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The 26th Zwakala Festival has been given a new lease on life with a vision that will reach out to more artists and audiences. The revamped Zwakala Festival is also more attractive to its funders, the Department of Arts & Culture, with whose support through the Arts Incubator Programme the Festival is being relaunched in an exciting new format.

Cape Town - South African artist Carrol Boyes died on Wednesday after a brief illness. She was 65. Carrol was the founder, creator and CEO of The Carrol Boyes retailer in Cape Town.

The Goethe-Institut is happy to announce that the important Goethe-Institut Project Space continues in 2020. GPS funds multi-disciplinary arts projects all over South Africa with up to R60,000. Goethe-Institut Project Space (GPS) is a multi-disciplinary roving project space. The programme supports work realised all over South Africa ranging from workshops to exhibitions, events and performances; including visual art, literature, film, music, dance and theatre projects.

1 to 31 August Women’s Month takes place against a backdrop of an increase in the levels of violence and brutality against women and children in our society.

Business and Arts South Africa (BASA) proudly announced the launch of ArtsTrack No. 8 at the end of July. The 2019 iteration of the report is the eighth update of the original version, tracking consumer engagement, and their perception of arts and culture, and its attendant sponsors. The launch took place at a glitzy event held in the heart of Johannesburg, at the Museum of African Design (MOAD), and included performances from poet Bongani Mathebula (25 Magic).

THE period 25-28 June 2020 will see the Pan-African Creative Exchange (PACE) host its biennial, interdisciplinary arts provocation from the African continent. This will take place in Bloemfontein, South Africa, where African artists will network, share and exchange their arts with national and international arts presenters and producers.

The 40th edition of the annual Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) started on Thursday with a press briefing in the city.

South African singer Johnny Clegg died on Tuesday at the age of 66. Clegg was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2015. He had launched a series of farewell tours in 2018, appearing on stage with a variety of artists, including his son Jessie Clegg.

Veteran South African actress Nomhle Nkonyeni has died. Nkonyeni's nephew, Vusi Manapha, confirmed that she died at 4.30am on Wednesday. The actress, who received the Order of Ikhamanga in Silver earlier this year, had been in hospital since Friday.

A sold-out performance by Freshlyground and a free parade through the streets of Makhanda on Sunday saw out the National Arts Festival, an 11-day cultural binge of arts and entertainment.

In early June the SA Cultural Observatory was co-host of the Creative Intermediaries Forum that was hosted in District Six, Cape Town.

The work of the South African Cultural Observatory is highly enriched by learning from similar initiatives and organisations doing similar work across the globe