As part of the 2024 Heritage Festival, indigenous herbalist, Marthinus Daniels, right, hosted an educational demonstration of the healing properties of indigenous herbs and flora. (Photo: Carl Collison)
Taking place in the rural Western Cape town of Porterville, on 23 and 24 September, the second installment of last year’s hugely popular Purple Mountain Heritage Festival (PMHF), which seeks to “open hearts, minds, and the doors to the humanity in each of us”. This - according to the Purple Mountain Arts Residency’s co-founders and co-directors, Carl Collison and his husband, Aldo Brincat - is one of the arts initiative’s main objectives.
Serving up traditional food is a central offering of the annual Heritage Festival. (Photo: Carl Collison)
“Our Purple Mountain Heritage Festival is a not-for-profit 36-hour event. A mix of art, poetry, traditional food, storytelling, music, photography, and astronomy - all of which have been carefully curated to continue conversations around South African identity, and heritage,” says Brincat.
Co-founders of Purple Mountain Arts Residency, Aldo Brincat, left, and Carl Collison. (Photo: Carl Collison)
“South Africa still feels the legacies of colonialism and apartheid and we acknowledge and accept that the individual is somewhat powerless to alter these realities and to affect policy change in any significant way. However, as individuals and like-minded members of our community, we can assert our right to explore these realities - and to do so with respect and empathy,” says Collison.
“We are particularly pleased to celebrate two milestones at this year’s Purple Mountain Heritage Festival: We are delighted to welcome two donors. The Western Cape Government and the Goethe Institut Nigeria, through its pan-African Residency Re-Sourced Program - have provided us with some funding which will enable us to employ four young interns from our communities, and we will be able to cover all our costs, including humble honorariums to all our participants. Our second milestone lies in that, while last year’s program was made of mostly Cape Town and Johannesburg-based artists, this year’s program is almost entirely made up of Porterville creatives. Both these milestones are key to our values here at Purple Mountain Arts Residency.”
Among the many festival participants are Allen and Neheusha Daniels, who will be performing songs that have influenced their identity - not only as South Africans, but also as people from the Western Cape. Also, back by popular demand, Aletta and Nicole Hendricks (a mother-and-daughter team) will have us all in stitches as Aletta recounts how food has shaped her identity. This comedy duo will also be serving a selection of indigenous meals which rival food served in some of our finest restaurants.
Entry to all events and the food offerings are all free.
“Regrettably, in our country which has such huge levels of inequality, a ticket price is often used to keep certain people out of events, which is why we want everyone to feel welcome and to share in these national celebrations”.
For more information, follow the Purple Mountain Arts Residency Instagram and Facebook pages, or email pmartsresidency@gmail.com.