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Investing in Culture
The Department of Arts and Culture has, through the Investing in Culture Programme, funded and supported more than 390 projects totalling
R285 million since 2005.
About 10 938 beneficiaries were provided with job opportunities primarily in the craft sector. About 45% of jobs were created for women, 39% for youth and 4% for people living with disabilities.
The sector prides itself on its potential to create sustainable jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities even in areas where people have minimum or no formal education.
The department entered into a training partnership with the Media, Advertising, Publications, Printing and Packaging Sector Education and Training Authority (Mappp-Seta) in November 2006 to ensure that the supported entities receive accredited training while in short-term employment, in compliance with the Expanded Public Works Programme.
This empowers beneficiaries to increase their skills base and employability potential and subsequently land meaningful opportunities. It is also aimed at transforming and expanding the training-provider base for the sector through Master Crafter (train-the-trainer).
For more information about Investing in Culture programme click here
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Legacy projects
Monuments, museums, plaques, outdoor art, heritage trails and other symbolic representations create visible reminders of, and commemorate, the many aspects of South Africa’s past.
Government has initiated several national legacy projects to establish commemorative symbols of South Africa’s history and to celebrate its heritage.
The legacy projects include the:
- Women’s Monument: On 9 August 2000, former President Thabo Mbeki unveiled a monument at the Union Buildings in Pretoria to commemorate the contribution of the women of South Africa to the struggle for freedom. The ceremony marked the day, in 1956, when 20 000 women marched to the Union Buildings to protest against government’s pass laws.
- Chief Albert Luthuli’s house in KwaDukuza, KwaZulu-Natal: This house has been restored by the Department of Arts and Culture as a museum with a visitors’ interpretative centre. The project also involved the unveiling of Chief Luthuli’s sculpture at the KwaDukuza municipal grounds.
- Battle of Blood River/Ncome Project: Following the unveiling of the Ncome Monument and Wall of Remembrance on 16 December 1998, the Ncome Museum was opened on 26 November 1999. The structures honour the role played by the Zulu nation in the battle.
- Samora Machel Project: The Samora Machel Monument in Mbuzini, Mpumalanga, was unveiled on 19 October 1998.
- Nelson Mandela Museum: This museum in the Eastern Cape was opened on 11 February 2000. It is being developed as a single component comprising three elements, namely a museum in Mthatha, a youth centre at Qunu, and a visitors’ centre in Mvezo, where former President Mandela was born.
- Constitution Hill Project: The Old Fort Prison in Hillbrow, Johannesburg, was developed into a multidimensional and multipurpose precinct that houses the Constitutional Court (CC) and accommodates various constitutional commissions.
The Constitution Hill Project involved the development of the Constitutional Hill precinct to accommodate the CC, the Constitution Museum, the Women’s Jail, the Old Fort and a commercial precinct.
- The Sarah Baartman Centre of Remembrance in Hankey in the Eastern Cape and the Sarah Baartman Human Rights Memorial in the Western Cape: The centre will include a multipurpose space, a library, exhibition spaces, an indigenous plants garden and a nursery.
- The Freedom Park Project: The objective of this project is to establish visible cultural structures that celebrate and commemorate diverse and important South African events, spanning prehistory, colonisation and the struggle for democracy, and ending with a vision for the future.
The park was declared a cultural institution in terms of the Cultural Institutions Act, 1998 (Act 119 of 1998), from April 2009. On completion, the Freedom Park will be a national monument and museum.
- The Khoisan Heritage and Culture Institution in Hankey, Kouga Municipality, as part of the Khoisan Legacy Project: An estimated R5 million was allocated for the first phase.
Sites under consideration include the Kat River valley settlement, which rose in rebellion against British colonialism in 1850; Adam Kok’s grave in Griqualand; the graves at Kinderlê, where 32 Khoi children were killed in 1804; Wonderwerk Cave; Phillipolis; Ratelgat, owned by the Griqua Ratelgat Development Trust; the sites of Griqua churches and other institutions in the Eastern Cape, Northern Cape and Western
Cape; as well battle sites associated with the war of 1799 to 1803.
- The Dulcie September Legacy Project: It aims to acknowledge the heroes who sacrificed their lives for the attainment of freedom and democracy in South Africa. The project also highlights the contribution of anti-apartheid activist Dulcie September in fighting cultural intolerance and building a democratic, non-racial, non-sexist and cohesive society.
- The 2010 FIFA World CupTM legacy projects: The Department of Arts and Culture is supporting FIFA 2010 legacy projects that seek to document cultural histories of the host cities as well as cities in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. The department is also looking into rural communities benefiting from the projects through the establishment of cinemas in rural areas as a legacy of the public viewing areas established for the 2010 event.
Other projects underway are the 1981 Matola Raid Memorial in Maputo, Mozambique; the rehabilitation and development of the Lock Street women’s prison in East London into a museum; development of the former apartheid state security Vlakplaas farm into a heritage memorial site; and the OR Tambo Memorial Project in Bizana in the Eastern Cape.
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Indigenous Music and Oral History Project
The Department of Arts and Culture has partnerships with the universities of Venda, Fort Hare and Zululand. The mandate for these universities is not only to conduct research on indigenous music and instruments, but to also identify and collect all aspects of intangible cultural heritage in their provinces.
The department and the African Cultural Heritage Fund promote indigenous music by hosting regional, provincial and national competitions on indigenous dance and music. These competitions showcase the diverse indigenous music and dance in South Africa.
Mosadi wa Konokono (Woman of
Substance)
Mosadi wa Konokono is a flagship campaign of the Department of Arts and Culture. It is a sociocultural-economic campaign that was conceptualized as a vehicle for elevating the profile of ordinary women in grassroots communities.
The campaign uses arts and culture to foster social cohesion and to nurture a spirit of economic self-determination. The campaign has also been created as a platform to enable the emergence of talented women and youth who are already instrumental in and proactively building their communities.
To be part of this project, contact the Chief Directorate: Arts, Social Development and Youth at tel: 012-441-3103 or 012-441-3658.
Education and training
Training is critical for the development of arts and culture to achieve both the developmental and economic potential of the sector.
The creative industries form part of the Mappp-Seta.
Recognising the challenges facing this sector, the Mappp-Seta, in partnership with the departments of arts and culture and of labour, the NAC, and the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), initiated the Creative Research Education and Training Enterprise South Africa (Create SA) Strategic Project to develop a comprehensive on-the-job training framework for the creative industries. The project is funded by the National Skills Fund and the Department of Arts and Culture, and focuses on people who otherwise might not have had access to training opportunities.
The Artists in Schools Project places artists with a flair for education and teaching within schools wishing to offer arts curricula.
Mmino
Mmino, the South African-Norwegian music education and exchange project has since its inception in 2000 been the only funding organization in South Africa that solely funds music projects.
In the past 10 years, Mmino funded more than 230 projects and/or individuals located all over South Africa, as well as some outstanding exchanges with Norwegian artists and institutions.
The Mmino Project is linked to the NAC, but has a separate budget and funding procedures, and works in partnership with the Norwegian Rikskonsertene.
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Creative industries
In 1997 Department of Arts and Culture (DAC) created lead project called Cultural Industries Growth Strategy (CIGS) which identified the following cultural industries: Craft, Music, Film, Publishing and later included Design, Visual Arts and Performing Arts. The CIGS, as Governments’ initiative, has concentrated on developing strategies for the growth and development of the Creative industries, in particular to realise the potential to create an export market and employment.
Although definitions are always open to debate, United Kingdom definition is one of creative industries which ‘have their origin in individual creativity, skill and talent and have a potential for wealth and job creation through the generation and exploitation of intellectual property’ (The Creative Industries Mapping Document, Department of Culture, Media and Sport, UK, 1998). This definition includes that following sectors:advertising
- architecture
- the art and antiques market
- crafts
- visual arts
- design
- designer fashion
- film and video
- interactive media (e.g. computer games, electronic publishing)
- music
- the performing arts
- publishing
- software computer services
- television and radio
The Creative Industries Project, the DAC initiative, is a process that exposes the economic impact of the creative industries. Furthermore, it provides the economic data which shows the current value of creative economy. But it goes further because it can also show the economic potential of the sector, the value that is being lost and where the sector needs support to grow and realize its potential. The rational for mapping in South Africa is about repositioning and mainstreaming creative industries into broader government goals to ensure economic development, social cohesion and nation building.
The project is currently piloted in Gauteng, Western Cape and KwaZulu/Natal provinces with the intention to roll it over South Africa.
For more information regarding the Creative Industries Mapping Projects, contact the Chief Directorate: Cultural Development at Tel: 012-441-3469.
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Arts, Social Development and Youth Programme
The ASDY Programme is working towards greater arts access for all communities, particularly marginalised groups. These groups include disadvantaged women, youth-at-risk, families in crisis, children without access to early childhood development initiatives and people with disabilities.
One project supported under Arts Access is the Arts in Correctional Facilities. This focus of this project is the use of various arts in the rehabilitation of offenders. It also supports the social re-integration of offenders into society, using the arts as a bridge between the offender and society.
Another is art therapy under the auspices of the Art Therapy Centre. This project uses the arts as a healing tool for children and families who are survivors of various abuses. The healing process is based on the use of arts as a means of self-expression.
The Department launched the National Youth into Arts Programme (YAP) in Mdantsane, in 2008. This programme encourages the youth to choose the arts, culture and heritage as serious and dignified careers. YAP also creates dialogues, explores possibilities of socio-economic opportunities and skills development for the youth in the arts, culture and heritage fields. YAP aims to broaden exposure to various aspects of arts business and management with a view to creating sustainable socio-economic and socio-cultural opportunities.
For more information regarding the ASDY programmes, contact the Chief Directorate: Arts, Social Development and Youth at Tel: 012-441-3055 or 012-441-3071.
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