New members and jam-packed calendar for Business and Arts South Africa

The second BASA Arts in Business Forum will take place on 21 October and will feature speakers Richard Hahlo and Vuyo Jack, amongst others.

This follows the inaugural event in October 2013 which saw a sold-out audience of business representatives listen to internationally renowned arts and business expert, Giovanni Schiuma and a line-up of South African speakers address the concept of shared value in arts and business.

Richard Hahlo is co-founder of UK-based Dramatic Resources - a global pioneer in the application of theatre and performance skills in business in the UK. The BASA Arts in Business Forum will see Hahlo present Winning Hearts & Minds - an interactive seminar that aims to demonstrate the value of using the arts in business to help bring about culture change.

Vuyo Jack is the co-founder and CEO of Empowerdex, an independent economic empowerment rating and research agency that is amongst BASA's long term business members.

The first half of 2014 has seen a substantial number of new members join over 160 businesses who are already part of Business and Arts South Africa (NPC). These include Deloitte Stellenbosch, Adams & Adams, Back 2 Back Advertising Brokers cc, Between 10 and 5 Online Publishing, Century City Arts Foundation, DNA Brand Architects, South African Community Empowerment Foundation (SACEF), Sheer Publishing and Stuttaford Van Lines - Fine Art. These members are actively engaged and supporting the arts in different ways.

According to Bianca Church of Century City Arts Foundation "There are exciting plans going forward to launch a permanent gallery in the new Century City Conference Centre, currently under construction, and to incorporate additional works of art including sculptures within the urban planning rollout of this burgeoning precinct."

Alongside the annual BASA Arts in Business Forum, one of the benefits to members is regular access to experts with crucial insights into the arts as a progressive enabler - both in South Africa and across the continent.

As part of the latter, this year saw the launch of the BASA 2014 Africa Breakfast series, supported by Standard Bank.

Praekelt Group's Gustav Praekelt, GIBS Senior Researcher, Lisa Brown and multiple award-winning jazz musician, Kesivan Naidoo were the speakers at a breakfast in March while the July event was addressed by Alex Okosi, Senior Vice President & Managing Director of Viacom International Media Networks Africa; Hazel Chimhandamba, Head of Group Sponsorships at Standard Bank and Tony Lankester, National Arts Festival CEO.

The third business breakfast will take place on 6 November at GIBS, with the line-up of speakers to be announced in the coming months.

Also coming up in the second half of the year are the 17th Annual Business Day BASA Awards, partnered by Hollard. Created to recognise and encourage excellence and innovation in the field of business support for the arts, this year's event takes place on 25 August, and features close to 60 nominees in 12 categories with several special awards also announced on the night.

Space is limited for the BASA Arts in Business Forum, so early booking is recommended. For more information on all these events as well as details on membership, please contact: 011 447 2295 or email az.oc.asab@ofni visit our website www.basa.co.za.

About Business and Arts South Africa (NPC)

Business and Arts South Africa (NPC) is an internationally recognised South African development agency. With a suite of integrated programmes, Business and Arts South Africa (NPC) encourages mutually beneficial partnerships between business and the arts, contributing to corporate success and securing the future development of the arts industry in South Africa. Business and Arts South Africa (NPC) was founded in 1997 as a joint initiative of the Department of Arts and Culture and the business sector as a public/private partnership. Business and Arts South Africa (NPC) is proud to be celebrating 20 years of freedom.