The late Dr Ivan May and Professor Andries Oliphant have played an instrumental role in the establishment of the Arts & Culture Trust (ACT). In 1994, the newly established ministry of arts, culture, science and technology (now the department of arts and culture) responded to an invitation from Nedcor Bank and Sun International to set up a body for arts and culture, similar to the sports and green trusts.
Each of the founding trustees contributed R1-million, which was invested in a trust fund to ensure sustainability and to minimise dependence on annual grants. Former President Nelson Mandela endorsed the initiative and agreed to serve as the patron-in-chief of ACT. During the first five years, two further founding trustees – the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and Vodacom – joined ACT and contributed to the trust endowment.
Four years after ACT’s establishment, the annual awards that celebrate excellence in South African arts, culture and creativity was launched. Today the annual ACT awards is a prominent event on the cultural calendar and recently received a commendation from the National Assembly.
ACT award winners 2014
The 2014 ACT Lifetime Achievement Awards and ImpACT Awards for Young Professionals winners were announced during an elegant event hosted by Sun International’s The Maslow Hotel, and sponsored by Nedbank Arts Affinity.
ACT honours those who have had a lifelong commitment to the arts and five deserving Lifetime Achievement Awards have been awarded this year. The awards are nominated by the ACT board of trustees and selected by current and previous ACT trustees. Categories including Theatre (sponsored by the Dramatic, Artistic and Literary Rights Organisation (Dalro)), Music (sponsored by Nedbank Arts Affinity), Literature (sponsored by Media24 Books) and Visual Art are awarded to recipients who have had a major impact on the arts, culture and heritage of South Africa. This year a new special award, sponsored by Classicfeel Magazine, has been made for Arts Advocacy.
The 2014 winners were Sam Nzima for Visual Art, Richard Cock for Music, André P Brink for Literature and Richard Loring for Theatre. The Lifetime Achievement Award for Arts Advocacy honours patrons in the arts who have devoted a lifetime of work to supporting the arts, and this inaugural award went to Mandie van der Spuy, head of arts and jazz sponsorships for Standard Bank.
“As a bank for all, Nedbank is honoured to be able to support and recognise talented South Africans who are telling our history, our present and future narratives through different forms of art. One of the reasons we can reflect and celebrate 20 years of a democracy is because of the wealth of artists who contribute to the preservation of our history, our national heritage and cultures. The winners join this rich lineage of men and women who are have committed themselves to being the guardians of nation. Our 20-year partnership with ACT is testimony of our commitment to making the arts happen,” said Maseda Ratshikuni, head of cause marketing at Nedbank.
Since 2010, the ImpACT Awards, sponsored by the Distell Foundation, have acknowledged Young Pro-fessionals in the arts who have promising careers ahead of them, already having made an imprint on the arts and culture scene on home soil in the first five years of their professional careers. The finalists are nominated by the public and adjudicated by a chosen panel of expert judges. The following winners received an award: Jade Bowers for Theatre, Thabo Makhethe-Kwinana for Design, Bevan de Wet for Visual Art and Nomfundo Xaluva for Music.
“We never cease to be inspired by the ImpACT Award winners. They follow in the footsteps of remarkable artists who have continued to soar to greater heights, not only locally but internationally as well. We are privileged to have had the opportunity to, at a crucial juncture in their careers, recognise and encourage them to continue pushing boundaries and testing limits. We wish this year’s winners well in their future endeavours while watching in anticipation as their careers unfold,” says ACT chief executive Pieter Jacobs.
The judging panel for the 2014 ImpACT Awards was headed by ACT trustee and creative professional Caroline Smart, with the following judges: visual artist David Koloane, arts education and heritage activist Nadia Virasamy, 2013 Standard Bank Young Artist for Theatre Prince Lamla, culture and craft mentor Eugenie Drakes and jazz music maestro Herbie Tsoaeli.
Guests were entertained by dancers, singers and actors such as Gloria Bosman, Arlin Bantam, Kamogelo Nche and Tankiso Mamabolo, all of whom are previous ACT Scholarship Award winners. The 2014 ACT Awards ceremony is sponsored by Nedbank Arts Affinity, hosted by Sun International and presented in association with Dalro, Media24 Books, ClassicFeel Magazine and is supported by the Distell Foundation and Business and Arts South Africa.