Shows

DE-APART-HATE (SA)

In DE-APART-HATE award-winning South African dancer, choreographer and arts activist Mamela Nyamza shows the oppression of women and (gay) sexuality by the church and how to overcome this. The performance is a search for personal freedom, a breathless duet in which she dances with the Bible between her legs. Mamela explores the limits of dance, performance and provocation. DE-APART-HATE gives a glimpse into the current power structures of South Africa where a cry is rising for decolonization of culture.

Amsterdam | Tolhuistuin
Fri 29 Sep 21.00 € 15 / 12,50   (combi-ticket Pig Headed € 22,50 / 20) OR (combi-ticket Afriqueer € 22,50 / 20) TICKETS
Sat 30 Sep 21.00 € 15 / 12,50   (combi-ticket Pig Headed € 22,50 / 20) TICKETS

Amsterdam | De Balie
Wed 4 Oct 20.00 € 15 / 12,50 (followed by the debate Colonial conversations #2 Gender / Sexuality / Religion / Oppression) TICKETS

The Hague | Korzo part of African Arts Fest
Sat 7 Oct 19.30 € 16 / 14,50 / 10 / 9   (combi-ticket Moh! Kouyaté € 28 / 26) TICKETS

[CHOREOGRAPHY] Mamela Nyamza
[DANCE] Mamela Nyamza & Aphiwe Livi
[DURATION] 60 minutes
[YEAR] 2016 | South Africa | Dutch premiere

In a World full of Butterflies, it takes Balls to be a Caterpillar .... Some Thoughts on Falling (SA / CG / RE)

Starting point of In a World full of Butterflies, it takes Balls to be a Caterpillar .... Some Thoughts on Falling by South African choreographer Robyn Orlin are the shocking images of a man who jumped to his death off the Twin Towers in New York on 9/11. In the original version dancers refused to perform against the background of these images. But why? Dancers Elisabeth Tambwe and Eric Languet dive into our fears. What are we afraid of? Of terrorist attacks? Or does it go deeper? Is it a fear of demise, to falling deep and losing control? Butterflies is a confrontational and breathtaking performance!

Amsterdam | Bijlmer Parktheater
Fri 6 Oct 20.30 € 16 / 13,50 (19.00: FREE programma: Public Encounters by Likeminds) TICKETS

Stadsschouwburg Utrecht
Sat 7 Oct 20.30 € 18 / 13 / 10 (evening programme with AIR: Koleka Putuma) TICKETS

The Hague | Het Nationale Theater (Theater aan het Spui)
Sun 8 Oct 15.00 € 17,50 / 16 / 14 (day programme with Lady Africa Fashion Show) TICKETS

[CHOREOGRAPHY] Robyn Orlin
[DANCE] Elisabeth Tambwe & Eric Languet
[DESIGN] Laïs Foulc
[PRODUCTION] City Theater & Dance Group & Damien Valette prod.
[DURATION] 90 minutes
[YEAR] 2013 | South Africa, Congo & Réunion | Dutch premiere

Sac au dos (CG)

Sac au Dos is a solo by Florent Mahoukou, a backpack with memories of the civil war, the violent chaos and genocide in Congo. How is life bearable when everyone around you is dead or missing and only memories remain? Sac au Dos is about the wounds of the war. The brutality of the massacre. The guilt of the survivors. And the deafening silence of the nations who stood by. Florent dances the unspeakable. A personal story about a history which is unacceptable to him and disturbing for the spectator. An impressive and at the same time disorienting performance.

The Hague | Korzo part of African Arts Fest
Fri 6 Oct 19.00 € 16 / 12,50 / 10 / 9   (combi-ticket Black Flower € 24 / 22) TICKETS

Rotterdam | Maaspodium
Sat 7 Oct 21.00 € 14 / 10   (combi-ticket Afriqueer € 20 / 15) OR (combi-ticket What Remains € 20 / 15) TICKETS

[CHOREOGRAPHY] Florent Mahoukou & Andréya Ouamba
[DANCE] Florent Mahoukou 
[TEXT] Dieudonné Niangouna 
[PRODUCTION] Tarmac (France) & Cie Florent Mahoukou (Congo Brazzaville)
[DURATION] 60 minutes
[YEAR] 2014 | Congo Brazzaville| Dutch premiere

JONGA (NL / SA)

The hit of Afrovibes 2015, now extended to a full evening show, is back! JONGA is an encounter between three Dutch and two South African dancers. The pure pleasure of dance! Choreographed by Erik Bos of Urban Collective 155 and South African dancer Elvis Sibeko. A fresh shake that mixes African dance styles with contemporary and urban dance forms, with an exciting connection between dance and video. Who am I and who is the other? What are our habits and how do we judge? With tight group formations, different dance styles and bold humour. Red thread is the ever-present beat of the heart. Which, ultimately, is in all of us!

Amsterdam | Tolhuistuin
Thu 28 Sep 21.00 € 22,50 / 20 (combi-ticket opening night starting 19.30) TICKETS

Amsterdam | Bijlmer Parktheater
Wed 4 Oct 19.30 € 13,50 / 11 (evening programme with AIR: Koleka Putuma) presented with Black Achievement Month TICKETS

Stadsschouwburg Utrecht
Thu 5 Oct 20.30 € 16 / 11 / 10 (evening programme) TICKETS

Rotterdam | Maaspodium
Sun 8 Oct 18.00 € 14 / 10   (combi-ticket Afriqueer € 20 / 15) OR (combi-ticket What Remains € 20 / 15) TICKETS

The Hague | Het Nationale Theater (Theater aan het Spui)
Mon 9 Oct 20:15 € 17,50 / 16 / 14 (evening programme with AIR: Koleka Putuma) TICKETS

[COPRODUCTION] DOX / 155, Artscape & Afrovibes (thanks to Jazzart Kaapstad)
[CHOREOGRAPHY] Erik Bos & Elvis Sibeko
[DANCE] Erik Bos, Thomas Bos, Rein Luuring, Elvis Sibeko & Aviwe November
[DURATION] 45 minutes
[YEAR] 2017 | The Netherlands & South Africa | Premiere

What Remains (SA)

Do we want to forget or to remember? Do we feel shame or guilt? In Cape Town construction workers encounter an 18th Century slave burial ground with the bones of several thousand enslaved people by the Dutch VOC. When the bones emerge from the ground, with them arrives an irreconcilable set of views and visions. Project developers who want to build, archaeologists who want to do historical research, activists who want to bury the bones. How do we deal with our loaded past? What Remains is a crossover between theater and dance about a city haunted by the memory of slavery and trying to reconcile the past with the present.

Amsterdam | Tolhuistuin
Sun 1 Oct 19.00 € 15 / 12,50   (combi-ticket Woorden Worden Zinnen & film Amsterdam Sporen van Suiker - Cineblend Film Programme € 22,50 / 20) TICKETS

Amsterdam | De Balie
Tue 3 Oct 20.00 € 15 / 12,50 (followed by the debate Colonial conversations 1: What do we want to remember from our history of slavery?) TICKETS

Rotterdam | Maaspodium
Sat 7 Oct 19.00 € 14 / 10   (combi-ticket Afriqueer € 20 / 15) OR (combi-ticket Sac au dos € 20 / 15) 
Sun 8 Oct 16.00 € 14 / 10   (combi-ticket JONGA € 20 / 15) TICKETS
[DIRECTOR] Jay Pather
[TEXT] Nadia Davids
[ARTISTS] Denise Newman, Faniswa Yisa, Buhle Ngaba, Shaun Oelf
[DURATION] 65 minutes
[YEAR] 2017 | South Africa | European premiere

Supported by The Leverhulme Trust & Grahamstown Nartional Arts Festival South Africa.

Pig Headed (SA)

Inspired by the novel Lord of the Flies, South African actor Gavin Krastin brings a provocative statement about power. Pig Headed is a one-man show about political leaders and their relationship to the citizen. Gavin reads aloud from the Constitution and Freedom Charter of South Africa, speaking to a pig head on stage and uses his body as an object of art to expose the alienation between citizen and politics. Pig Headed is a fierce protest against the abuse of fragile democracy, transforming beautiful principles into meaningless mumbling. Not for the faint of heart!

Amsterdam | Tolhuistuin
Thu 28 Sep 21:00 € 22,50 / 20   (combi-ticket evening night starting 19.30) TICKETS
Fri 29 Sep 19.00 € 12,50 / 10   (combi-ticket AIR: Here to There & DE-APART-HATE € 22,50 / 20) TICKETS
Sat 30 sep 19.00 € 12,50 / 10   (combi-ticket AIR: Here to There & DE-APART-HATE € 22,50 / 20) TICKETS

The Hague | Korzo part of African Arts Fest
Sat 7 Oct 18.00 € 12 / 10 /9 / 8,50   (combi-ticket DE-APART-HATE & Moh! Kouyaté € 28 / 26) TICKETS

Gavin Krastin 
[DURATION] 45 minutes
[YEAR] 2016 | South Africa | European premiere

[AGE] 16+

Afriqueer (SA / BW / ZM)

Join us on a journey and experience Afriqueer! In this site specific performance, dance, theater and spoken word are combined and the performers take the public on a tour along hidden places and personal stories in the public space about what it’s like to be ‘different’, to be queer. What does it mean to be a man and queer in Africa today? The performers represent a self-conscious and contemporary Africa where young people claim the right to their own identity and individual freedom. Afriqueer defends universal gay rights, the right to be 'different' and is a response to homophobia in Africa and elsewhere in the world. Audiences will be guided by dancers from Xclusiv Company from Rotterdam.

Amsterdam | Tolhuistuin
Fri 29 Sep 19.00 € 15 / 12,50 (combi-ticket DE-APART-HATE € 22,50 / 20) TICKETS
Sat 30 Sep 19.00 € 15 / 12,50 (combi-ticket film The Pearl of Africa - Cineblend Film Programme € 17,50 / 15) TICKETS
Sun 1 Oct 19.00 € 15 / 12,50 (combi-ticket Woorden Worden Zinnen € 17,50 / 15) TICKETS

The Hague | Institute for Social Studies (teaser & nagesprek)
Wed 4 Oct 20.00 FREE

Rotterdam | Maaspodium
Sat 7 Oct 16.00 € 14 / 10   (combi-ticket What Remains € 20 / 15) presented with Black Achievement Month
Sat 7 Oct 19.00 € 14 / 10   (combi-ticket Sac au dos € 20 / 15)
Sun 8 Oct 16.00 € 14 / 10 (introduction at Kunsthal at 15.00)   (combi-ticket JONGA € 20 / 15) TICKETS

[DIRECTOR] Warren Nebe
[ARTISTS] Sithembiso Khalishwayo, Tlotlo Kefitlhile, Tlotlego Gaogakwe, Thabang Molefe, Thokozisa Kwanele Thusi, Songezo Msilizeli, Hamish Mabala Neill, Tefo Omphile Paya, Bonginkosi Mnisi
[DURATION] 75 minutes
[YEAR] 2016 | South Africa, Botswana & Zambia | European premiere

Moh! Kouyaté (GN)

Moh! Kouyaté is a typical 21st century musician. He comes from a griot family in the West African Guinea and currently lives in Paris where he combines his Mandinke roots with influences of life in a globalized world. His music is a mix of American Delta blues, Nigerian afrobeat, Congolese guitar sounds, funky jazz, rock ’n roll, and pop. With unbridled energy and a message of brotherhood, connection, and positivity, Moh! presents jingling, catchy songs. He performs numbers from his latest album Fé toki, to be released this autumn, in addition to his regular repertoire.

Amsterdam | Bimhuis
Thu 5 Oct 20.30 € 18 / 15 TICKETS

The Hague | Korzo part of African Arts Fest
Sat 7 Oct 21.00 € 14 / 10,50 / 10 / 9   (combi-ticket DE-APART-HATE € 28 / 26) TICKETS

Fredy Massamba (CG)

Fredy Massamba (Congo-Brazzaville) is one of the biggest names in Afro-soul! He had an immediate breakthrough in the European music scene with his solo album Etnophony. The former star of Les Tambours de Brazza is a writer, composer, singer and choreographer and currently calls the Brussels music scene his home. His music is a smooth blend of soul, hip hop, funk and African chants. He sings in Kikongo and Lingala and his lyrics speak straight to our hearts.

Rotterdam | Maaspodium
Sat 7 Oct 20.30 € 14 / 10 (part of evening programme) TICKETS

The Hague | Korzo part of African Arts Fest
Sun 8 Oct 20.30 € 28 / 25,50 (day-ticket) TICKETS

Black Flower (BE)

A four-star review in the British magazine Songlines, a rave review in The Independent, an appearance in VPRO’s Vrije Geluiden and shows at the big festivals of Western Europe: Black Flower from Brussels has earned a permanent place in the world-jazz scene. Starting with a basis of Ethiopian sounds, Black Flower adds afrobeat á la Fela Kuti, John Zorn-style jazz, western rock and dub and Arabian scales. The original, psychedelic and instrumental mix that results from this fascinates lovers of dance music and listening music alike.

Den Haag | Korzo part of African Arts Fest
Fri 6 Oct 21.00 € 14 / 10,50 / 10 / 9   (combi-ticket Sac au dos € 24 / 22) TICKETS

Lady Africa Fashion Show

The Lady Africa Fashion Show is a recurring success at Afrovibes. This year it will present the latest ready-to-wear fashion from Africa and bring professional and real life models of all ages, shapes and backgrounds together on the catwalk. Lady Africa imports high quality fashion and accessory labels from Africa by both established and upcoming designers and shows Dutch audiences what African contemporary design has to offer.

The Hague | Het Nationale Theater (Theater aan het Spui)
Sun 8 Oct 15.00 € 17,50 / 14 (day programme with In a World full of Butterflies) TICKETS

Kunsthal x Afrovibes: Designing the Catwalk
On Sunday 1 October we’ll present a day full of fashion, design, music and dance at the Kunsthal. With a workshop by designer AIR: Atang Tshikare, and exhibition about Conny Janssen Danst and the Lady Africa Fashion Show!
12.00 | Access on display of museum ticket

Host on both days is Eloah Udenhout.

AIR: Atang Tshikare (SA)

Atang is an award winning artist and ‘creator’ choosing to work between disciplines such as design, fashion and graphic design. His studio Zabalazaa Designs in Cape Town is an open platform for co-creation and innovation applying creative design-led thinking, working with various materials such as wood, paper, metal, ceramics and fabric. His work has been shown in different parts of the world such as Design Miami. During his residency period Atang will create work based on the festival theme Fragile Freedom and will be the featuring artists of the FRAGILE FREEDOM: WOMXN exhibition.

Amsterdam | De Balie
Thu 28 Sep – Sun 15 Oct | Mon – Fri 09.00 – 01.00, Sat & Sun 10.00 – 00.00
Official opening Tue 3 Oct 18.00 FREE

Rotterdam | Maaspodium
Fri 6 Oct – Sun 8 Oct | doors open an hour before the start of the performance Free

Made possible by Stimuleringsfonds Creatieve Industrie, het Nieuwe Instituut and the Thami Mnyele Stichting.

AIR: Here to There (SA / NL)

Here to There is a spoken word / dance experiment that combines the writings of poet Koleka Putuma (SA) with choreography of dancer Niki Van Callandt (NL) and is directed by Amy Jeptha (SA). Here to There was made especially for Afrovibes around the festival theme Fragile Freedom. The performance interrogates the entangled histories between South Africa and The Netherlands and examines how these entanglements manifest in the 21st century. It questions ways of remembering and acknowledging the trauma of our shared past while living alongside one another in the present.

Amsterdam | Tolhuistuin
Thu 28 Sep € 22,50 / 20 (combi-ticket opening night starting 19.30) TICKETS
Fri 29 Sep 19.00 € 22,50 / 20 (combi-ticket Pig Headed & DE-APART-HATE) TICKETS
Sat 30 Sep 19.00 € 22,50 / 20 (combi-ticket Pig Headed & DE-APART-HATE) TICKETS

Rotterdam | Maaspodium
Sun 8 Oct 18.00 € 14/ 10 (combi-ticket What Remains & JONGA € 20 / 15) TICKETS

[DIRECTOR] Amy Jephta
[DANCE] Niki van Callandt
[POETRY] Koleka Putuma
[DURATION] 12 minutes

AIR: Amy Jephta (SA)

Amy is a South African playwright, screenwriter and theatre director. Her theatre productions were performed at national and international festivals such as Edinburgh Fringe Festival. During the festival she will direct the collaboration Here to There and is part of the programme Woorden Worden Zinnen and will give a Super college during African Arts Fest. She has been invited by Week van de Afrikaanse Roman and, in this context, takes part in Afrovibes.

Zie programme AIR: Here to There, Woorden Worden Zinnen and Super college by Amy Jephta.

AIR: Koleka Putuma (SA)

Koleka (SA) is an award-winning performance poet, facilitator and theatre-maker. During the festival she’ll perform her poetry programme, which gives a critical reflection on her surroundings, on current South Africa and connects this to the festival theme Fragile Freedom. She’s also part of various programmes such as the collaboration AIR: Here to There, AIR: FRESH and Woorden Worden Zinnen.

Amsterdam | Bijlmer Parktheater
Wed 4 Oct 19.30 € 13,50 / 11 (evening programme with JONGA) presented with Black Achievement Month TICKETS

Stadsschouwburg Utrecht
Sat 7 Oct 20.30 € 18 / 10 (evening programme with In a World full of Butterflies) TICKETS

The Hague| Het Nationale Theater (Theater aan het Spui)
Mon 9 Oct 20.15 € 17,50 / 14 (evening programme with JONGA) TICKETS

 See programme AIR: Here to There, AIR: FRESH and Woorden Worden Zinnen.

AIR: FRESH (SA)

FRESH is a creative platform in Rotterdam for young people with big ideas. Creative minds organise their evening for their audience. It’s always on the first Friday of the month. Friday the 6th of October, South African poet, theatre maker and performer Koleka Putuma will curate the FRESH evening. Koleka will get the key of Maaspodium and give shape to the evening. Getting curious?

Rotterdam | Maaspodium
Fri 6 Oct 20.15 € 14 / 10 TICKETS

AIR: Kirvan Fortuin (SA)

Kirvan Fortuin is a South Africa born choreographer and dancer. As artist in residence he creates new work based on this year’s festival theme. In Your Hands! celebrates coloured identity. The work will be set to covers of popular old school music, music that was played on the streets on the Cape Flats when Kirvan was growing up. The work focuses on the enjoyment of dance in its essence of movement.

Amsterdam | Tolhuistuin
Thu 28 Sep € 22,50 / 20 (combi-ticket opening night starting 19.30) TICKETS
Fri 29 sep 21.00 FREE

Rotterdam | Maaspodium
Sat 7 Oct 18.30 € 14 / 10 (part of evening programme) TICKETS

The Hague | Korzo
Sun 8 Oct € 28 / 26 (part of programme African Arts Fest) TICKETS

[DANCE] Kirvan Fortuin, Lee Kotze, Kimberley Burger
[DURATION] 20 minutes

AIR: Gareth Cowden (SA)

Fashion stylist Gareth Cowden from South Africa is the creative mind behind the fashion label Babatunde. Gareth translates African wax print to daily fashion such as hats, caps, umbrellas and laptop bags. His designs are worn by stars such as Stevie Wonder and are being sold in various shops in South Africa, Japan and Europe. During his residency at Afrovibes Festival he will research design and fabrics and present his work as part of the Lady Africa Fashion Show in The Hague and Rotterdam.

Rotterdam | Kunsthal
Sun 1 Oct 12.00 | Access on display of museum ticket

Den Haag | Het Nationale Theater (Theater aan het Spui)
Sun 8 Oct 15.00 € 17,50 / 14 (evening programme with Lady Africa Fashion Show & In a World full of Butterflies) TICKETS

Supported by Stimuleringsfonds Creatieve Industrie.

AIR: Afrovibes x Haags Hiphop Centrum

The programme on 8 October in Rotterdam and 9 October in The Hague will bring performances by the Haags Hiphop Centrum. Word artist M. has written new work based on this year’s festival theme and will give a live performance in both cities. In The Hague, the funky hip hop formation Mothers Groovebox will perform prior to JONGA and treats the audience to a full set afterwards. In short, The Hague Hiphop Center and Afrovibes bring you a programme filled with creativity on different levels!

Rotterdam | Maaspodium
Sun 8 Oct 18.00 € 14 / 10 (part of evening programme) TICKETS

The Hague | Het Nationale Theater (Theater aan het Spui)
Mon 9 Oct 20.15 € 17,50 / 14 (part of evening programme with JONGA) TICKETS

Public Encounters

This year, part of the Afrovibes programme will be featured in the public space around the Bijlmer Parktheater in Amsterdam and the Cereolfabriek in Utrecht. Artists place their work in direct dialogue with space, people and the city. Young Dutch theatre makers present short interventions alongside the work of professional African artists. In Amsterdam, Public Encounters is in collaboration with Likeminds and in Utrecht it’s in collaboration with Jongerentheater Link, Het Wilde Westen and local talent. Public Encounters is a unique opportunity for the audience to see theatre and dance in the public space and young theatre makers alongside established, cutting-edge African artists.

Utrecht | Cereolfabriek
Tue 3 Oct 19.00 FREE

Amsterdam | Bijlmer Parktheater
Fri 6 Oct 19.00 FREE

[CURATOR] Leila Anderson
[PRODUCTION & ACTORS AMSTERDAM] Likeminds Factory
[PRODUCTON & CO-CURATOR UTRECHT] Jongerentheater Link, Odak Onyango & Saskia Ottenhoff

A’s Academy x Afrovibes

Afrovibes Festival and Afrolosjes bring an urban dance and music programme where artists from Johannesburg collaborate with youngsters of the A's Academy trajectory. A's Academy is a professionalization course of Afrolosjes for talent between 16 and 26 years from Amsterdam South East. The outcome of this exchange are the Braamies, Pantsula, Cuts of Concrete and Uncool Tracks programmes.

Braamies From Joburg to Damsko.

A music programme in which styles and influences from Johannesburg and Amsterdam South East meet. The concept Braamies comes from a neighbourhood in Johannesburg called Braamfontein, a creative area with pop-up stores, art galleries and underground parties. Braamies is a collaboration with DJ Zakes (South Africa) and builds on the artistic connection between Johannesburg and Amsterdam. KWAITO - AFROHOUSE - KUDURO – AFROBEATS…. Mixed with other music styles.

Rotterdam | Maaspodium
Sun 8 Oct 17.00 € 14 / € 10 (part of evening programme) TICKETS


Pantsula
A Pantsula dance performance that tells the story of untouched creativity in an environment where the street is your stage and the residents your critics. The streets tell their own story. This performance is inspired by Johannesburg, the stories of different neighbourhoods, the traces of apartheid, perseverance, power and the courage to be competitive. We don’t step back for anything or anyone. Pantsula is performed as a curtain raiser for DE-APART-HATE.

Amsterdam | Tolhuistuin
Sat 30 Sep 21.00 € 15 / 12,50 (in combination with DE-APART-HATE) TICKETS

Rotterdam | Maaspodium
Sun 8 Oct 17.40 € 14 / 10 (part of evening programme) TICKETS


Music programme A’s Academy
This is what Africa sounds like. An evening programme packed with music where styles and influences of Johannesburg and Amsterdam South East meet.

Cuts of Concrete
Just as the outdoor hairdressing businesses in the streets of Johannesburg, the A's Academy's DJ’s are on stage and perform the sounds of the busy streets from Braamfontein to Newtown. Every corner has its own sound ... every street tells its own story.

Uncool Tracks
Individual sounds devised across different tracks form the basis of the story of the Uncool Tracks. This concept is inspired by a visit to the Trackside project in Soweto. Jay Way also known as The Uncool Kid, deconstructs his entire musical set and rebuilds it during this live session.

Amsterdam | Tolhuistuin
Sat 30 Sep 18.30 € 10 / 7,50 TICKETS

Supported by the Fonds voor Cultuurparticipatie.

Woorden Worden Zinnen

Bringing spoken word in the broadest sense of the word in a ‘feel good’ setting in the Tolhuistuin. Woorden Worden Zinnen is an accessible platform and performance night for spoken word. WWZ will select a diverse line-up especially for Afrovibes, with both national and international artists! Where words become sentences we listen to international and local guests including AIR: Koleka Putuma, AIR: Amy Jephta and Kimberly Agyarko.

Amsterdam | Tolhuistuin
Sun 1 Oct 16.00 € 10 / 7,50   (combi-ticket What Remains & Cineblend Film Programme: Amsterdam, Sporen van Suiker € 22,50 / 20)  OR (combi-ticket Afriqueer € 17,50 / 15) TICKETS

Cineblend Film Programme

Cineblend Open Air #4: The Rose of Rhodesia
This recently recovered film involves the theft of a diamond from a Rhodesian mining concern, though its real interest is inter-racial relations. The screening will be supported by live music by South African composer and musician Neo Muyanga, who wrote a new composition specifically for this occasion. This evening will be presented in collaboration with Cineblend, Tolhuistuin Foundation, Eye Filmmuseum and Afrovibes.

Amsterdam | Tolhuistuin
Tue 12 Sep 21.00 € 9,50 / 7,50 TICKETS

[DURATION] 81 minutes

The Pearl of Africa
The Pearl of Africa is a story about Cleopatra Kambugu, a 28 year old Ugandan transgender girl. Biologically born male, but transitioning into the woman she knows she was born to be. An intimate fight for love in one of the most transphobic places in the world. Forced to leave her country and loving boyfriend behind, she sets out to fight for her right to love, and against all odds, to become the first accepted trans person in Uganda. This film is presented in collaboration with International Queer Migrant Filmfestival

Amsterdam | Tolhuistuin
Sat 30 sep 17.00 € 9,50 / 7,50 (comb-ticket Afriqueer € 17,50 / 15) TICKETS

[DIRECTOR] Jonny von Wallström | Zweden, 2016
[DURATION] 75 minutes


Amsterdam, Sporen van Suiker
This documentary film focuses on the rich and complex history of the city of Amsterdam in relation to the trans-Atlantic slave trade. It offers a cinematographic tour along visible and tangible traces in Amsterdam. It leads the viewer to the human stories behind these traces and unfolds new perspectives on the often untold dark side of The Golden Age.

Amsterdam | Tolhuistuin
Sun 1 Oct 20.30 € 9,50 / 7,50 (combi-ticket Woorden Worden Zinnen & What Remains € 22,50 / 20,00) TICKETS

[DIRECTOR] Ida Does | Nederland, 2017
[DURATION] 55 minutes

Colonial conversations 1 & 2

Colonial conversations 1: What do we want to remember from our history of slavery?
A programme around the performance What Remains, written by Nadia Davids and directed by Jay Pather. 
After the performance Nancy Jouwe will speak with artist/activist Patricia Kaersenhout, rapper/musician Gideon ‘Gikkels’ Everduim and Jay Pather about the ghosts of our past. How should The Netherlands deal with the remains of our history of colonialism and slavery? The debate is presented in collaboration with Read my World Festival.

Amsterdam | De Balie
Tue 3 Oct 20.00 € 15 / 12,50 (in combination with What Remains) TICKETS


Colonial conversations 2: Gender / Sexuality / Religion / Oppression
An evening programme around the performance DE-APART-HATE by Mamela Nyamza. Following the performance we will speak with Mamela about her performance and the situation of black women in South-Africa. Afterwards we will go into conversation with Sruti Bala (associate professor in Theatre and Performance Studies), choreographer Jay Pather and Katlego from the University of Leiden about the complexity of the oppression of black women that Mamela explores in her performance. Host of the evening is Harriet Duurvoort.

Amsterdam | De Balie
Wed 4 Oct 20.00 € 15 / 12,50 (in combination with DE-APART-HATE) TICKETS

African Arts Fest

Afrovibes Festival x iAfrica Film Festival x Korzo

Afrovibes Festival, iAfrica Film Festival and Korzo join forces and present a 3-day festival where dance, music, film, performance art and photography will come together in an inspirational way. With the festival theme being freedom the program shows the dynamic, cultural life of urban Africa and connects this to Dutch artists and a Dutch audience. The Korzo bar will be transformed into a lively festival café and a meeting place for the (inter)national guests and the audience. In the foyer the portrait exhibition The Black Dutch Project by Yangambi and Basabose Photography will be shown with portraits of inspirational Dutch role models of African descent.

Friday 6 October TICKETS
The opening night brings a diverse programme with dance, film and music with dance performance Sac au dos by Florent Mahoukou, a solo about the genocide in Congo. The evening will kick off with the documentary Afripedia Senegal and we’ll end it with Ethiopian Jazz by Black Flower.

Saturday 7 October TICKETS
An evening programme with a super college and dance performance DE-APART-HATE by Mamela Nyamza (SA) about the quest towards personal freedom. The documentary Afripedia Ghana shows the new generation African Artists. We’ll end the evening with a concert by Moh! Kouyaté from Guinea.

Sunday 8 October TICKETS
iAfrica Film Festival presents a programme with films, documentaries, animation and music from several African countries. The festival creates a vibrant platform for African filmmakers and gives a contemporary perspective on several African countries, societies and cultures through the lens of African filmmakers.

For the entire programme go to korzo.nl

FRAGILE FREEDOM: WOMXN

A POP_UP GRAPHIC ARTS AND PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITION -
- represents the changing mood of artists in South(ern) Africa and it’s diaspora who are challenging existing perceptions by creating more political and social art in their storytelling on paper and in print. This year’s theme is Womxn. The exhibition focuses on work from both female artists and male artists creating work relating to the ongoing struggle for recognition and freedom of Womxn. Artist in residence Atang Tshikare (SA) takes centre stage for the exhibition with specially commissioned work made for the festival based on his visit to Amsterdam and his celebration of the women who have been important in his life and work. The exhibition is curated by Cathal McKee and Fiercepop.com

Amsterdam | De Balie
Thu 28 Sep – Sun 15 Oct | Mon – Fri 09.00 – 01.00, Sat & Sun 10.00 – 00.00
Official opening Tue 3 Oct 18.00 FREE

Rotterdam | Maaspodium
Fri 6 Oct – Sun 8 Oct | doors open an hour before the start of the performance FREE

Made possible by Stimuleringsfonds Creatieve Industrie, het Nieuwe Instituut and the Thami Mnyele Stichting.

Super college by Amy Jephta

The Flats: Legacies of Space in Post-Apartheid Theatre

The residue of Apartheid continues to be felt in the country and in the City of Cape Town in the ongoing way that space is used as a tool of segregation and separation. While this legacy has many felt effects, on a more tangible level it also determines the geographic negotiation of black bodies in the city of Cape Town – who lives where, who moves where – a drawing of invisible boundaries cemented by the Group Areas Act. This talk focuses on how young theatre-makers and particularly playwrights in South Africa are grappling with the contested spaces of the post-Apartheid city in their work. It will also speak to how one performative event in the Cape Coloured community has served as a symbolic reclamation of public space in the post-Apartheid city. 

Read more about AIR: Amy Jephta (SA).

The Hague | Korzo part of African Arts Fest
Sat 7 Oct 18.00 combi-ticket DE-APART-HATE € 28 / 26 TICKETS

Blood Sugar - Cargo in Context

Patricia Kaersenhout offers Cargo’s visitors food for thought and exercises their imagination as she pictures slavery and its on going consequences in a most probing way. The series of bloodshot sugar cones in the project space stands for centuries of suffering. On one of the walls we become aware of the names of slave mades, of them who survived and did not survive the crossing of the Atlantic Ocean.

Important themes in the body of work of visual artist and culture activist Patricia Kaersenhout are colonialism and slavery and its nasty consequences for many generations. Patricia accepted Cargo’s invitation to develop a new work about that heavily ignored part of Dutch slavery history. During her research time and again she came across the Dutch production of sugar and its trade and respectively on sugar in relationship with slavery. It became clear to her that since the 16th century the Netherlands enriched themself at the expense of so many lifes of slave mades.

Amsterdam | Cargo in Context
Opening: Fri 1 Sep 17.00
From 2 Sep - 22 Oct - Thu & Fri 12.00 - 17.00, Sat 13.30 - 17.30
During Afrovibes opened on Sunday 1 October 1 from 12:00.

Round table discussion: Translating Crisis into Art –African Perspectives

On Wednesday 4 October 2017, from 14.00 to 18.00 hrs. the Afrovibes Festival will be organising a round table meeting for artists, arts professionals and arts students at De Balie. The theme of the meeting will be: Translating Crisis into Art –African Perspectives.

From time to time the discussion around the primary role of art among arts professionals resurfaces. Even more so in fragile democracies. What takes pride of place? Should art always be critical towards its political, social, cultural, or religious surroundings? Should the context in which art is created somehow be evident in the work? Or is there intrinsic value in its aesthetics? 

These questions are of all times and of all places. In this panel debate artists in the Afrovibes programme and artists based in the Netherlands will be in dialogue on whether and how they personally translate crises of global, local or personal scale into art. To what extent do they feel a responsibility towards their audiences to reflect such issues in their work? Can a work not simply be beautiful in itself? What is the relation of realistic context to the pleasing aesthetics of their work? What is this assumption that artists intrinsically have the ability and the wisdom to speak out on political questions? Do artists legitimize their work in terms of its social relevance? Are they perhaps pressured by political agenda’s of their funders? Or do they, as artists, regard their work as fully autonomous?

This round table discussion will not be about presenting best practices, but about exposing the complexities and vulnerabilities of different artistic approaches. In this, Afrovibes hopes to facilitate a valuable dialogue.

PROGRAMME (English spoken):
13.30       Doors open
14.00       Opening: word of welcome by Jay Pather – artistic director of Afrovibes
14.10       Keynote speech by Mark Fleischman – head of Drama at the University of Cape Town
14.40       The artistic practice  - 1st panel
15.40       Plenary conversation
16.00       Tea break
16.30       The artistic practice 2nd panel
17.30       Plenary conversation
17.50       Artistic response
18.00        Drinks and ample opportunity for recapitulating and getting better acquainted.
18.30       Opportunity to see the pop-up graphic arts and photography exhibition Fragile Freedom: WOMXN .
20.00       Opportunity to see performance DE-APART-HATE (SA) (order a ticket here) by Mamela Nyamza and to attend the ensuing panel discussion.

 * The panel members will be announced in the coming weeks. After your registration you will receive the full programme.

If you want to attend this round table discussion please send an e-mail headed ROUND TABLE 4 OCTOBER and addressed to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. on Friday 29 September at the latest, stating how many people you will bring along.

Round table discussion: How African is African?

On Thursday 5 October 2017,  from 17.30 to 19.30 hrs. Afrovibes Festival will be organising a round table meeting for artists, arts professionals and arts students at Stadsschouwburg Utrecht (Hekmanfoyer). The round table will be moderated by Quinsy Gario. The theme of the meeting will be: How African is African?

Triggered by the slogan that Stadsschouwburg Utrecht placed on its posters to promote this year’s Afrovibes Festival: “HOW AFRICAN IS AFROVIBES?”, coupled with the hesitation voiced by African artists in last year’s round table to be labelled as such, we take time for an in-depth discussion among international artists and programmers on this tendency of boxing artists and artworks inside what is, in a sense, a geographical definition. What is Africa other than a context where individual artists thrive? No more nor less than artists and art from Europe or North America or Australia? Shouldn’t artists be invited on the merits of their individual work? The boxes that are created by curators and audiences may not reflect what the autonomous artist wishes to convey. What is it that draws the audience in?  Is it curiosity for the artist and his/her art or is this interest tinged with a fascination for the exotic? Is some art different? Whose art is it anyway? How African is African?

This round table discussion will not be about presenting our best practices, but about exposing the complexities and vulnerabilities of different artistic approaches. In this, Afrovibes hopes to facilitate a valuable dialogue.

PROGRAMME (English spoken):
17.00       Doors open
17.30       Opening: word of welcome by Katy Streek – programmer of Afrovibes
17.40       Opening statement by Mamela Nyamza,  dancer, choreographer and arts activist
17.50       The artistic practice  - 1st panel – the artist’s view*
18.30       The artistic practice 2nd panel – the curator’s view
19.10       Plenary conversation
19.30       Drinks and ample opportunity for recapitulating and getting better acquainted.
20.30       Opportunity to see performance JONGA (NL / SA) (order a ticket here), choreographed by Elvis Sibeko and Erik Bos

 * The panel members will be announced in the coming weeks. After your registration you will also receive the full programme.

If you want to attend this round table discussion please send an e-mail headed HOW AFRICAN IS AFRICAN and addressed to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. on Friday 29 September at the latest, stating how many people you will bring along.