As CEO Tony Lankester announced that the National Arts Festival fed R90 million into Grahamstown's economy last year, the sunset cast a suitably rosy glow over Mountain Drive, framed by the Monument Restaurant's windows.
As CEO Tony Lankester announced that the National Arts Festival fed R90 million into Grahamstown's economy last year, the sunset cast a suitably rosy glow over Mountain Drive, framed by the Monument Restaurant's windows.
"Ask me questions about anything except the water," Mayor Zamuxolo Peter quipped before an audience of economists, politicians, journalists, artists and arts supporters on Tuesday 28 January.
It was no surprise he was in good spirits: this was surely the best news our cash-strapped city has had in months.
As is that wasn't enough, Lankester also announced the launch of a new partnership with the European Union (EU), which will see more than R6m invested in the City of Grahamstown’s ‘Creative City’ project over the next two years.
It's through this partnership that the EU will support the Festival’s Makana Arts Academy project.
“We’ve seen from the Rhodes University Economic Impact Study also released today that the Festival makes a contribution of around R360m to the GDP of the Eastern Cape. That’s just from the staging of an annual, 11-day event. Long-term projects such as the one with the EU will enable us to affect the sector and the broader economy positively over a longer period of time, and will result in a more sustained drive to create jobs in the cultural sector,” Festival CEO Tony Lankester said.
The Makana Arts Academy is a “virtual institution” which will institute training programmes across the city in various arts disciplines, creating opportunities for Grahamstown residents to become active participants in the national arts economy. It will also establish a shared space in Grahamstown for artists, and which will act as a public creativity hub.
“We know that there are hundreds of talented people living in this City who have never been given the opportunity to explore their full potential. This programme will help identify, nurture and mentor this talent to the point where they are active in the sector and deriving an income from the arts,” Lankester said.
Partners include ASSITEJ South Africa (the International Association of Theatre for Children and Young People) and Kuns Onbeperk – the company behind the annual ABSA Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees in Oudtshoorn.
The Makana Arts Academy is part of a broader “Creative City” project, spearheaded by the National Arts Festival in partnership with Makana Municipality, Cacadu District Municipality, and the Eastern Cape Department of Sports, Recreation, Arts and Culture, which aims to establish Grahamstown as a Creative Capital of South Africa over the next five years.
“A couple of years ago the National Minister of Arts and Culture challenged the sector to use the arts to drive ‘Mzansi’s Golden Economy’. These projects are inspired by that call and are part of our response to the challenge," Lankester said.
"We have seen first hand what a Festival can do for an economically depressed part of the country. We see that every year.
"This takes things to the next level – we want to invest in the arts and its capacity to create jobs and support a whole range of industries, including tourism and hospitality. We want Grahamstown to become known as a South African cultural and creative hub.”
