Basha Uhuru Freedom Festival promises to be fired up this year by featuring Shekinah

The launch of the festival (June 24, 2023) on Friday also exposed guests to the curated market displaying great creativity by local designers and artists.

By Edward Tsumele, CITYLIFE/ARTS Editor

The place resembled a vibrant arts hub populated by creatives who suddenly seem to have discovered that they can actually create something with their hands and brains that connect with the heart of customers. From jewellery to clothes made from diverse fabrics that speak to the diversity of the African continent and its various cultural practices and customs the stalls had everything.

The food stalls also spoke to the same issue of diversity as they too offered a diverse menu representing the country and the African continent’s culinary diversity. From home-made cakes to pap, you would never go hungry in a place like that, no matter where you come from. Not talk about the beverages on offer. It is a place where being thirsty could easily be declared a crime.

I am here talking about Number Four, the once notorious prison that tormented both ordinary criminals and innocent people fighting for human rights such as former President Nelson Mandela Mahatma Gandhi  for example. I am sure those that once served time here would have never imagined even in their wildest dreams that the place that once tormented them is now a place of creaavity. A place where the dreams of many a creative entrepreneur promise to be realised.

Dawn Robertson and her team at Constitution Hill have done a great deal of a good job here by opening this space to Gauteng’s creatives to test their products and their design ideas to the market. Con Hill as the place is popularly known, is now increasingly becoming a vibrant arts hub. It even make you for a moment to forget that this was ponce a prison. But now  it is a huge museum that houses sad memories of much torment in its cracked walls and haunted rooms. However with the transformation that has taken place here within the past few years, it is more than just a museum where people visit old memories.

All these thought flooded my mind on the evening of Friday, June 2, 2023. On the occasion of the launch of this year’s edition of this youth themed Basha Uhuru Freedom Festival. The festival has been in existence for 11 years, having been initiated in 2012. Basha Uhuru has now become a popular festival on Gauteng’s entertainment calendar.

It and the other projects that have been launched here in recent years have transformed Con Hill into a venue that strictly speaking, is no longer only associated with pain and suffering for those that were incarcerated in its haunted rooms. It really has become a place of healing even as visitors move around into its different rooms where the spaces remind one of the pain of the past visited on political activists and prisoners. The place because of the innovative programming, somehow makes it possible for one to look at the place as a promising space for artistic expression and experimentation by the country’s creatives.

Bash Uhuru, among the other various programmes and projects that are housed at Con Hill, is one such platform. Though designed and created to honour the role the youth played in 1976, when they confronted the apartheid government in the streets over the attempt to force instructions in Afrikaans in black schools, the festival makes one to look to the future instead of only focussing on the painful past associated with Number Four.

The festival is of course not intended to make you forget what happened during apartheid, but to channel those painful memories into a positive mode by for example, creating art objects or expressing yourself through music and poetry.

Basha Uhuru which since it has been started attracts good brands as sponsors, such as Nando’s, continues to play an important role in giving young talent an opportunity to shine and express themselves on stage as well as through  other platforms. Such as fashion design and graffit.  And now with a permanent store called Movement that houses some of the items designed by these creatives, there is also a market that which these creatives can display their goods, allowing them an opportunity to access the market.

During the launch Robertson, Con Hill CEO, Saki Zamxaka of Gauteng Growth and Development Agency, Sthe Dlamoni CEO of Gauteng Tourism Authority and Kirsty Niehaus from Nando’s, a long time sponsor of the festival, spoke among other dignitaries representing various entities. Glad that their speeches were short, I had an opportunity to move around the stalls and was impressed by the creativity displayed on the stalls of Number Four’s market area. Djs played soulful music and of course Amapiano right into the early evening, creating an atmosphere of revelry. Among these Djs were Thandonjee, Brown, Sweeter and Boujeena.

However this launch was a forerunner, a taste of what to expect at  Basha Uhuru Freedom Festival proper that will see performances by top talent and a host of creative workshops, immersions and experiences taking place on June 24, 2023 at the same venue. Curated to offer an opportunity to especially up and coming talent, the festival this year is headlined by local mega stars that include Kwesta, Ms Party, Boujeena, Brown Sugar, Lindow Radebe, Mam’Thug. Howver the big artists that everyone is waiting for is Shekinah.

The festival opens at 10am on June 24, 2023, and festival goers can enjoy a full day at the Curated Market with a line-up of DJs, performances and activations, food stalls and bars. No under 18s allowed into the venue. Tickets are available at Webtickets.

“We are proud to host the 2023 Bash Uhuru Freedom Festival back at full scale as Conhill’s flagship Yopiuth Month event,” says Robertson and added” Over the years Bashu Uhuru gave birth to  The Creative Uprising –an always on programme, including the Creative Hub that opened in 2020. Focussed on development, collaboration and upskilling creative, the work of the hub will help to grow and support the creative economy in Gauteng.”

“Sol Beer is proud to partner with Bash Uhuru and the team on this incredible project that not only supports youth development through multiple channels, but holds true to commitment to local creativity,” comments Warrick Wyngaard, brand manager, Sol Beer.

It’s exciting to be once again partnering with Basha Uhuru to celebrate the creativity of South Africa,” says Niehaus, Nando’s marketing manager, creativity portfolio,” and she add” At Nando’s we believe creativity changes lives, which is why we were passionate about nurturing and showcasing creative talent and creating market access for young artists, designers and musicians, as well as demonstrating creativity by opening it up to more people.

That speaks perfectly to what Bash Uhuru is all about. This year we are fired up to bring Shekinah to the Bash main stage and to share her journey and insights with festival goers during the creative conference. We will also be showcasing some of our home-grown talent –the Nandoca Uhurus (from our internal music talent search)-on the market stage. It’s going to be a great celebration of local music talent.”