| Ms Rosemary Mangope |
Chief Director: Arts, Social Development and Youth
Tel: +27 (12) 441 3103
Fax: +27 (12) 441 3657
Email: Rosemary.Mangope@dac.gov.za |
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| Purpose |
• To position the arts and culture sector as viable and sustainable source of income generation and opportunity
• To use arts and culture as a vehicle to foster social cohesion
• To promote a culture of service and enhance civic responsibility and participation in nation building
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| Functions and Activities |
Arts Education and Training
• The promotion of Arts and Culture Education and Training
Social Development
• To use arts and culture as a vehicle to foster nation building
• Support of the Moral Regeneration Movement
Women and Gender Imperatives
• Support and facilitation of Women's Development and Gender Equity Imperatives
Children, Family Enhancement and People with Disabilities
• Facilitating the development of underprivileged children, supporting the rebuilding of
families and mainstreaming differently abled persons
Arts Access
• The promotion of Arts Access for marginalised communities
• Understanding, fostering and expanding the role of networks and relationships
Youth Enrichment
• To promote a culture of service and civic responsibility
• The promotion and facilitation of Youth Development
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1. The Impact of Arts and Culture in Social Development |
• DAC in partnership with the Department of Education aim to emphasize the importance of arts education in the early stages of learning in schools.
• To promote a culture-driven approach to social development
• Participation in the arts can have a significant impact on people’s self-confidence.
• At a more individual level, the recognition and public acknowledgement of local and artisans as worthy of recognition has contributed significantly to the expansion of the arts and craft market as an industry.
• It goes without saying that today; the elements that are globally identifiable as South African are drawn from indigenous arts and culture.
• For the first time, following centuries of repression, indigenous South Africans are able to enjoy the public acclaim of the worth of their cultural artifacts, confirming their sense of identity and placing in the forefront of their lives, the values and morals endemic in their way of life.
• Without a doubt, arts and culture can provide the basis for an effective route for personal growth and economic independence.
• We see the arts as a means of drawing out what lies beneath the surface, so that learners and educators can develop dialogue around various forms of visual representation. |
| 2. Social Cohesion |
• One of our imperatives as DAC and government is to constructively chart the way towards a socially cohesive nation.
• At a basic level, the promotion of social cohesion aims to bring people to a better understanding of one another.
• To reclaim identity and dynamically reconstruct social structures.
• The aim, quite simply, is non-racialism, non-sexism, and respect for human rights in our democracy.
• Intercultural communication as instrument of fostering social cohesion.
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| 3. The Role of Arts, Culture and Heritage in Moral Regeneration |
• The arts are an expression of the state of the nation, a barometer of our well-being.
• In the recent past, our arts and culture reflected the ethos of struggle, indicating the state of a nation in strife.
• In contemporary times, the arts continue to reflect who and what we are becoming.
• We clearly shall focus on the promotion of moral regeneration through arts, culture and heritage in order to eventually reflect prosperous communities.
• DAC needs to be promoting the understanding of the importance of inclusive cultural development, incorporating indigenous art forms into the mainstream and creating space for self-expression across the board.
• Placing arts, culture and heritage at the centre of moral regeneration can function as a tool to rekindle the soul. |
| 4. Arts Education and Training |
Collaboration between DAC & DoE on strategic programmes:
• Community Arts Centres (CAC)
• DAC in conjunction with the Department of Correctional Services launched the Arts in Prisons [AIP] programme in Kroonstad in March 2005.
• The AIP programme seeks to make a contribution towards the rehabilitation of offenders.
• This is part of a broader programme which includes all marginalized sectors of society such as the disabled, prisoners, etc., to have access to the arts. |
| 5. National Youth, Arts and Culture Expressions Campaign |
• Concern with the civic health of the youth.
• Creating awareness regarding the challenges facing youth, addressing the social forces and mega international trends through dialogue and debate.
• Developing a common identity, using youth programmes as a vehicle to create civic consciousness.
• To showcase the arts sector as viable and sustainable source of employment.
• To create awareness about learnership opportunities.
• To collaborate and synergize creative energies of the arts sector and the untapped resources across the country
• To motivate and inspire youth in far flung areas to greater achievement in the arts sector.
• To bring live premier South African entertainment to lesser traveled parts of the country. |
| 6. Women & Gender |
| Mosadi wa Konokono [woman of substance] Campaign
• The Campaign was initiated by DAC.
• It is aimed at celebrating and acknowledging a vital role played by women in community development in South Africa.
• The objective of the project is to address the rebuilding of communities by bolstering self-esteem and providing role models for the youth.
• To encourage the youth to take an active role in their own development and that of their communities.
• It is aimed at recognising the contribution of women in society.
• The DAC will publicly acknowledge and award women and youth who produce inspiring, artistic and educational messages to the public regarding Mosadi wa Konokono.
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