NEW VANSA WEBSITE

The Visual Arts Network of South Africa (VANSA) has introduced a better, brighter, more useful website with an unprecedented number of exciting new work, funding and other opportunities accompanying out site going ‘live’.

“The result of an extended period of research and consideration of industry needs, we hope that you like it as much as we do,” says the VANSA team. “The site replaces the two existing VANSA websites to provide a single, authoritative platform for accessing information about all sorts of opportunities in our industry (with a calendar of deadlines), professional practice resources, industry research and the burning issues that we face as a sector. It also includes an industry map for South African contemporary art where you can get an overview of the infrastructure that drives our sector, from museums and galleries through to project spaces, arts schools and consultancies.

“The website also incorporates linkage to our new ‘sister site’ for professional practice resources –ARTRIGHT - developed together with a variety of partners, including the WITS School of Arts, Webber Wentzel Attorneys, the Goethe Institute and the Dramatic, Artistic and Literary Rights Organisation (DALRO),” the press release continues. “And a big thank you to Brendan Copestake, the development manager for this important project, who has put in many hours of (often unpaid) time to bring it to fruition.”

Other thanks are acknowledge to the Gauteng Department of Sports, Arts, Recreation and Culture for supporting the development of the site, and all of the individuals and organisations that share VANSA’s vision for a sharper, more connected and more open sector, and the unique and - at times - uncomfortable contribution that it makes to building a society in a complex process of transition and change. Major thanks are also aimed at Audrey Anderson, on-line communication/database person, for “the sleepless nights and frustrations that accompany any new project”!

Please send thoughts – positive and negative – on the new site to Audrey at communications@vansa.co.za visit the membership section to join and strengthen a dynamic network of visual arts professionals who are changing the face of the visual arts in South Africa.

The next mailout will also introduce VANSA’s new and improved format for email communication with the industry – in the meantime, browse through the Opportunities section for all of the latest information on local and international work and employment opportunities, funding deadlines, competitions, residencies, learning opportunities, networking events and calls/commissions.

The site has been dedicated to the memory of Cameroonian artist and intellectual, Goddy Leye, who passed away suddenly on February 19, 2011.