ACT/BLA FUNDING

Arts & Culture Trust and Breadline Africa funding supports four new beneficiaries.

The partnership between The Arts & Culture Trust (ACT) and Breadline Africa (BLA) speaks to a strategic shift in the different types of funding ACT will announce in 2009.

“Our new programmatic approach allows us to match the needs of a range of donors, while maintaining the ethos and purpose of ACT’s own objectives,” said Pieter Jacobs, projects manager of the Trust.

The agreement between BLA and ACT has seen a range of arts, culture and heritage projects receiving support in 2008 and the final four beneficiaries for 2008 are as follows:

Vuka Design for Artist Blacksmithing Applied Training project: The Artist Blacksmithing Applied Training project empowers youth at risk and deaf learners from impoverished communities. Learners are trained to work as crafters, designers, workshop managers and trainers. Skills transfer in traditional metal craft (blacksmithing), candle making, business and life skills lies at the heart of this project.

Ntsoana Contemporary Dance Theatre: This Training and Development Programme of the Ntsoana Contemporary Dance Theatre aims to develop the skills of young dance practitioners in Sebokeng to empower them to become employable, rounded artists who have international competitive standards of performance, movement analysis and choreographic skills that in turn will benefit South African Contemporary Dance.

Craft Development Initiative: The aim of this initiative is to support craft development through delivering appropriate training in Arts Education to the artists of the Cookhouse community and assist them in developing marketable products for sale at arts festivals and tourists.

Sthebu Events: The arts and crafts exhibition at the annual Jazz Festival in KwaZulu-Natal will showcase the best work from artists in this region. A diversified range of exhibitions eg fashion accessories, ceramics, wire works, clay pots, etc. will offer consumers wide variety of choice at this year’s festival on December 26. This platform is ideal for artists of KwaZulu-Natal to showcase their finest work to an audience that would be difficult to access via other commercial routes. This event will also contribute in creating jobs, empowering artists, especially women and developing small businesses.

Breadline Africa (BLA) is an African based charity organisation which aims to help break the cycle of poverty within Africa by helping communities to help themselves. ACT/BLA funding supports arts, culture and heritage projects which will make a permanent difference in the lives of rural and peri-urban communities affected by extreme poverty, lack of skills- training and unemployment.

ACT is South Africa’s premier independent arts funding and development agency. Established to secure financial and other resources for arts, culture and heritage and to project the needs and role of the sector into the public domain, former President Nelson Mandela, endorsed the initiative and agreed to serve as the Patron-in-Chief of ACT. In this way ACT was initially called the Arts and Culture Trust of the President until 1999. Athol Fugard is now the Patron of the Trust.

For more information about BLA go to www.breadlineafrica.org and for more information on ACT go to www.act.org.za Note that the new ACT funding programmes are not yet available on the website but these will be announced in January 2009. For notification of the new programmes please register your details on the site.