Master of Ceremony, Mr Mfanelo Jacobs
Head of the Department of Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation, Ms Dawn Robertson
Honourable, Mr and Mrs Li Fange, Consulate of the Peoples' Republic of China
Consulate Lui Donyuan, Consulate of the Peoples' Republic of China
Mr Eric Butler, Cultural Attaché to South Africa, High Commission of Trinidad and Tobago
Members of the diplomatic corps
Mr Laurent Clavel, Director of the French Institute of South Africa
Stakeholders present
Staff from the Department of Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation
The people of Gauteng province
Members of the media
Good morning ladies and gentlemen.
Please receive our warm welcome this morning which is a wonderful blessing from all of us in the Department of Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation to our Gauteng Pale ya Rona carnival, an important component of our 2009 Heritage Month programme. A new dawn of creativity and splendour arose in the arts genre after the 2004 Carnival summit held in Johannesburg. The Carnival summit paved a way for a new art form that gives Gauteng province vibrancy during the Heritage Month, which also coincides with Tourism Month, yet another flagship programme which is to be celebrated in the country in few days' time to come.
South Africa has a rich and diverse cultural heritage such as cultural expressions, oral traditions, craftsmanship, social practices, rituals and festive events which were always celebrated and passed from generations to generations. Questions are raised by citizens of Gauteng of what this new art form is all about and what values does it add to the traditional accepted art forms?
This year’s launch is particularly important as the carnival follows the successful hosting of the International Larger carnival costume making which was held in July of this year. As you will no doubt be aware, Gauteng is at the heart of a country full of diversity, hope and triumph, and needs a medium of telling its story, within and outside the borders of South Africa. Pale ya Rona carnival is unlike any other cultural or artistic medium, as it is a free event in which everyone participates.
Friends and colleagues,
This is the case with the Gauteng Department of Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation which has been spearheading the carnival programme for a number of years as part of the Gauteng Heritage Month celebrations. It is primarily used as a marketing tool and an opening event for the month’s activities. Carnivals across the world have demonstrated that they have far greater social and economic benefits.
The Department of Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation has taken a position to create an environment where communities of Gauteng develop on their own a carnival that reflects a truly South African or Gauteng experience. The intention hereof is to implement the programme so that it can become self sustainable so that ultimately the support of the state is limited to services such as traffic support, emergency services, policing, etc.
International best practices show that carnivals have enormous scope as they combine both the performing and visual arts in one of the largest participatory events possible. While we still have a long way to go in terms of achieving the goal of growing the carnival into a major tourist event, the carnival has become an important social and cultural event on the Gauteng calendar. Launched in 2005 under the theme ‘Pale ya Rona’, telling our stories, it allows for the mass participation of all our communities.
Brothers and sisters,
Our first carnival had only fifteen troupes. In 2008, the number of participating troupes increased to 52 and the number of participants to 17 000. Our aim this year is to extend community participation to include additional nationalities and to develop partnerships to expand the carnival parade. The Beijing Tourism Administration and the Bereau of Culture bring a 90-member troupe from Beijing including dancers, martial artists, etc. We have also struck partnerships with the French Institute, Embassy of the People’s Republic of China to bring their lion and dragon dancers.
A 130 Scottish band will join the carnival parade as well as a troupe from the famous Johannesburg Pride Parade. Our department has also partnered with the Gauteng Department of Education to continue working with primary schools in the inner city and 15 high schools across Gauteng. Costume making and silkscreening training workshops are currently underway in these schools.
This year we began to finalise and expand on our training initiates and skills transfer programmes. In May 2009, we hosted Mr David Lopez and Mr David Cameron of the National Carnival Bands Association of Trinidad and Tobago, conducting a workshop on the establishment of the carnival commission on how to build a carnival into a multi-million industry.
Between June and July 2009, we implemented our second International Skills Exchange programme with Mr Geraldo Vieira, one of the leading exponents of the cultural art form of carnival costume design and construction in Trinidad and Tobago. He spent four weeks at the Spark Gallery, now referred to as the Carnival Training Centre in Norwood, transferring these skills to 25 carnival practitioners from our carnival camps. His training technique included handling of tools, materials, making of moulds and use of plastic in carnival costume making. Mr Vieira trained our artist in producing a three dimensional large costume depicting the National Coat of Arms which is now leading our carnival procession.
In partnership with the French Institute of South Africa, we have implemented a special project with Les Grandes Personnes. Together with our local artists, they have hosted a 15 day workshop from 12 to 27 August 2008 involving fourteen artists from our Orange Farm Hub, which produced four giant puppets. Training included staging, acting and handling of the puppets which are also part of the carnival parade. These artists were invited to perform in the Reunion Island and recently came back from performing at the Grahamstown Arts Festival.
Colleagues, we are proud to say the puppet making project is growing and the booking demand truly proves that we are creating decent jobs. We will work with the Media Advertising Publishing Printing Packaging-Sector Education Training Authority (MAPPPSETA) and the relevant standards generating body to develop an NQF2 carnival learnership so that in future our carnival practitioners can obtain an internationally recognised qualification. In addition to the artistic training programmes, introductory workshops relating to design, welding and marshalling will be conducted.
Regional participation, ladies and gentlemen, is ensured by representation from all metropolitan and district municipalities, and all the clusters in our management committee that meets bi-weekly. We are currently establishing carnival clubs across Gauteng to give more meaning to our new approach which was defined and adopted at the Carnival summit in 2004. The program is broad-based, and decentralised in the province.
Moving forward, our occasion today should ensure that in future, the carnival is owned, managed and driven by stakeholders and role players from all communities. This will position our programme in a manner which will afford it space to continue to thrive and grow into the spectacle we know it can be.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The Minister of Arts and Culture, Comrade Lulama Xingwana, will be officially launching the 2009 Heritage Month programme on 1 September 2009, which will also be addressed by the President of the Republic of South Africa, Comrade Jacob Zuma.
Bringing that home to our province's doorstep, Gauteng will celebrate the 2009 Heritage Month programme under the national theme: ‘Celebrating Our Crafts, Our Heritage, as well as in pursuant of the provincial strategic priority of “Building cohesive and sustainable communities’.
Through the programme, we seek to encourage the following:
- nation building, common national identity, pride and social cohesion
- promote national symbols, including the flag, anthem, etc.
- focus on local tourism, getting to know your province
- preservation and pride in heritage
- standardisation of geographical names in the province
- identification and declaration of heritage sites in local communities
- active citizenship as part of national anthem
- building community solidarity and caring society and
- showcasing our museums, galleries, heritage and other tourist destinations.
I wish to see all of us taking active interest and participation and all the activities, in the province and country, which are lined up to celebrate Heritage and Tourism Month in South. I am also looking forward to seeing all of you enjoying the day’s proceedings and also wish all of us including our visitors from far away countries safer trips and journeys back home.
I thank you.
Source: Gauteng Provincial Government
