The Arts & Culture Trust’s Tlholo
Resources website page guides proactive artists to become entrepreneurial in
their practice.
If you are a budding entrepreneur working in the arts and culture sector or striving to start up an arts-related business then start now with weekly episodes on the Arts & Culture Trust (ACT) Tlholo Resources website page. Developed and designed with easy-to-learn visual and audio options, the ACT Thlolo Project introduces important basic business practices to help artists with new and up-and-coming business ventures.
The ACT Thlolo Project is perfectly suited to proactive artists who are ready to take control of their future. Launching on November 15, 2022, ACT Tlholo Tuesdays features a new episode every Tuesday between November 2022 and January 2023.
Introducing Pule, an inspiring entrepreneur featured on the ACT Tlholo Resources page animation series. This budding impresario wishes to stage theatre shows or host acting classes in his community, but he is battling to find resources and he doesn’t have the knowledge to promote his shows or to start his dream business.
Pule goes on a learning journey through the ACT Tlholo Resources page where he gains practical knowledge and begins to implement tools to equip him in his arts and culture business venture. Pule then invites arts practitioners and emerging entrepreneurs who have not been able to gain access to programme participation with the ACT or other development organisations but still wish to improve their professional practice to join him on the ACT Tlholo Project. The page also features downloadable business templates that can be used to further professionalise arts businesses.
The ACT Tlholo Resources page, sponsored by Nedbank, was developed using expertise and practical experiences from South African arts practitioners to create animation videos, comic strips (in all 11 official languages) and podcasts of conversations with experts and artists focusing on how they developed their businesses to survive and thrive in the competitive arts sector. These resources can help struggling arts professionals to think more creatively about how they can use what they have and what they know to grow sustainable businesses and support their communities. The resources are backed by a strong asset-based community development (ABCD) ethos and suggest ideas that are practical and implementable in unique South African contexts and encourage starting with what you have and what you know.
‘We want to inspire and motivate emerging arts practitioners to engage with and learn from the ACT Tlholo resources. Their involvement and that of practitioners already in the marketplace helps to uplift the arts and culture sector to become more sustainable, thereby supporting and developing the industry. It’s been an important step for us to start developing content that includes all the official South African languages. Producing information that is practical, accessible and inclusive is key for how we engage with the arts and culture sector. Our community is national and stretches across urban, peri-urban and rural communities, it’s therefore important that everyone is able to engage with this content in their respective language,’ says ACT Interim Chief Executive Officer, Jessica Denyschen.
“The word tlholo /tlhōlo/ is Sesotho for ‘victory’ or ‘an act of defeating an enemy or opponent’. In this instance, the enemy is the general lack of opportunity and resources for arts practitioners countrywide,” adds Tobie Badenhorst, Head of Group Sponsorships and Cause Marketing at Nedbank. “Through the ACT Tlholo Project we want to empower our arts practitioners to grow and make a living from the arts in every part of our country. At the same time, we want to contribute to an increase in the number of people who recognise the value of the arts.”
The ACT Tlholo animation videos are available now as a comic series in all South African languages. The ACT Tlholo Web Series is also available on the ACT Facebook page.
Why wait? Get started today by visiting the ACT website at www.act.org.za or keep in touch via ACT social media platforms. #ACTtlholo #ACTstrat #ACTtlholotuesdays
To keep in touch with the ACT, click on the ACT advert to the right of this article, visit their website, follow them on Twitter or like their Facebook page.
ABOUT NEDBANK
In partnership with ACT, the Nedbank
Arts Affinity has donated more than R28 million over 28 years to support over
830 arts, culture, and heritage development projects countrywide. If you would
like to make a difference in the lives of talented young artists in South
Africa, simply link your Nedbank Greenbacks to the Arts Affinity and Nedbank
will donate money to ACT, at no cost to you. The Arts Affinity currently
supports the ACT Nyoloha Scholarship Programme, the ACT Thuthukisani Programme,
and the ACT Tlholo Project. For more information, visit any Nedbank branch,
call on 0860 555 111 or visit nedbankarts.co.za
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