The MTN Bushfire Festival has announced a live visual art activation that will bring to life the various themes of the this year’s MTN Bushfire Bring Your Fire Zone. Throughout the three days of the MTN Bushfire Festival, May 24- 26, visual artists will create murals within the interactive space that reflect the key themes of this year’s event.
This year the themes explored within the space are as follows; inclusion & tolerance – minority rights, environmental sustainability, sexual and reproductive health, gender diversity, equality & empowerment, child protection, and the Beyond Borders Program focused on arts mobility.
To add an exciting and engaging element to this year’s Zone, a host of visual artists will be on site throughout the weekend creating murals and installational artwork around these key themes. Guests can engage with the artists as they work and be part of this living manifestation of the #BRINGYOURFIRE call to action to ignite social change.
Here are five of the artists that will be showcasing at the festival:
Sven Christian (SA): Sven is an artist based in Johannesburg who, In 2014, founded Ism-Skism, an ongoing artist-led initiative that encourages participants to produce work in the public domain. In 2017, his work led him and fellow artist Sakhile Mhlongo to Swaziland, where they worked in collaboration with Yebo ArtReach to produce murals throughout Ezulwini.
Joseph Mushipe(Zambia): Joseph is a dynamic multi-talented visual artist who will interpreting self-confidence, self-love and self-assurance as seen through the eyes of festival goers. Revelers will have the opportunity to stop by and actively participate in the completion of the mural.
Mook Lion (SA) : Currently based in Durban, South Africa, Mook Lion's work blends various aspects of graffiti and fine art that appeal to him. His work can be found on the walls of Durban, Johannesburg, Berlin, Dresden and Stockholm, where he witnessed the positive effects of street art and public art on society.
Dane Mathendele Armstrong (Eswatini): Dane is a self-taught artist from Eswatini who prefers to explore a variety of artistic mediums, letting available objects and spaces dictate both the creative process and the outcome. He runs Yebo ArtReach, an organisation that links artists with public art projects around the country.
Tim Dawson: (Eswatini): A sculptor and painter, Tim will be artistically interpreting some of the environmental sustainability challenges facing communities through a mural in the Bring Your Fire Zone. Tim uses discarded rubbish to create artistic pieces that not only raises awareness on living green, but also repurposes harmful materials in order to save our environment.
For more details on the festival, visit: https://www.bush-fire.com/