Just a couple of weeks after returning from a poetry festival in Kenya, local poet Berry Heart is at it again. She has been invited to yet another international poetry festival. The talented and once controversial Heart left this Friday, November 14, to attend the Kritya Poetry festival in India. Heart is attending at the invitation of the festival Director, Dr Rati Saxena who is also Chief Editor and award winning Poet of four books.
“You are an eminent poet of modern times, and our selection committee has recommended your name for our upcoming poetry festival. We will be much obliged if you could make it convenient to attend our festival,” reads the invitation.
At the request of the festival committee, Berry Heart sent ten poems including her well known poems Child of my mother and Mmammoledi. The ten poems are set to be translated to Hindi and Malayam. “In addition the poems will be included in the festival’s Poetry Anthology to be published during the week of the festival,” she said. Heart and Saxena will also work in a studio recording collaboration. They were among the 159 international poets who wrote a poetry anthology that called for peace in Hazara, Afghanistan. It was titled ‘A Poetry Anthology for The Hazara’ and was published in January this year.
Tagging along was Heart’s Art Director, Moratiwa, with whom she has worked with since 2010. They have worked on several of Heart’s theatre productions including Rebirth of an Ostrich. Berry Heart was the lead actress.
They have also worked together in Heart’s performances. Berry says the two will also work together to deliver a multimedia cultural poetry performance. Born in Gaborone, Moratiwa has also lived in Myanmar and Germany. She received her BFA in Media Art from University of Hartford and her MFA in Film and Television from the University of Cape Town. Her love for live performances has led her to merge her video and visual art background with dance, poetry, music and theatre. Moratiwa directs, produces and designs multi-media productions that vary from commercial big shows to abstract performance art, and mixed-media installations for art galleries.
On Thursday the UB Poetry Society held a farewell poetry session for Heart. She was also on the night presented with accessories designed by the UB Adult Education students.
Kritya is a trust registered in January 2007 in Kerala (India) with a view to advance and enrich art, literature and culture. Along with other literary activities, Kritya organises an international poetry festival every year in different parts of India. The 2014 International Poetry Festival Kritya has been scheduled to be held at Trivandrum, (Kerala) on 16, 17 and 18 November 2014. This year’s theme is ‘Enlightenment through Poetry and Arts’. “Enlightenment is an awakening ÔÇô waking up to a new awareness of oneself, of others, and of the entire universe.
Deep inside, we all have that spark of creativity which runs like a thread through us, binding us together. It becomes active in moments of deep meditation, stirring up intuition and opening up new perspectives. Those are the rare moments when the ego merges with the Higher Self.
Art finds expression in those moments of creativity, enlightening oneself. Artistic expression achieves fulfillment when it communicates with others and receives appreciation. Creativity in the artist establishes a bond with the creativity in the audience, sharing the awareness and edifying the receiver. Self-realisation is facilitated through poetry and arts,” reads a statement from Heart. This edition of Kritya Festival, it says, aims to explore this enlightening and uniting aspect of poetry and its sister arts.. Heart and Moratiwa are expected back home next week.
