THE CAPE TOWN FESTIVAL inspires local Afrikaans busker Abraham Van Der Berg to write a song of Hope for all South Africans during the Beyond Busking Programme that will be featured at the Castle of Good Hope on the 29th of October 2022 from 10 AM -6 PM.
What is a busker
“Artists and musicians are the Zeitgeist of South Africa as a nation,” asserts Cape Town Arts Festival CEO Yusuf Ganief. “We want to change the perception of busking in line with international standards and celebrate the joy and diverse cultural flavours that our local Buskers offers our city’s spaces, communities and tourists”.
Abraham van den Berg was one of the buskers chosen to participate in this development programme. He is a songwriter, an author, a busker, a music educator and a resource developer with a mechanical engineering and bioinformatics background. “Writing songs with Clive Ridgeway was a soul-searching experience. While writing my song “ Reenboog in jou hart“, I felt such an emotional release. The song was produced by Lynne Holmes, Creative Director of Ariva Arts Foundation, a non–profit organisation that powers the Cape Town Festival. “The lyrics are a beautiful and a creative reflection of our Rainbow Nation,” says Lynne Holmes.
It was a chance encounter with Simon’s Town busker Machawe during COVID times that inspired Ganief to develop a project that could support buskers in a real sustainable manner.
Creating platforms for buskers
“The more I witnessed Machawe playing his guitar outside a well-known Simonstown restaurant on a cold winter night the more I realised the need to create sustainable platforms for buskers and help them in a way that would make them more marketable, allowing them to move from street to stage performance.
Through analysing the buskers’ talents, we designed a tailor made 13 week programme that included vocal training and stage presence, life coaching, song writing, guitar lessons and finally music production.
“We are excited about the new partnership between the Waterfront Busking Programme and the Beyond Busking Project. I believe our combined inhouse knowledge and skills will create a new era of development and opportunity for local buskers. Together with the CT Arts Festival we aim to change the perception of Busking in South Africa and take our rightful place in the international arena.” says an excited Marco Morgan, V&A Waterfront Programmer : Social Impact.
Busking to the Future
Ganief expresses the hope that through the Cape Town Arts Festival – which falls under the auspices of the non-profit organisation Ariva Arts Foundation – ongoing lobbying to the City of Cape Town for improved opportunities for the Mother City’s buskers could very well result in self-sustaining busking development programmes.
“Our Reimagining CT Arts Series will address various issues relating to busking and arts in Cape Town. We aim to formulate an honest evaluation of both challenges and potential opportunities for buskers to present to governmental departments as a way forward to establish Cape Town as an international hub for arts and busking”
We promise an event that will uplift, intrigue and nurture body, mind and soul. There will be something for everyone, young and old, music and arts lovers, art intellectuals, food lovers, vegan and healthy lifestyle lovers, alternative healing practices such as meditation and yoga. We welcome all the people of Cape Town to join us in a post covid celebration to reignite our zest for life, hope and peace.”
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This article is supplied by the CAPE TOWN ARTS FESTIVAL
