As part of the Arts Alive programme, the City of Joburg hosted the Aluta Nova Festival of Museums at one of the City’s iconic museums, the James Hall Museum of Transport.

The festival offered a variety of activities such as the iconic London Bus Museum tours, food and craft markets and an enticing live music line-up which included performances by Urban Village, Ami Faku, The Charles Gene Suite, Bilal Da DJ, Uncle Partytime, Your Uncle Garry, Kat Upendi and The Dig Experience.

Fitting in with the new norm, an open online registration saw music-loving individuals attending the vibey festival virtually on the chilly cloudy Saturday afternoon. Watching festivals on screens is growing the music industry and opening new tech opportunities.

Festival and chief curator of the James Hall Museum of Transport Gaisang Sathekge said: “The museum festival programme is aimed at resuscitating museum spaces by decentring the idea that heritage is a traditional and sacred concept that should not be touched by the unclean voices of contemporary culture. Aluta Nova simply means: A new struggle, we are no longer fighting demons of a dead tradition but faced with new challenges to rewrite history and reimagine our own place in the now.”

Sathekge said the City of Joburg aims to disrupt and deconstruct through the festival. The museum programme further contributed to the City’s commitment to support local talent and creative small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) during a difficult time where the pandemic has affected the creative industry economically.

There are still many programmes to see and enjoy in the 29th edition of the Annual Arts Alive International Festival, which ends on December 12 2021. To get a glimpse of the Aluta Nova Festival of Museums, visit our Facebook page @JoburgCulture

11/10/2021​