By The inaugural Hazendal Festival, taking place from October 4-6, 2024, will blend South African culture with global perspectives. The festival, which takes place at Hazendal Wine Estate in Stellenbosch, Cape Town, aims to spark meaningful dialogue among artists, scientists, and cultural practitioners through a Community In Practice, with the aim of encouraging leaders of their respective fields to think, create and debate together about important dynamics affecting our shared world. From a two-day symposium, to artist installations and performances, children’s workshops, live music, wine and dining experiences, the three-day event will engage all the senses through a series of unique experiences.
The Hazendal Festival Hazendal Wine Estate has invited eminent curator and brave visionary Khanyisile Mbongwa, former curator for Liverpool Biennial, to curate the inaugural edition of the Hazendal Festival, which will be dedicated to the incredible life-fostering organic material – Soil. Mbongwa’s edition of the Hazendal Festival will engage with our conceptions of geological time in the spirit of holding space for both grief and love – working with soil as an archive that holds shared stories of the past, present and future. The Soil Edition will be guided by the Nguni proverb “Belele nje, Abathulunga”, which in English translates to “They may be asleep but they are not quiet” and in Afrikaans to “Hulle slaap dalk, maar hulle is nie stil nie”.
Mbongwa comments, “the commissioned works of the invited artists, scientists, spiritual healers and cultural innovators interlock to understand the fertility of soil from the varying practitioners’ points of view”. The special commissions include a sculptural piece from Thania Petersen, a live intervention from Sethembile Msezane, an installation from Sisonke Papu, a wine-tasting intervention by Queezy Babaz and the presentation of the special edition Hazendal MCC label designed by Athi-Patra Ruga. “These interventions are site-specific, engaging with the land and the soil from the practitioners’ own work with spirituality. As such, we invite those who come to the festival to be a part of the space, pivoting between being members of the audience and witnesses of encounters,” adds the curator. The festival will also feature a gallery exhibition with works by celebrated contemporary South African artists including Lady Skollie, Inga Somdyala, Warren Maroon and Stephané E. Conradie.
The festival’s explorations and celebrations of soil will also include performances by Zolani Mahola, Tebego Louw, music and sound explorations by Chimurenga as well as Dj Daddy, Dj Phastoki and DJ Attiyah Khan. There will be a live dance performance choreographed by Luke de Kock, short film screenings by filmmakers including Lerato Shadi and Santiago Mostyn, a sensuality self-discovery workshop by Tapiwa Guzha and a weaving and natural dye workshop by Tinyiko Makwakwa. The culinary offering will be created by the fine-dining Zulu chef Vusi Ndlovu together with Hazendal’s Head Chef Michelle Theron. The interdisciplinary curiosity of the Soil Edition will also feature a symposium hosted by Lungi Morrison, which will facilitate public conversations between the festival’s invited artists and South Africa’s leading academics including, Dr Christian Lueme, Prof. Kensese Mossanda, Dr Uhuru Phalafala, Li’Tsoanelo Zwane, Ukhona Ntsali Mlandu and Prof. Simeon Materechera. There will also be a children’s programme compiled by Faatimah Mohamed-Luke, which will run at Wonderdal from 10am – 4pm on Saturday and Sunday, in parallel with the rest of the festival’s day-time programme.
Hazendal Wine Estate’s Managing Director Maxim Voloshin comments that “for Hazendal the notion of land is about responsibility – to work on and with the land towards a shared hopeful future … If Soil is to be seen through the lens of fertility, actions of hope are the fertilisers of repair”.
Weekend passes and one-day tickets are available for purchase on the Hazendal Wine Estate website.
For more information:
Website: https://www.hazendal.co.za/
Follow the event on social media with #HazendalFestival2024 and on the following channels:
Facebook: @Hazendal Festival Hazendal Wine Estate
Instagram: @hazendalfestival hazendal_estate
LinkedIn: @Hazendal Festival Hazendal Wine Estate