The National Arts Festival has announced the launch of a new
partnership with the European Union (EU), which will see over R6m invested in
the City of Grahamstown’s Creative City
project over the next two years.
The partnership, sees the EU supporting the Festival’s
“Makana Arts Academy” project.
“We’ve seen from the Rhodes University Economic Impact Study
also released today that the Festival makes a contribution of around R360m to
the GDP of the Eastern Cape. That’s just from the staging of an annual, 11-day
event. Long-term projects such as the one with the EU will enable us to affect
the sector and the broader economy positively over a longer period of time, and
will result in a more sustained drive to create jobs in the cultural sector,”
Festival CEO Tony Lankester said.
The Makana Arts Academy is a “virtual institution” which
will institute training programmes across the city in various arts disciplines,
creating opportunities for Grahamstown residents to become active participants
in the national arts economy. It will also establish a shared space in
Grahamstown for artists, and which will act as a public creativity hub.
“We know that there are hundreds of talented people living
in this City who have never been given the opportunity to explore their full
potential. This programme will help identify, nurture and mentor this talent to
the point where they are active in the sector and deriving an income from the
arts,” Lankester added. “In putting the grant proposal together we drew in
partners such as ASSITEJ South Africa (the International Association of Theatre
for Children and Young People) and Kuns Onbeperk – the company behind the
annual ABSA Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees in Oudtshoorn, who face many
challenges similar to the ones we face in Grahamstown.”
The Makana Arts Academy is part of a broader Creative City project, spearheaded by
the National Arts Festival in partnership with Makana Municipality, Cacadu
District Municipality, and the Eastern Cape Department of Sports, Recreation,
Arts and Culture, which aims to establish Grahamstown as a Creative Capital of
South Africa over the next 5 years.
Lankester continued: “A couple of years ago the National
Minister of Arts and Culture challenged the sector to use the arts to drive
‘Mzansi’s Golden Economy’. These projects are inspired by that call and are
part of our response to the challenge. We have seen first-hand what a Festival
can do for an economically depressed part of the country. We see that every
year. This takes things to the next level – we want to invest in the arts and
its capacity to create jobs and support a whole range of industries, including
tourism and hospitality. We want Grahamstown to become known as a South African
cultural and creative hub. There are a number of projects, both established and
new, which will help steer us there, and which when galvanized will build on
the positioning that has already been established in the City by the Festival
and various institutions over the years.”
Ambassador Roeland van de Geer, Head of the EU Delegation to
South Africa said: "The European Union is delighted to partner with the
National Arts Festival in this very innovative project. The Makana Arts Academy
may well become a model for "Creative Cities" that foster creativity
and innovation, and economic growth. With a combination of arts education in
schools, training and mentoring for young artists, the setting up of production
companies and the creation of a public art space, Grahamstown is about to set
the standard for how creative industries can lead society".
The Makana Arts Academy is funded by a grant from the
European Union.
The Creative City project is managed by the National Arts
Festival in partnership with ASSITEJ South Africa, Kuns Onbeperk, Makana
Municipality, Cacadu District Municipality, and the Eastern Cape Department of
Sports, Recreation, Arts and Culture.
Further support for the Creative City project is drawn from
the broader contribution to the Festival of the National Lottery Distribution
Trust Fund (NLDTF) and the National Department of Arts and Culture.
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