Performing artists should get organised and form a union, was the advice Dr Pallo Jordan, Minister of Arts and Culture, gave the filmmakers, visual artists, writers and theatre practitioners who put questions directly to him at an imbizo held at the Baxter Theatre in Cape Town on April 7.
Using those in London and New York as examples, Jordan said that similar union structures, if created in South Africa, would address the concerns frequently raised by performers about remuneration, working conditions and the regulation of foreign technicians and artists.
Jordan deflected all questions about funding, saying that bodies such as the National Arts Council (NAC), were created to be at arm’s length from the minister in deciding who to fund.
Even interrogating the members of the committee about their decisions, he felt, would lead them to start awarding grants based on what they might construe to be favourable in the minister’s eyes. However, numerous statements from the floor pointed to concerns and dissatisfaction with the guiding strategies employed by the funding bodies.
The bureaucratic inscrutability of the application forms was also raised. A case was made for funding repertory companies with their associated collegiate benefits.
There was some dissatisfaction expressed by black women in the audience, who pointed out that as writers and directors in theatre and film they were still on the fringe. In this regard, too, the intransigence of South African publishers came under fire.
Jordan commented that concerns with the bottom line were shortsighted: publishers were failing to encourage literacy and grow their market.
At this gathering it was black artists who were most vociferous. The absence of performance in African languages was forcefully raised. Even though there may be few original scripts, translations do exist, such as those of Shakespeare into Tswana by Sol Plaatje.
There was frustration and suspicion surrounding the continued white control of the major producing houses. The feeling that black practitioners were marginalised was palpable.
This leads one to question why auditions for productions at Artscape and the Baxter are not also held in the townships and areas that are more accessible to black people.
The minister observed that at the imbizo held earlier that day in Khayelitsha (for musicians, crafters and heritage workers), the overriding concern raised was the absence of performing spaces and movie houses. These are, ironically, not situated where the majority of people live.
The costs and difficulties of simply travelling to the major theatres and cinema complexes at night made attendance prohibitively expensive.
Without significant local audience figures, South African filmmakers will be hard pressed to make a case for their films to international distributors. Jordan also remarked that children’s theatre needed remedial attention.
The Western Cape arts minister, Chris Stali, arrived late, did not make any remarks, even though time had been allotted for him on the agenda; nor did he reply to any questions, although one was specifically put to him by Nthombisiswe Tena about the incompetence of his office.