Festival at the Village

[pic] FESTIVAL AT THE VILLAGE T/A “F@V – 2013” A Proposal Document By Lentswe Arts Projects [LEAP] About Us Lentswe Arts Projects [LEAP] is a non-profit organization established in March 2011, in terms of Act No 71 0f 1997 under the Department of Social Development, South Africa. LEAP, is the brainchild of cultural activists, artists and art managers in the North West Province who have for decades combined, been running different organizations, but fundamentally pursuing the same goals. It was against this understanding that Lentswe was formed. Lentswe” has many connotations in Setswana, one being a large rock and the other a voice. In this context, “Lentswe” is built from the root of the verb “go tswa”, which means to stem out in Setswana. “Lentswe le tswelele go tswela mosola” meaning “as you learn or benefit from Lentswe; continue to be good use unto others. ” LEAP has been involved in artistic and social development projects since its inception. In 2010, even before being registered. , through the Maitiso le Kea’ cultural and artistic rendition, LEAP managed to buy school uniforms for the needy school children at Magokgwane Primary School in the outskirts f Mafikeng as well as stationary and uniform for another desperate learner at Redibone Middle School with the proceedings generated from ticket sales. The fundraising event drew a lot of support from national and international musical artists such as Mo Molemi, and Setswana folklore genius Ntirelang Berman from Botswana. October 2011, saw LEAP co-producing an exclusively cultural night of “Ntirelang Berman live” at Mmabana Mmabatho theatre. The show was hailed as “ground-breaking and conscious” by the local media and attracted a mixture of both the young and old.

Executive Summary “The children who sleep in the streets, reduced to begging to make a living, are testimony to an unfinished job. ” Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela It is with the above quote from the former South African president and Noble Prize winner, Dr. N. R. Mandela, which LEAP conceptualized and aims to stage FESTIVAL AT THE VILLAGE, also to be known as “F@V”. The festival aims to be the first of its kind arts festival to cater for the underprivileged youths who are also known as “homeless children” but currently reside at different places of safety in the North West Province.

F@V seeks to be a therapeutic platform where these youths are skilled and integrated back into society. It is a vehicle to be used to identify, train and nourish hidden and/or undiscovered talent while creating possible artistic careers for the targeted market. F@V will also be the first ever arts festival to be staged within a rural community, with the aim of bolstering its local economy as well as making it a tourist destination. Buxton Village, in the Greater Taung Municipality is the ideal identified place with its strategic resources, zoning and accessibility for the staging of F@V. Concept

A three months training period starting in April 2013 will culminate into a weekend [3 days] long artistic therapeutic experience, therefore making up the core of F@V – skill and emotional development. Different places of safety in four different regions of the North West Province will be identified and roped in for participation at F@V as part of their rehabilitation programmes. Each home will have three [3] teams covering disciplines of drama, music and dance. LEAP would then assign dramaturges/ facilitators to train and develop these groups in their respective discipline, with different themes attached to each group/home.

The different groups based on different themes would then create performance pieces of between 20-30 minutes long with the guidance of their respective facilitators. The facilitators would be accompanied by unemployed social workers [either recent graduates or retired ones] to help with handling potential sensitive material that might be borne out of the workshoping process. It is a well known fact that every child has a secret aspiration of climbing on stage to unleash his/her potential performance dream.

Lentswe Arts Projects aims to give voice to the oppressed by staging such a revolutionary concept for expression. Interesting and therapeutic theatre forms like “Forum theatre” will be used to harness participation at F@V in June 2013. What is Forum Theatre? “It is a theatrical game in which a problem is shown in an unsolved form, to which the audience (as spect-actors), is invited to suggest and enact solutions. The problem is always the symptom of oppression, and generally involves visible oppressors and a protagonist who is oppressed.

In its purest form, both the actors and spect-actors will be people who are victims of the oppression under consideration; that is why they are able to offer alternative solutions, because they themselves are personally acquainted with the oppression. ” – Augusto Boal It goes without saying how this type of theatre model would go a long way in helping our targeted children as participants and society at large as audiences to comprehend the type of either emotional or at times physical oppression that perpetuates the ever increasing number of homeless children on our streets.

F@Vison: ? To be an annual therapeutic and edutaining artistic platform. F@V – Objectives: ? Endorse the Department of Social Development’s mandate of developing and implementing an array of programmes that do not only protect South Africans against poverty, but also promote investment in building and strengthening communities and households. ? To be a meaningful vehicle of intergrading our lost children back into society. ? To create jobs for our social workers and artists. ? To use the arts to address the socio-economic challenges and cultural restoration in our communities. To identify and address social ills that result in having children homeless. ? To create possible careers in the arts. ? To have an attracting socially-conscious arts calendar event. ? To align with the Department of Arts and Culture’s Mzansi’s Golden Economy policy of creating a “more than you can imagine” experience. ? Actualize the Department of Social Development’s value of partnership in working together with civil society, business, academia and the international community. F@V – Implementation Once the financial and physical resources are available, LEAP will develop a detailed implementation plan and set up a strong team to take the project to its realization. The said project team will preferably be consisting of representatives from different stakeholders to have a successful and translucent process. The implementation stages shall mainly begin with the identification of willing participatory children’s homes around the province, followed by assigning of different facilitators to the respective teams/homes. Action Plan PERIOD: 07 January – 02 August 2013 ACTIVITY |DATE |PLACE |OUTCOME | |Pre-production begin |07 January – 29 March 2013 |Mafikeng and Taung |Festival Logistics Plan | |Fieldwork/workshops begin |01 April 2013 |Around NW |Unroll the development process | |Fieldwork/workshops begin |30 June 2013 |Around NW |Have groups ready to | | | | |showcase/compete. |Marketing initiatives commence |10 June 2013 |Around NW |Create project awareness around | | | | |the province. | |Travelling day [Groups] |04 July 2013 |To Buxton |Different homes travel to get to | | | | |the designated area of | | | | |showcasing. |Technical set-up |04 July 2013 |Venues TBC |Have the venues accommodating the| | | | |productions. | |F@V Launch |05 July 2013 |Venue TBC |Launch the project to the media | | | | |and public. | |F@V First Day |06 July 2013 |Social Centre |Start showcasing the productions. |Last Day/ Prize Giving |07 July 2013 |Social Centre |End short festival of | | | | |performances and give prizes. | |Travelling day |08 July 2013 |From Buxton |Groups and technicians get back | | | | |home. | |Reporting |02 August 2013 |Mahikeng |Narrative and financial reports | | | | |submitted to the funders. | Project Budget Please see attached[pic]