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Returning to Grahamstown...

2nd time here now. In February Grahamstown was quiet, hibernating maybe. Now five shows a day, circus workshops, over 40 new friends and counting, festival buzz & ticket prices a quarter of what I’d pay back home at the Edinburgh festival. The south African artists we’re working with are predictably fantastic, multi-artform singing dancing acting enthusiasts who have launched themselves at the stilts & poi brought by Let’s Circus.

I’ve seen a few bad shows, eaten some questionable hot dogs, bought extra layers because it's COLDER THAN GLASGOW and snuck into a sold-out performance by pretending to be a photographer’s assistant. I’ve hung out at the Long Table on High Street having boozy conversations with a wonderful array of artists from all over the world.

In between I’ve been fortunate to see Exit / Exist (twice). A solo dance performance by Gregory Maqoma with 5 musicians, this show is the best thing I’ve seen in South Africa or anywhere else for some time. The tale of a 19th Century Xhosa chief and the astonishing cruelty wrought on his people by the British, Exit is told in a mythopoetic way through dance, song and projections, with none of the hectoring and political platitudes that can sometimes seep through in shows dealing with such charged subject matter. The fact that Gregory is a direct descendant of Chief Maqoma is an added layer of poignancy that the show doesn’t need, but seeing him dance up his ancestors is awe-inspiring. Other highlights for me were Yann Marrusich’s Bleu Remix, an intense exposure of the physical processes we all share through a man in a glass tank oozing blue liquid. Also the screening of Peter Brook’s The Assassination and Persecution of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmate of the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of The Marquis De Sade, and All Divided Selves, Luke Fowler’s documentary about Scottish psychiatrist (often labelled an ‘anti-psychiatrist’) R.D Laing. As a Glaswegian it was more than a little surreal to see the likes of Maryhill Road and several people I know on the big screen in Grahamstown. Still not as spooky though as meeting a man in his sixties in the pub who was born in the tiny village outside Glasgow where I grew up and emigrated to SA in his teens. Synchronicity knocks. There are still 4 days to go and my mind is already full, but it’s fantastic to be back here with Swallows and I feel hugely grateful for the chance to deepen my exposure to this weird, evolving and endlessly welcoming country. I still can’t make the isiXhosa CLICK.

Paul Henry (Remix Lab Participant)

#NAFRemix #NAF2013 #Remix Laboratory #South Africa #Swallows Foundation UK #Grahamstown