Picture: Taung artists boycott Taung Cultural Calabash auditions
BY BAKANG MOKOTO
ANTICIPATED Taung Cultural Calabash auditions that were supposed to take place at Mmabana Taung on Saturday were brought to a grinding halt. This was after a group of disgruntled artists from Veeretien and other neighbouring areas boycotted the proceedings.
The artists’ representative, Tsholofelo Masire said the event does not represent the people of Taung. Masire further said people of Taung need to stand up and fight for their rights.
“We have been exploited by interlopers through Taung Cultural Calabash. Our artists heard about auditions only three days ago. There was no proper channel used to disseminate the message. Most artists are deprived and could not get enough time to do rehearsal.
“We want to see our people benefiting from calabash tenders. We cannot even tell what the service provider has done with 30% social responsibility allocation for the past five years. Most of those who benefit from this initiative are from Mahikeng,” Masire said.
He added that Taung has capable people who can host the event flawlessly. Masire said artists continue to live in abject poverty without any support system.
“We have registered companies, but nothing comes forth. I have also studied drama, dancing and music through Mmabana. We want to impart our skill and knowledge to the emerging artists, but there is no platform. Many of our artists who performed in last year edition were not paid until to date.
“Artists like Boikanyo Plaatjie, Dada, Young P are still waiting for the payment. We have more than 20 artists who were not paid. We are now heading to another edition, while challenges that we raised last year were not addressed too,” he said.
Mmabana Foundation spokesperson, Trinity Bogotsi said: “We can confirm that the auditions that were supposed to take place today were called off. There were few artists who boycotted the proceedings and we have engaged with them. However, the new date will be communicated through our structural committee. We also want to refute the allegations that local people are side-lined. We had more than 60% of local artists last year who benefited from the same calabash.”
The besieged North West Cultural Calabash is a youth based arts festival held annually in the Taung village in Greater Taung Local Municipality. It was initiated by Hendrik Baird in 1994 as a celebration of cultures and coincided with the democratic elections in the country.
The name symbolises the African tradition of using a calabash as a means of feeding people. By putting the various South African cultures in a melting pot, it was hoped that a new culture would emerge to feed the nation.
The Cultural Calabash started as a one-day event and soon found a sponsor in the Transnet Foundation, the country’s transport parastatel. This sponsorship enabled the Calabash to grow and bear fruit. Soon the North West Provincial Government in the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture came on board as a funder, enabling the event to prosper and grow.
The Cultural Calabash is a unique arts festival in that it sets out to discover new talent. Through a series of Provincial auditions held at local municipal level, amateur and semi-professional artists are identified in drama, dance and music. The winners in each category take part in four District Previews, where only the best are selected to participate at the Main Festival held traditionally during the last week-end of Space.
From its humble beginnings, the calabash has grown to encompass twenty two auditions, four District Previews and a four-day main Festival.
Being a youth based event, it does not promote alcohol, but strives to give its participants and audience a healthy alternative, at the same time promoting safe-sex practices in a country ravaged with HIV/Aids.
The Guardian 