East London Museum

General information

Following on the most successful inaugural Arts Festival held last year, the Ann Bryant Art Gallery, the East London Museum and the Guild Theatre are coming together again to hold the Umtiza Arts Fest from the 12th to 14th May 2017.

The Umtiza Arts Fest (named after the Umtiza Listeriana tree which is unique to this area) will once again bring all facets of the arts and heritage together in a virtual torrent of shows, exhibitions, lectures, demonstrations and children’s activities. This is a festival which has the widest possible appeal to all sections of our community – young and old.

The first event in the Umtiza Arts Fest on Friday the 12th May is the opening of the ‘Benediction of Shade’ art exhibition in the Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer Hall at the East London Museum – a joint showcase of works by national and local artists. This is followed by a jazz concert at the Guild Theatre featuring Nduduzo Makhathini (winner of the Standard Bank Young Artists’ Award in 2015) with the Cure Collective featuring Feya Faku.

Over the following two days there will be productions and events for the whole family – for the children, the Stardust Magical Circus will take place in the area between the Museum and Oxford Street – while in the Guild Theatre there will be ‘Adventure in Fairy Tale Forest’ – and in the Museum grounds, directly in front of the lifeboat, Christina Reeve will be telling the story of the sinking of the Oceanos.

At the Guild Theatre, Nicholas Ellenbogen will be presenting ‘Raiders of Buffalo River’ – Godfrey Johnson will again be ‘In Cabaret’. Gonubie High School will be bringing their production of ‘Woza Albert’ (winner of the Schools Drama Festival in 2016). Comedian Riaad Moosa will return to the Guild stage with his new show ‘Life Begins’, while Zoe Reeve will be showcasing Korean traditional dance.

The film festival this year will feature Hollywood musicals – ‘Gigi’, ‘Oklahoma’ and ‘Singing in the Rain’.

There will be free admission to the Museum for the whole weekend, while a number of lectures will take place covering such subjects as the World War I exhibition, the history and work of the Dominican Sisters, the sinking of the SS Mendi and the P5 Research Project.

In addition to the art exhibition ‘Benediction of Shade’ in the Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer Hall, the main gallery at the Ann Bryant will showcase an exhibition entitled ‘Matrix’ which will offer insight into the processes of printmaking – while there will be an exhibition of work by local artists in the Coach House.

The grounds of the Museum will host an Art and Craft Fair and a Food Market – where visitors can browse and buy – and then sit and listen to performances on an open stage while enjoying morning/afternoon tea or lunch.

The chocolate and wine pairing with Charles Poole was a sell-out success last year, so book early for this as well as for his port and canape pairing. In addition there will be food demonstrations each day at 12h00 where you can learn more about foraging under the guidance of Chef Petru – or join a demonstration on the ever-popular Annie Sloan paint techniques by Fabulous Décor.

The Umtiza Arts Fest will close on Sunday, 14th May with gospel – ‘A Tribute to the Lord Comforters and Youth with Mission’.

All bookings at Computicket.