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The MEC for Sports, Arts and Culture in the province, Mrs Rosina Semenya is expected to conduct the official opening today, September 20 at the Univen Auditorium. Dr Wally Serote, a Member of Parliament and chairman of the portfolio committee on Arts and Culture and also a patron of the festival is also expected to address the audience during the official opening ceremony.

According to University spokesperson Mmbangiseni Masia, the festival started eight years ago and has gained momentum in terms of participation and results despite not being taken seriously by some groups within the media sector.

"The festival comes against the history of marginalisation of African heritage in an attempt to foster Western cultural hegemony. In the early nineteen nineties, concerned African intellectuals and academics conceived the idea of an annual festival whose aim was to celebrate African arts towards cultural reclamation," said Masia.

Masia said the primary aim of the African Arts festival is to promote African art and Culture, in the broadest and multi-dimensional connotation of the words art and Culture-inclusive of indigenous technologies and knowledge systems, towards Africa's socio-political and cultural renewal through the exposure of indigenous technology and knowledge systems.

According to Masia, the festival further aims to expose the untapped talent so abundant in the communities served by the University as well as talent from neighboring SADC countries.

The festival has, in the past, attracted audience and participants from all corners of this country and beyond. Its popularity is growing year by year. The festival will feature activities such as Xigubu, Tshikona, Malende, Mbila, Choral Music, live band performances and other groups.

Groups from Zimbabwe will also make renditions during the festival. Masia said the University hopes that this festival will educate and inform the public about the diverse nature of African art, culture, and technology and knowledge systems as exemplified by the many artistic, technological and cultural accoutrements that have been part of African life since time immemorial.

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