Hazel Friedman
AFTER months of expectation, this week saw the launch of the National Arts Council (NAC) – an independent statutory board established to allocate funding for the arts. Even though the NAC Bill has yet to be passed by Cabinet, the official NAC lift-off was announced by the Minister of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology, Dr Lionel Mtshali, at a cocktail party on Tuesday this week.
Simultaneously, the names of the NAC executive committee were announced, with the Market Theatre’s John Kani being elected as chairman. Christopher Seabrooke (theatre producer) was named as his deputy while Vanessa Cooke (theatre administrator), Lisa Combrinck (literature) and Musa Xulu (music) were put forward as members of the NAC executive committee.
There was a delicious irony in the fact that the launch of the most important post- apartheid cultural institution took place in the offices of an organisation created by the old apartheid regime, namely the Foundation for the Creative Arts (FCA) in Newtown, Johannesburg.
Created by then president FW de Klerk in the wake of the Schutte Commission culture proposals during the mid-Eighties, the FCA was established to provide funds for arts organisations excluded from government subsidies. But it was instantly discredited by cultural activists as being little more that the covert intelligence and propoganda wing of the cultural old-guard.
In the early Nineties the National Arts Initiative was created to lobby for a national arts council. In its wake, the Arts and Cultural Task Group (Actag) took over as advocates for the establishment of such a council to provide funds for organisations marginalised during apartheid. Spearheaded by the Actag process, the government’s White Paper on arts and culture was released in May 1996.
On Tuesday the NAC was finally launched – literally on the rubble of the FCA. It is the first statutory cultural body to be established in accordance with the principles laid down in the White Paper. The launch of other bodies such as the National Heritage Council and the South African Film and Television foundation will follow.
“We are providing both continuity and innovation,” said Mtshali in his address at the NAC launch. “Today also serves as a concrete example of what can be achieved in a democracy when the arts community and government co-operate in establishing policies and structures which the art community has itself called for.”
And for which it has waited way too long.
“The NAC is the logical outcome of the struggles that were waged in the 1970s and 1980s to take control of our lives and develop our culture. We are finally reaping the fruits,” says Kani.
NAC councillors will serve on an honorary, non-salaried basis for a three-year term and will be eligible for reappointment after a further three years. While the council will meet a few times during the year to arbitrate and channel funds, it will establish a secretariat and a salaried CEO. The secretariat will be entrusted with the process of setting up advisory panels from different creative disciplines.
During the public interviews held with 33 nominees for the council – of which 18 were finally chosen – Judge Albie Sachs, who presided over the hearings, asked of Kani: “With all the hats you wear, is your head big enough to hold them all?” (Kani is currently chairman of the Pact Board and managing director of the Market Theatre). The reply was vintage Kani: “Yes, but my heart is even bigger.”
So, it seems, are his aspirations as chairperson. Although his role will primarily be that of figurehead, Kani will be presiding over a diverse set of conflicting constituencies. But he doesn’t foresee any potential cracks in the edifice. Rather, he perceives the differences as dynamic departure points. And, although the specific criteria for funding deserving projects have yet to be formulated, Kani is pretty buoyant about the council’s role as cultural construction worker.
“If you are able to really see – not simply look – at the South African situation, you will remain in touch with the needs on the ground,” he says. “The NAC will focus on targeting marginalised, needy cultural organisations, in the rural areas, for example. Even though we will be starting off with a paltry sum for allocation to deserving cultural projects, we will not simply be an art bank. We will also serve as an advisory body, assisting arts organisations in getting funds, lobbying in the corridors of government for additional funds and prowling corporate foyers to persuade the private sector to participate in the development of our culture.
“But most importantly,” he adds, “the NAC must set itself up as a role model for our youth, laying the moral groundwork for the future. We can’t achieve everything at once.
But as Joe Slovo once said: “Let us build the first house, for God’s sake.'”