From left, Wesley Maherry, production and technical manager for JOMBA! received a citation award at the opening of the festival from Lillian Loots, Artistic Director/Curator of JOMBA!, and Ismail Mahomed, the Director of the Centre for Creative Arts at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Picture: SUPPLIED (VAL ADAMSON)
Wesley Maherry, the production and technical manager for the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s (UKZN) Centre for Creative Arts (CCA) and JOMBA! received a fitting honour at the opening night of the 26th JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience.
In a surprise citation and award ceremony last week in Durban, Maherry was awarded a special citation in recognition of his 15 years of committed service to the festival, said Ismail Mahomed, the Director of the CCA at UKZN.
“We often forget that live theatre cannot function without deeply motivated, organised and gifted people whose work is to technically serve the vision of the artists and make their work possible on stage. Long hours in dark theatres and endless admin, are some of the challenges. In this environment, the CCA and JOMBA! has been – and is – honoured to have Wesley Maherry in the role of production and technical manager for JOMBA! and all its various offerings”, said Mahomed.
In 2022, JOMBA! was awarded the National Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences Award for Best Digital Creations. In 2023, JOMBA! received an accolade from Business Arts South Africa for the festival’s outreach and activism work, said Lillian Loots, the Artistic Director/Curator.
“Wesley’s specialised stage production and digital technology skills underline why JOMBA! remains so highly acclaimed in the creative industries. His work on the online digital delivery of the JOMBA! MASIHMABISANI dialogues and colloquium as well as the main JOMBA! festival in both Durban and at our JOMBA! @ The Market Theatre in Johannesburg, is unprecedented. Fifteen years speaks to a deeply committed support of artists and artistic spaces,” said Loots.
Maherry works at UKZN’s Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre as a production manager. He is part of a small team – headed by theatre manager Jackie Cunniffe - that keeps the Sneddon one of eThekwini’s preferred live theatre spaces.
He has an undergrad degree in Drama and Performance Studies. In 2024, he graduated with an MA through UKZN’s Drama Programme where he interrogated his lighting design practice with choreographers like Vincent Mantsoe and Loots. His MA looked at how dance lighting can respond to the challenges and needs in Africa noting that most of the research around theatre and dance lighting is still only generated from Europe and America.
JOMBA! runs until Sunday September 8, in venues in Durban with a satellite event in Hilton and then goes to the Market Theatre in mid-September. For more information visit jomba.ukzn.ac.za