The Arts & Culture Trust (ACT) is proud
to announce the official commencement of its 25 year anniversary celebrations
running from October 1 to November 1, 2019. As the oldest independent and
sustainable arts funding and development agency in the Democratic Republic of
South Africa, ACT will highlight its work of 25 years and sound a call for
reflection on a quarter-century of arts, culture and creativity in SA. Each
week of the month-long celebrations will focus on one of the five ACT
programmes in turn. ACT will also use this milestone to call on South Africans
to support the organisation by relating how they have benefitted from ACT’s
support in their own careers or in the lives of the organisations they serve.
ACT was formed in 1994 when public and
private institutions invested R1 million in a trust fund with the purpose of
creating a perpetual fund for supporting the South African arts, culture and
heritage sector. These optimistic beginnings signalled the importance of
sustainability for the country’s arts, culture and heritage sector. ACT will
use this milestone celebration to take stock of the work it has done in the 25
years of its existence and to reconnect and re-introduce itself to the public
and its stakeholders.
From its inception, good governance
practices have served as ACT’s core values. The organisation was established to
secure financial and other resources for arts, culture and heritage; and to
project the needs and role of the sector into the public domain. Today, ACT
continues to nurture and reward excellence in the arts, culture and creative
sector; drive the South Africa creative economy and contribute positively to
the country’s GDP through its various programmes.
ACT has implemented a wide range of
activities nationally. Through the ACT Professional Development Grants programme,
the Trust makes funding available to individual artists, arts and culture
organisations and institutions in the form of grants and postgraduate
bursaries. The ACT|DALRO|NEDBANK Scholarships programme is the other flagship
programme administered by the Trust. This facilitates the allocation of five
scholarships for young people aged 18-25 to pursue undergraduate performing and
visual arts studies at a South African institution of their choice.
Through arts management masterclasses and a
six-month mentorship period, the ACT Building Blocks programme develops
participants’ administration and management skills, which in turn increases the
capacity and sustainability of arts organisations and institutions. The annual ACT Awards recognise and celebrate
excellence in South African arts, culture and creativity through Lifetime
Achievement Awards in various categories and the ImpACT Awards for young South
African artists and administrators. The Arts & Culture Trust Creative
(un)Conference aims to share information, knowledge and research with
stakeholders of the creative economy with a view of developing, enabling and
inspiring the sector.
ACT has recently completed its ACTontheMove
Roadshow which ran for three weeks and saw ACT travel the country to re-introduce
the organisation to the public and to its stakeholders. In a similar vein, ACT
is at an advanced stage of re-launching its corporate identity in creating a
new look for the organisation for the coming 25 years.
For more information on the Arts &
Culture Trust, visit www.act.org.za
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