The 2015 ACT | UJ Arts & Culture Conference, which took place from March
8 to 10, has helped set the tone for creatives to continue to make things
happen.
The two and a half day conference entitled Creatives Make it Happen presented delegates from different
contexts with a platform to meet and learn from one another within creative
industries. Thought-leaders and experts in their fields; Kathleen Stokes, Dali
Tambo, Nhlanhla Paul Sibisi, Phiona Okumu, Joy Mboya, Michael Rubenstein,
Sionne Neely and many others shared their wealth of knowledge with attendees
and presented ideas to help them make better use of opportunities available
within the industry.
“Opportunities to access the broad range of innovative business and best
practice ideas in contemporary creative South Africa that were presented by
more than sixty dynamic role players at the conference are rare and ACT is proud to have had the
opportunity to make it happen. We are privileged to have had a range of
valuable partners who collaborated with ACT to share information, knowledge and
research with stakeholders
of the creative industries with a view to enable, advance and inspire the
sector,” says Arts & Culture Trust CEO, Pieter Jacobs.
The conference gave delegates an
opportunity to build relationships through an unprecedented networking feature
on the opening night by FoodJams pioneer Jade de Waal. Jade was listed in 2013
in the Mail & Guardian as one of the top 200 Young South Africans.
The cluster-based symposium, which covered a range of topics focusing on
analysis of the current creative sector landscape, collaborations and creative
entrepreneurship opportunities, provided attendees with a refreshing approach
to discussions which filtered into social media. Conversations around the
conference that trended nationally for two consecutive days on the social media
site Twitter, included @rori_set’s
reflection: “#Conference #ArtsAndCultureConference #CreativesMakeItHappen just
been a big, exciting and insightful 3 days.” while entrepreneur @_madvision
said: “I had an amazing time @actujconference #CreativesMakeItHappen, cant wait
to collaborate.” Social media activity largely indicated that the public thought
the programme was well put together.
Keynote speaker Kathleen Stokes
examined the concept of the creative economy and shared her thoughts on the
conference. “Brilliant time discussing collaboration and #collecon
[collaborative economy] at @actujconference. Great conversations + lots learnt.
Thnks! #creativesmakeithappen.”
The creative conference focused on
providing a platform for parties involved in formal and informal structures of the
arts to engage, and
@Crit_ZA, who enjoyed the presentation on Creative South Africa stressed:
“Finally, a dynamic speaker from DAC [Department of Arts & Culture] who
gives us some hope. @actujconference #creativesmakeithappen Thank you Monica
Newton”.
To continue the ideas and discussions tackled at the conference, the
Arts & Culture Trust (ACT) and UJ Arts & Culture will host a series of
free weekly public post-conference
engagements, entitled ‘Creatives
in Conversation’ on Thursdays at the UJ Arts Centre, from April 16.
Details on the conversations will be updated on www.creativeconference.co.za
In addition, there is a compilation
of practical industry resources that creative industry stakeholders can use
going forward. These resources include toolkits, business and legal templates
as well as research, and are available via www.act.org.za
Other tangible outcomes of the 2015 conference include an arts and
culture directory, which is available on www.act.org.za The
listing, which has been digitized, consists of contact details, information of
organisations, institutions, agencies and businesses working in the creative
industries. The Arts & Culture Trust encourages the use of this improved
feature by those wanting to
engage with the creative industries.
Adding to the numerous highlights, the announcement of the ‘Pitch Perfect’ competition winners was
made at the closing of the conference. Winners Jade Bowers and Sajen Thathiah
competed against fellow delegates showcasing their creative, yet business
inspired concepts and received Nedbank Arts Affinity grants totalling R100,000.
Before the final choices were made, business guru Michael Rubenstein
noted the quality of ideas from all finalists saying, “Amazing pitches at
#creativesmakeithappen @actujconference difficult to decide who the winner is.”
The top two ideas selected were as follows:
The National Database for New South
African Plays by Jade Bowers, which is an online database of new and/or
unpublished South African plays which aims to create a platform for playwrights
to connect with theatre makers, provide administrative and licensing tools,
contracts, pricing structures, copyright and other legal advice.
SajenThathiah, the other winner celebrates the value of creativity in
the learning process with an Educational
Board Game aimed specifically at
children between the ages of six and eighteen. The game teaches them risk and
expense management in a fun and effective way.
The ACT | UJ Arts & Culture Conference
was presented by the Arts & Culture Trust, UJ Arts & Culture and
British Council Connect ZA, with support from the Department of Arts and
Culture, Business and Arts South Africa (BASA), SAMRO Foundation, Pro Helvetia,
the Delegation of the European Union in South Africa, the SA-UK Seasons 2014
& 2015; and media partners Classicfeel magazine and UJfm.
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