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Wednesday, October 19, 2016

BEST PRACTICE GUIDE FOR THE VISUAL ARTS



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)