Poetic Symphony to celebrate Human Rights Day
A Poetic Symphony of spoken word accompanied by the mesmerising sounds of the KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic Orchestra is being played out at the Seabrookes Theatre at Durban High School today.
A BOUNTIFUL feast of spoken word is set to kick off Human Rights Day celebrations at the 28th edition of the Time of the Writer presented by the Centre for Creative Arts at Seabrookes Theatre at Durban High School today.
The Poetic Symphony will combine the talents of five renowned spoken word poets who will be sharing the stage with ensembles of KZN Philharmonic Orchestra. The series of concerts will feature five of Poetry Africa’s leading poets who will perform on their own and do a collaborative piece with the orchestra.
Among the poets who will be featured is the headliner and one of the country’s most iconic human rights activists, Diana Ferrus. Her contributions to South Africa go beyond her artistic achievements as a poet, writer and storyteller as she was at the cultural forefront of the movement to repatriate Sarah Baartman’s remains with her poem I have come to take you home.
Owethu Dlamini, emerging arts manager at the Centre for Creative Arts, said, “The ground-breaking programme of individual and collaborative performances will allow audiences an opportunity to experience the work of celebrated spoken word artists alongside one of the finest orchestras in Africa.”
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She said, “Diana is no stranger to music having sung in church as a child and she often performs her poetry with music, although seldom with a full philharmonic orchestra. Diana’s poem is also the preface to the French government’s legislation on repatriation, making it the first poem in French history to be written into legislation.”
The series of five concerts commenced at 10:00 with Xabiso Vili performing with a string ensemble. His poem “Forget How to Die” earned him the title of World Slam Poetry Champion. Vili will be followed on stage by the 2022 Poetry Africa Slam Champion also known as Tory Saint, Kwanele Nyembe, who will perform alongside a wind quintet at 12:00.
Lethu Nkwanyana, the 2023 champion whose words will be accompanied by a brass quintet, takes to the stage at 14:00 ahead of the 2024 Poetry Africa Champion, Olive Olusegun, who will be on stage at 16:00 with the percussion section of the orchestra. Headlining act will close out the performances at 18:00. Individual tickets are available for each of the performances at Webtickets.
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