2020 ACT AWARDS CEREMONY ANNOUNCED

The Arts & Culture Trust (ACT) has announced the 2020 ACT Awards, continuing a 21‑year tradition of recognising excellence in the South African arts, culture and creative sector. The 2020 ACT Awards ceremony takes place on Friday, February 21, 2020, at the luxurious boutique hotel and venue, River Meadow Manor, in Irene.

At the ceremony, recipients of the ACT Lifetime Achievement Awards - as well as the ImpACT Award winner and runners-up - will be recognised and given an opportunity to share their experiences in the sector.

The 2020 ACT Awards are divided into two segments: the Lifetime Achievement Awards and the ImpACT Awards for Young Professionals, with the former honouring legends and stalwarts in the sector and the latter recognising young trailblazers who show promise of having impactful careers.

A salient element of the ACT Awards is the presentation of Lifetime Achievement Awards. These prestigious awards honour arts professionals whose lifelong achievements have contributed significantly to the enrichment of cultural life in South Africa and whose extraordinary careers have had a profound and lasting impact on arts, culture and creativity. The ACT Lifetime Achievement Awards recognise contributions in arts advocacy, dance, literature, music, theatre and visual arts.

The second and equally important segment of the ACT Awards comprises the ImpACT Awards for Young Professionals. These recognise young professionals in the early stages of their careers who show promise of making meaningful contributions to the sector in the future. The ImpACT Awards recognise contributions in arts administration, design, music and singing, theatre and visual arts.

In their history spanning 21 years, the ACT Awards have honoured the likes of Madosini, Esther Mahlangu, Miriam Makeba, Gibson Kente, David Goldblatt, the Field Band Foundation, Moving into Dance Mophatong and many others. This year promises to build on the esteem of the ACT Awards, with ACT having received outstanding public recommendations for award recipients at the end of 2019.

The 2020 ACT Awards are being made possible by partnerships and sponsorships from a number of private and public organisations committed to providing funding for the sustainable development and growth of arts, culture and heritage in South Africa. This year, the City of Johannesburg has partnered with ACT in making the Lifetime Achievement Award in Arts Advocacy possible, the Dramatic, Artistic and Literary Rights Organisation (DALRO) sponsors the Lifetime Achievement Award in Literature, the Southern African Music Rights Organisation (SAMRO) sponsors the Lifetime Achievement Award in Music and Nedbank sponsors the Lifetime Achievement Award in Visual Art. ACT will this year sponsor the Lifetime Achievement Awards in Theatre and in Dance. Sun International sponsors the ImpACT Awards for Young Professionals.

The Arts & Culture Trust (ACT) is South Africa’s premier independent arts funding and development agency. The primary aim of ACT is to increase the amount of funding available for arts and culture initiatives, and to apply these funds to innovative, sustainable projects that make a meaningful contribution to society. Through structured funding programmes, ACT provides support for all expressions of arts and culture, including literature, music, visual art, theatre and dance, and the support extends to festivals, community arts initiatives, arts management, arts education and arts administration. Follow ACT on Twitter at https://twitter.com or like the trust’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/TheArtsandCultureTrust/.

In partnership with the Arts & Culture Trust (ACT), the Nedbank Arts Affinity has donated more than R23 million to support over 800 arts, culture and heritage development projects countrywide. If you would like to make a difference to the lives of talented young artists in South Africa, simply link your Nedbank Greenbacks to the Arts Affinity and Nedbank will donate funds to ACT, at no cost to you. The Arts Affinity currently supports the ACT Development Programme and the annual ACT|DALRO|Nedbank Scholarship Programme. For more information download the Greenbacks app, visit any Nedbank branch, call 0860 555 111 or visit www.nedbankarts.co.za

The Dramatic, Artistic and Literary Rights Organisation (DALRO) is a multi-purpose copyright society that collects royalties for the use of copyright-protected works on behalf of authors and publishers, which it then distributes back to the correct copyright-owner. As a custodian of copyright and the protection of rights holders’ works, DALRO’s main areas of administration are reprographic reproduction rights (photocopying from published editions), public performance rights (including stage rights for book musicals and dramas) and reproduction rights (whether for publishing or copying) in works of visual art. 2017 is DALRO’s 50 year Jubilee anniversary, having served the copyright needs of the creative industry since 1967. For more information, visit www.dalro.co.za.

The Southern African Music Rights Organisation (SAMRO) was established in 1962, with the key objective to protect the intellectual property of its composer, songwriter, and publisher members. The organisation’s primary focus is to administer the various music rights of Copyright on behalf of writer and publisher members. The collecting society, as it is known, is mainly concerned with the collection of license fees for the use of its members’ musical works by various music users, the distribution of royalties to these members, and the promotion of Copyright law. For more information visit www.smaro.org.za.

The Sun International Group has a diverse portfolio of assets including world class five star hotels, modern and well-located casinos, and some of the world’s premier resorts. Their destinations offer experiential luxury, enduring quality and incredible adventure, supported by an authentic dedication to personal service. Sun International Group’s approach has been to differentiate their hotels, resorts and casinos in architecture, service, experience, location and the mix of entertainment and activities. Creating lasting memories for their guests and customers is a core part of their DNA. They’ve created some the world’s most iconic hotels ranging from the latest addition to the group's properties Sun Time Square, to The Palace of the Lost City at Sun City and The Table Bay Hotel in Cape Town. The Group places a strong emphasis on being responsible corporate citizens through their contributions and commitment to the economy, communities and the environment. They are committed to the development of all their employees and they make sure that equal opportunities and economic empowerment form the backbone of their human resource practices. For more information, visit www.suninternational.com

For more information on The Arts & Culture Trust visit www.act.org.za