Introduction

The arts have a vital role to play in nation building and the well-being of our people.

This is echoed in the words of our late national patron Mama Albertina Sisulu when she said: โ€œ๐˜”๐˜บ ๐˜จ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜จ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ต ๐˜ฎ๐˜บ ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ง๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ข ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ง๐˜ฆ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ฅ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜บ, ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ญ๐˜ฅ.โ€

Union High School subsequently established the annual ๐—–๐—”๐— ๐——๐—˜๐—•๐—ข๐—ข ๐—˜๐—œ๐—ฆ๐—ง๐—˜๐——๐——๐—™๐—ข๐——, which will celebrate its inaugural edition this year, as an arts development platform, offering various opportunities to young performers from age 5 to 18, in all communities for participation, development and showcasing of talents in music, dance, theatre and fine arts.

๐™๐™๐™š ๐™š๐™จ๐™จ๐™š๐™ฃ๐™˜๐™š ๐™ค๐™› ๐™–๐™ง๐™ฉ๐™จ ๐™ง๐™š๐™ฆ๐™ช๐™ž๐™ง๐™š๐™จ ๐™ค๐™› ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š ๐™ฅ๐™–๐™ง๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™˜๐™ž๐™ฅ๐™–๐™ฃ๐™ฉ ๐™ฉ๐™ค ๐™š๐™ญ๐™ฅ๐™ค๐™จ๐™š ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š๐™ž๐™ง ๐™จ๐™ค๐™ช๐™ก ๐™ฉ๐™ค ๐™ฅ๐™š๐™ค๐™ฅ๐™ก๐™š.

Exposing and giving of themselves, results in a vulnerability that the performer has to overcome and control to establish confidence and belief in themselves.

In the eisteddfod context, it provides participants with affirmation of their value as human being and fulfils the basic need for respect and recognition.

Some people might still argue that sporting events are of equal importance as enabler of human development.

However, it stands to reason, according to the National Eisteddfod of South Africa, that none of the attributes of sport has a stronger impact on the personal growth of individual participants, than those of the arts.

In essence, this is the magic of the arts.