Bheka Artist Foundation wants to revive local arts

Bheka Artist Foundation (BAF) hosted Art Heritage Revival at Vosloorus Extension One on September 4.

The event aimed to capacitate young up-and-coming artists and celebrate the founder of BAF for his contribution to the arts and the youth.

One of the guest speakers was an artist and activist Evha Nteso, who said artists serve an important role in society.

“You don’t just become an artist. You need to know why you want to be one as it is about serving. When you serve, you are empowering someone’s life and when you perform, people forget their problems.”

The founder of BAF, Brian Mazibuko, said what challenged the growth of art in Kathorus was that there was no art centre, making it difficult to rehearse and helping young artists sharpen their craft.

“The tennis court hall that we are using is dirty. The toilets are not clean and are not functioning. Many people use this space. There are pantsula dancers, those doing aerobics and there’s us who do theatre, so it becomes difficult for us to share.

He said they are lucky they have a space to use as they can do theatre and industrial shows in that limited space.

“Most young people do not even know what we do here. They do not know that we are teaching art in this tennis court hall. But, if it was an art centre, most of them would come because we teach drama, acting and singing among other things,” said Mazibuko.

He said the event was the first step in helping revive local art because it is a good space for artists to network, share and showcase their talents.

Mazibuko explained that there were about 14 to 15 actors, dancers and singers who were selected to do a theatre show called Light at the End of the Tunnel in Germiston Theatre, which was written and directed by Zwelibanzi Sibiya.

“Sibiya was doing a show to celebrate the life of OR Tambo. He came here and saw us rehearsing, he picked some of the youth. We did that show rehearsing in this same space,” he said.

What are the missing elements in the modern-day industry?

Mazibuko said back then, they used to rehearse then call people and perform their work.

“Some of them took us to theatres. They made us travel overseas to perform, but that does not happen anymore, opportunities are now closed,” said Mazibuko.

“We performed at the Market Theatre, Pretoria State Theatre and Bloemfontein Pacofs Theatre, but now that theatres are closed, artists are now running to Mzanzi Magic because we keep on rehearsing but there is nowhere to perform,” he said.

Mazibuko urged parents to allow children to follow their passion.

He said artists need to start going to auditions and show that they learnt something during their training at BAF.

The guests on the day enjoyed a performance from BAF, a dance performance from the Art of Health Community Project and Xolani Mfula, a tap dancer.

For more information, contact Mazibuko 078 041 1871.