Turning up the Heat

Kizomba, an Angolan dance and associated music style originating in the late ’70s, is slower and more sensual than Salsa. However unrelated this might appear to the art world, the founder of Cape Town’s new HEAT Winter Arts Festival, Mary Corrigall intends to channel Kizomba energy with the help of Angolan-born dance instructor Klinsmann Ferreira to break down social barriers and transgress art silos. With “Common Ground” as the theme for the inaugural event, establishing synchronicity and open dialogue between artists, galleries, musicians, performers and audiences is key to the success of the 10-day programme, which begins on July 11.

Filling the winter lull and gap between the annual Cape Town Art Fair, Corrigall envisioned something to sustain the Cape Town art economy and young cultural producers at a time when sales and foot traffic to galleries are low. “The idea for HEAT emerged out of an arts journalism course I was running last winter and the writers where uninspired as there was nothing to write about,” Corrigall explains. Much like the local restaurant scene, many galleries where closed, while others she says had the same exhibitions running the entire season “putting little effort in as the general opinion was that nobody is really visiting”.

“HEAT prompts dealers to take a little more risk and put on shows that might not be seen as ‘commercial’, while also working with younger artists and curators they haven’t worked with before. And to experiment a little. There is a hefty fee to participate in mainstream art fairs so there is pressure on galleries to make sales with their strongest artists upfront. This is a very different context, more of a case of discovery,” Corrigall says enthusiastically, noting that this is also an opportunity to discover our next art stars.

On the theme, Corrigall explains: “Common ground is the literal, geographically located, very specific space, the ground that we all move through but it is also about getting galleries to work together, and break down the barriers between the different art forms and audiences that are traditionally siloed. Our intention is that everyone gets to enjoy something of each art form and to understand different positions and life experiences [interpreted] through these different art forms.”

Together with her team of curators who Corrigall says are completely embedded in the festival creation and content, the idea was to exploit this “dead time” and turn it into a “vital time”, while highlighting the importance of the city centre as the main art node. “We all have different experiences and are of different ages and outlooks, which really gives strength to the curatorial team. Voni Baloyi is completing a master’s degree and Nkgopoleng Moloi is more mid-careers, while Andrew Lambrecht is a veteran in the industry. We all see the scene through a different lens, which makes the team more diverse. We set the theme but it really was for each gallery to decide how they wanted to read into it and respond. We set the context without being strict gatekeepers.”

“An exciting show is happening at a gallery none of us on the team had ever heard of. Sisonke Gallery is in the Cape Heritage Hotel and will host a show called Unfiltered, which features a collection of works by artists for Spier Creative Block that were censored for many different reasons of their content. Some of them are quite hectic, when you see some of them you will see why,” she says enticing us to attend.

“It’s wonderful that they see HEAT as a platform to present this show compared to us seeing works, which are usually quite ‘easy to digest’ at the main art fairs. But this doesn’t mean that all the exhibitions are difficult as they are so varied.”

Other highlights include shows at newcomer galleries such as Vela Projects and Kalashnikovv Cape Town. Actor/comedian Rob van Vuuren presents his “dark psychosexual horror comedy” Dangled and popular satirical Namaste Bae. UCT Opera presents a performance capturing music’s relationship with nature in collaboration with artist Nina Kruger’s Infinite Threads show at AVA Gallery. The programme journeys into the evenings with a vibrant jazz line-up featuring The Johnny Wxlf Experience and Operation Khataza.

Encouraging us to challenge our assumptions and look at the world through new or different lenses, Corrigall says that “out of the theme, emerged the dominant voice or position that is the queer experience, which of course is not so unexpected as this is the creative arts but it is from so many interesting perspectives.”

Genre-blurring musician Desire Marea will be debuting a series of paintings at Eclectica Contemporary portraying love affairs between Zulu warriors during the battle of Isandlwana and Under the Aegis gallery features photographs of a trans male’s journey through traditional initiation rites.

For those of us who missed the recent National Arts Festival, a selection fresh from Makhanda of solo performances in intimate venues such as the Wave Theatre on Long Street reflect this conversation in plays dealing with topics such as love relationships through a nonbinary, non-gendered lens.

“Anyone feeling unsure or confused by all the fluidity, this festival has created a space where people from different positions can engage and leave with a greater understanding of the younger generation because most of the works are by younger artists and theatre makers, highlighting their concerns and struggles and how they are articulating them,” says Corrigall.

While the city-centred festival asks you to join in with an open heart and mind, fear not, Kizomba is not a prerequisite to participation. But with everything curated to be within walking distance around the city, walking is encouraged if you wish to fully participate in the rich programme of events, which includes 14 curated art exhibitions, walkabouts, talks, screenings, theatre, and jazz and opera performances.

As their online map shows, a comfy pair of shoes and inquisitive attitude are all that are required with plenty of time to explore the two programme clusters from Bree Street to Commercial Street and Iziko to Kloof Road, either independently or by joining a scheduled walkabouts led by one of the curators.

Restaurants were slow to grasp the concept this year but the HEAT VIP Meet-The-Artist High Tea at Mount Nelson promises to delight your palate and belly while you get your cultural fill.  

The HEAT Winter Arts Festival opens on July 11 and runs through to July 21. Visit the beautifully designed website for the full event programme with links to bookings handled by Quicket.