National Arts Festival Artistic Director, Rucera Seethal, to step down
The National Arts Festival (NAF) announces that the Festival’s Artistic Director, Rucera Seethal, is stepping down to assume a new role as the Arts & Culture Coordinator for Ireland in South Africa. Rucera will be leading Ireland’s cultural engagement throughout Southern Africa, supporting cultural capacity building and brokering partnerships in the region. She takes up the new position in September 2026.
Rucera has served as Artistic Director of the National Arts Festival since 2020 and was instrumental in the overall direction of the online programme that was staged during the Covid pandemic, as well as the reshaping of the National Arts Festival’s Curated Programme in the years to follow. She also oversaw the School’s Programme, continuing the long tradition of final year school learners attending the Festival for an experiential residence.
Rucera oversaw the Festival’s audience, and artist demographics, shift to better reflect South Africa’s rich array of languages, ethnic groups and cultural identities. Bringing pantsula and voguing to the Rhodes Theatre and Box stages, international circus to the Guy Butler and developing new works with community centred performing arts groups for the Curated programme. Today, the Festival demographics are leaning younger and more diverse and grapples with a rapidly changing intersection with technology.
Rucera was also involved in development projects such as the National Playwright Competition and the festival’s facilitation of the Mandela Bay Arts Festival. During her time at the National Arts Festival, Rucera has maintained and developed strong African and global arts partnerships and has kept a sharp focus on the presence of global South cultural narratives.
During her tenure at the NAF, Rucera has also developed her association with Theaterfestival Basel and will be taking some time between the two roles to attend the festival in Switzerland where she will co-convene (with Katherine Omole) a group of emerging international artists for programme called Watch & Talk.
Reflecting on her time at the National Arts Festival, Rucera said
“Indeed, the Festival, now 52 years old, is a South African institution and weathering the various storms the arts sector has endured was no easy feat. It’s been an absolute honour working with the Festival team, a group of people who bring everything they have and more, not only during Festival but every day, to keep the organisation and programme together and moving forward. When I joined the Festival, I came from previous work focusing on international and continental exchange. My tenure at the Festival has enabled a deeper engagement with the vast South African arts landscape, we have so much inspiration, hope, creative solutions to contribute to our fast evolving world. Wherever I am placed, I wish to continue contributing in this direction.”
New National Arts Festival CEO, Palesa Kadi, wished Rucera all of the best for her new chapter,
“While I’m sorry Rucera will not be working with us, we sincerely appreciate her contribution to the programmatic arc of the festival these past six years. I’m quite sure her work with the Irish will also bring us into contact quite frequently and it’s reassuring that we have such an experienced cultural professional in her new role – which is a positive signal of Ireland’s creative interest in South Africa.”
The National Arts Festival has begun the process of recruiting the next Artistic Director, with creative direction currently held by the Festival’s Artistic Committee.
About National Arts Festival
The National Arts Festival is South Africa’s largest multi-disciplinary arts event, operating continuously since 1974. Held annually in Makhanda (formerly Grahamstown), the Festival presents new and established work across theatre, music, dance, comedy, literature, visual art, and experimental forms. The Festival serves as a key platform for South African cultural production, artist development, and international cultural exchange.
Connect with the National Arts Festival Makhanda on social media:
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | TikTok | Website
