The event, which is organised by The Swallows Foundation SA/Isiseko Senkonjane with the support of Arterial Network of South Africa, will take place at The Opera House, Barn Theatre, Friday 26 July, 2013, from 8.30am until 3pm. It is funded by the Mandela Bay Development Agency (MBDA) through funding from the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund (NLDTF) as well as the Port Elizabeth Opera House.
The symposium is a gathering of arts, culture and heritage practitioners, and experts from national, provincial and local institutions, as well as civil society role players. It is aimed at preparing the Nelson Mandela Bay and the Eastern Cape to develop common and shared strategies towards the development of arts, culture and heritage growth. The symposium will also provide a platform for deliberations on crucial developments in research and policy changes that are underway nationally. In particular, the funding and governance landscape in South Africa are under discussion at the moment.
Foremost will be a review of funding arrangements envisaged in the Lotteries Amendment Bill, soon to be considered by the Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry. A civil society submission on the Bill will be presented by Joseph Gaylard of VANSA (Visual Arts Network of South Africa) as well as member of Arterial Network of SA.
The second critical presentation will focus on the Department of Arts and Culture's review of the White Paper on Arts, Culture and Heritage. The first was in 1996 and, to this day, the implementation of that legislation has left the entire Eastern Cape in the cold and found itself as a pariah on the national pedestal. How does this process, under review, hope to amend such travesty? National commentators on arts, culture and heritage policy will be present, such as Ismail Mohamed, artistic director of the National Arts Festival and Mike van Graan, resident writer of Artscape and former secretary general of Arterial Network Africa.
Officials from Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality and Department of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture in the province and Eastern Cape Provincial Arts and Culture Council will participate and give input on policy direction. The symposium will be facilitated by Valmont Layne, secretary general of Arterial Network South Africa.
