The University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Centre for Creative Arts’ Jomba! Contemporary Dance Experience celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, and have launched a book to mark the occasion.
Supported and sponsored by the French Institute of SA (IFAS) and Business and Arts South Africa (BASA), the launch of Archiving History and Memory: 25 Years of the JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience, edited by Tammy Ballantyne Webber, took place on Tuesday, September 5.
“The book is especially significant in remembering African creative histories in a time when forgotten southern-based archives are being politicised in de-colonial frameworks,” said Dr Lliane Loots, curator and artistic director of JOMBA!
“This book is offered as an archival project that holds an activist agenda and fights for carefully and methodically curated creative African histories to be remembered and honoured,” said Dr Loots.
“The festival functions as a community of change agents; it is a living, breathing entity embracing activist artists who seek to probe, question, activate and challenge,” said Ms Ballantyne Webber.
“It is one of the only SA dance platforms in existence that provides national and international opportunities and exposure for dancers and choreographers. We have tried through the photographic and editorial content to celebrate the 25-year journey, showcasing its rich history and the incredible archive of the South African dance landscape,” she said.
Archiving History and Memory: 25 Years of the JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience archives and charts this history, legacy and value of JOMBA!, providing critical essays by selected scholars and artists who have had a long association with the festival including Dr Gerard Samuel, Thobile Maphanga, Dr Saraleigh Castelyn, Clare Craighead, Professor Yvette Hutchison, Dr Loots and Ms Ballantyne Webber.
The book features a photographic essay of carefully selected festival images taken over the years by award-winning photographer Val Adamson, who has documented the festival from the very beginning.
There are curated birthday messages from local, African and international choreographers, dance makers and friends of JOMBA! And it includes a valuable archival overview detailing the programme, choreographers, and performers for every year of the festival.
“We believe this book will find an audience with creative arts-based scholars, researchers and practitioners, academic institutions where performance studies are offered, humanities-based scholarship, and artists and dance practitioners who seek memory/archive of their own practices,” said Ms Ballantyne Webber.
The book will be available to purchase during the festival from the Box Office, Sneddon Theatre, until Sunday September 10.
