Lawns outside Cape Town manor lit up for Unmute ArtsAbility festival

Cassidy Bailey and Andile Vellem perform a duet during the Unmute ArtsAbility Festival held at the Glenhof Manor in Newlands, Cape Town over the weekend. Photos: Ashraf Hendricks

Performers who took the stage at this year’s Unmute ArtsAbility Arts Festival were applauded by audience members waving their hands in the air.

The festival is an inclusive arts festival which focuses on creating awareness for people living with disabilities, specifically in the arts sector.

This unique three-day festival gave people with and without different disabilities the chance to showcase their talents through song, dance, film and painting. The two-day festival lit up the lawn outside the Glenhof Manor in Newlands, Cape Town, with inspiring performances by singers and dancers.

Inside the manor, artworks and photographs created by participants were displayed. There were also film screenings.

Co-founder and director of Unmute Dance Company, Nadine McKenzie.

Co-founder and director of the Unmute Dance Company, Nadine McKenzie, said the festival, which started in 2014, aims to create awareness for people living with disabilities, specifically in the arts sector.

“It’s about putting the work of people with disabilities on the map and normalising art from disabled people in our communities,” she said.

She added that funding for the past ten years has been a major challenge.

“Art in South Africa is struggling quite a bit because there is not enough support and funding available. There have been years where we’ve had smaller programmes, and years where we barely made it. But we have been fortunate enough to have support from different institutions, including Artscape Theatre, where the festival has been held for the past ten years.”

“This year is the first time that we are taking the festival out of the Artscape, which is exciting,” she said.

Brendon Swartz, who is paraplegic, paints using only his mouth.

One of the activities still hosted at the Artscape Theatre was a painting class hosted by Brenton Swartz, who is paraplegic and paints using only his mouth. Swartz is a mouth artist. Paralysed from the neck down due to a gunshot accident in 1994, Swartz is wheelchair bound and uses his mouth to paint.

“I couldn’t pursue my studies because of a lack of transport. I had friends who were artists in mouth painting, so because I did not want to sit and do nothing, I took an interest and decided to join them.”

Performer Jabu Vilakazi tries to paint with his mouth during a class by mouth painter, Brenton Swartz at the Artscape Theatre.

Displaying his paintings of a leopard and a portrait showing the autumn month, where leaves had fallen, Swartz hosted a workshop as part of the festival, teaching a group how to paint using their mouths.

“I was contacted by Nadine a few years ago, after she saw some of my artwork on social media, and since then, I have been part of the festival. I am grateful to be part of the festival because it gives me and my work exposure, and it gives me a chance to get involved in different forms of art.”

Nikita Scott performs a song with a sign language interpreter, Unathi Kave, at the Glenhof Manor in Newlands, Cape Town, on Saturday.

Keaoleboga Seodigeng and Jabu Vilakazi perform a dance called ‘Disembodied’ at Glenhof Manor.

Tebogo Lelaletse (left) who is a wheelchair user, performs a dance with Sbusiso Gumede (right) at the festival.

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