South Sudan: Hagana Festival announces 2019 line-up
The organisers of Hagana Festival have confirmed the artists performing at Nyakuron Cultural Centre in Juba, South Sudan, from 9 to 10 March.
The event is organised by artists collective Anataban, which uses different art forms to engage local communities on socio-economic and political issues.
This 2019 festival will feature 40 performances on two stages representing disciplines such as music, dance, fashion, visual art, installation art, theatre, poetry and comedy.
Some of the musicians set to perform include Lual, Tutu Beiby, Crazy Fox, Irene Toss, Rocky J, DJ Cent, Manasseh Mathiang, One Pound, Single Dee, Jungle Preacher, King Pin, John Frog, Anur Viper, General Paulino and DD Dawdy, among others.
The dance groups include Acholi Mega Dance, SSD Dancers, White Moon and Dinka Group.
Speaking to Music In Africa, Anataban logistics officer Meen Mabor said the festival wanted to enhance citizen participation.
“We would like to see more public participation in various sectors of our government,” Mabor, who is also a dancehall artist known as Menimen, said. “We all have a responsibility to act, where possible, and take ownership of the development process in our country because we all have the right to an opinion. Musicians have already taken ownership. We have many songs on good governance and peace. It's time that the general public shows interest in what is going on in our country.”
A couple of changes have been made to Hagana Festival's 2019 edition. Whereas the organisers employed an application process to select the preforming artist in 2018, this year's line-up was finalised by a curation committee. The organisers have also reduced the number of performances.
“We trimmed the line-up to accommodate everyone on the programme,” Mabor said. “Last year we had several groups that didn’t perform. It was disappointing for all of us.”
Mabor said the festival also wanted to address gender disparity in the arts. "We hope to one day archive a 50-50 gender balance at our events. However, this can only happen if we have more women in music. Equality is currently a challenge because society is yet to fully see music as a potential career for women, and to a certain extent for men as well," he said.
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