasgow for its role in mobilizing the international community against apartheid.

Upon his release from 27 years of imprisonment, Nelson Man-dela ensured that Glasgow became the first city that he vis-ited. Mandelas words on that occasion will echo down the ages when he said: Glasgow will always enjoy a distinguished place in the records of the international campaign against apartheid. While we were physically denied our freedom in the country of our birth, a city 6,000 miles away, and as re-nowned as Glasgow, refused to accept the legitimacy of the apartheid system and declared us to be free.

It was the principled commitment and dedication from Nelson Mandela and many other South Africans that has seen South Africa become a thriving democ-racy.

The people of South Africa express their sincere thanks to the city of Glasgow, ACTSA and all individuals, organizations and communities around the world that played an active role in our liberation.

As the Department of Arts and Culture we are proud to be collaborating with the national De-partment of Sport and Recreation to promote South Africas spirit of social cohesion and cultural diversity on this international stage.

We say, Ningadinwa!

Mr Nathi Mthethwa, Minister of Arts and Culture, South Africa

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MeSSAge froM THe MiNiSTer of ArTS ANd CulTure, SouTH AfriCA

It is my pleasure and privilege to welcome you to Glasgows Nelson Mandela International Day Celebration here at Kel-vingrove.

This celebration, bringing together artists from South Africa and Scotland, reflects and pays tribute to the Citys long and close association with Nelson Mandela and his cam-paign for freedom.

There are many Glaswegians who supported Mandelas cause through the long years of his imprisonment, but spe-cial mention is due to Brian Filling, now Honorary Consul for the Republic of South Africa in Scotland, and former Lord Provost Dr Michael Kelly, who led Glasgow City Council in conferring the Freedom of the City in 1981. Together with the people of Glasgow, they contributed to ensuring that Glasgow, to quote Mandela himself, will always enjoy a

distinguished place in the records of the international campaign against apartheid.

We are proud of that place in history, and thank you for joining us to celebrate here tonight.

Cllr Sadie docherty, The right Hon The lord Provost of glasgow

MeSSAge froM THe rigHT HoN THe lord ProvoST of glASgow

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It is with great pleasure that we present this diverse pro-gramme to showcase South African arts and culture on this international platform.

The artists featured represent our struggle past, our excit-ing present and our bright future. We are featuring stalwarts of South African music like Hugh Masekela, the Mahotella Queens and Vusi Mahlasela alongside some of our younger artists, many of whom are quickly gaining audiences across Europe and the world. We also feature the Mzansi Youth Choir from Soweto whose choristers are as young as 13-years-old.

Glasgow was instrumental in consolidating international sup-port against Apartheid in the past, and continues to support South Africa which, of course, today is a thriving democracy and celebrates 20 years of freedom this year. We are there-fore excited to be collaborating with the city of Glasgow, ACT-SA and many other partners in presenting the International Nelson Mandela Day celebrations in Glasgow. These celebrations, coupled with the 67-Minutes Campaign for Madiba, are particularly important as they happen just after a few months after the passing away of Nelson Mandela; it is crucial that we keep his memory and his work alive and dedicate ourselves to serving others.

Glasgow will be glowing with exciting cultural events alongside sporting action: the Internation-al Nelson Mandela Day celebrations will be followed by Festival 2014 and the arts and culture presentations at EKHAYA the South African home away from home during games time.

We would like to extend our gratitude to the South African Departments of Arts and Culture and Sport and Recreation, the fantastic team at Culture 2014, Action for Southern Africa, our colleagues at the British Council, Brand SA and many others for helping us put together these programmes.

We trust that you will enjoy this taste of South African music and culture.

Mr Bongani Tembe, Commissioner-general, SA-uK Seasons 2014 & 2015

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MeSSAge froM CoMMiSSioNer-geNerAl

Why, in a visit to Glasgow in 1993, did the man who had spent almost three decades in prison thank the city for its support against apart-heid?

Nelson Mandela praised the Citizens of Glas-gow for being the first city to offer him the Freedom of the City, at a time more than a de-cade earlier when many others were still con-demning him as a terrorist for his role in chal-lenging the system of racial segregation in his home country.

In a speech at the City Chambers in Glasgow on 9 October 1993, he said: While we were physi-cally denied our freedom in the country of our birth, a city 6,000 miles away, and as renowned as Glasgow, refused to accept the legitimacy of the apartheid system, and declared us to be free.

Mandelas visit, the year before he became president of the Republic of South Africa, was the culmination of a long association between people in the city and his campaign for free-dom, which began when he was imprisoned in 1962. Scottish anti-apartheid activist Brian Filling campaigned from the 1960s against the system in South Africa which allowed the white minority to oppress the majority black inhabit-ants.

Mandela had been convicted of charges includ-ing conspiring to commit acts of sabotage and guerrilla warfare for the purpose of violent rev-olution. However, the trial was condemned by the United Nations Security Council and nations around the world.

Mr Filling says that, despite some of the dreadful things happening in South Africa in 1960s and 70s, it was not fashionable to be associated with Mandela because he was widely regarded and reported in our media as a terrorist. How-ever in 1981, Glasgow Council decided to set its face against this opinion and awarded Man-dela the Freedom of the City. Just a couple of years earlier the previous Lord Provost of Glas-gow, David Hodge, had hosted a lunch with the South African ambassador, which had sparked a protest outside the City Chambers and a threat

wHy did NelSoN MANdelA THANK glASgow? By Steven Brocklehurst

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by catering staff not to prepare the food. Mr Fill-ing reports The incoming Lord Provost, Michael Kelly, partly as a reaction to all this, wanted to give the freedom of the city to Nelson Mandela.

Dr Kelly says: It was a bold step for the Labour Party in Glasgow and we received a lot of bad publicity, but eventually when Mandelas story got through people began to see that we and he were in the right.

Glasgows promotion of Mandelas cause quickly led to other cities following suit and within a year Kelly had launched a declaration for the release of Nelson Mandela. It went on to gain support from 2,500 mayors from 56 countries around the world, and got the backing of the United Nations in New York.

In 1986, Glasgow brought more attention to the jailed freedom fighter by changing the name of St Georges Place in the city centre to Nelson Mandela Place. The name change was made more significant by the fact that the South Af-rican consulate-general was based there, at an address which now bore the name of the coun-trys most famous political prisoner.

By now the efforts to free Mandela had become mainstream with global pop stars such as Jim Kerr, from Glasgow band Simple Minds, writing songs and playing concerts in support of his free-dom. International pressure, in the form of sanc-tions against the South African regime, eventu-ally led to Mandelas release. At the age of 71, Mandela was freed on 11 Feb-ruary 1990 after 27 years in prison.

During the 1980s he had been given the Free-dom of the City by nine UK regions and it was Glasgow that was chosen to host Mandela as he arrived to accept all these awards in October 1993.

Brian Filling says: He was very appreciative of the people of Britain for their support, rather than the government - which held out against imposing sanctions on South Africa. I think there is a special place in terms of his heart and mind for the people of Scotland.

11:00 12:00: Media Conference at City Chambers, George Square, Glasgow City G2 1DU. 13:30 14:30: Ribbon-Tying Ceremony in Remembrance of Nelson Mandela at Nelson Mandela Place (intersection of Buchanan and West George Street). This ceremony will be chaired by Brian Filling, Honorary Consul, South Africa and Head of Action for Southern Africa. Mr Filling will lead the audience into a moment of reflection and remembrance of the life of Mandela, symbolised by the gentle act of tying rib-bons to the railing of the church on Nelson Mandela Place.15:00 15:30: Book Appeal at the Mitchell Library (North St, Glasgow G3 7DN). The Mitchell Library has collected thousands of books from the people of Glasgow to be sent to South African schools. This occa-sion will conclude the book collecting campaign and will see the final few books be placed in the container of books outside the Mitchell Library before being shipped off to the south.18:00 - 19:30: City Chambers - Lord Provost hosts reception in Glasgow City Chambers (George Square, Glasgow City G2 1DU).20:00 22:00: Celebrate Nelson Mandela International Day at the Central Hall, Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum (Argyle St, Glasgow G3 8AG). A concert headlined by Hugh Masekela, featuring local Scottish musicians like Arthur Johnstone, Aaron Jones and Siobhan Miller and showcasing South Africas Mzansi Youth Choir. The evening will include a few short speeches and a brief staged-reading of the Robben Island Bible play. 22:30 03:00: Mandela Day celebration at The Arches (253 Argyle St, Glasgow, G2 8DL).A late night club celebrating cutting edge electronic music and DJs like Spoek Mathambo and Auntie Flo from both Scotland and South Africa. This is part of Connect ZA, in partnership with British Council SA, Creative Scotlands South Africa programme and the SA-UK Seasons 2014 & 2015.

iNTerNATioNAl NelSoN MANdelA dAy ProgrAMMe

18 July 2014Major tribute concerts for the late South African president Nelson Mandela will be held in both Glasgow and Edinburgh on the eve of the Commonwealth Games. Showpiece events featuring acts drawn from around the world are being planned as part of world-wide Mandela Day celebrations.

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Play-reading of the robben island BiblePanel discussion on South Africas 20 years of de-mocracyreceptionThe Robben Island Bible was disguised as the Hindu scrip-tures by a fellow political pris-oner, Sonny Venkatrathnam in 1977, to avoid seizure by the prison authorities who banned any literature in the island pris-on and had impounded the book after it was sent to him by his wife, Teresa. Venkatrathnam later persuaded a sympathetic warder to re-lease the book when he insisted that it was the bible by William Shakespeare. The book became a treasured text and 32 prison-ers marked and signed selected quotes which became their hall-marks and provided a means of discussing political and moral issues.Mandela had studied Shake-speares plays at the Method-ist mission school he attended in the Eastern Cape and he and other prominent leaders of the African National Congress such as Thabo Mbeki and Chris Hani quoted frequently from Shakespeare in their speeches after they returned from exile in 1990 ahead of the first democ-racy elections in 1994.Anthony Sampson, Mandelas of-ficial biographer, has noted that for the second half of the last century, Shakespeares plays were one of the main influences on the liberation movement and its leaders.

roBBeN iSlANd BiBle AT THe MiTCHell liBrAry 12:00 - 14:00

19 July 2014The Robben Island Bible is a unique edition of the Collected Works of Shakespeare - which includes a signed text by Nelson Mandela, the revered former South African statesman, highlighting a soliloquy from Julius Caesar, Shakespeares epic play about tyranny and conspiracy.

Shakespeare became more politically relevant than the Bi-ble or Marx, the late Sampson wrote in the Observer in 2001.Successive generations of Af-rican leaders saw his plays as an inspiration for their struggle and for humanity.Mandelas selection from the Robben Island bible was a so-liloquy from Julius Caesar, a play which had a particular res-onance for Mandela and other ANC leaders because it raised the question as to whether it was justified to conspire against despotic leaders such as Julius Caesar.Mandela chose the passage:Cowards die many times before their deaths;The valiant never taste of death but once.Of all the wonders that I yet have heardIt seems to me most strange that men should fear;Seeing that death, a necessary end,Will come when it will come.Mandelas entry, signed in his own neat hand, was dated: 16th December, 1977.Matthew Hahn, a playwright and drama lecturer at St Marys Uni-versity in London, was inspired by the story and travelled to South Africa to interview eight of the surviving Robben Island prisoners. He wrote a script based on the interviews and the Shakespeare quotes chosen by the prisoners.

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MeSSAge froM THe MiNiSTer of SPorT ANd reCreATioN

we should make the wishes of our former President Nelson Mandela a reality by committing ourselves to his ideals as we utilise sports and recreation to unite people. we must do so subjected to his ideals when he said:

Let us commit towards our common goal,A Nation where all of us are winners.Let us build a nation of champions!Let us build a nation that Walter Sisulu can be proud of.When I see him in the next life,I need to take good news to him.

Mr fikile Mbalula, Minister of Sport and recreation, South Africa.

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23 JULY 24 JULY 25 JULYWEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY

17:30: opening of ekhaya Opening ad-dress by Min-ister of Sport and Recre-ation, Fikile Mbalula

Performances by:Philani Ngidi and Afro Queens, Maho-tella Queens, Celeste Ntuli and Hugh Masekela

21:00:COMMON-WEALTH GAMES OPENING CEREMONY

day time performance13:00 - 14:00Philani Ngidi and Afro Queens

film Screening16:00 - 18:00Drum

evening performance21:00 - 00:00

Mahotella Queens, Crazy Whiteboy(MC - Celeste Ntuli)

day time performance13:00 - 14:00Philani Ngidi and Afro Queens

film Screening16:00 - 18:00Fanie Fouries Lobola

evening performance21:00 - 00:00Mi Casa, Crazy Whiteboy (MC - Celeste Ntuli)

Ekhaya Programme: 23 July - 3 August 2014Venue: Trades Hall 85 Glassford St, Merchant City, Glasgow G1 1UH

Performers:Philani NgidiPhilani Ngidi is a versatile band that plays most popular music genres like Pop music, African Pop,African Jazz,Fusion and Old Skul Music. Phi-lani Ngidi is a great musician who is highly respected throughout South Af-rica and even in the world at large.Mahotella QueensThe Mahotella Queens are prolific recording artists, dating back to the hundreds of recordings produced at Gallo-Mavuthela during their heyday in the 1960s and 1970s. The group is noted for their distinct vocal harmony sound, guitar-led mbaqanga music and fast-paced stage dancing.CelesteCeleste Ntuli, the queen of the Zulu comedy and the first ever local fe-male comic to record a one woman show DVD called Seriously Celeste which is a collection of her perfor-mances across the country.

films:drumdirector: Zola MasekoIn South Africa in the 1950s, young journalist Henry Nxumalo helped fashion the magazine Drum into an outspoken voice against the repres-sive and dehumanizing effects of apartheid. fanie fouries loboladirector: Henk PretoriusThe story begins with Fanie, a young Afrikaner who designs custom cars that resemble African animals. His brother Sarel, played with cheesy aplomb by Chris Chameleon, is a massively successful Afrikaans pop star who is about to marry the per-fect girl.

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27 JULY 28 JULYSUNDAY MONDAY

day time performance13:00 - 14:00Philani ngidi and Afro Queens

film Screening16:00 - 18:00Nothing for Ma-hala

evening performance21:00 - 00:00Comedy night- Celeste Philani Ngi-di and Afro Queens, Mi Casa (MC - Celeste Ntuli)

day time performance13:00 - 14:00Naima McLean

film Screening16:00 - 18:00A Pair of Boots and A Bicycle

evening performance21:00 - 00:00Naima McLean, Freshlyground

26 JULYSATURDAY

day time performance13:00 - 14:00Philani Ngi-di and Afro Queens

film Screening16:00 - 18:00Khumba

evening performance21:00 - 00:00Mi Casa, Crazy Whiteboy (MC - Celeste Ntuli)

Performers:Hugh MasekelaInternationally acclaimed for decades, trumpeter, bandleader, composer and lyricist Hugh Masekela is known for his professionalism and charisma to fans of his mix of jazz, bebop, funk and Afrobeat from New York to Dakar.Crazy white BoyFormed in 2008, the duo is already one of the most prolific acts in South Africa. This year alone, they have done over 50 shows in South Africa, Mozambique and Botswana. It is the sound of Cape Town duo Crazy White Boy, which they call Ghetto Tech.Mi CasaMi Casa is a band with unique individuals who bring their explosive talent together to create a unique and original sound.

films:Khumba Director: Anthony Silverston A misfit zebra takes the blame for a drought, and embarks on an incredible journey to regain his dignity in this com-puter-animated adventure for the entire family. Nothing for Mahaladirector: rolie Nikiwe Can Axe realise true wealth doesnt lie in temporal things? Can he change his own journey to make a mark that will cost him everything but gain him much more? A Pair of Boots and A Bicycledirector: vincent MoloiSouth African documentary maker Vin-cent Moloi journeys from the Soweto sit-ting rooms of veterans to El Alamein to find the answers, and unearths the signif-icant contribution of South Africas black soldiers to the Allies North Africa cam-paign.

Ekhaya Programme: 23 July - 3 August 2014Venue: Trades Hall 85 Glassford St, Merchant City, Glasgow G1 1UH

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29 JULY 30 JULY 31 JULYTUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY

day time performance13:00 - 14:00Naima McLean

film Screening16:00 - 18:00Devils Lair

evening performance21:00 - 00:00The Soil,Freshlyground

day time performance13:00 - 14:00Phuzekhemisi

film Screening16:00 - 18:00Sobukwe A Great Soul

evening performance21:00 - 00:00The Soil

day time performance13:00 - 14:00The Soil

evening performance21:00 -00:00PhuzekhemisiDJ Zinhle(MC - Celeste Ntuli)

Naima McleanNaima McLean is a creative soul in every sense of the word. The sing-er, songwriter, poet and actress has worked tirelessly over the last few years to emblazon her artistic imprint on an industry as diverse and inspiring as she is, the South African entertain-ment community.freshlygroundFreshlyground is a South African Afro-fusion band that formed in Cape Town in 2002. The band members variously hail from South Africa, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe.The SoilRhythmic and perfectly harmonised, South Africas up-and-coming vocal trio The Soil promise to be the 21st centu-rys answer to their countrymen Lady-smith Black Mambazo, though none of them can read a note of music.

films:devils lair director: riaan HendricksSet in the Cape Flats Devils Lair follows NTK (Nice to Kill) gang lead-er Braaim and his young family. The leader and his mates are navigating a violent landscape, where honour and betrayal are all too often sides of the same coin. Sobukwe A great Souldirector: Mickey Madoda dubeThe story of the life of a remarkable man who helped to inspire and liber-ate a nation will be seen for the first time in Namibia. The film Sobukwe a Great Soul, directed by Mickey Ma-doda Dube, celebrates the life of Rob-ert Mangaliso Sobukwe, restoring him to his rightful place as a leading figure in South African history.

1 AUGUST 2 AUGUST 3 AUGUSTfridAy SATurdAy SuNdAy

day time performance13:00 - 14:00Phuzekhemisi

evening performance21:00 - 00:00Vusi Mahlasela, DJ Zinhle

Closing of ekhaya:Attended by Deputy Min-ister of Sport and Recre-ation, Gert Oosthuizen.

Performances by:PhuzekhemisiVusi Mahlasela, DJ Zinhle

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PhuzekhemisiPhuzekhemisi, which translates as drink the medicine is widely acknowledged as the king of the indigenous genre known as mas-kanda

dJ ZinhleZinhle has become a household name in South Africa and her DJ school helped cement her reputa-tion.

vusi MahlaselaVusi Mahlasela, is simply known as The Voice in his home-coun-try, South Africa, celebrated for his distinct, powerful voice and his poetic, optimistic lyrics

Big Big Sing

One of the great inspirations for Big Big Sing, part of the Glasgow 2014 Cultural Programme, was Director Svend Browns experience of vis-iting South Africa and finding himself greeted everywhere by singing. He recalls, The sing-ing was great, but equally important was the complete understanding that singing was part of life, a gift and a way of expressing commu-nity. Perhaps in the UK we have forgotten that: I wanted to teleport a school choir I encoun-tered right out of Africa and into every school in the UK to show the kids here how life affirm-ing and fantastic it is to sing together.Out of that experience came Big Big Sing, which says to everyone: do not believe it if someone tells you that you cannot sing. Ev-eryone can sing and what is more, it does you tremendous good. It helps you breathe better, takes your mind off troubles and stresses, it puts you in touch with others and makes you less alone in short, singing makes you hap-pier.

My dream of the teleported choir has come through in a small part with this visit by the wonderful Mzansi Youth Choir and Complete to Glasgow. While they have been here Mzansi have indeed sung together with Glasgow Youth Choir and shared their inspiration and magic. This is what Big Big Sing is all about. www.bigbigsing.org

Glasgow Life and its service brands (found at www.glasgowlife.org.uk) are operating names of Culture and Sport Glasgow (CSG).

CSG is a company limited by guarantee, registered in Scotland with company number SC313851 and having its registered office at 220 High Street, Glasgow G4 0QW.

CSG is registered as a charity with the office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (No SCO37844).

South African Season in The uK

These events have been organised as part of the South African Season in the United King-dom which falls under the ambit of the SA-UK Seasons 2014 & 2015.

The Department of Arts and Culture, South Af-rica and the British Council and are working to-gether on the SA- UK Seasons during 2014 and 2015, and developing a shared programme of activities, opportunities and communications that will complement projects already devel-oped through Connect ZA and the South Afri-can Seasons in the UK. The collaboration is a catalyst for new partnerships that will enable them to highlight and extend existing creative links between the two countries. Artistic and Programmatic leadership: For SA: Mr Bongani Tembe (Commissioner-General) For the UK: Mr Tom Porter (Head of Arts, Brit-ish Council, South Africa) Co-Chairs of the Seasons: For SA: Ambassador Thandiwe January-McLean For the UK: Rt Hon Baroness Usha Prasha