So Creative Summit kickstarts an evolution

A purpose-driven programme of talks, workshops, immersions and experiences is set to super-charge creative and innovative entrepreneurs, curious minds and raw ambition with a power-pack of new ideas and action. Hosted by creative "ARTivist" practitioner, Tshego Khutsoane, the So Creative Summit is happening at the Centre for the Less Good Idea in Maboneng, Johannesburg.

Speakers include illustrator, and recent H&M collab artist Russell Smith (Yay Abe) and digital strategist and weaver Kristen Clague; straight-talking digital marketing guru Lebo Lion; the V&A Waterfront’s Social Impact: cultural manager Marco Morgan, and purpose pioneer Thobile Chittenden of Makers Valley. Streaming in live on behalf of Manchester International Festival are Michelle Rocha, their head of touring and artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer who will be discussing Atmospheric Memory, an interactive art environment that premiered at MIF19 and has since travelled globally. All of the talks will be broadcast online via the So Creative Summit’s YouTube and social media channels.

The talks are interspersed with in-person workshops that tease thoughts into action. Creative Nestlings founder, strategist and cultural consultant Dillion S Phiri will represent Vansa with a workshop that looks at the toolkit for creative business success. Visual artist Mariapaola McGurk will also unpack the entrepreneurial process for creatives, and theatre maker Tamara Guhrs will take a new perspective on approaching and building a project from a sustainability base.

Speakers Thobile Chittenden of Makers Valley, Creative Nestlings founder, strategist and cultural consultant Dillion Phiri, and digital marketing guru Lebo Lion

The summit will also host a Pitch Den where creatives can pitch their start-up idea to the crowd for a shot at winning a R10,000, R20,000 or R30,000 boost (courtesy of Basa) to kick-start their project.

Set out across multiple spaces at The Centre for the Less Good Idea in Johannesburg, summit participants can take some time between the action to browse artisanal merchandise, creative projects and digital art, spend time in the outdoor courtyard, watch short films, peruse books and network.

A visit to the summit’s Manifesto Lab is a must-stop for everyone. It’s here that a solution-driven, collaboratively created manifesto will extract what cultural producers, artists and makers want for themselves, their communities and their planet. Made over the two days as a zine, the end result will be a call to action and a guide for the path ahead. The summit will also call for digital contributions to the Manifesto.

The So Creative Summit 2022 is version 3.0 of the physical summit meet-ups with the first one having been launched in Johannesburg, South Africa under the leadership of Arterial Network South Africa (Feb 2019). The second meet-up happened in Zimbabwe under the leadership of Stimulus Africa Foundation (March 2020), and now, meet-up 3.0 is being led by Business and Arts South Africa. A digital meet-up also took place in 2021, in light of Covid-19.

In the lead-up to the live event, digital engagements such as Instagram Live conversations are taking place. On 13 June 2022, an Instagram Live; Decolonising Fashion is taking place at 7pm SAST on the So Creative Summit’s Instagram channel with guests Lesiba Mabitsela and Erica de Greef from the African Fashion Research Institute. For more visit https://www.instagram.com/socreativehubsummit/.

The So Creative Summit is on 6 & 7 July.
Tickets are R50 per day or R90 for both days.
For more information, to see the full programme and book tickets, visit www.socreativesummit.com.

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