Sandra Prinsloo & John Kani: Arts play important role in celebrating our heritage
As South Africans started celebrating Heritage Day across the country, acting legends, Sandra Prinsloo and John Kani says when it comes to the arts, celebrating one's heritage is very important.
What does Heritage Day mean to you?
John Kani: We are a multi-culture community. We're a country that comes from a past history of division and heritage brings us together. Heritage makes us South Africans. Heritage day makes us African and it makes us understand that we are in this beautiful country and our differences are actually the beauty of our culture.
Sandra Prinsloo: Heritage Day is very important because we need to remember our heritage. We need to remind ourselves where we come from in order to understand who we are as South Africans. I agree with John, we live in a country with so many different cultures and we need to embrace all of those different cultures and celebrate our differences. This will unite us as people. If we understand each other better the future looks much brighter for South Africa.
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How do the Arts contribute to passing over the message of Heritage?
John Kani: The arts are the only medium that can contribute to social cohesion. We talk about these interactions of different people and different backgrounds and the arts brings that on the stage, canvas, art galleries, in poetry and music. That is what relates us to each other. A song is a song, a painting is a painting, art is art and the culture of the people is celebrated when they enjoy art.