If art is a mirror for society, then the 1989 National Arts Festival reflected a collective certainty that change in the country’s political regime was imminent. Although the Festival is apolitical, this year’s programme contains hints of the democratic future that lay just around the corner. For the first time, contributors to the programme referenced the post-Apartheid era as a certainty, and the Festival celebrated its ability to provide a platform for free speech, open discourse, and continued meditations on the past and future.

Standard Bank continued as a main sponsor and Dr Conrad Strauss, in his Festival Message, wrote:

“Central to the Standard Bank National Arts Festival is freedom of expression, one of the attributes of a truly democratic society that should be prized most highly and protected most jealously. It is not an unbridled, boundless or reckless freedom, but one in which the rigorous disciplines of the arts impose responsibilities and standards.” 

Amongst the many artists participating in this ideal were icons of the South African arts such as Pieter-Dirk Uys, Johnny Clegg, Mathinus Basson, and Helen Mmakgoba Mmapula Sebedi. The Curated Programme included Dankie Auntie, a play by the great writer Zakes Mda, and Stille Nag, by Deon Opperman. The ‘Market Music Platform’ brought Inyanga – a tribute to women in Africa – and ‘Bright Blue’ – a popular Kwela Pop band, well known for their socio-political consciousness and anti-Apartheid stance – presented The Rising Tide at the Monument.