The International AfroPunk Festival is coming to Johannesburg for the first time this month. Hosted by Johannesburg Tourism, in partnership with Gauteng Tourism and Constitution Hill, the event will take place from December 30 to January 1 at Constitution Hill.
AfroPunk is expected to draw 10 000 people each day to Constitution Hill, with performances by Solange Knowles, Anderson, Paak & The Free Nationals, King Tha, Blk Jks, Laura Mvula, The Brother Moves On, Nakhane and Spoek Mathambo, among other established and emerging artists.
eTN reports that the City of Johannesburg aims to use the event to increase numbers to Johannesburg, positioning it as a ‘leading, all-year-round global destination for business, lifestyle, sports and leisure’. In line with the ten priority implementation plans (PIPs) of the city and the economic development business plan, the tourism unit aims to contribute significantly to 5% of the economic growth in the city.
The city projects that the event will result in the creation of 300 jobs, and an injection of R42 million (€2.6m) to the Gauteng economy. It is estimated that a third of the audience will travel to Johannesburg from Cape Town and South Africa’s Eastern Cape and KwaZulu Natal provinces, as well as from Kenya, Nigeria and the US.
Business Live reports that Constitution Hill has hosted mega festivals before such as the annual Basha Uhuru Freedom Fest which attracts 15 000 youths to the precinct every June. A five-year partnership has been signed to host the AfroPunk Joburg Festival.
A spokesperson said: “Constitution Hill is a heritage site and the home of the Constitutional Court. We believe the ethos of the AfroPunk festival aligns with our core values, as it is centred on non-racial, anti-sexist, gender-and-sexual-identity inclusive ideologies. We uphold these human rights on a daily basis and feel that it is important to promote artistic endeavours that further these values.”
The Constitution Hill partnership has given rise to a legacy project, IamJoburg (an online tourism portal, project-managed by Travel Massive Africa). This initiative provides AfroPunk guests a raw Johannesburg experience, by assisting tour operators in Alexandra, Soweto and the city centre with developing experiential products and making better use of digital marketing.
The Afropunk partnership has also expanded to include a collaboration with the Amacreatives to host: A New Black - a multimedia group exhibition and dialogue focusing on the individual voices of seven upcoming contemporary artists and how they employ their artistic agency to engage with and interpret the colonial narrative that forms part of their history. This event is set to take place on December 14. In addition to the above exhibition Constitution Hill will also be offering complementary access to its array of exhibitions during the festive season.
AfroPunk: A history
AfroPunk is the title of a 2003 documentary directed by James Spooner, which traces the lives of black people in the white punk subculture. Business Live reports that the AfroPunk festival was started by Matthew Morgan and Jocelyn Cooper in 2005 in Brooklyn, New York, to respond directly to the needs identified in the documentary.
The festival has since expanded to Atlanta, London and Paris under a non-profit arm of the organisation known as Afropunk Global Initiative. Its intention is to work alongside traditionally underserved communities, support local creative businesses and invest in the creative economy.
