Arterial Network South Africa (ANSA), in
partnership with the National Arts Festival, will host one of its popular
#ArtOut events at the 2017 festival in Grahamstown.
Supported by an ANT Funding Grant from Pro
Helvetia Johannesburg financed by the Swiss Agency for Development and
Cooperation (SDC), three festival representatives from the SADC region will
attend this year’s festival in Grahamstown.
Galen Bresson (CEO of Creative Industries
and National Events Agency Seychelles), Natalie Kombe (Shoko Festival
Coordinator in Zimbabwe) and Jiggs Thorne (Director of the Bushfire Festival in
Swaziland) will join local specialists Yvette Hardie (Assitej), James French
(SAMRO Foundation) and Violet Maila (Concerts SA) at the #ArtOut event, which
will bring into focus issues concerning regional mobility and the policies that
govern movement of artists and creative goods in the region.
“In addition to this event kick-starting an
important discussion ANSA is passionate about, we hope that the attendance of
these delegates, who will also form part of the festival’s Th!nkFest programme,
would serve as a catalyst for collaboration in the future,” says ANSA Chairman,
Pieter Jacobs.
The #ArtOut event is scheduled to take
place on July 4 at the Artists’ Lounge at the Monument at 17h00. Entry is free
of charge.
Additionally, SADC delegates will engage in
a facilitated discussion around the complexities of curating a creative
programme as well as reflect on the impact of technology on festival
programming as part of Th!nkFest on July 5 presented at the Ntsikana Room at
the Monument at 12-noon.
Galen Bresson is currently the CEO of the
newly formed Seychelles government agency Creative Industries and National
Events Agency Seychelles. The agency’s primary role is to promote all sectors
of the creative industry of Seychelles in trying to turn the industry into a
valuable pillar for the economy.
Apart from his role in the development of
the creative industry, Bresson was elected to the first ever copyright society
of Seychelles “Seychelles Authors Composers Society (SACS)” over 11 years ago,
first as an ordinary member but currently holds the seat as the financial
officer on the board.
Prior to his current role, Bresson was an
elected member of the National Assembly of Seychelles. It was during his
mandate that most legislation in regards to Intellectual property was adopted.
In the private sector, he spearheaded the
start of the second Internet company “KOKONET” in Seychelles in 2000 which
revolutionised internet connectivity through wireless technology. Leaving the
internet industry, he led the introduction of the first pay TV platform “DSTV”
in Seychelles. He has also been instrumental in setting up the second FM radio
in Seychelles, been four years part of the organising committee of the
“Carnival International Seychelles” and several other prominent events in
Seychelles and abroad. He earned his Bachelor Degree in Education at Warwick
University UK in 1997. It was at university that he discovered the
industrialisation of the creative industry and has since been at the forefront
of many new initiatives in Seychelles.
Natalie Kombe is a cultural producer based
in Harare, Zimbabwe who has been coordinating Shoko Festival, Zimbabwe’s
fastest growing Urban Culture festival, for five years. Her work ranges from
overseeing the entire production of the festival from conception to
implementation, each year striving to come up with more creative ways of
expanding the reach of the arts and the exposure of Zimbabwean artists through
the Shoko Festival platform. The disciplines showcased at the festival are
Music, Comedy, Spoken Word and New media.
These programmes are designed to create
space for alternative voices, and for people to be able to express themselves
freely. Kombe has also written social commentary articles for Kalabash media,
and has worked as a satire comedy actress and scriptwriter for Zambezi News. She
holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Drama and Classical Civilizations (Rhodes
Grahamstown) and a BA Hons in Filmmaking (AFDA Capetown). She has over 11 years
of experience in the arts industry, having previously held positions as the
Youth Zone consultant at HIFA (Harare International Festival of the Arts) and
as the festival coordinator at ZIFFT (Zimbabwe International Film Festival
Trust).
Jiggs Thorne, performance poet, artist and
visionary art director is the creator of House on Fire, instigator and director
of The Bushfire International Festival of the Arts and founding member of
Igoda, a Southern African Music Festival Circuit, facilitating the movement of
artists, inspiring collaboration, and celebrating music and culture.
House on Fire, a truly unique performance
arena in the Kingdom of Swaziland, has been lauded as “one of the most eclectic
venues in the world”. Hosting an array of performances and artistic development
workshops throughout the year, The annual Bushfire Festival, is the pinnacle of
House on Fire’s performance programme. Seeking to utilise the arts as a
platform to encourage cultural and intellectual exchange, the Bushfire
Festival, (recognized by the BBC as “Africa’s Top Festival”) is now in its
second decade, and attracts an audience of over 25,000 visitors. Featuring
three days of leading international and regional artists in theatre, music and
interactive performance, the Festival has inspired the creation of the Southern
African Music Festival Circuit.
Thorne’s vision for the development of the
arts in Southern Africa is to create platforms of expression to address meeting
points of culture, and aid in collaborative discussions on challenges facing
all of us from community to global levels.
Yvette Hardie is a theatre producer,
director, educator, and writer active in the world of theatre and performance,
with a particular focus on theatre for young audiences. She initiated the
launch of ASSITEJ SA (the national centre of the International Association of
Theatre for Children and Young People) in 2007, and leads the organisation in
the capacity of National Director. She is serving her third term as elected
President of the international ASSITEJ (2011-2020), which has centres in almost
100 countries. She sits on the board of Global Arts Corps the organisation,
which sprang from the award-winning theatre production she was responsible for
touring globally, Truth in Translation.
She has written and spoken extensively on
issues relating to arts for young audiences, arts education and arts for
reconciliation and conflict resolution at events around the world. She was
responsible for bringing the 19th ASSITEJ World Congress and Performing Arts
Festival to Cape Town in May 2017. This was the first time that this
mega-event, titled Cradle of Creativity, was held in Africa in the 52 year
history of the international association.
Dedicated to arts development, James E
French works to promote and encourage the arts in South Africa. He has an
Honours in composition and a Masters in Arts & Culture management from the
University of the Witwatersrand. He was successful as a composer and arranger,
most notably having been part of projects with visual artists that travelled to
the Guangzhou and Venice biennials. His focus turned to arts management in the
early 2000’s where he took on the role of the administrator at the Bag Factory
Artists’ Studios in Newtown.
He worked to sustain the visual arts
organisation for 14 years and became its Deputy Director, before handing the
organisation over and taking on his present role as the Manager of SAMRO
Foundation – the Corporate Social Investment arm of the Southern African Music
Rights Organisation (SAMRO). Based from Johannesburg, James continues on his
mission to find solutions to the challenges between the arts, business,
entrepreneurship and sustainability.
Violet Maila is Project Co-ordinator for
Concerts SA – a SA/ Norway project supporting live music. For eight years she
worked in the advertising industry, working on both above-the-line brand
campaigns and below-the-line promotional and eventing concepts. This combined
cross-capability and cross-category communications experience has included
strategic, concept and design work on already-established leading brands
cross-sector – retail, financial, FMCG, IT, transport, charities and more.
Post advertising, Maila has worked on music
productions in Malawi and Angola, and lived in Zanzibar working at Sauti za
Busara, one of the biggest music festivals in the East African region. Currently
she lives and works in Johannesburg, on a passionate quest to help build the
arts and the culture landscape.
Arterial Network South Africa (ANSA) is one
of 40 National Chapters making up Arterial Network. The Chapter has been
operating since 2010 and currently focuses on arts and culture policy and continental
cooperation and collaboration. For more information visit http://www.arterialnetwork.org.za.
(National
Arts Festival: To link direct to the NAF site click on the large banner that
runs across the top of this blog
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