AWARDS
Playwright unleashes interrogation of South African culture to unmask inequality
Prolific playwright and cultural activist Mike van Graan is determined to be heard on as many platforms as possible, writes Diane de Beer
This has been a good year for cultural activist and playwright Mike van Graan. He has won the 2018 Hiroshima Foundation for Peace and Culture Award, a biannual international prize recognising those who foster dialogue, understanding and peace in conflict areas, and was also awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Pretoria in April. He used the awards as opportunities to continue his interrogation of SA’s cultural landscape, past and present. "This is my first graduation ceremony. I was part of the apartheid-must-fall generation. To attend the University of Cape Town — a ‘white’ university — I was required to apply for a permit from the Department of Coloured Affairs," he told the audience at Pretoria University’s ceremony. "In terms of the separate-and-unequal policies of the time, it was deemed that people of my classification would attend the University of the Western Cape. To qualify for a permit to UCT, I had to do a subject not offered at UWC. My permit subject was...
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