Next Event: Heritage Day

Our next event was hosted on the 24th of August 2007 and was organised to commemorate heritage day. Although this event was planned well in advance, it was a low key event when compared to the Hip hop & Poetry Concert. As the mural above depicts, the main objective was to consolidate on the gains made during the previous event and to send a strong message of embracing our culture as embodied in Sesotho sa Lebowa/Sepedi cultural dance and song. Here we tried to draw a paradox between early forms of cultural activism and modern ones.


Unmagnified characters

Our research into the arts and culture industry of Limpopo was that there was a huge gap that existed between ancient art forms and modern art forms. Does this gap really exist? In the next lines we will try to elaborate on this point. A distinction will be drawn between these two identified seemingly unmagnified characters: the ancient and modern cultural activist. Empirical evidence shows that most cultural activists who embrace modern art forms such as Slam Poetry, Hip Hop Emceeing, B-Boying etc are not hands on when it comes partaking in ancient art forms such as Dinaka/Kiba and Mmapadi.  Where modern cultural activists are involved, its only a fraction of it, through reactive lip-service and not pro-active action. For instance, on the one hand, its seems quite easy for a modern cultural activist to write and rhyme about messages of self knowledge and cultural affirmation on a stage in theater or perhaps through the use of the more modernized equipments such as microphones. On the other hand, it is rare to find an ancient cultural activist partaking in modern art-forms with an all embracing attitude.

Language issues

During our years as practicing performing artists, a debate has been raging as to the use of the English language amongst African cultural activists. This debate is not an easy one to engage in given the well known fact that politically and economically, languages across the world dont seem to match the attention and extensive use afforded the English language.  But why is this an issue given the fact that English itself appears to have been formed out a number of languages(Greek, Latin, Hebrew etc)? While the argument against the use of English continues to exist within the arts and culture sector, especially amongst so called Africans on the African continent, the African diaspora seems to not have much of a choice since English is their, should we say, perceived first languge given the political-social and  economic conditions they are faced with. So what is the role of the cultural activist on the African continent?

Radical vs liberal cultural activism

When considering the difficult linguistic situation faced by our generation, one wonders whether its even worthwhile to ask this questions. We wear non traditional clothing, we were schooled and "educated" in the ways of our former colonial masters, our nutrition has drastically changed to mimic whats served at the places we frequent on a daily basis, we speak, write and engage in the language of the former colonial master. Some(if not most), even feel the language of our former colonial masters if better when put side by side with our Indigenous languages. This begs the question: is there such a thing as a radical and a liberal cultural activist?

Heritage day

From the aforementioned its quite clear that there is still much to engage on. That the existence of BWARF as a movement was symbolic in that it represented a platform from where this issues and more could be tackled for solution giving. Although our critics were always there to pounce on what they perceived as weird to find in our movement or in their own words; "not an archetype kind of activism", our deeds and actions have always suggested that we held our own in as far as the definition of realness is concerned. We also held our own on what heritage day means contrary to what the government of the day in South Africa has led the masses to believe heritage day means.

By the same token, we had our own reservations on issues such as whether modern art forms such hip hop and slam poetry for instance, could be traced from the existence of traditional oral literature against the backdrop of a notion that seems to suggest that these art forms owe their allegiance to certain geographic locations.

Demystifying the notion

Through this event, we wanted to drive one message home and that is; to demystify the notion that poets and mcees in the modern age dont owe their allegiance to ancient art-forms such as Mmapadi and Dinaka/Kiba dance and music for example. We wanted to emphacise our grounded belief that its not enough for modern cultural activists(especially those on the African continent) to write and rhyme about self knowledge from the peripherals of theater stages and seats while neglecting(by choice or fate) the essence of it all. Through our interaction with young and upcoming artists from the rural, semi-urban and urban locations around Polokwane, we came to the realization that there was an unfounded attitude that seemed to suggest; as our critics would claim: "the modern cultural activist was perceived as owing their allegiance to urban locations". Therefore, although by our own admission we are well aware the Land Act of 1913 is to blame for the geographical segmentation we all find our-selves in; to us rural is urban and urban is rural; that sort of trajectory. Ours was more of a unifying stance more than anything; and this BWARF Heritage Day Event had such objectives. Our acknowledgements go out to all those who were part of this event: Mr Theledi Mahlare of Boapara-Nkwe Heritage Foundation and formerly Drake-Skull FM for sponsorship, Theo- Mavundla for the mural, Mashobela a Mapangula Cultural Dance for performing Mmapadi during the event and all poets and emcees who came through to the event.

Hip hop & Poetry Concert - in commemoration of Black August: 2007

The year 2007 was the year of implementation for the BWARF movement. Apart from hosting Weekly Poetry Sessions we had managed to get the word out and attracted a sizeable audience. It had become common knowledge that the movement’s principles revolved around self-knowledge through some of the materials that were published. It’s therefore not surprising that most people came to know the acronym BWARF as Black Writers and Artists Forum. In all the materials such as leaflets and brochures, there was a clear indication that blackness was the core of our existence: that black consciousness was in actual fact, the ideology behind the words and the mental attitude initially embraced.

During the first half of the year we had attracted strategic partners such as DJ SOJ, Graffiti and graphic designer artists such as a.k.a Imo who would later help gather a team of competent like-minded individuals in organising our very first concert in our three years of practice around Limpopo province, Polokwane. Imo and company painted the mural as seen in the picture(above).The people we attracted were strategic in that they all saw, through our formal involvement with Polokwane Municipality Cultural Services, an opportunity to grow their respective talents beyond their individual selves, although many never became registered members of BWARF, and they were very close to the operations one would say they were registered as members.

Of course who would blame them for believing the time had come for local artists to emerge and get recognised for their talents given the sad state of affairs we as a forum had found locally. Apart from the ideological mission of the BWARF movement, the main objective was to create a platform from where local artists can grow and shine. Given the many emerging artists that we were able to unearth during the weekly poetry sessions, we were quite satisfied that we were achieving that goal. There were many young aspiring poets, authors, fine artists and singers the BWARF movement help shape and groom during its prime – they know themselves and there is no need to mention name here.

When a decision was made during a joint meeting with one representative of Polokwane Municipality Cultural Services and the rest of supporting artists that the time had come to host a concert, everyone was exited. We started off preparing for the concert with BWARF playing a sweeping role in as far as shaping the concert purpose and organising performing acts was concerned. By then, BWARF was a registered NPO with both a logo and a letter head which was enough to attract external sponsorship and donations. Unfortunately, the problems of incapacity and the forever absence of executive committee members prevented the forum from applying for funding. This was a huge obstacle towards progress and it was also a great impediment during the planning of our very first provincial concert: the Hip Hop & Poetry Concert   - in commemoration of Black August of 2007.  

Together with a.k.a Con Artist (self-confessed), BWARF planned, organised and partook in the concert both as host and a pool from where performing acts for the day came. It was during the planning that a few surprises came on board as we continued building on momentum. Corporate giants Cell C and SAB Miller became part of the planning and their involvement was clearly recorded in the concert marketing material such as the famous leaflets which had a black clinched fist alongside “The Backyard” as the host. What many people weren’t aware of is that the involvement of the two giant corporates was just strategic and a non-monetary sponsorship and therefore no monies were made from this partnership. What’s available for people to know though is that some people invested some money into the planning and coordination of the concert.

The only misgiving unto this day was that since the people who invested money had corporate interests in the concert, a lot of injustice was done on the performing acts of that day since most of the entrance fee intake went the way of the investors and not of the artists: a move that would later cause a great fall out between BWARF and the Polokwane Cultural Services Unit. We were co-nned.
We were less concerned with getting paid ad more with preaching a message of cultural affirmation and self-knowledge. Prior the concert, a lot of people had asked why BWARF wasn’t recorded as the host and the explanation we gave then was that due to the incapacity and disagreements between executive board members in as far as the operations of the forum were concerned, it was decided in a joint meeting with supporting artists that the alias “The Backyard” be used on the marketing material instead of BWARF – this move would keep individual BWARF movement members on the safe side since doing the opposite would mean they would bring the forum into disrepute according to its organisational constitution which was binding at the time.

During that time, author and performing artist Mahlaga Molepo was visibly the only executive member , out of the original executive four, who was hands on in as far as planning, organising and coordinating the weekly poetry sessions and later the concert  was concerned. The disagreements and incapacity was slowing sending off the organisation to its death. It was during this period that new members came in and helped fill in the gap but the fact that the BWARF movement was a registered organisation meat that for decisions to be taken, a quorum was needed and this never happened as fellow executive members were always absent during meetings. Due to these internal problems, BWARF became an acronym used to refer to the movement instead of the much contested then registered name: Ba-Pedi Writers and Artists Forum - which in short meant two people had founded the organisation. The name had in fact, caused the disagreements and internal infighting for opinion as some executive members had argued the name send out a wrong message – that the word Ba-Pedi relayed a message of ethnicity and not “two” as originally thought when the forum was registered. The forum continued to exist amid these internal shenanigans and so the concert happened.

After much media publicity through articles written in the Capricorn Voice, and a big mural was painted outside the walls of the Polokwane Art Gallery and interviews done on local radio stations such as Thobela FM, the 31^st of August 2007 17:00pm sharp came and the concert began. The Polokwane Auditorium was abuzz with activity as local Poets, Mcees, B-Boys and Singers strutted their stuff from the stage to the amusement and delight of the crowd. It was estimated that the auditorium was full to capacity and the number of people had exceeded the 250 capacity crowd minimum the auditorium was allowed to accommodate. There were many standing in between the seats and others waiting outside. In the crowd were socialites, celebrities and lay people and the event went on until 11:00pm when the audience left behind artists to finish off the days commemoration until the wee hours of the morning. What a day to remember for local artists, what an achievement by the BWARF movement. The downside of it was that the video footage of the event somehow got lost?; a careless mistake on the part of the photographer.The message had sunk deep into the conscience of the provincial population and had even ringed in the ears of people as far as Gauteng, Mpumalanga. We continued to attract a huge following….

The Marketing strategy - Weekly Poetry Sessions

After the forum was registered in the Department of Social Development's database as a Non Profit Organisation(NPO), the executive committee started desposing off its duties. The executive was initially tabled as follows: Chairperson - Silas Makhubela, Secretariat -Mahlaga Molepo, Communications Officer - Onkabetse Hlabyago with Dr Leketi Makalela as the Treasurer. However, the initial executive committee setup did not jell as expected and this was the beginning of the problems which rocked the forum from the onset. Since most of the forum duties were vested on the Chairperson and the Secretariat, the two took it upon themselves to ensure internal activities ran as smoothly as possible although this would seem an unbearable task in the months and years to come.

The first search for BWARF's artistic voice started off with a written request the then chairperson and the secretariat wrote to Limpopo Arts and Culture Association(LACA) for a physical space to host weekly poetry sessions at its then arts space in down town Polokwane. On accepatance, BWARF began hosting weekly poetry sessions twice a week from 16:00-18:00pm. Although not much can be said about the weekly poetry sessions became a meeting place for local artists. It was at the LACA arts space that BWARF came into contact with Timbila Poetry's Vonani Bila and David Maahlamela. It wasnt long after the weekly sessions were in full swing that LACA decided or was persuaded by local corporate interests to close the arts space and move shop to elsewhere. This was also to be the beginning of a rocky turf for the forum since we had no office and merely relied on LACA's art space to reinforce the already shabby internal affairs.

Next, the forum was again on the road looking for a space to host its crucial(at the time) weekly poetry sessions. The forum did not only need a secured space to market itself and its activites, networking and getting the word out to local artists and the local population. Soon, BWARF found itself at the uptown complex of the Brazilian Coffee Shop - where the owner had fallen prey to the forum's chairperson and secretariat's plea to introduce something artistic to the place. We came up with a saturday poetry slot and although at the begginning it looked all weird and all that: imagine so called radical poets and artists spitting words of self knowledge at a corporate space like that? The air, the people and the environment at the Brazilian was just different from that of LACA'a arts space and so the stay wasnt going to last either. To cut a long story short. From the Brazilian Coffee Shop, BWARF went to a Chicken Restaurant opposite the Library Gardens(on Schoeman street that is). But alas, the stay wasnt long either. And so we continued to roam around the town of Polokwane and its surrounding areas hosting and attending sessions(Timbela's occassional orgy and University of Limpopo's weekly sessions at the campus Ampi-Theater) , networking. What a hustle!

It was during the beginning of Spring 2006 that a letter of request was dropped off at the famous Mamohuba Jazz Tarven in the township of Mankweng. A week later, we received a call from the owner of the place Mr Enerst Mokaba(a brother to the late former ANC Youth League President Peter Mokaba), who was quick to offer us yet another space, to perform and entertain the patrons at least once a week. Mamohuba was a great place to be, especially for poets, authors and mcees - the latter of which had already joined the movement and added a bit of spice to the forum. Speaking of those local Mcees; names like Noko a.k.a Kamelleon come to mind, what an interesting figure. Wondering where he is now? He is such a talented wordsmith.

Fast foward into 2007, after a short spell at Mamohuba Jazz Tavern, the forum decided to pay a visit to Polokwane Cultural Services Unit under the Polokwane Municipality at the Danie Hoog Center in the city's CBD. We had come to realise then, through our obvious impact and growing following, that perhaps the time had come for the forum to do something bigger, on a much more bigger space. First it was the calling, then the  ideal, the artistic passion and then accepting our limitations. We had in mind what most available but concealed audience never thought would happen at the center: that a bunch of poetic rascals(sic, we were by admission and not by guilt) like us would be offered a place to recite lines about self knowledge and affirmation at a time when Polokwane City was nothing but a "dead" atmosphere when it came to arts, especially the kind of content we became appreciated or infamous for. Remembering the first time we knocked through the doors of the Unit's doors. We came in contact with, first the Library Unit -  which offered us a space down the stairs of the library foyer. We began hosting there; very quitely, our weekly poetry sessions under the watchful eye of the center's management.  When the following grew bigger and new faces entered the fray, the forum came into contact with heads like George Kambwiri a.k.a Serene Noyz now Amun Sun and Lesiba Manaka -  who by fate, became the forum's Ex-Offico member from day one. Soon the noise from the stairs grew bigger and began to irritate the management of the library and through the Cultural Services Unit we were moved outsite the building -  at the space which was latter termed "The Backyard". This move wouldnt have been possible if it wasnt for a.k.a. Con Artist's compassionate(although later we were proved otherwise) plea of course. He was the one, together with his partners of the Cultural Services Unit, insisted that we get together and plan ahead. Then came Katlane Seema a.ka. Kat, Mahlogonolo Moloto, Keith Mathabatha, Nkeisi Mathuisa, Mosima Rasesemola a.k.a Imo the Graphic/Mural Design and Theophelus Mavundla and Takalani a.k.a Dread King and then a.k.a DJ SOJ just to mention a few. Thats when the fire began....