Whereas many organisations are moved to introspection at a critical juncture — self-examination to stave off an autopsy — the National Arts Festival (NAF) is still a healthy, irrepressible outfit and in no imminent danger of losing centre stage.
There is nothing on this continent that comes close to the 34-year-old festival in terms of diversity and the number of arts events (532 this year). Attendance is satisfactory and sponsorship appears secure — injecting more than R50-million into the local economy. Yet the festival has embarked on a serious rethink and a rejuvenating force is detectable. You need only go to its useful new website (www.nationalartsfestival.co.za) to see that change is in the offing.
The board, which carries the responsibility for the direction of the festival, has almost doubled in size since 2004. The festival committee, which determines what works are performed, is now chaired by Sibongile Khumalo who took over last year after the time-honoured Mannie Manim stepped down. But the greatest change can be seen in the creation of a chief executive position, which was recently filled by Tony Lankester. He says the NAF wants to be ‘the most polished, the leading arts brand, which is more than staging a great festival for 10 days … What we do for the artists and audiences and the arts in general must extend beyond.” The idea is that ‘everyone leaves with something that is useful to them … and are richer for it”.
It is even contemplating roadshow workshops across the country.
Lankester sees his challenge as being ‘how to harness the legacy [of the festival] and turn it into something that takes the festival to the next level. I would not say there is a lot wrong with the festival, but there is plenty of scope for growth and scope for opportunity.” The motivation seems to be to do even better — an ambitious and proactive response to the ever-changing social and economic landscape of South Africa.
The festival appears on track to do this. Government is a key stakeholder at last, with the Eastern Cape Province and the National Arts Council contributing substantial amounts. An educated guess (the figures are not public) places the combined contribution of various government agencies at more than 50% of total sponsorship.
With an operating budget of R16-million, of which 60% is allocated to productions, the festival - though not cash-strapped — isn’t yet in a position to fulfil its aspirations. Of Lankester’s many tasks, growing audience numbers is probably be the most crucial. ‘I don’t think we can economically sustain more productions, but what we can sustain are bigger audience houses.
‘My focus is getting more audiences in and make it more economically viable for the productions that do come here. There is obviously a link between those two,” Lankester says.
One innovation, funded by the Arts and Culture Trust, is to assist community theatre groups. Says Lankester: ‘We are not just going to hand out cash, but we will do matching, so for every ticket you sell we will buy another ticket for someone else, which puts pressure on these groups to not just come and do shows for one another but to market themselves.” The festival plans to buy about 5 000 tickets for local school, church and community groups.
Business Arts South Africa has also stepped up to the plate. It is funding Cue, the festival newspaper, to enlarge its daily fringe coverage significantly. Better-informed festival goers are more likely to book for productions on the sprawling and qualitatively uneven fringe, which in Lankester’s opinion, ‘is very strong this year”.
The nature of the works at this year’s festival gives scope for something of a reversal in programming. Over the years the fringe has steadily lost its appeal for commercial producers. The risks are high and the financial rewards far from lucrative for the big names. The ‘main” has been about balancing reliable drawcards and artistic quality, since these properties often conflict. But a robust fringe that can support commercial work with broad appeal will allow the main to concentrate on artistic merit first, satisfying its core constituencies of artists and patrons of the arts.
This would bring the festival more in line with European festivals, where the emphasis is on the avant-garde and creating a highly subsidised and supportive space for the continent’s leading artists to grow and develop.
The importance of the arts to the vitality and survival of a healthy national psyche, which can be attained only through the artistic vanguard, cannot be overemphasised.
Lankester and his team are well positioned to do this and have great prospects ahead of them. New vision and new energy in such a major cultural institution will be a boon to the nation.