My Body My Space  Festival back for  2023 season

Sibuyel’ emphakatini (we are back in the community).

 BY CityLIfe Arts Writer

The My Body My Space: Public Arts Festival (MBMS) Sibuyel’emphakatini, funded by the National Arts Council, goes back to being live in the Emakhazeni community, during Human Rights month. This year’s programme is dance performance-specific and will take place from 22nd to 25th March at venues in the area and at The Forgotten Angle Theatre Collaborative’s Ebhudlweni Arts Centre. 

Says FATC’s PJ Sabbagah “The MBMS Public Arts Festival team is looking forward to welcoming both the public and performers to this year’s festival, given that the last 3 years of covid restrictions were a challenge to us, although we successfully ran the entire festival online in 2021, this was a global first there is no comparison to live performance. This year our programme includes an evening performance at Ebhudlweni Arts Centre, and programmes running in Machadodorp, Sibuyel’ emphakatini (we are back in the community).

Since its inception in 2015, The My Body My Space: Public Arts Festival (MBMS), a large-scale international festival curated by The Forgotten Angle Theatre Collaborative (FATC), puts out socially and environmentally conscious work. This year’s edition will bring artistic works curated around Human Rights issues, based on each artist’s interpretation. 

The festival runs rural location based and wider FATC programmes, which run throughout the year. The festival curatorial team draws inspiration from these, the MBMS Public Arts Festival has developed a unique rural identity deeply located in Emakhazeni communities, which sets it apart from all other festivals in the country, and which is attracts the interest of artists, visitors, and promoters alike, both nationally and internationally.

Traditionally, MBMS takes place in public spaces throughout the Emakhazeni Local Municipality (ELM), in rural Mpumalanga. In 2021 and due the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and resulting restrictions, the entire festival took place, as a Global First, on WhatsApp via a dedicated line. 

The 2023 Edition, Sibuyel’ emphakatini (Back in Community), will include site specific performances with one night at Ebhudlweni Arts Centre on the 24^th of March, and on the 25^{th of} March in Machadodorp. 

The programme of commissioned public arts styled site specific performances running on the 24^th and 25^th March is called The Central Nervous System Programme (CNS). This is a programme with a difference as audience members are guided by foot or travel in car through the streets of Machadodorp to see the diverse performances that involve both established and community-based artists. 

Part of the MBMS 2023 programme is the Arteries Programme, which is a fringe programme shaped by community activations and performances in Machadodorp / Emthonjeni, Belfast / Siyathuthuka, Dullstroom / Sakhelwe and Waterval-Boven / Emgwenya runs from 22^nd – 24^th March. 

This programme features performances and workshops aimed specifically at children, youth and people with disabilities. It also includes performances by FATC’s Local Education in Arts Programme (LEAP) participants. Over the years, Drama For Life has become a core partner in working along the festival and the Forgotten Angle Theatre Collaborative to reach in excess of 2000 learners in schools and centres over a one week period, preceding the commissioned performances that will be part of the (CNS) Programme. 

The MBMS 2023, Sibuyel’ emphakatini (Back in Community), is an invitation to all the residents and visitors that travel through and join in person, to debate our human rights, to celebrate and support the artists and creatives who have been in lockdown.

Emakhazeni provides various accommodation options with leisure activities to choose from including trout fishing, horseback riding and hiking. Should you not be able to join the festival live, please follow MBMS and The Forgotten Angle Theatre Collaborative on Facebook and Instagram (fa_theatrecollaborative) for glimpses of the festival.

The 2023 My Body My Space: Public Festival, Sibuyel’ emphakatini, is made possible with the support of the National Arts Council, Business and Arts South Africa, and the British Council amongst others enabling free access to performances. 

Audiences can look forward to performances and iterations by Vincent Mantsoe (SA/France), Ashely Jordan (UK), Oupa Sibeko (SA), Frederic Dussoulier (Reunion), Jabu Makuwa (SA), Smangaliso Ngwenya (SA), Nicholas Aphane (SA), Lulu Mlangeni (SA), Thulisile Binda Kasi Shack Theatre (SA), Drama For Life (SA), Thapelo Kotolo & Mcebesi Bayi of Sibikwa (SA), Vuyani Dance Theatre (SA), Moving into Dance (SA), The Forgotten Angle Theatre Collaborative interns & local cultural dance groups (SA).