ANSA SETS MOBILITY AGENDA AT NAF 2024

ANSA SETS MOBILITY AGENDA AT NAF 2024

Arterial Network South Africa (ANSA), in partnership with the National Arts Festival, will host one of its popular #ArtOut events at the festival.

 ANSA sets mobility agenda at NAF
Supported by an ANT Funding Grant from Pro Helvetia Johannesburg financed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), three festival representatives from the SADC region will attend this year’s festival in Grahamstown.
Galen Bresson (CEO of Creative Industries and National Events Agency Seychelles), Natalie Kombe (Shoko Festival Coordinator in Zimbabwe) and Jiggs Thorne (Director of the Bushfire Festival in Swaziland) will join local specialists Yvette Hardie (Assitej), James French (SAMRO Foundation) and Violet Maila (Concerts SA) at the #ArtOut event, which will bring into focus issues concerning regional mobility and the policies that govern movement of artists and creative goods in the region.
“In addition to this event kick-starting an important discussion ANSA is passionate about, we hope that the attendance of these delegates, who will also form part of the festival’s Th!nkFest programme, would serve as a catalyst for collaboration in the future,” says ANSA Chairman, Pieter Jacobs.
> The #ArtOut event is scheduled to take place on the 4th of July at the Artists’ Lounge at the Monument at 17:00. Entry is free of charge.
Additionally, SADC delegates will engage in a facilitated discussion around the complexities of curating a creative programme as well as reflect on the impact of technology on festival programming as part of Th!nkFest on 5 July presented at the Ntsikana Room at the Monument at 12-noon. Click here for the Th!nkFest programme.
About Arterial Network South Africa (ANSA)
Arterial Network South Africa (ANSA) is one of 40 National Chapters making up Arterial Network. The Chapter has been operating since 2010 and currently focuses on arts and culture policy and continental cooperation and collaboration. For more information click here 
About #ArtOut events
Presented by Arterial Network South Africa (ANSA), #ArtOut is a series of public events open to practitioners, administrators and industry players to convene and discuss industry concerns in a casual yet focused environment.
About the National Arts Festival
The National Arts Festival is an important event on the South African cultural calendar, and the biggest annual celebration of the arts on the African continent.
Starting at the end of June/beginning of July, it runs for 11 days in the small university city of Grahamstown, which is situated in the Eastern Cape, 130km from Port Elizabeth.
The Festival comprises a Main and a Fringe programme, which are both administered by the National Arts Festival Office. The Festival is reliant on sponsorship with the core sponsors being the Department of Arts and Culture, the Eastern Cape Department of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture and the Office of the Premier, and Standard Bank of South Africa. Media partners include M-Net and City Press newspaper.
The programme comprises drama, dance, physical theatre, comedy, opera, music, jazz, visual art exhibitions, film, student theatre, street theatre, lectures, craft fair, workshops, and a children’s arts festival.
For more info about the National Arts Festival click here
About SDC ANT Project Funding
Pro Helvetia Johannesburg has for some time been investing in transnational collaborations, exchanges and joint projects among organisations and creative practitioners operating across the SADC region, with support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). Their investments are focused on projects, networks and platforms that have a shared interest in building a stronger regional creative fabric.
The focus of ANT Project funding is threefold:

  • to support the circulation of new and existing works of Southern African artists to relevant audiences in the region,
  • to enable transnational collaboration towards the development of new work,
  • and the sharing of knowledge and expertise across borders.

For more information, please click here