UJ Arts & Culture (FADA) has [apparently] ‘announced’ ‘counterintuitive’ as the ‘theme’ for its ‘all-new’ COVID-19 responsive UNFESTIVAL SA partnered by Business and Arts South Africa (BASA).
‘Why counterintuitive? Because very little makes sense right now,’ explains Pieter Jacobs, Head of UJ Arts & Culture. ‘By its very nature, a festival of nothing makes no sense. Festivals are celebrations of traditions, cultures and things we love. But COVID-19 came and turned everything on its head. Hence, our theme and a festival, which are not a celebration but rather a tribute, memorial and perhaps even a mourning for many of the things we love, of which the pandemic has robbed us,’ he says.
SILENCE
Leading a week-long line-up of un-events is SILENCE: A Grand Night for Nothing, which marks the absence of UJ’s annual Dean’s Concert, A Grand Night for Singing, from the Faculty’s planned programme for this year. Established by Professor Federico Freschi, the former Executive Dean of FADA, in aid of academically deserving but financially needy students in FADA, the concert has served as an opportunity for audiences to support the academic journey of the youth. You can still do that by buying tickets even though the event cannot take place this year.
UNFESTIVAL SA runs from 26 May to 14 June 2020, and is a symbolic concept in aid of the UJ FADA Dean’s Bursary Fund and Business and Arts South Africa’s artist relief efforts. Visit www.arts.uj.ac.za or www.basa.co.za for full programme details. Bookings open on Thursday 21 May 2020. Show your support by buying a ticket – but please don’t come.
