Where Jay Pather’s welcome to the 2012 Festival highlighted the innovation of that year, his greeting in 2013 was more what he himself called “a call to realism.”

The 2013 programme was burdened by many of the same cares that affect the National Arts Festival, and arts organisations nationwide, today. A lack of funding, coupled with a lack of clarity and slow delivery of the available funding, resulted in a programme in which, tragically, many works were proposed and accepted by the Artistic Committee, but were subsequently unable to be brought to fruition. As Jay described this: “in sum what we have is a metaphor for what is fast becoming a national landscape. A microcosm of what is possible, not what is. [The programme] would have featured greater contradictions, larger reflections of innovation, the gravitas of experienced artists juxtaposed with the risk and freshness of several young artists, all in full throttle. That would have been a true reflection of what we are as a nation.”

Nevertheless, there were many incomparable artists on both the Main and Fringe programmes. Jazzart were in attendance with Biko’s Quest, directed by Mandla Mbothwe, Vuyani Dance brought the seminal Exit/Exist, and Pieter Dirk-Uys returned once more with Adapt or Fly. In a daring piece of Performance Art, Anthea Moys challenged the City of Grahamstown, singlehandedly taking on a variety of the town’s best sports teams and clubs at their own games. The work saw her playing football, sabre fighting, and facing off against the Grahamstown Ballroom Latin Dancercizers!