By Benny Mojela
Lucrative? Precarious? Fragile? How does one describe, and condense the art economy into a single phrase?
In the panel discussion Business Beyond Festival, Xolile Madinda, Black Power Station CEO, Nobesuthu Rayi, Partnership Manager of the National Arts Festival (NAF), and Noel Lobley who hails as an ethnomusicologist from the University of Virginia, sit down at the Black Power Station to unpack where the local art scene is heading, beyond the Fest.
The gathering is intimate, with two panellists absent. However, the discussion is a warm-hearted one as we sit under the sun to listen. Topics range from the importance of commiting to a vision, avoiding compromise at the cost of integrity, and the currency of artists to the business beyond ticket sales.
Madinda emphasises how his stubborn commitment to the vision for the Black Power Station allows it to sustain itself, even with a lack of funding. “The funding must follow the vision, not the other way around,” he says. Although Madinda’s way of working is honourable, for many it is not always achievable. Locally, very few people see art as ‘work’, resulting in difficulties to build a space for creatives devoid of cash flow.
Instead, artists may try to build up a good rapport with their funders, allowing easier negotiations of funds in alignment with a sustainable vision.
Rayi engages well with the audience. She responds to many questions on packaging oneself as an artist in order to be profitable. She advises artists to develop an urgency for crafting their business acumen, and a freedom to choose how they wish to generate profit from their creativity. In a country with a startling youth unemployment rate, it should be a responsibility for stakeholders to hold the hands of up-and-coming artists.
Lobley strongly highlights the importance of collaboration and intersectionality of people, spaces, and ideas. The success of artists is like a good cake. It requires a lot of different ingredients, but without the bicarb it won’t rise. In the arts, collaboration is that key ingredient. Similarly, it’s important to approach partnerships with care and a clear head. The panel emphasises the importance of being careful of the company you keep.
Business Beyond Festival deserves more attention if Makhanda is going to live up to its claim of being a creative city. Less talk, and more action is required to build an arts economy extending beyond the Festival.
Business Beyond Festival took place on 24 June at the Black Power Station.
