First Nations Colloquium | 11 - 16 November 2018The Programme for Innovation in Artform Development...

First Nations Colloquium | 11 - 16 November 2018 1

First Nations Colloquium | 11 - 16 November 20181

Programme for Innovation in Artform Development (PIAD) Transformation through Art Innovation

The Programme for Innovation in Artform Development (PIAD) is an initiative of the Vrystaat Arts Festival and the University of the Free State, generously supported by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

PIAD is an arts development programme focusing on how technology, interdisciplinary and experimental arts can connect with and impact on communities. PIAD was launched in 2014 as a pilot project in response to recent data indicating that the creative industries in Africa contribute less than 1% to global output.

As increased access to and participation in culture can be linked to an increase in human development, the PIAD focuses on supporting cross-cultural, experimental art programmes that can creatively transform South African society. For this process the PIAD is working with several South African and international artists to develop a mutually beneficial programme of engagement.

PIAD fosters innovation in artform development in South Africa through the development, presentation and promotion of art projects, including a series of First Nations colloquiums and projects; critical debates/forums; arts/science research and interdisciplinary artist residencies; interdisciplinary arts laboratories for creative practitioners; and the production and presentation of challenging new work in the arts.

Directors: Angela de Jesus (Art Curator, University of the Free State) Ricardo Peach (Director, Vrystaat Arts Festival)

Contact: University of the Free State Mabaleng Building C215 205 Nelson Mandela Avenue Bloemfontein 9301

+27 (0)51 401 7231/2706

[email protected] [email protected]

Cover based on a design by First Nation artist Tristan Nel. This spiral was chosen by First Nation Colloquium 2016

participants to represent PIAD First Nation projects.


First Nations Colloquium

The Programme for Innovation in Artform Development (PIAD) presents the third First Nations Colloquium from the 11 November to 16 November 2018 in Bloemfontein and Platfontein, South Africa.

The annual First Nations Colloquium brings together a gathering of South African and Australian (and other) arts managers, directors, writers, artists and cultural practitioners with the aim of fostering cross-cultural and international collaborations between First Nations peoples and First Nations creative work. The opportunity is presented to share existing research/projects/models and to imagine a future of creative works that can be presented at cultural and artistic platforms in South Africa and abroad, such as the Vrystaat Art Festival.

The Colloquium inspires creative works across the performing arts, experimental and emerging arts, literature and visual arts. It focuses on increasing cross-cultural collaborations and international partnerships with a deeper appreciation of the value of First Nations arts and cultural expression.

The Colloquium provides an essential platform for First Nations artistic and creative thinkers to share indigenous knowledge and culture while interrogating contemporary cultural frameworks, ideas and themes. The Colloquium delivers an intercultural dialogue enabling First Nations peoples to explore new ways of understanding and engaging in First Nations arts.

2018 Colloquium key focus areas:

Building on recommendations from the 2016 & 2017 First Nations Colloquia, the 2018 edition will focus on

• increasing collaboration and building significant partnerships between First Nations artists and creative practitioners both locally and internationally;

• developing a deeper appreciation of the value of First Nations arts and cultural expression;

• developing a strategy for a First Nations Cultural Village for Vrystaat Art Festival in 2019;

• developing and growing significant partnerships in the arts in Platfontein.

Facilitated by:

Lee-Ann Tjunypa Buckskin and Edward Charles Human


First Nations Colloquium 11 - 16 November 2018

The Programme

Sunday 11 November - Welcome Day

Welcome to Country & First Nations ExchangeVenue: The Square, Institute of Reconciliation & Social Justice, UFS

17:00 Guests arrive

17:30 - 19:00 Welcome to country led by Bradley van Sitters and Piet Berendse with Rushwain Davids & Neil Danaub Dikwex

19:30 Dinner at Anta Boga Hotel

Monday 12 November - Colloquium Day 1

Venue: Ashwood Guesthouse & Spa

9:00 - 9:30 Morning coffee on arrival

9:30 – 10:00 Welcome and introduction: EDWARD CHARLES HUMAN & LEE-ANN TJUNYPA BUCKSKIN

10:00 – 10:45 Presentation: FRANS KRAALSHOEK: The National Khoi & Bushman Council

10:45 - 11:00 Q&A and Discussion

11:00 – 11:15 Tea break

11:15 - 12:00 Presentation: SYLVIA VOLLENHOVEN: Krotoa Eva van de Kaap and other projects


12:15 - 13:00 Break away session: BRADLEY VAN SITTERS, PIET BERENDSE, RUSHWAIN DAVIDS &

NEIL DANAUB DIKWEX

13:00 - 14:00 Lunch

14:00 – 14:45 Presentation: DENVER BREDA: |Khida sada |as|asasa kaikai


15:00 – 15:15 Tea break

15:15 – 16:00 Presentation: AARON MESSELAAR: First Nations cultural events


16:15 - 17:00 Break away session: SHIHAAM DOMINGO: Connecting First Nations stories across

platforms and continents

17:00 – 18:30 Free time

18:30 – 20:30 Dinner at New York Restaurant


Tuesday, 13 November - Colloquium Day 2


9:30 – 10:00 Morning coffee on arrival

10:00 – 10:45 Presentation: JACK GRAY: Choreographing cultural change


11:00 – 11:15 Tea break

11:15 - 12:00 Presentation: FELICITY ANN WRIGHT: Capacity building and social enterprise for

First Nations communities


12:15 - 13:00 Break away session: UNCLE MOOGY: Aboriginal for a day

13:00 - 14:00 Lunch

14:00 – 14:45 Presentation: JACOB BOEHME: First Nations arts & culture: Programming &

protocols


15:00 – 15:15 Tea break

15:15 – 16:00 Presentation: LEE-ANN TJUNYPA BUCKSKIN: Tjitjiku Inma a children’s language

and inter-generational project


16:15 - 17:00 Open Discussion: Share thoughts & highlights from the day

17:00 – 18:30 Free time

18:30 – 20:30 Dinner at Jack & Jill’s


Wednesday, 14 November - Colloquium Day 3


9:30 – 10:00 Morning coffee on arrival

10:00 – 10:45 Presentation: DIANA FERRUS: The importance of storytelling


11:00 - 11:15 Tea break

11:15 - 12:15 Brainstorming a First Nations Culture Village for the Vrystaat Art Festival in 2019

12:15 - 13:00 Break away session: JACK GRAY: Intercultural sensory trail

13:00 - 14:00 Lunch

14:00 – 15:00 Strategy towards a First Nations Culture Village for the Vrystaat Art Festival in 2019

15:00 – 15:15 Tea break

15:15 – 16:15 Strategy towards a First Nations Culture Village for the Vrystaat Art Festival in 2019

16:15 - 17:00 Reflection session

17:00 – 18:30 Free time

18:30 – 20:30 Dinner at Cape Town Fish Market

Thursday, 15 November - Visit to Platfontein

9:00 Depart for Platfontein

Meetings with stakeholders from the !Xun & Khwe communities

Facilitated by Martha Mangumbu

Dinner at Protea Hotel

Friday, 16 November - Reflection Day

Venue: ZiZi Restaurant, Botanical Gardens

9:00 - 12:00 Reflection session and brunch: 2018 Colloquium & Platfontein visit


Facilitators:Lee-Ann Tjunypa Buckskin (Australia) is Narungga, Wirangu, Wotjobaluk woman and is well known throughout the Australian, Indigenous and international arts communities. Having worked

across many major festivals, she has won numerous prizes for her contribution to the arts, including the Gladys Elphick Award, the Sidney Myer Facilitator Prize and the South Australian Ruby Awards, twice. She is the first Aboriginal woman to be appointed as Chair of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts Board in 40 years and is the first Aboriginal person to hold the Deputy Chair on the board of the Australia Council for the Arts. She is the Co-Chair of Tarnanthi, the Festival of Contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Visual Art, a member of the National Museum of Australia Indigenous Advisory Committee and a member of the Barangaroo Development Arts Advisory Committee. She is a member of the Country Arts South Australia Indigenous Reference Group. Lee-Ann’s current position is Executive, Aboriginal Strategy, with the South Australia Film Corporation.

Edward Charles Human (South Africa) has been involved in theatre related activities from early childhood in Heidedal, Bloemfontein. In 1988 he was recruited by John van der Ross, who started a

group called Heidedal se Raad van Uitvoeroernde Kunste (HEIRUK). Its main goal was to develop drama, singing and dancing amongst the youth of Heidedal. Sadly, after just two productions HEIRUK closed down due to financial difficulties in 1988. He afterwards joined the Heidedal Drama Group (HEIDRAM). This was a community base amateur drama group that emerged from the Dr. Blok Secondary school under the guidance of Abraham Jansen. As part of HEIDRAM he took part in various Drama Festivals including the Afrikaans Taal en Kultuur Vereniging (ATKV) Drama Festival, the Council for Culture and Recreation Drama Festival and the Grahamstown Standard Bank National Arts Festival.

From 1993 to 1995, he studied Drama at Technikon Pretoria (Central University of Tshwane) but could not conclude this because of a train accident in 1993. His return to Bloemfontein marked the starting point of his professional career in acting. He was involved in the Drama project, Performing Arts Development (PAD) with Maria de Koker in Heidedal from 2002 to 2005 focusing on school children from ages 13 to 18 years. In 2007 he again worked with Maria de Koker on a Speech and Drama tutoring children project in partnership with


Die Stigting vir die Bemagting deur Afrikaans and the Volksblad Newspaper.

Over the years Edward was involved in various capacities in professional performances such as the The Twelve Disciples of Nelson Mandela directed by Thomas Allen Harris, Pik en Graaf by Vincent de Koker, Nouroegas by Angelo Mockie and Dr Willy Nel, Kanna hy ko Hystoe written by Adam Small and directed by Gerben Kamper, Blood Wedding written by Fedrico GarcÍa Lorca and directed by Dr. Stephanie Brink, and Wasgoed written by ILne Fourie and directed by Michelle Hetzel. He was also the Director of Photography and Producer for the documentary and film for the Khoi-San History, Heritage and Educational Project.

Edward is a First Nations ambassador and member of the Free State Griqua Traditional Council.

Participants and speakers

!’Aru lkhuisi Piet Berendse (South Africa) was born in the Kalahari East (Upington, Northern Cape) and is an active and respected Bushman and cultural activist that fights for the rights of the first indigenous people of South Africa. He is also a founding member of

the Indigenous Liberation Walk.

He was a former infantry, special force soldier and is now a medicine-man, actor, writer, poet and storyteller. Piet is also a well-known and disciplined hunter and tracker and practises art and crafts. He is known in Namibia, Botswana, Angola, Zimbabwe as well as Canada, Netherlands and America for telling

the ‘true history’ and his community work. Piet received numerous awards but still lives a simple lifestyle and now and again goes to live in the veld just to communicate with his forefathers and mother earth. Piet also visits schools across South Africa to tell his story and to teach them about indigenous culture.

Jacob Boehme (Australia) is a Melbourne born and based artist of Aboriginal heritage, from the Narungga (Yorke Peninsula) and Kaurna (Adelaide Plains) nations of South Australia. Jacob is currently

Creative Director of YIRRAMBOI First Nations Arts Festival.

With a 20 year history working in Cultural Maintenance, Research & Revival of traditional dance with Elders and youth from urban to remote Indigenous communities across Australia, Jacob combines dance (Diploma in Dance, NAISDA 2000), puppetry (Masters in Puppetry, Victorian College of the Arts 2007), and playwriting (Masters in Writing for Performance, Victorian College of the Arts, 2014) to create multi-disciplinary theatre, dance and ceremony for stage, screen, large-scale public events and festivals.

Jacob’s latest work Blood on the Dance Floor premiered at Arts House North Melbourne, produced in partnership with ILBIJERRI Theatre Company. An original member of Assitej International’s Next Generation of Youth Theatre Leaders, Jacob is also a recipient of the Asialink Residency, working with Ishara Puppet Theatre Trust in Delhi, India, in 2010 and Alumni of the 2014 British Council’s ACCELERATE Indigenous Leaders Program. Other International Residencies include teaching traditional and contemporary Aboriginal dance at Teatteri ILMI O in Helsinki, Finland and the Schaxpir Festival Linz, Austria.


Denver Breda (South Africa) is Khoesan language and cultural activist, writer, photographer and filmmaker. Through various art forms, he brings attention to the current challenges Khoesan people face. As the original inhabitants of South Africa and

after 23 years of democracy, the Khoesan still do not have one of their languages recognised as an official South African language. He advocates that the Khoesan languages are dying and the indigenous people are still struggling without recognition of their identity, language, culture and history.

Denver is involved in various indigenous advocacy programmes in the Western Cape. He teaches Khoesan languages to various communities, has entered into negotiations with the Western Cape government to have the Khoehoe language added as an additional language and has created opportunities for Khoesan language acquisition through social media platforms such as Whatsapp and Facebook. Denver has been involved in supporting the creation of Khoesan language hubs in various organisations, and has also appeared on various media platforms (such as Radio, television and print media) to speak to Khoesan issues. He is currently working on a Khoesan language exhibition, exchange program and the creation of additional content.

Reabetswe Mokone is currently the Creative Producer of The Public Artistic Platform and Coordinator of the Pan-African Creative Exchange, both of which are initiatives by the Vrystaat Kunstefees/Arts Festival. She

has been a Judge at Poetry slams like “The Right to Slam” 2016 and “Bloem Youth Poetry Slam” 2017. She is a Social and Gender Activist, who has focused her efforts in enlightening people about LGBTQI rights and educating people on Gender and Sexual Equity. She has planned “Let’s Talk about It Sessions” with the express purpose of educating people about this and has also planned events such as “The Fluid Mic Night” in order to use the Performing Arts as a mode to celebrate Sexual Fluidity and Identity. She has also planned a concert called “The Sex Concert” which celebrates love, in whichever shape, form or size it comes in. She has also worked with the Gender and Sexual Equity office of the University of the Free State to help organise a UFS Pride week 2017 for the University which took place in August 2017. She has also guest lectured on gender equality and LGBTIQA rights in the Africa context at the University of the Free State. She is an Artist, a producer and a spokes person on social injustice.

Neil Edwin Danaub Dikwex (South Africa): Danaub means honeyman and Dikwe is the name of the last leader of the outen//aes, better known as Outeniqaue. The x stands for his only son that was taken away as a slave to England and never returned. Neil is

an indigenous activist who advocates for indigenous rights and for the inclusion and recognition of indigenous languages as part of the Constitution of South Africa. Neil is an artist, writer, poet, healer, educator and an indigenous event organiser. His books include: Bloedgrond (2013), Echoes of the free minds (2014), Skinder stories van die son//aes (2015), In die olifantspore van die son//aes (2016), Jou ma se goed…siektes en kruie (2017).


Rushwein Davids (South Africa) is a cultural entrepreneur with an acute business sense, vigorously promoting indigenous customs, attire, healing practices, music, language, arts and cultures. Rushwain is from Stellenbosch in the heartland of

the Boland and has actively been involved with promoting the plight of the First Nations people in various platforms. In the past Rushwain established an aboriginal themed restaurant in the centre of Cape Town’s beehive of activities, which was the first of its kind as it was locally owned. He also took part in the Khoekhoe Language programme presented by Pedro Dâusab called Learn yourself Nama. Over the last few years he has been the program director and stage manager for the (Erfenis) E’Bosch Festival during Heritage month; rolling out music and cultural events for the Stellenbosch municipality, which includes 14 small “dorpies” in its vicinity. Davids participated in organizing an Inter-Faith-Dialogue hosted at the Stellenbosch Museum where people from various cultures, religions and lifestyles discussed their connection with nature in the plight of finding common ground amongst different people. He was also inaugurated as the Tribal Leader of the Gorachouqua Tribe of the Khoekhoe and San people of Southern Africa in the Stellenbosch region. A revolutionary at heart, he is part of a team of ritualistically inclined Khoekhoe Revivalists who has taken it upon themselves to instigate a series of ceremonies.

Vincent de Koker (South Africa) started performing at Heatherdale Secondary School. Later he joined PACOFS as a professional actor

and singer where he played in several productions such as Moshoeshoe. He then left Bloemfontein for Johannesburg where his career led him to appear on the national television show Majakathata, he played in the movies such as Jozi Hood, Time Out and Hardloop and appeared in a television advert for Radio Sonder Grense. Pik en Graaf is his first film that he wrote and directed without any funding. He is currently working on his second film script which is also set in Heidedal. Vincent took part in the highly acclaimed stage production of Kanna hy ko hystoe written by Adam Small and directed by Gerben Kamper. This production was done for the Woordfees at Stellenbosch in 2014 and for the Volksblad Kunstefees in 2013. In this production he played alongside June van Murch (Blitz Patrollie & Going Up), Chrystal Donna Roberts (a former Pasella presenter and KROTOA) and Brandon Daniels (KROTOA and Four Corners). This year he took part in the historical play entitled Nouroegas, which was written by Dr Willy Nel and Angelo Mockie who also directed the play. This production was performed at the Vrystaat Art Festival.

He has since started a production company that consists of board members compiled from the volunteers of “Pik en Graaf.” The Company’s main focus is on productions that concentrate on our stories – “the Indigenous people.”

He launched a program in a partnership with a local school where young troubled youth are trained in script writing, acting, videography, video production as well as instilling leadership skills.

The Domingo Effect is driven and directed by Shihaam Domingo (South Africa) with the core intention of “Connecting to make difference” through authentic and collaborative performing arts incentives.


Shihaam has a professional background spanning over 20 years in print media and marketing whilst having one foot in the Cape Town theatre and music scene. The Domingo Effect officially took off in 2014 as a publicity and entertainment project management service to clients like Lee-Ann van Rooi, Christo Davids, Diaan Lawrence and David Kramer. With the creative freedom of entrepreneurship, Shihaam was able to invest more time into giving young talent a platform, specifically in Oudshoorn during the KKNK (Klein Karoo Kunstefees) through a partnership with KykNET resulting in instantly visible growth in impact and sustainability.

This freedom also led her to her dream of being an independent content producer, with her first production Die Riel Van Hip Hop that premiered at Artscape in April 2017. This production was also broadcast on national television in December 2017 and followed to win the National Fiesta Award for best musical theatre production in February 2018. Lessons and insights from the 2017 First Nations Colloquium has enabled more valuable depth in the generation of new productions through connecting with the First Nations elders in the communities as a core point of reference in script development. The opportunity to direct the 2018 Artscape Heritage Day production called Just Our Journey was also motivated by First Nations acknowledgment from the past and presented possibilities which was well received by the diverse cast.

The highlight of her independent career has been the opportunities that stem from raising her voice authentically; due to their ethos, the brands and industry legends that she supports now choose to support and partner with The Domingo Effect.

Diana Ferrus (South Africa) is a writer, poet and storyteller. She was born in Worcester, Western Cape where she matriculated. She completed her postgraduate

studies in Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of the Western Cape where she also worked in the Dept of Industrial Psychology as an administrator for 25 years.

Diana has published numerous poems and short stories in different collections. She writes in both Afrikaans and English and has two publications to her name, Ons Komvandaan (2006) and I’ve come to take you home (2010). She is currently working on a collection of poetry which will be a dedication to her father who was a POW during WWII.

Diana is well known for the poem that she wrote about Sarah Baartman, the Khoi woman who was taken away from SA to England under false pretences. In England she was paraded as a sexual freak. After her death in France at the end of 1815 Sarah’s body was dissected and put on display in the Musee de L Homme in Paris. Diana’s poem I’ve come to take you home was discovered by French senator Nicholas About who was going to propose a bill for the release of Sarah’s remains. Touched by the poem, he had it translated into French and used it as part of his bill. It was read in the Senate and the senate voted that the remains must be sent home. The poem is published in the French law, a first in French history.

Jack Gray (New Zealand) is a Māori dancer, choreographer, writer, cultural facilitator and artistic director of Atamira Dance Company. Born in Auckland, Jack is affiliated to Ngati Porou, Ngati

Kahungunu, Ngapuhi and Te Rarawa iwi.

Jack is a founding member of Atamira Dance Collective (2000), an Impulstanz Festival Wien Danceweb Scholar (2001), director for Jack Gray Dance (2002), graphic design graduate (2004), Atamira company dancer (2006-2012), A.M.P Scholarship winner (2011), Assistant Professor at University of California Riverside (2014), director of Mitimiti by


Atamira Dance Company (2015), Spring Artist in Resident at Asian-Pacific Institute at New York University (2016), founder of I Moving Lab (2016) and I LAND Festival (2017). In 2018, Jack was announced as Artistic Director of Atamira Dance Company, presenting work at Gibney Centre in New York City, Festival 2018 on the Gold Coast, Australia, Artist in Residence at UCLA, and opening Tempo Dance Festival in Auckland, NZ.

Frans Kraalshoek (South Africa) is the second eldest son of Captain Johannes Kraalshoek, the leader of the Griqua people in the Free State province. He got educated about the Griqua culture at an early stage by his father. Over the years his passion for research into

the Griqua culture grew and that transpired into him becoming a Khoi & San activist. His involvement in the Khoi & San revolution can be seen in his involvement in the following: He is the Chairperson of the Free State Griqua Council; a member of the Board of Trustees for the Free State Griqua Trust; a founding member of the South African First Indigenous Human Rights Organization (SAFIHRO) during the WSSD in 2002; a council member of the National Khoe-San Consultative Conference (NKOK) who developed and promoted the Khoi & San languages in South Africa; the Secretariat of the National Khoe-San Consultative Conference (NKOK) with the Office at the Department of Anthology, University of the Free State (UFS); a Khoe & San representative on the Pan South African Language Board in the Free State; a founding member of the Khoe-San Pre-school in Heidedal, Bloemfontein; a member of the National Khoe-San Conference Facilitating Agency; the Chairperson on the Bethany Communal Property Association (BCPA); the Secretariat of the National Khoe and Bushman Council; and a founding member of the National Griqua Movement.

Frans played a key role in bringing Rodolfo Stavenhagen, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people, to visit the UFS and meet with the First Nations of South Africa (the Khoe-San People). As a prospective farmer, a father and a husband he is dedicated to see that the First Nations in South Africa regain their pride and dignity in South Africa.

Martha Mangumbu (South Africa) is the first young women leader based in Platfontein. She is active with various cross disciplinary initiatives involving indigenous languages, arts and traditional dance.

She was selected to serve on the National Language Board

where she is working hand in hand with Pansalb (Department of Arts and Culture) to ensure that !Xun Thali is taught in schools and that !Xun Thali is also recognized as an official language in South Africa. She is currently working for the South African Bible Society as translator where she is translating the bible to !Xun Thali.

Martha is the personal assistant of the new elected chief in Platfontein, and a traditional dancer. She is also freelancing at X-K FM radio station and secretary of the Platfontein sports counsel.

Aaron Messelaar (South Africa) was born in the heart of the Northern Cape in a small Griqua town named Campbell. He is the High Commissioner of the Griqua Royal House and Deputy


Secretary General of Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa (CONTRALESA). He is the founder of the Griqua Legacy Museum. He is the author of the book “Forgotten but nor Buried” and is currently busy finalizing the second book named “Griqua Culture and Superstitions”.

Major (Uncle Moogy) Sumner (AM) (Australia) is a respected Ngarrindjeri Elder, Cultural Performer and Visual Artist. He is the Cultural Director of the Tal-Kin-Jeri Dance Group.

Uncle Moogy was appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia in 2014 for his services to the Indigenous community for many decades. He is a member of the World Archaeological Congress and has been a member of the South Australian Aboriginal Advisory Council since 2011. He is also a member of the World Council of Elders. Major Sumner wants to show to the Australian people that Aboriginal culture is about sharing and working together for the benefit of the whole community. He made sure, to the best of his abilities that his contributions to public life in the areas of Aboriginal health, social welfare, youth and cultural heritage is benefiting everyone.

Danab �Hui!Gaeb di !Huni!nâ !Gûkhoeb (Bradley van Sitters) (South Africa)

“In all the years of service in the Cultural Industry the most memorable moments were spend with personages the likes of Oom David

Kruiper of the Kgalagadi San Bushman; “Gaob” King Dr. Rev. Captain //Gawamuma /Onob Hendrik Witbooi of the /Khobese Nama in Namibia and the last known !Korana dialect speakers Ouma Jacoba Maclaire (Bloemhof) and Oupa Dawid Cooper (Bloemfontein). It struck me later that all these people and many others have passed away in the years after we met. In this way I became a gatherer of the old tales of the Elders; a collector of life stories of those who would soon pass on...”

Danab ǁHui!Gaeb di !Huni!nâ !Gûkhoeb has been active with various cross disciplinary initiatives involving indigenous languages, music, literature, visual arts, dance, drama, story-telling and traditional practices, such as healing, food, fashion and heritage. He is primarily focused on the advancement of marginalized Khoekhoe and San languages. His involvement in various projects have centred on broader themes of oral history and indigenous knowledge systems, which includes “Planting Seeds to Hunt the Wind” Photo and Audio Exhibition; Cultural Installations and performances at the Exuberance Project, Researcher for a documentary series called “a Khoe (Human) Story” and Project Manager of the Kaapse Kinders (//Hui !Gaeb di /Gôan) School Holiday Children Programme in Lavender Hill. As public speaker, he made numerous presentations at DST/NRF South African Research Chair in Development Education, PanSALB- Khoe and San National Language Board Conferences, Iziko Museum International Mother Tongue Celebrations, and the Healing Memories of Pain Conference.

More recently he has been involved the “Aba te” (Carry me) Indigenous Knowledge Legacy Programme which is a cultural offering hosted at the Castle of Good Hope. This forms part of the Castle of Good Hope’s Decolonizing-the-Castle theme in order to create an indigenous cultural hub located at the oldest building in South Africa.

“As a Social Linguist, the linguistic borrowings and lending’s between South African languages is a matter of great interest for me. Known in olden days as the “Tavern of the Seas”, Cape Town has for hundreds even thousands of years been a gathering place


as its most iconic landmark, Table Mountain, has forever laid the table for different world cultures to find a seating. What today is known as the “table cloth” for great millennia have given character to the original name for this location, �Hui !Gaeb, gathering place of the clouds. As a home for all, Cape Town has spawned dynamic engagements and cross-pollinations of a mosaic of cultures in cultural landscape with the constant layering of history upon history. This underlines the nature of this investigation into the linguistic lending’s and borrowings between languages of Southern Africa.”

Sylvia Vollenhoven (South Africa) is a writer, award-winning journalist, playwright and filmmaker. She was commissioned by the Volksoperahuis of Amsterdam to write Krotoa Eva van de Kaap, a play that premiered in the Netherlands to standing ovations

before touring South Africa in 2019. Her seminal dance drama about Khoisan identity, The Keeper of the Kumm (based on the novel of the same name), opened on the main programme at the National Arts Festival (NAF). A play she co-authored, My Word, Redesigning Buckingham Palace, was chosen for a run on London’s West End and for the main programme at the NAF. The Festival also selected another of her plays, Cold Case – Revisiting Dulcie September. The latter won both the inaugural Adelaide Tambo Award for Human Rights in the Arts as well as a Standard Bank Audience Award. Sylvia was the South African Producer for the BBC mini-series Mandela the Living Legend, head of the 2018 Alan Paton Literary Award Jury and member of the International Emmy Awards 2018 Jury.

She was a guest Lecturer at the University of the Free State, the University of Cape Town’s Centre for African Studies and Stellenbosch University’s Journalism Department. She was part of the selection panel fort he SA National Film & Video Foundation (NFVF) and a Knight Fellow who led a journalism project to improve coverage of poverty and development issues in Ghana for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. She is the founder of VIA – Vision in Africa, a media organisation, that has spearheaded innovative international training initiatives and creative productions.

Over the last 30 years Felicity (Flick) Wright (Australia) has been involved in many successful social enterprises, projects and activities in the Australian Indigenous arts sector. Her specialty has been working with Indigenous Australians and

with remote art centres – community based organisations owned by their members that act as artists’ cooperatives. She has been a passionate and noisy advocate for remote community art centres and their peak bodies. Flick has lived in four remote communities (Yuendumu, Gunbalanya, Mimili and Ramingining) and has consulted in a further 70 towns and communities in the Northern Territory, Kimberley, Central Australia, South Australia, Far North Queensland and the Torres Strait. In 2010 – 2012 Flick spent two years as an AVI (Australian Volunteer International) in Cambodia, based in Phnom Penh and doing fieldwork around Cambodia. Her role was Business Management Adviser to Cambodian NGO Live & Learn Environmental Education. During that time she was also pro bono adviser to Cambodian Community Based Ecotourism Network (CCBEN).


PIAD

Angela de Jesus (South Africa) is based in Bloemfontein as the Art Curator at the University of the Free State (UFS). She is the Director of the Johannes Stegmann and Centenary art galleries and manages the UFS permanent art

collection. She has been involved with the establishment and is the Co-Director of the Programme for Innovation in Artform Development (PIAD). From 2009 - 2012, Angela was the Project Manager of the Lotto Sculpture- on-Campus Project. The project enabled the UFS to acquire a collection of sixteen public artworks for the Bloemfontein campus. Her recent curatorial projects include 100 Plates (2012), Re-envisioning the South African War (2013), Plastic Histories by Cigdem Aydemir (2014), Representations of Otherness and Resistance (2015), It’s My City (2016) and Onesie World South Africa by Adele Varcoe (2017).

Angela has been involved with the co-ordination of several community initiatives, such as the Artists-in-Schools Project, and obtained a Masters in Fine Art from the UFS in 2009. She is a printmaker and video artist.

Dr Ricardo Peach (South Africa) is the Director of the Vrystaat Kunstefees/ Arts Festival/ Tsa-Botjhaba, a multi-artform arts festival in Mangaung, South Africa. The Vrystaat Arts Festival is held annually over a six day period during the second week of

July in Bloemfontein, Free State.

He also developed and is the Co-Director of the Programme for Innovation in Artform Development at the University of the Free State, partnering with the Vrystaat Arts Festival.

Previously he managed the Capacity Development Program at the Australia Council for the Arts (2014) and was an independent cultural consultant with expertise in research and analysis, project management, program and policy evaluation, social media and strategic business planning.

In 2012 he was the Acting Director of the Inter-Arts Office at the Australia Council for the Arts, where he was responsible for developing and implementing a high level, national experimental arts sector plan.

Miné Kleynhans (South Africa) is an emerging artist and creative professional residing in Bloemfontein, South Africa. She has recently completed her MA in Fine Arts at the University of the Free State where she is currently employed as the assistant to

the curator of the Johannes Stegmann Art Gallery.

As an artist, project manager and facilitator Miné has participated in various developmental and often large scale creative programs. Most notably she participated as lead artist in collaboration with Alex Rinsler in the It’s My City project during the International Free State Art Festival. She also oversees and facilitates the Richmond Land Art project under renowned international artist Willem Boshoff – an annual educational venture to the heart of the Karoo desert. In her role as assistant to the curator she coordinates and manages various exciting, experimental artistic ventures connected to the Free State Art Festival.


The First Nations Colloquium & Creative Arts Lab is part of the Programme for Innovation in Artform Development (PIAD), initiated by:

Principal supporter:

First Nations Colloquium | 11 - 16 November 2018The Programme for Innovation in Artform Development...

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