(Ismail Mahomed)
(Report from the artSMart team covering the 2014 Witness Hilton Arts
Festival which ran at Hilton College from September 19 to 21)
Anyone in the arts industry should try to draw from his
experience. (Report by Pauline Dalais)
Secrets From My
Address Book was a free informal discussion with Ismail Mahomed, the
National Arts Festival’s Artistic Director, held at the 2014 Witness Hilton
Arts Festival.
The discussion offered tips on the 100 key people,
organisations and foundations that any young producer should try to know about.
Ismail Mahomed has a wealth of knowledge and anyone in the
arts industry should try to draw from his experience. This knowledge he shares
freely with interested participants. So it was disheartening not to see more
active arts practitioners in the audience as his discussion would have
benefited anyone in any arts genre.
He talked about the simple sharing of experiences, eg “how
do I get into the inner-circle”.
The first thing is your visibility – to try to find a way of
connecting with people on every level.
Networking is a key to the arts sector. It opens doors to
funding, festivals etc. Networking is a negotiation where you set the target
for what you want, and opportunities invariably arise. Try not to get sucked in
by negative groups who self-marginalise themselves.
When applying for funding, don’t wait for the application
date. Find out who the person is, who is going to receive your proposal. Call
them and ask for some basic information on the upcoming funding call. Draw your
funders into a net to give you advice, because then they take an interest. This
way, you no longer become a number when your funding application is received,
but an individual entity.
As Ismail says: “Your networking should begin when you are a
student. Then you graduate. Then you need to understand who your peers are.
Also, who the emerging people are.”
“You have to be multi-skilled in the arts field,” he
continues, “but always remember to wear a hat of the space you are in, eg when
you are in the space of directors, wear your director’s hat. Choose which hat
you are wearing on that day.”
Speaking from my own point of view, it was an enjoyable and
highly valuable hour spent in learning more about the challenges of accessing
funding for the arts. – Pauline Dalais
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