Vibrancy & Urgency - New South African Poetry
Still: Keorapetse Kgositsile, Poet Laureate of South Africa
The recent 'Beyond Words' tour was the first of several international artists’ visits under the banner of Sustained Theatre.
Over the next few years, Sustained Theatre will be encouraging new opportunities for artists from South Africa & Britain to collaborate and engage through a range of approaches, featuring items such as critical debate and artists taking the lead.
A key part of the national tour by the South African poets was the launch of 'Beyond Words' at London's Southbank. Audience members commented on the experience;
"I went and sat by the river to think about what I had seen and heard. I felt so moved and connected to all the poets"
The poets last night were so wonderful that I wanted to release them from the stage on to the streets!
Participating as part of the 'Beyond Words' tour organised by Apples and Snakes on behalf of Sustianed Theatre, were South African poets Keorapetse Kgositsile, Lebo Mashile, Don Mattera, Phillippa Yaa de Villiers.
Please find below filmed extracts of the poets performing work from a personal perspective about the world around them. What gives their work such urgency is that they are not in the business of preserving a mythical African past but trying to grab on to the coat tails of the future.
The question is whose coat tails?
Only time will tell. Their poetry reflects a society going through rapid change.Their poetry itself is an integral part of the South African Experience of resistance, change, shift and progression. Who knows what new influences will exert themselves on the four poets creativity in the future.
'Beyond Words' (South African Poetics) is a book of specially commissioned poems featuring the work of the artists on tour. With an introduction by Margaret Busby, Britain's first ever Black female publisher. The book costs only £4.00 and orders can be made online from Flipped Eye.
'Beyond Words' was presented by Apples & Snakes in association with Sustained Theatre, funded by Arts Council England, British Council South Africa and the South African Government.
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