News

20 Years of UK Arts

 

2012 is a significant year. Not only does it mark 50 years of Jamaican independence and the Olympic games coming to London...it is also UK Arts International's 20^th Birthday!

 

With over 50 international presentations and productions under our belt (see past productions for details) UK Arts has always been recognized for its work with culturally diverse artists from around the world.

 

But while this has been a constant throughout the history of the company, we have always taken account of current developments in the field. This year will be no exception, so watch out for new directions and new focuses as the company enters its 21^st year.

 

Afrovibes 2012

 

Afrovibes came to the UK for the first time in October 2010. The festival aims to connect artists from southern Africa with artists from northern Europe, and to  develop creative partnerships and collaborations between them.

 

Our focus in 2011 was on developing Afrovibes legacy projects. One such project is The Three Furies, a collaboration between renowned UK spoken word artist Zena Edwards, Mbali Vulakazi from Capetown and Clara Opoku from Amsterdam.

 

You can see this new production at the Albany in London on April 18^th when the programme for Afrovibes 2012 will also be unveiled.

 

South Africa comes to Edinburgh

 

Jan Ryan, Director of UK Arts International has recently returned from South Africa where, with William Burdett-Coutts from the Assembly, and Amy Saunders from Festivals Edinburgh, she has been exploring the possibility of a range of productions from South Africa coming to the Edinburgh Fringe in 2012.

 

During their visit, they met with the Market Theatre in Johannesburg, the South African State Theatre in Pretoria and with the Baxter Theatre in Cape Town, as well as a number of individual artists and companies.

 

The programme of South African work which will be in Edinburgh will be released in April.