Former DUT Drama and Production Studies student, Mthokozisi Zulu has jetted off to Germany where he is invited to be one of the participants at the Starke Stücke Festival’s Next Generation Workspace – International Research Residency.

Zulu, who graduated cum laude in 2012, recently left for the Western European country so he can first attend the 67th Berlin International Film Festival; before taking up residency in Frankfurt as part of the next generation workshop team.

The Starke Stücke Festival is an international threatre festival aimed at young audiences. Its next generation workspace takes three phases with the first phase starting on 3 March 2017. The second phase will start on 14 July 2017 and the last phase will begin on 30 February 2018.

As part of the international residency group, Zulu and other participants will discuss performances from the festival programme, meet international and local artists and event organisers from the areas theatre, dance and performance.

The group will also discuss their artistic practices, research interests as well as their own project ideas in relation to a young audience. During their stay, the participants will develop specific project plans, which will develop in co-operation with each other. The results of their work will then be shown in the 24th edition of the Starke Stücke Festival in 2018.

Zulu said he is looking forward to sharing his experiences as a South African artist with other artists from abroad. “I strongly believe in international collaborations. I wish to achieve good connections and relationships with artists from all over the world. I hope to achieve knowledge that will equip me to come back home and develop the arts industry further”, he said.

This is not Zulu’s first time in Germany. In 2015, he performed a one-hander at the Augenblick mal- The German festival of theatre for young audiences. He believes that art is a universal language and the language barrier should not stop one from enjoying a show presented in a foreign language. “At the Augenblick Mal Festival in Berlin, most of the productions were in languages I do not understand. However, I understood every single show I watched and that is the power of art- my eyes were opened to the truth that art is a universal language”, he said.

– Andile Dube

Pictured: Mthokozisi Zulu.