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“For a long time I have longed to see the coming together of ideas pertaining to the greater community. Here it is! I salute you Kearsney for taking this baton. May this add inspiration and encourage many to follow their passion in art, drama, music, dance and words. Life is indeed art! What a wonderful display of talent and gifts. Thank you for blessing us” ANA PEREIRA DE VLIEG Artist ELWYN VAN DEN AARDWEG Teachers of Art, Drama, Dance and Music generally work in isolation in their schools with very few others who share their vision, challenges and joys. Culture@Kearsney aims to provide teachers and learners The diversity of talent, disciplines with a platform and stage on and performers provides a truly which to display their talents South African display of youth and creativity. Bringing together involvement cutting across racial, schools in the greater Durban social and economic divides. The and Pietermaritzburg region, we second year saw a wonderful hope to provide growth in the festival the opportunity for The diversity of with significant increases young people to be talent, disciplines in entrants, number of inspired about the and performers participating schools and Arts and to inspire resulted in a truly spectators. Message from the Headmaster others to appreciate South African the talent found in all display of youth Words@Kearsney will our schools. involvement be introduced in 2015, cutting across showcasing language in Culture@Kearsney racial, social and a creative and exciting is a non-profit economic divides. manner. attempt to encourage young people in the Fine and We invite schools to Performing Arts to take to the participate in this youth festival. stage and entertain. Established by The benefits to staff and learners Kearsney College in 2013, the sub- is immense, and the euphoria component disciplines of of performing on a recognised Dance@Kearsney, Art@Kearsney, stage will be an experience to be Music@Kearsney and treasured. Drama@Kearsney, under the umbrella of Culture@Kearsney, were held at the Botha’s Hill campus of Kearsney College. BY ANDREA FRIPP Director Clubs & Culture Kearsney College We are South Africans. We sing and we dance when other nations think it is inappropriate. We encapsulate more diversity than any other voices lifted in celebration of life. nation on earth, yet we are all And whether we learnt to sokkie bound by our deep love for culture. at the local church hall, play the The earliest San paintings in the djembe at a family celebration or Karoo depict scenes of festivals ululate in the fields with our cousins, where ancient man gathered to we are all joined by the deep spirit celebrate through dance of cultural appreciation that Celebrating our Culture Celebrating and music. Our history Our history has runs through our souls. has been passed on to been passed on us through a rich culture to us through a Despite this, we are of story-telling. We are rich culture of watching the appreciation a nation that chooses story-telling. and expression of the to dance when we are traditional arts slowly protesting. We are a nation that dissolve into small pockets of sings when we are mourning, and activities amongst our youth not the sombre hum of hymns today. The reality is that in many either, but the robust chorus of schools cultural pursuits are being curtailed by budgetary constraints and the premium once placed on We advocate healthy participation untainted fun has disappeared. We in festivals, as opposed to endless live in a world that is increasingly judging that produces winners and competitive, where our children losers, for, in the words of Ayn Rand, are taught from a young age to “A creative man is motivated by the benchmark themselves against their desire to achieve, not by the desire peers to the point where activities to beat others." devoid of competition have become irrelevant to them. Kearsney is providing the platform needed to showcase the talent that We want our community to be enthralled abounds in all of our schools, but by the talents of our youth again and we without the enthusiasm and, more want to draw our communities together importantly, the involvement of through arts and culture. the community we cannot make a success of this initiative. I sincerely We at Kearsney are offering the hope that you will be inspired opportunity to be the catalyst with ideas as to how you can get that will spur the revival of cultural involved. This is something we want appreciation in all schools. to see grow. It is something we Culture@Kearsney aims to provide want to see the community get schools with a platform that will excited about, to be enthralled by showcase the talents of our pupils the talent of our youth again and – whilst allowing these children to draw together, once again in the opportunity to benchmark celebration of arts and culture. themselves against others. ART EXHIBITION The ‘Earth’ without ‘art’ is just ‘eh’. THE INK SOCIETY The Visual Arts play an integral role in providing opportunities for adolescents to express themselves, Kearsney as well as to develop aesthetic sensitivity as a crucial aspect of their lives. Eager art students embrace the @ opportunities to be creative, to innovate and to explore new frontiers. The fruits of their efforts however are Art seldom witnessed by a wider audience, inevitably lost in dusty storerooms before being relegated to the landfill. This annual exhibition aims to bring to the forefront the creative exploration and diversity of art produced by pupils, where the artists of tomorrow can learn from each other, develop their talents and unlock their potential for creativity. PHOTOGRAPHY “Photography is an influential and powerful tool that creative and enquiring minds use to interpret, interact with and express, the Kearsney world around them, the human condition and the expression of nature in all its glory.” MATTHEW WILLMAN @ Art Photography is just as artistic as any other medium. It does not matter whether you photograph it or paint it: if it contains emotion it is art. A photographer, depicting the world around him, interprets a scene by reducing it to a single decisive moment. The art of photography is immediate and accessible to anyone who has a camera, no matter the type, capability, size or cost of the camera. The aim of this photographic competition is to develop the medium of photography as medium of artistic expression. Whether the photographer simply holds the camera and snaps a few pics or takes the time to compose the correct shot with the correct lighting, with the correct . photography is art. Dance is an accessible art form that can bring greater self-awareness and self-confidence. Dance emphasises action rather than a finished object. Dance visualises aesthetics. The recent surge in interest in the world of Kearsney contemporary dance has ensured that this form of artistic expression has been given the stage in the @ Culture@Kearsney programme. Pupils are given the opportunity to showcase the best of their dance talent to the eager audiences through “We should consider Dance this growing art every day lost on which form. we have not danced at least once.” FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE Schools are invited to undertake a dance programme that celebrates movement and dance sequences, with dynamic routines which “Tell a Story”. The style of dancing is at the discretion of the individual school, thus ensuring a programme that is as diverse as the schools they represent. “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages.” WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE Kearsney One-Act plays form an essential element in many schools’ cultural calendar. The glory for the winning @ play however is usually limited to a title and perhaps points for their House. These amateur works often unearth talents that exist outside the formal drama classroom. Sadly the experience is often not shared with pupils in one’s own or other schools. Drama This component of Culture@Kearsney aims to give winning dramatists from each school the opportunity to showcase their talents to an audience beyond that of their school, on a stage equipped with world-class sound and lighting equipment. Schools are invited to enter a one-act play, either an original script written by a pupil at the school or derived from a short story or full length play. The emphasis is on the pupils producing, directing and starring in plays without the input of professionals. “I love to hear a choir. I love the humanity to see the faces of real people devoting themselves to a piece of music. I like the teamwork. It makes me feel optimistic about the human race when I see them Kearsney PAUL McCARTNEY cooperating like that.” @ Join the acclaimed Kearsney College Choir on stage in a celebration of choral singing. This choir festival aims to provide an opportunity and a platform to showcase primary and high school choirs from all Music over KZN in a friendly, non-competitive environment where choristers and music colleagues can meet, socialise and learn from each other. Our Festival also aims to highlight choirs from under-privileged communities, showcasing the incredible talent that exists and assisting in the building of bridges across cultural, racial and economic backgrounds – promoting peace and tolerance through the power of music. “Poetry is the art of uniting pleasure with truth.” SAMUEL JOHNSON Slam Poetry (n): a form of competitive performance poetry in which participants offer earsney works no longer than three minutes and are K judged by audience members.

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