The Visual Arts Network of SA (VANSA) with the support of
the Department of Arts & Culture launches the Best Practice Guide for Visual Arts 2016.
The Best Practice
Guide was developed out of the need to share and develop industry practices
that would support healthy and ethical relationships and transactions between
practitioners in the industry.
The guide is written to give all people involved in the
visual arts an understanding of the practice South Africa should be aiming
towards for the betterment of the Visual Arts. Commissioned by the Department
of Arts and Culture and written by Visual Arts Network of South Africa, the
Guide is intended to support a growing and strengthening Visual Arts field.
The content of the guide is extensive and covers as many
fields as possible to be as accessible as possible to all. It covers a range
from sales, to insurance, to taxes, to marketing and social media to the rights
of practitioners in the field. It would be invaluable for many people to better
empower themselves to make knowledgeable decisions.
The Director of VANSA, Molemo Moiloa, comments: “We are very
excited to launch this guide and make it available to the South African Visual
Arts Community. The Guide is aimed at giving people as much information as
possible so that they can take the paths they wish to, equipped with an
understanding of where those paths may lead”.
The guide strongly recommends the use of written agreements
in all relations for the arts – something that is not yet usual practice for
artists and gallerists. The guide also makes a case for ensuring artists are
paid in every circumstance possible to encourage the professionalisation of
creative work and the betterment of artists’ livelihoods.
The guide is aimed at all practitioners across South Africa
and will be available online. Workshops will be held across South Africa where
copies of the Guide will be given to participants. Hosted by partners of VANSA
throughout South Africa, these workshops are also free and will give attendees
a better understanding of how to use the guide.
Workshop dates and venues are listed below. The workshops
are supported by the National Arts Council. For further information, write to
the corresponding e-mail addresses:
Durban, KZNSA Gallery: October 20 and November 10, 2016: russel@onexusonline.com
Durban, BAT Centre: October 21 and November 11, 2016: philisiwephili@gmail.com
VANSA operates as a support point and development agency for
contemporary art practice in South Africa. It develops industry knowledge,
resources, networks and projects that are concerned with realising new social,
cultural and economic possibilities for contemporary art practice in the South
African – and wider African – context. Established in 2002, VANSA is a national
network of artists and arts organisations with just over 7000 members. For more
information, visit www.vansa.co.za or
e-mail handbook@vansa.co.za
(This information is
published on the Arts & Culture Trust’s blog – see http://www.act.org.za)
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