An intimate evening of storytelling and soulful melodies is coming up to chase away those winter blues.
The Cape Cultural Collective presents the Poetry & Jazz Sunset Session on Thursday July 23 at the Artscape Theatre’s Innovation Lounge, from 7pm to 8.30pm.
Vusumuzi Mpofu and Eugenia Zantoto will host the concert under the theme “We Are Here Together: A Mandela Month Gathering of Shared Stories and Rhythm”.
It moves away from a traditional recital, unfolding instead as a collaborative set between the poets, vocalists and live band.
The Poetry & Jazz Sunset Session is an initiative of the Cape Cultural Collective’s Writers’ Club.
On the spoken word line-up is Writers’ Club member, Shankly B Farred, 25, from Belhar.
He will share a poem, specially written for the event, about a boxer taking on the Apartheid system in the old Cape Province. “The boxer is Nelson Mandela. The central thesis of it is of him taking on Apartheid, so elements from his life and events from his life are painted as punches and blocks in a boxing match. I was a boxing fan from a young age. I don’t watch it as often as I used to but my experience with boxing and the knowledge that Nelson Mandela also studied boxing was the reason for the poem.”
Farred, a science fiction author, enjoys using modernist literary devices such as stream of consciousness in his work. He draws inspiration from history, philosophy and the sacred Qur’an.
He says the themes of his work engage with German philosopher Immanuel Kant’s concept of the categorical imperative, which is concerned with absolute morality. “I have written science fiction stories where it leads to utopia and the fall of the individual. I have agreed and disagreed with it many times.”
Farred is also a comic book lover and dreams of being recognised at the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards. “To be nominated would be an honour. I have always loved comics and have wanted to be in the industry as an editor by preference but also as a writer. My favourite comic, Fables, was the first comic I followed month to month and it changed how I saw mythology; how stories take form. But to be a comic book editor is to have full power over it, ideally for books like Superman or the X-Men. A creative man can save any bad comic and that is a challenge I would welcome.”
Farred is studying records and archive management and information sciences through Unisa.
Describing himself, he says, “Simply put, I am a person with autism and I love my family. Mashallah.”
He says autism is his super power. “It feeds my curiosity and if I look at something twice, each look is unique. When I engage with something new, I attack it, I examine it, I tear it apart. With autism it’s a very intense engagement.”
He believes art makes us human – even if we don’t understand it. “Art is a fundamentally human activity. There’s no more human an activity than creating stories, artistically expanding upon stories or retelling stories and I don’t think we can understand that at a fundamental level. No human being can really understand the concept of art. We use poems and delineations and dramas but we don’t really understand the act itself. I don’t understand the act itself and I think it is fundamentally a part of us, yet it is an unspoken part, something we institutionally know, not intimately know.”
People can find one of Farred’s completed works, The Redefined Man, on Wattpad.
Asked how he feels about this week’s show, Farred responds: “I look forward to it with a smile.”
Joining Farred for the spoken word segment at the Poetry & Jazz Sunset Session are Riyaadh Sarang and Rea Mmethi.
Babalwa Mentjies and Cindy Gibbon will lend their smooth voices to the set while the Mamela Band featuring Charles Louw, Carlo Fabe and Clayton Pretorius will round up the jazz notes.
Information
General admission tickets cost R150 each through Webtickets: https://www.webticket.co.za/v2/event.aspx?itemid=1598448872
Artscape ticket enquiries 021 421 7695 or 021 421 7839.
