Brett Bailey (born 1967) is a playwright, artist, designer, play director, festival curator and the artistic director of the group Third World Bun Fight. He was the curator of South Africa's only

public art Public art is art in any Media (arts), media whose form, function and meaning are created for the general public through a public process. It is a specific art genre with its own professional and critical discourse. Public art is visually and phy ...

s festival,

Infecting the City Held in Cape Town, South Africa Infecting the City is a public arts festival that is committed to making art freely available to everyone. The festival hosts a range of different types of site-specific art, art intervention and performance art i ...

, in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

, South Africa, from 2008 until 2011. His works have played across Europe, Australia and Africa, and have won several awards, including a gold medal for design at the

Prague Quadrennial Held in Prague once every four years since 1967, the Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space or Prague Quadrennial is the world's largest event in the field of scenography, consisting of a competitive presentation of contemporary work in ...

(2007).

History

Brett Bailey was born in 1967 and completed a postgraduate diploma in performance studies at the Dasarts Master of Theatre in Amsterdam. He has worked throughout South Africa, and in Zimbabwe, Uganda, Haiti, the UK and across Europe. His acclaimed iconoclastic dramas, which interrogate the dynamics of the post-colonial world, include ''Big Dada'', ''Ipi Zombi'', ''iMumbo Jumbo'' and ''Orfeus''. His performance installations include ''Blood Diamonds: Terminal'' and ''Exhibit A: Deutsch Sudwestafrika''. He directed the opening show at the 4th World Summit on Arts and Culture (2009), and from 2006 until 2011 has directed the opening shows for the Harare International Festival of the Arts. He has been the curator of

Africa Centre The Africa Centre, in Cape Town, South Africa, is structured as a not-for-profit organisation whose purpose is to provide a platform for Pan-African arts and cultural practice to function as a catalyst for social change. All the projects it con ...

since 2008.

Works

The work of Bailey investigates the many layers and intricacies of

colonial Colonial or The Colonial may refer to: * Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology) Architecture * American colonial architecture * French Colonial * Spanish Colonial architecture Automobiles * Colonial (1920 au ...

and

post-colonial Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. Bailey's earlier works – ''Ipi Zombi'', ''iMumbo Jumbo'' and ''The Prophet'' – are grouped together under the title ''Plays of Miracle and Wonder'' (which is the title of a book on Bailey's plays) and incorporate ceremony and sacrament. These works are aggressive with Bailey using drums, screams, knives and broken glass to break down the audiences' defences. In ''Ipi Zombi'', Bailiey evoked a 1996 witch-hunt in which several women were blamed and killed for the death of twelve boys in a minivan accident. It combined

Xhosa Xhosa may refer to: * Xhosa people, a nation, and ethnic group, who live in south-central and southeasterly region of South Africa * Xhosa language, one of the 11 official languages of South Africa, principally spoken by the Xhosa people See als ...

and Christian ritual. Author

Zakes Mda Zakes Mda ( ), legally Zanemvula Kizito Gatyeni Mda (born 1948) is a South African novelist, poet and playwright and he is the son of politician A. P. Mda. He has won major South African and British literary awards for his novels and plays. He i ...

claimed ''Ipi Zombi'' to be a "A work of genius that maps out a path to a new South African theatre ..." In other works, such as ''Orfeus'', Bailey takes a softer approach, and looks to highlight the blind, forgotten, the broken and the voiceless. In ''Orfeus'', specifically, the audience is drawn down into an African underworld that is governed by a seedy businessman. ''Orfeus'', and other works, look at a post-colonial, showing a "decaying globalised world in which not only shamanic rituals but also moving music create an entirely unique African atmosphere". First staged in 2004 in

Bern german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese , neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen , website ...

, Switzerland, ''House of The Holy Afro'' has been repeatedly staged in Europe and Australia with its last iteration at the Market Theatre Laboratory,

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

, in June 2010. Performer and drag diva, Odidi Mfenyana plays the high priest of the holy house, and leads the performance through an urban funk

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or d ...

that borders on spiritual

ritual A ritual is a sequence of activities involving gestures, words, actions, or objects, performed according to a set sequence. Rituals may be prescribed by the traditions of a community, including a religious community. Rituals are characterized, b ...

. In the site-specific work ''medEia'', the audience walked in silence for at least ten-minutes before the production. The audience's emotional and intellectual journey through works were physically manifest in the installations ''Blood Diamonds: Terminal'' and ''Exhibit A: Deutsch Sudwestafrika''. ''Exhibit A: Deutsch-Südwestafrika'', staged in the Museum of Ethnology in Vienna's

Hofburg Palace The Hofburg is the former principal imperial palace of the Habsburg dynasty. Located in the centre of Vienna, it was built in the 13th century and expanded several times afterwards. It also served as the imperial winter residence, as Schönbrunn ...

, is a "meditation on the dark history of European Racism in relation to Africa". For the 4th World Summit on Arts and Culture, Bailey presented ''3 Colours'' – a one-off mixed media performance piece. Bailey collaborated with award-winning choreographer Gregory Maqoma and Congolese musician Mapumba Cilombo. The piece represented the complexities of inter-culturalism, in which Bailey "chose to portray different societies or cultures symbolically as

shrines A shrine ( la, scrinium "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred or holy sacred space, space dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor worship, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, Daemon (mythology), daem ...

. Indefinable as they are, our cultures are sacred to us. At the heart of each glows a unique cluster of precious jewels; our myths and histories, our heritage, our values and social structure, our cosmology, and relationship to the ultimate." Bailey's curated the Infecting the City Festival from 2008 until 2011. It is currently Africa's biggest

s festival that takes place in the public spaces of Cape Town during February or March of every year. During Bailey's tenure, the Festival chose a theme that had social relevance: "In a society that has as many complex issues as ours, if one is commandeering the communal spaces of the city, it is not enough merely to provide entertainment for the public. There is a moral imperative to tackle the pressing issues of our day, and to ask artists to apply themselves to these." "Exhibit B" was a highly controversial traveling exhibit that began in 2010. Inspired by 19th century

human zoos Human zoos, also known as ethnological expositions, were public displays of people, usually in a so-called "natural" or "primitive" state. They were most prominent during the 19th and 20th centuries. These displays sometimes emphasized the sup ...

, it was seen by more than 25,000 people in 14 countries before the end of 2014. Museum and theater directors joined to decry attempts at

censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...

after the work sparked protests around the world for its use of black actors in cages and chains.

Productions

* Jury of Prague Quadrennial – the International Exhibit of Scenography & Theatre Architecture: 2011 * Curator of

: the Spier Public Arts Festival in inner-city Cape Town: February 2008 – February 2011 * Creator of opening concert of Harare International Festival of the Arts (HIFA): 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2011 * Director of opening performance at the World Summit on Arts & Culture in Johannesburg: 2009 * Wrote and directed biographical performance on

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist who served as the President of South Africa, first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1 ...

for his 90th birthday party in Qunu, Eastern Cape, 2008.

Performances

Exhibit A: made with Namibian Performers and Musicians, writer/director/designer * 2010 –

Vienna Festival __NOTOC__ The Wiener Festwochen (Vienna Festival) is a cultural festival in Vienna that takes place every year for five or six weeks in May and June. The Wiener Festwochen was established in 1951, when Vienna was still occupied by the four Allie ...

and Theaterformen Festival in Braunschweig Orfeus: writer/director/designer * 2011 – Theaterformen Festival, Hannover * 2009 –

and Holland Festivals * 2007 – National Festival of the Arts (main program) * 2006 – Cape Town macbEth: the opera: director/designer (written by Verdi) * 2007 – Cape Town * 2002 – Pretoria * 2001 – Cape Town House of the Holy Afro: director/designer * 2010 – Market Theatre Johannesburg * 2009 –

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

and

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

Festivals, Australia. Linz European Capital of Culture programme and Rich Mix in London * 2008 –

Sydney Festival Sydney Festival is a major arts festival in Australia's largest city, Sydney that runs for three weeks every January, since it was established in 1977. The festival program features in excess of 100 events from local and international artists an ...

; Zurich Spektakel * 2007 –

Edinburgh Fringe Festival The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

; Harare; Umea, Sweden * 2006 – Melbourne,

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

* 2005 –

; Berlin; Brussels;

Reunion Island Reunion may refer to: * Class reunion * Family reunion Reunion, Réunion, Re-union, Reunions or The Reunion may also refer to: Places * Réunion, a French overseas department and island in the Indian Ocean * Reunion, Commerce City, Colorado, US ...

* 2004 – Bern Talking Heads: developed concept * 2008 – 2011,

festival medEia: director/designer (written by Oscar van Woensel) * 2005 – Cape Town * 2003 – Johannesburg Big Dada: the rise and fall of Idi Amin: director/designer/writer * 2005 –

; Brussels; Berlin; Johannesburg; Cape Town * 2001 –

Barbican Centre The Barbican Centre is a performing arts centre in the Barbican Estate of the City of London and the largest of its kind in Europe. The centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings and art exhi ...

, London; Amsterdam; National Festival of the Arts (main program); Cape Town Vodou Nation: made in Haiti, director/designer/writer * 2004 – London and 17 other UK cities iMumbo Jumbo: writer/director/designer * 2003 –

, London; Cape Town * 1997 – National Festival of the Arts (main program); Johannesburg Safari: C. G. Jung in Africa: made in Uganda, director/writer/designer * 2003: Kampala, Uganda; Amsterdam, Rotterdam and 13 other Dutch cities The Prophet: director/writer/designer * 1999: National Festival of the Arts (main program) Ipi Zombi: writer/director/designer * 1998: National Festival of the Arts (main program); Cape Town; Harare

Awards

* 2007: ''medEia'' won a gold medal for design at the Prague Quadrennial; * 2004: Honourable Mention for Brett Bailey's book ''The Plays of Miracle and Wonder'' at the

Noma Award for Publishing in Africa The Noma Award for Publishing in Africa (''French:Le Prix Noma de Publication en Afrique''), which ran from 1980 to 2009, was an annual $10,000 prize for outstanding African writers and scholars who published in Africa. Within four years of its est ...

* 2002: Fleur du Cap Awards/FNB Vita (Cape) award for Best Script of a New South African Play, and Best Costume Design for ''Big Dada''; * 2001: Standard Bank Young Artist of the Year for drama; ''Big Dada'' presented at the

National Arts Festival The National Arts Festival (NAF) is an annual festival of performing arts in Grahamstown, South Africa. It is the largest arts festival on the African continent and one of the largest performing arts festivals in the world by visitor numbers. Th ...

: Fleur Du Cap's Rosalie van der Gught Award for Best Young Director; * 1998: iMUMBO JUMBO: FNB Vita Awards for best director, original script and design.

Installations

* ''Blood Diamonds'': Terminal at National Festival of the Arts * ''Exhibit A'': Deutsch SudwestAfrika

Publications

* ''The Plays of Miracle and Wonder'' – the texts of Third World Bunfight: 2001 * Published articles in ''The Theatre Review'' (''TDR'') and the ''South African Theatre Journal'' (''SATJ'') * Feature on Brett Bailey by Daniel Larlham in the ''Yale Theatre Quarterly'', 2009

References

External links

Third World Bunfight

Infecting The City

Africa Centre
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bailey, Brett South African artists Living people 1967 births