Bridging cultures through performance

HEALING PAST WOUNDS

- TASHMEER CHETTY

TASHMEER Chetty, seated, with fellow drama students from the University of KwaZulu-Natal. | Supplied

IN 1994, the SuriaLanga Dance Company presented a Bharatha Natyam piece, danced to the tunes of Johnny Clegg and Savuka’s maskandi song, Asimbonanga, at the inaugural ceremony of Nelson Mandela.

This was a groundbreaking moment which earned SuriaLanga’s artistic director, Professor Suria Govender, both backlash for tainting the Indian culture, as well as praise for promoting unity through the meeting of the AmaZulu and Indian cultures, drawing from a sad history of racial prejudice.

Recently, East Coat Radio’s Afternoon Drive presenters, Stacey and J Sbu, made history by playing a popular Tamil song, Yeh Macha Indhe, on the airwaves of a predominantly English-language radio station.

While this garnered much pride and joy from the Indian community, it was J Sbu’s message that he posted the day after the moment that touched hearts.

He emphasised how he grew up in the mixed cultural community of Seatides, and how he felt we should be more exposed and welcoming to other cultures.

The common denominator between these two historical events lies in the notion of bringing together two cultures, not to blend them or provide superiority to one over the other, but to see them through the same lens.

Richard Schechner, a theatre practitioner and scholar, describes this as interculturalism, and explains that the concept can explore missed connections, prejudices, misunderstandings and common grounds between two cultures, working towards healing past wounds.