(Mandie van der Spuy
receiving her award with Rosemary Mangope, Mannie Manim and Lore Watterson. Pic
by Gareth Jacobs)
The inaugural category of Arts Advocacy, sponsored by
Classicfeel Magazine awarded Mandie van der Spuy the honour as a Lifetime
Achievement Award Winner. Van der Spuy’s career in the arts spans a period of
35 years. She grew up in Johannesburg and Cape Town but spent the greater part
of her secondary school years in Vienna, Austria.
Following her tertiary studies in South Africa, she spent
four years in France, first as a student at the Sorbonne and later as a
translator at the South African Embassy during which time she also worked as a
freelance news correspondent. She holds a degree in Languages and Literature
and a post-graduate degree in Theatre Studies from the University of Cape Town
as well as a Master’s Degree in Theatre Studies and Literature from the
Sorbonne University, Paris.
Van der Spuy worked in the theatre industry in various
capacities, starting her career at the Market Theatre in 1979 where she was
involved in theatre management, production and public relations. In 1983 she
joined the Playhouse Theatre in Durban as Head of Publicity and Public
Relations where she was responsible for the launch phase of the KwaZulu-Natal
Philharmonic Orchestra as well as the theatre and dance companies leading up to
the official opening of the renovated theatre complex.
In 1987, she returned to Johannesburg to join the Drama
Department of the State Theatre in Pretoria as Head of Marketing and Publicity
followed by her appointment in 1989 as Head of Drama.
Van der Spuy was Head of Arts & Jazz Sponsorships for
the Standard Bank Group from 1992 to 2014, when she decided to step down to
pursue independent interests in the arts world. She was responsible for the
strategic direction, management and implementation of the bank’s arts, culture
and jazz programmes.
As a long-standing supporter of the arts, Standard Bank’s
main sponsorship portfolio during that period included the National Arts
Festival, Grahamstown, the Standard Bank Young Artist Awards, the National
Schools’ Festival, the bank’s Corporate Art Collection and African Art
Collection, the Standard Bank Gallery with an annual programme of major South
African and international exhibitions, a series of jazz festivals, as well as
the heritage project, the Paleontological Scientific Trust (PAST).
In 2007, the French government bestowed a Chevalier Award of
the National Order of Merit on her for her contribution to the promotion of
cultural exchange between France and South Africa through her role in the
presentation of various cultural projects, with special emphasis on the major
art exhibitions presented at the Standard Bank Gallery and Iziko South African
National Gallery such as Picasso, Chagall and Miro.
Currently Van der Spuy serves on the boards of several arts
organisations such as the Artistic Committees for the National Arts Festival,
Grahamstown; Business and Arts South Africa (BASA); Standard Bank Art Advisory
Committee; Gerard Sekoto Foundation; Hermanus FynArts Festival; and Chairman of
Friends of Institut Française South Africa (IFAS) Committee.
The 2014 ACT Awards ceremony was sponsored by Nedbank Arts
Affinity, hosted by Sun International and presented in association with the
Dramatic, Artistic and Literary Rights Organisation (DALRO), Media24 Books,
ClassicFeel Magazine and is supported by the Distell Foundation and Business
and Arts South Africa (BASA).
Other Lifetime Achievement Award Winners include Richard
Cock for Music, Sam Nzima for Visual Art, Richard Loring for Theatre and Andre
Brink for Literature. Each Lifetime Achievement Award winner received R30,000
as a cash prize.
For more information about the Arts & Culture Trust
(ACT) visit http://www.act.org.za/
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