Johannesburg’s arts and intellectual scene is gearing up for a powerful week of creativity and critical conversation. Drama for Life (DFL), the globally recognised centre for applied drama and theatre at the University of the Witwatersrand, will host its 17th Annual Conference and Festival from 8 to 10 October 2025 at the Wits Theatre.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!This year’s edition, themed “Human Change! From Global Ideals to Justice(Us)?”, challenges communities to imagine new ways of being human, to turn ideals into action, and to bridge the gap between global ambitions and local realities.
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A Platform for Transformation
Drama for Life describes the three-day hybrid gathering as one that “positions the applied arts and arts therapies as key instruments of healing, resistance, and bold reimagining.”
Artists, researchers, and delegates will explore justice as a living, embodied practice — Justice(Us) “co-created through community-grounded dialogue and performance.”
Participants will engage through applied drama, expressive arts therapy, dance, and embodied practices that question what it means to be human and how individuals can move toward more just futures.
“This is a call to action for artists, scholars, activists, and changemakers to get in the thick of it,” said Dr Sibongile Bhebhe, Deputy Head of Department at Drama for Life. “With embodied arts, we are constructing Justice(Us), a collective power force that converts pain into power and ideals into action.”
Inside the 17th Conference and Festival
This year’s hybrid format fuses high-intensity academic sessions with performance, dialogue, and embodied experience, the type of integration that has made Drama for Life one of the continent’s leading creative platforms.
Core highlights include:
- Key Themes: Human Transformation, Justice, Global Ideals, and the reimagined concept of Justice(Us).
- Dynamic Sessions: Arts-based approaches to overcoming trauma, repression, and authoritarianism; decolonial and indigenous pathways to meaningful change; the role of applied arts in migration, mental health, and education; and the ethics of artificial intelligence in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
- Collaborative Performances: Co-created works that show how art can spark social dialogue and influence real-world change.
According to organisers, the festival offers “an immersive blend of intensive academic dialogue, inspiring performance, hands-on workshops, and somatic experience a must-attend event for those committed to social change.”
Drama for Life’s Ongoing Mission
For over 16 years, Drama for Life has used theatre and the expressive arts to drive social change. Based at Wits University, it has become a global force in using performance and creativity to advance health, human rights, and social justice.
By combining scholarly research with artistic practice, DFL has developed a model now followed by educators, therapists, and artists around the world. Its annual festival and conference extend this mission. It offers a space where local and international practitioners can share evidence-based methods for using the arts to build empathy, resilience, and justice.
A Global Gathering in Gauteng
By hosting the 2025 festival in Johannesburg, DFL once again cements Gauteng’s reputation as Africa’s creative capital. The province’s cultural hubs from Soweto’s vibrant streets to Braamfontein’s academic corridors. These hubs remain a living laboratory for artistic activism and storytelling.
The conference is expected to attract delegates from across South Africa and abroad. The aim is to position Johannesburg as a continental hub for progressive arts-based research. The hybrid model also allows international participants to join virtually while staying connected to the city’s energy and artistic spirit.
Registration and Participation
Registration is open, with early-bird spots available for international delegates. The full programme and speaker lineup will be announced soon.
To register, visit:
Drama for Life Conference and Festival Registration
For more information, visit www.dramaforlife.co.za or contact:
- Bridget van Oerle – 083 263 6991 | [email protected]
A Call to Create Human Change
At its heart, Drama for Life’s 17th Conference and Festival is an invitation to act. It is to use art as a bridge between ideals and lived justice. By interrogating the theme Human Change! and embracing the idea of Justice(Us), the festival asks participants to transform reflection into transformation.
In a world shaped by political upheaval, migration, and climate crisis, the message is both urgent and clear. The message is that art can be the foundation for human renewal.
As organisers put it, the event “answers the urgent question: In a world coming apart under political chaos, migration crises, climate disaster, and resurgent authoritarianism, how do we reimagine humanity, catalyse radical change, and align global possibilities with local potentialities?”
This October, Johannesburg won’t just host another conference it will become a stage for conversation, movement, and transformation. Here, justice finds its rhythm, and the idea of Human Change begins to take real shape.
