The five honourees at the KKNK in 2025 have all made deep inroads in the arts – two actresses, a music group, a music master rooted in Oudtshoorn and an award-winning visual artist.
The 29th KKNK, sponsored by Absa, takes place in Oudtshoorn from 1 to 6 April, with a special opening concert and night market on 31 March.
Marion Holm receives the Kunste Onbeperk Award for Performance. Her contribution to comedy and a distinctive stand-up, as well as her work as an actress on stage and on TV, have repeatedly shown her versatility over the years.
She has appeared in more than 60 theatre productions, more than 20 TV productions and is also the playwright and director of various plays. In addition to her solo performances, her more recent work includes the stage production Katvoet and TV series like Nêrens, Noord-Kaap and Trompoppie. She was nominated for two Silwerskerm Awards in 2024 – one as Best Actress in a TV Comedy for Taktiek and one as Best Supporting Actress in a Drama for Trompoppie.
“I am very grateful for this honour,” says Holm who is celebrating her 60th birthday in January 2025. “I don’t believe that you can really compare actors’ work when they are playing completely different roles. It is like comparing a lamb chop, a refrigerator and a pear. But I believe in and appreciate recognition. That time when the teacher gives you a gold star, because you did your homework beautifully and neatly and carefully. You were noticed and patted on the back. I APPRECIATE it. People need encouragement.”
Lee-Ann van Rooi is the recipient of the Kunste Onbeperk Kruispunt Award. From the beginning of her career, Van Rooi has never shied away from anything. Not challenges, boundaries or her role as actress, director or mentor. With various awards under her belt, she does not rest on her laurels. She works. Her focus and what she does is always approached with a larger vision to contribute to nation-building in South Africa. She takes young performers and writers under her wing and helps to expand the country’s treasure chest of stories.
For her, the Kruispunt Award is proof that she is on the right path. “You always have to set aside the ego and be there to tell the story,” she says. “I am grateful that it is noticed.”
John Theodore receives the KKNK Award for Service to the Arts. Theodore is an Oudtshoorn resident through and through. His first music lesson was at the Holy Cross Convent in Oudtshoorn and now, decades later, he can look back at a distinguished career as a pianist, teacher and mentor.
After matriculating in 1973, he went to study Music at the University of Cape Town. This was at a time when he had to obtain special permission to study at this university due to apartheid, but this did not stop him from obtaining a master’s degree. He was the recipient of several awards, served on various judging panels during his career and was also an examiner at Unisa. Young talent reached great heights under his guidance, with pianist Sulayman Human, also a resident from Oudtshoorn, the most well-known.
Theodore says he is naturally not comfortable with the spotlight on him, but he is still grateful for an honour like this from the KKNK. “I have always done everything with honesty, sincerity and loyalty without expecting recognition and honour. I hope this honour will serve as an incentive for my community in particular.”
Die Heuwels Fantasties receives the Kunste Onbeperk Award for Innovative Thinking. Their first album, Die Heuwels Fantasties, was released in 2009. The big hit was “Klein Tambotieboom” and in 2010 the group won the SAMA Award in the category for Best Afrikaans Alternative Album.
Several hit albums have followed since, including Wilder as die Wildtuin, Alles Wat Mal Is and Herverbeel. In 2024 they released two singles – “OG VIP” with the late Jan Bloukaas and Janie Bay and an acoustic version of “Ek en jy” with Margot. Over the years, there have been collaborations with other artists including Laurika Rauch, Jack Parow, Coenie de Villiers and Frieda van den Heever.
But it is also elsewhere in the music industry where they make their mark as songwriters and producers. Pierre Greeff is the co-founder of Liefde by die Dam, the popular music concerts that were first held in 2016 at Emmerentia Dam in Johannesburg with Cape Town and Windhoek following later and Hunter Kennedy has been working with the ATKV for some time on various of their projects including their songwriting workshops and Taalgenoot-RUK EN RYM.
Henk Serfontein is the Festival Artist in 2025. He is a former winner of the Sasol New Signatures Competition and was also a resident artist at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris, as well as the Piramidón Center for Contemporary Art in Barcelona, Spain. His work has been included in the permanent exhibitions of, amongst others, Gencor, Rand Merchant Bank, Spier and Absa.
“I first attended the KKNK in 1995 and hoped that the festival would grow and become permanent,” he says. “The anticipation and potential have finally been fulfilled, because here we are celebrating the 29th anniversary of the festival.”
For him, to be chosen as Festival Artist is an honour and extraordinary recognition of his career over the past three decades. Die stomme aarde is the title of his exhibition. “This follows on from my previous collaborations with Wilma Stockenström. Included in the exhibition is a series of environmentally conscious drawings based on the poems with an ecological inclination in Stockenström’s first two collections of poetry. In this, I use poetry as an interpreter, for a series of works that participate in the green conversation. A series of rock poems based on her poem ‘Almoeder’ are also on display.”
Holm is on stage in her new one-woman show, Marion Monroe. Van Rooi is in the director’s chair for Marianne Thamm’s comedy drama, Sonde met die spoke and Die Heuwels Fantasties is performing on the music stage in the Feesmark.
KKNK 2025 is sponsored by Absa, with the support of the Het Jan Marais Nationale Fonds, NATi, Checkers, Netwerk24, kykNET, ATKV, Oudtshoorn Municipality and the Western Cape Government.
The complete programme for the 29th KKNK, sponsored by Absa, is available online at kknk.co.za. Tickets are available at Webtickets or the KKNK office. For more information, visit kknk.co.za or contact 044 203 8600, info@kknk.co.za or send a WhatsApp to 065 285 2337.
