/ 23 June 2010

The collective coffer lending a hand

‘Democracy means having the choice as an artist to do exactly what you want to do,” said Adrienne Sichel, doyenne of South African arts journalism. However, as Sichel points out, ‘censorship can occur through funding”.

The issue of financial backing for the arts has been hotly contested over the past decade. During the apartheid period, struggle theatre was kept alive with monetary aid from foreign donors, while the state invested in eurocentric arts institutions.

However, in post-apartheid years, foreign and especially government funding has dried up, with Government cutting the National Art Council’s funding in half from R28 million last year to R14 million this year, despite lofty promises of increased funding for World Cup-based productions.

Enter the collective – production companies that rely entirely on independent funding to keep the democracy of art alive. Performance artists have become increasingly entrepreneurial in their approach to sustaining their craft by grouping together to form collectives that are producing some of the most exciting work at this year’s Festival.

A festival within the Festival

The biggest collective at this year’s Festival is The Cape Town Edge (CTE). Hosting a mini-festival within the Festival, CTE boasts 11 ground-breaking productions.

‘There is something for everyone, from comedy, drama and breath-taking visual theatre, to beautiful human stories and entertainment for our younger audiences,” said Jaqueline Domisse of the Hearts & Eyes Theatre Collective, a CTE co-founding company.

It grouped together with From the Hip: Khulumakahle (FTH:K) to form CTE in 2007 to provide Cape Town artists with a strong platform for expression.

Making waves

Based on past performances, the Matchbox Theatre Collective is expected to make waves on the Fringe with their premiere production, High Rising. It was created by Nicola Haskins and Bailey Snyman, both former members of First Physical Productions.

Apart from providing artists with a solid financial framework in which to produce work, Sichel deems collectives as a stand for the promotion of various social issues within theatre. FTH:K engages with deaf communities in producing their work and their hit production Pictures of You uses puppets to transcend the boundaries of verbal communication.

Lara Foot’s visually accessible Wombtide embodies the collective’s vision of allowing audiences to ‘listen with their eyes”.

Washa Mollo, also on the Arena, is the creation of the Mothertongue Project, a collective that consists entirely of women and deals with Afro-feminist concerns.

Discrepancies in funding

Locally, The Arkwork Collective is an environmental education and sustainability group operating through the mode of theatre to promote their concerns.

With the Johannesburg Civic Theatre’s Boys in the Photograph receiving an astounding R10.6 million from the National Treasury, the discrepancies in Government funding have become more apparent than ever before.

With this threat looming, the role of collectives is certain to become ever more crucial in sustaining and nourishing the independent voice of artists.