The South African Cultural Observatory (SACO), hosted by Nelson Mandela University, was allocated grant funding to the amount of R30 million under the Presidential Employment Stimulus Programme (PESP).   

 

The Department of Sport, Arts and Culture defined the objective for the SACO PESP “to bridge the gap between market related skills and artistic expression, allowing artists to market their artworks professionally and expand their business opportunities”.   

 

The three key components delivered by the SACO PESP, to achieve this objective included: 

• Establishing a national, interactive mentorship programme, using the 100 graduates, who were skilled in Marketing, Business Development, Communication, Public Relations and Management. 

• Deliver relevant training to participants to support the above objective. 

• Disperse a monthly stipend of R6500 per month for 4 months, to all participants’ (up to 800 artists and 100 unemployed graduates). 

 

The SACO PESP saw 899 artists and graduates from 6 provinces, including Northern Cape, Eastern Cape, North West, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and the Free State, benefit from the programme. 

 

The SACO PESP concluded on the 15th December 2021 and the videos below were an opportunity for the participating artists to showcase some of their artwork and highlight how the programme had benefitted them, in their quest to succeed at sustaining themselves as artists and further developing their businesses.  

 

View videos here: 

 

 

Source: South African Cultural Observatory