Experience some of Africa's finest young creative talent at the annual Basha Uhuru festival at Joburg's iconic Constitution Hill. Sponsored by Nandos, this annual festival celebrates its 10-year anniversary this year with a showcase of contemporary youth culture and creativity. The Basha stage is known for bringing some of the most exciting young performers to the foreground.
The festival kicks off with a week of activities to feed creativity – with masterclasses, panel discussions on art, music, and design, as well as an installation by Nando's Hot Young Designer, workshops, dialogues, movies and poetry slams. The list of creatives taking part is as hot as Nando's peri-peri and includes Malibongwe Tyilo, Tracy-Lee Lynch of Clout SA, Mic Balkind of Soda Studios, Banele Khoza and Thabisa Mjo of MashT Design.
In typical Basha fashion, the festival is capped off on Sat, Oct 29 by the Sounds of Freedom Music Festival. The music festival, curated to give room to emerging artists and new talent, is anchored this year by megastars Blxckie, Big Zulu, Msaki, Lelowhatsgood, and iPhupho L'ka Biko.
Feed your creativity at the Basha Uhuru Freedom Festival Creative Week that runs from October 25-28, 2022.
Each day has a specific creative focus.
Tue, Oct 25 2022 11:00–18:30 - Business
DIY + Co-Create Creative Business Building Workshops
Attend the masterclass lead by Rifumo Mdaka on Digital tools/platforms to grow your business. This masterclass takes place at the Ideas Tank. There is also a BrandSA-curated panel discussion featuring influencers and business leaders, including Bulelani Balabala (Township Entrepreneurship Alliance), Aurelia Nxumalo (Advocate and My Learned Friend Co – Owner), and Dr. Samke Mhlongo (Wealth Coach, Author of Ringfence). This panel discussion is facilitated by none other than Dr. Brett, a Forbes 30 Under 30 Top Entrepreneurs Business Guru.
Still at the Ideas Tank, the afternoon kicks off with a panel discussion on the Power of Creative Entrepreneurship followed by a masterclass led by Thokozani Malaza who elaborates, through case studies, how content can be used to build social media campaigns that engage audiences and expand their reach.
Wed, 26 Oct 2022 11:00–22:00 - Design
The language of Pattern
Day 2 kicks off with a number of panel discussions focused on design – including one with industry heavyweights Malibongwe Tyilo, Tracy Lynch of Clout SA, and Glorinah Mabaso of Renaissance Design to unpack how patterns can be used for design. There's a session on the SA Design Industry and the opportunities it presents, while six successful creatives will share stories of professional failure. The programme for the day also includes a film screening of A Grave Confession, followed by a Q&A Session with writer-director David Mzomba.
Thu, Oct 27 2022 11:00–22:00 - Art
Artists Work Identity
Day 3 is dedicated to Art and Design. Moderator Boitumelo Tumy Motsoatsoe alongside Mbali Tshabalala, Khaya Sineyile, Nkosinathi Quwe, Vivien Kholer take you through their personal stories and histories revealing how they discovered their identities.
The second panel discussion focuses on 'Growing Beyond Borders' which sees Mary Corrigall with Asanda Kupa, Nkoali Nawa, Kagiso Pat Mautloa and Adolf Tafadzwa Tegahave sharing their own stories of growth.
Pop by the Number 4 Men's Prison for the exhibition launch by Vanessa Tembane and Refiloe Namise curated by Bulumko Mbete and Tseleng Tshabalala. You can also take advantage of the chance to see "Dying and rising as the moon does" – Celebrating two decades of the Keiskamma Art Project.
The last of the panel discussions focus on the LGBTIQA+ community. Panelists include Clive Mathibe (writer & producer & content creator), Roche Kester (poet & director of LGBTI Desk in the OOP Gauteng), Bonie Sithebe (film writer, producer & director), and Orapaleng Modutle (fashion designer) who discuss Queer Representation In Media & Performance, but more specifically the positives and negatives of Queer representation in media and the arts.
The programme closes off with a poetry showcase by Xquizified at the Chill Zone
Fri, Oct 28 2022 10:00–22:00
The final day of Creativity Week is split in two parts – the Music programme and Nexus of Art and Technology
Take an opportunity to attend the masterclass based on Ntsikelelo Mzibomvu's book – Reimagining Your Creative Self as he takes you on a journey of self-discovery, self-mastery, and empowerment. Take part in the collaborative song-writing session led by Bonga Kwana, affectionately known as Stargyal, alongside DJ Phodii, Basetsana, Aymos, Danayi. These talented artists touch on some key points of songwriting. After lunch, the groovists are going to enjoy the panel discussion about the spread of Amapiano both locally and globally.
Join Mitchan Adams, co-founder of fintech platform Ozow, and the new Aion Creative Technologies Incubator to explore the possibility of using both the left and right sides of the brain. Artist Robyn Pretorius discovers how she combines augmented reality with the real world while Isaac Chokwe, an animator and game developer from Animation SA investigates how motion capture combined with gaming engines and free software can increase productivity. Artist Fhatuwani Mukheli describes how he sells his artwork as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on The Tree, an online marketplace for South African artists. Michael Balkind from Soda World explores the technologies behind "the Metaverse".
Sat, Oct 29 2022 10:00–22:00
Sounds of Freedom Music Festival
In true Basha-style, the festival is capped off on Sat, Oct 29 by the Sounds of Freedom Music Festival. The music festival is anchored this year by megastars Blxckie, Big Zulu, DNB Gogo, Msaki, Lelowhatsgood, iPhupho L'ka Biko, Lelowhatsgood, iPhupho L’ka Biko, MamThug, Kyotic, DJ Mr X, Bonj, Fif_Laaa, Bonj, DJ Zero, Thabie, Melo B Jones, DJ Walker, Mo_Niks, and AN.D.
For the first time, you can choose to purchase your tickets here for specific events, or for each day of the festival. Conference week Tue, Oct 25 - Fri Oct 28, R50 per day or full week access. Sounds of Freedom Music Festival Sat, Oct 29, R150-R200
