UJ announces UNFESTIVAL SA

Sne Mdiya

UJ Arts & Culture has announced a partnership with Business and Arts South Africa NPC (BASA) for a provocative new project, UNFESTIVAL SA. 

  A week of un-theatre, un-dance, non-exhibitions, non-workshops and a smorgasbord of nothing that may or may not take place during May, depending on how you look at it.

  Head of UJ Arts & Culture Pieter Jacobs said: “We all know that festivals, arts centres, theatres, galleries and other cultural institutions have been forced into cancelling events amid the Covid-19 pandemic. UNFESTIVAL SA is a conceptual event inspired by the Czech Festival of Nothing, conceived as a means to help independent creatives and the most vulnerable in the arts sector. UJ has been a BASA member for several years, and we saw the opportunity to partner around this symbolic concept for the benefit of students in the Faculty of Arts, Design and Architecture, and through our partnership with BASA and its artist relief efforts, for the sector as a whole.”

  Jacobs announced that arts lovers, supporters and stakeholders will be able buy tickets to non-events at UJ.

 “Fifty per cent of UNFESTIVAL SA’s proceeds will be distributed to needy students via the UJ FADA Dean’s Bursary Fund, which provides support for academically deserving students, and presents an opportunity for the public to give hope to the academic journey of the youth. The balance of 50% will be distributed via BASA’s supporting grants programme, which now offers artists and creative practitioners short-term financial aid for Covid-19-related medical care or to offset the loss of income due to the cancellation of engagements,” he said.

  The full UNFESTIVAL SA programme will be revealed at a Gala Opening on 15 May to which no one will go, or will be invited. 

  Visit www.arts.uj.ac.za or www.basa.co.za for details.