AfricAvenir Presents: 20 Years of Democracy in South Africa – Concerts, Films, Debates, 28 – 31 August 2014, HKW Berlin

This year the Republic of South Africa is celebrating the twentieth anniversary of the country’s first democratic elections. The end of apartheid gave millions of previously disenfranchised people a new life horizon. Haus der Kulturen der Welt and the South African Embassy will celebrate this anniversary by hosting a many-voiced and critical appraisal of developments in South Africa since 1994. AfricAvenir is a Media Partner of this major event.nThe four-day program opens on Thursday, August 28, after a welcome speech of the Federal Foreign Minister Dr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier, with a keynote by cultural scholar and publicist Njabulo S Ndebele, followed by the musical highlight of the evening: a concert by jazz legend Hugh Masekela, whose song "Bring Him Back Home" (1987) became the anthem for Nelson Mandela’s liberation. Concert tickets and more

Protagonists of the anti-apartheid movement, including lawyer Dumisa Buhle Ntsebeza and lyricist Antjie Krog, come together with representatives of the new generation, such as filmmaker Khalo Matabane and photographer and LGBT activist Zanele Muholi, for a symposium on the Challenges and Promises of Democracy held on Friday, August 29. In four panels on the issues of economy, law, education, and culture, the participants will examine the successes during the transition to democracy as well as the challenges the country faces today: the wounds of the past, persistent inequality, and social intolerance. As a "test case in democracy," this examination of South Africa will also offer insights into the promises and challenges that democracies face worldwide. Registration to the Symposium

On all four days, a program of documentary and feature films will address highly topical themes of South African society. Khalo Matabane’s Nelson Mandela: The Myth & Me (SA/D, 2013) questions the myth of Mandela and his policy of reconciliation. In Behind the Rainbow (SA/F/EG, 2008), Jihan El-Tahri follows the ANC’s transition from liberation movement to governing party. Pia Marais’s thriller Layla Fourie (SA/D/F/NL, 2013) ponders South Africa’s current obsession with security, and Rehad Desai’s Miners Shot Down (SA, 2014) questions how the "Massacre of Marikana" in August 2012 could come to pass – a low point in South Africa’s young democracy. The HKW will show the films by Matabane, El-Tahri, Marais, and Desai in the directors’ attendance. Thabo Thindi’s video exhibition Exile Faces featuring exiled South African anti-apartheid activists still living in Germany and giving their views on the new South Africa, a selection of additional films, and a screening for school classes with Stefanie Schlüter and Thabo Thindi will round off the program. Complete film program

Shangaan Electro, the electronic dance sensation around extravagant producer Nozinja and the accompanying high-speed dance with pantsula influences, has conquered the internet, clubs, and music charts all over the world. On Saturday, August 30, Nozinja will bring it to HKW. Concert tickets and more

Admission: keynote, reading, symposium, and video exhibition – admission free; Hugh Masekela incl. film 18€/15€; Nozinja (Shangaan Electro) 8€/5€; films 6€/4€

With: Carole Bloch, Rehad Desai, Jihan El-Tahri, Pumla Gqola, Antjie Krog, Ben Khumalo-Seegelken, Pia Marais, Xolela Mangcu, Hugh Masekela, Khalo Matabane, Birgit Morgenrath, Zanele Muholi, Njabulo S Ndebele, Nozinja (Shangaan Electro), Dumisa Buhle Ntsebeza, Bernd Pickert, Mzukisi Qobo, Jule Reimer, Storm Janse van Rensburg, Stefanie Schlüter, Thabo Thindi, Barbara Wahlster, and others

In cooperation with the Embassy of the Republic of South Africa
With special support of the Federal Foreign Office
 
Supported by the Southern Africa Initiative of German Business – SAFRI, South African Airways, Brand South Africa and BabylonstorennPresented by AfricAvenir and Funkhaus Europa
 
Credit: Photo © News Ltd/Newsix; Design: NODE Berlin Oslo