{"id":3840,"date":"2020-04-04T14:53:12","date_gmt":"2020-04-04T13:53:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/?p=3840"},"modified":"2020-06-18T22:29:36","modified_gmt":"2020-06-18T21:29:36","slug":"naf-2020-the-virtual-revolution-is-here","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/?p=3840","title":{"rendered":"NAF 2020: The (virtual) revolution is here"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Roberto Pombo and Jodi Barnard in Kid Casino<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Of all the things that will be different in a post Covid-19 world, the National Arts Festival is likely to be one of them. <\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Judging\nfrom the plans and approach to presenting a virtual festival this\nyear, the virus and lockdown has brought about the revolution, for\nbetter or worse, that has been brewing on the fringes for years. The\nflip from the shoulder-rubbing in-your-face physicality of the annual\narts celebration in Makhanda to a virtual screen-based festival in\nour homes is likely to leave its traces when we laugh and cry\ntogether again in 2021. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This\nyear\u2019s massive forced shift has come following a name change for\nthe city of saints, plans (now a bit obsolete) to rewire the Fringe,\nand a new CEO who is not only jumping in the deep end but is having\nto do the high dive as well. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

That\nnew CEO is Monica Newton, who, together with her team, called the\nfestival closure while we were still assimilating the repercussions\nof the President declaring a National State of Disaster on 15 March.\nThe way Newton tells it, the NAF team had decided what they were\ngoing to do, and were taking a breath before announcing it. Then the\nPrez confirmed it. Newton\u2019s version is more modest, but the team\nwere on the money. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nnews that 47 years in, the interlocking grid of creativity in\nMakhanda that is festival, will be virtual, was dropped on Tuesday\nafternoon, 17 March. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Newton\nsays they were \u201clooking at a range of different information\nsuggesting there may need to be substantive changes to how South\nAfrica needed to approach the virus\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\nwere looking at data from China and Italy and thinking of being 100\ndays from festival,\u201d she says. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt\n100 days left, which is a critical point to make a decision, the\nquestion was: could we ask artists and visitor to make arrangements,\nput down money for travel and accommodation and production, without\nknowing whether or not the festival would go ahead?\u201d \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was\nrhetorical. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other\noptions had been discussed. Postponement wasn\u2019t feasible as the\ntimetable of events in Makhanda \u2013 SciFest for one – means the\nfestival wouldn\u2019t work any other time of year. And canceling\naltogether would deprive artists of a platform just as all their\nupcoming gigs were canceled. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And\nno-one would benefit from cancellation. Not artists, not the\ncommunity. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nonly option left was to use the one channel to where we all sit,\nseparated, through which we can engage together: the internet. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which\nmeans the programme predicated on the audience being in together one\nplace at one time, is all but thrown out the window. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s\npretty much a new programme,\u201d says Newton from lockdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of\nthe work may be able to be reimagined, and then there are\ncommitments, such as the works by Standard Bank Young Artists. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At\nleast two of these \u2013 Spoek Mathambo (Nthato Mokgata) for music and\nJefferson Tshabalala for theatre \u2013 have already been challenging\nthe boundaries of their mediums so there\u2019s an expectation of\nsparks. Certainly there\u2019s going to be some rubbing of heads,\nexperimentation, failure, and new paths explored. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nJazz programme presents its own challenges: \u201cJazz is about\ncollaboration between artists, we need to find spaces where artists\ncan get together and either live stream or be recorded\u201d. With a bit\nof luck, this may be possible come June.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Artists\nhave been challenged to reimagine their work for a virtual space. One\nwith new rules, new parameters. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This\nalso means the distinction between Fringe and Main has pretty much\nbroken down. Simplistically, the Main is funded, with a budget from\nwhich to pay artists and creators, while artists on the Fringe are\nlargely reliant on ticket sales. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But a\nvirtual festival is new territory. The equivalent to tickets at the\ndoor is pay-per-view, and there is no knowing what the appetite is.\nOr what the appetite for a subscription model might be. And if\nsubscription, how do you divvy that up among the artists?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead,\nthe festival will support all productions on the programme, says\nNewton. Essentially everything is Main. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\nare using our budget to support the arts community. We want to\nsupport artists in all the ways we can.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Options\nsuch as pay-per-view and subscriptions have been investigated,\nsettling on a pay-per-day and festival package subscriptions for\naudiences. This can only help make the pot larger for artists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nNational Arts Festival website will be the main platform, and is\nundergoing a massive rejig, and she says Google ads are even a\nconsideration, should they be able to generate enough revenue. \nYouTube also pays once a certain number of views are hit. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\nwould be amazing if we went Gangnam\nStyle<\/a> (3.5B views),\u201d she said. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As much\nas external income streams are being developed, funding is the\nframework it is built on, and discussions with funders are ongoing,\nas is \u201cexploring opportunities for new sponsorship and maximising\nopportunities for artists to do this work\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s\nall good if you have fibre and a functioning laptop. There are\nconcerns about barriers to participation for both audiences and\nartists. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIs\nthis just a festival for the haves?\u201d asks Newton. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is\nunclear whether this question is rhetorical but there is definitely a\nsense that this should not be the case, which is why the team is also\nlooking at packaging artists tool kits in an effort to make the\ncircle bigger. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\nare dreams of supplying equipment, and plans to create an online\nmarket for the traders who underpin the atmosphere of the Village\nGreen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s\nalso the question of Makhanda\u2019s crumbling infrastructure. It won\u2019t\nhave to groan under the strain of in-person visitors this year, but\nwhether its electricity and IT structures stand up to the challenge\nis an open question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Newton\nsays the server is likely to be hosted on a major cloud computing\nservice, and there\u2019s high speed internet in the Monument, which is\nthe hub. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NAF is\nalso talking to Rhodes University (UCKAR?) who have \u201cextensive\nresources\u201d and are themselves moving into an online learning\nenvironment. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s\nfundamental that we can access and sustain web traffic.\u201d \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Artists\nare synonymous with creativity, and necessity sparks action. Newton\nsays NAF is looking forward to the possibilities, of hosting\ninteresting work and reaching audiences that have never been reached\nbefore. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nWorld Fringe Network, of which NAF is a part, is sharing information,\nartists are sharing information, there is a cauldron of collaboration\nas everyone faces the same problem. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\ndon\u2019t really know what we\u2019re going into. We don\u2019t know when\nwe\u2019ll be on the other side of this major international crisis. And\nwe need arts more than ever to get us through.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One\nthing Newton is sure of is the commitment to keeping the festival in\nMakhanda and returning to hosting it in its known physical format in\nwhich we can natter to each other in box office queues and hug and\nhigh-five and sob on each others shoulders as soon as possible. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But\nthis year it\u2019s a new game that will have repercussions for future\nformats. The door\nis open to jump in and play. <\/a>\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Of all the things that will be different in a post Covid-19 world, the National Arts Festival is likely to be one of them. Judging from the plans and approach … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2280,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[8],"tags":[980,979,577],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3840"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3840"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3840\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3841,"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3840\/revisions\/3841"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3840"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3840"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}