10 Questions - Ismail Mahomed 
We're
turning our ten questions radar on decibel delegates this week and
probe Ismail Mahomed, Festival Director of the National Arts Festival,
Grahamstown, South Africa.
1. Where do you find inspiration?
I draw inspiration from an understanding that the arts give us hope and that the arts define who we are.
2. Of all the pieces you have been involved with throughout your career, which work or performance is the most memorable?
Every
new performance that I see offers me new experiences. What I think will
remain as the greatest oratory piece of this decade will be Barack
Obama’s presidential inauguration speech... this was theatre at its
fullest.
3. Who/what has been the greatest influence on your career?
I
got into the arts after graduating as a mathematics teacher. It was the
Education Crises in South Africa during the politically tumultuous
period of the eighties that drew me into the arts. I gravitate to the
arts because I value its ability to heal, transform, challenge, change
and reflect our societies.
4. What has been the highlight of your career so far?
1996
was a highlight when I was the first person of colour to be appointed
at the Witbank Civic Theatre two years after Apartheid had ended. I
inherited a theatre that was in financial ruins and one that was
located in a city that was racially polarized. I left there eight years
later with the theatre in a stable financial situation and as an
institution that was transformed and embraced by all the citizens of
the city.
My current job as the Director of the National Arts
Festival brings new challenges and I embrace this challenge with the
same optimism & hope.
5. Who would you most like to work with…and why?
In
order to be a true professional, my integrity is measured by my ability
to give the same dedicated attention and care to the work of an
emerging artist as I would to a well-known established star. There are
many great names that I’d like to work with but I equally enjoy working
with unknowns because unknowns become tomorrow’s stars.
6. What is the best job you have ever had?My
current position is probably the best that I could ever have. As
Director of the National Arts Festival, I get to be in the center of
what makes South Africa so culturally and artistically exciting.
7.How do you see yourself/your company/venue in 5 years?
I
would like to see the National Arts Festival being at the forefront of
the leading arts festivals in the world. At the moment we are the
second largest arts festival in the world. I would like to see us being
at the forefront of positioning work from Africa to the rest of the
globe and bringing work from the rest of the globe to Africa.
8. What makes you happiest about your work?
Hearing
artists telling me that they’ve had a fulfilling and inspiring
experience working for the National Arts Festival. Similarly, hearing
our audiences expressing satisfaction.
9. Who have you most enjoyed working with?
The list is endless …
10. What concerns you most about the state of the Performing Arts Sector in the UK?
No comment …. I am not familiar with the sector.