Culture Trust (ACT) and UJ Arts Culture, University of Johannesburg, are proud to announce their 2013 conference entitled, ‘Creative Currencies: accessing opportunities in an expanding marketplace’. The conference, to take place from 06 to 08 August 2013 at the UJ Arts Centre in Johannesburg, will focus on commercial and trade aspects of cultural and artistic endeavour in South Africa and further afield.
This year’s conference has attracted participation and support from a number of influential players in the arts and culture space, including the European Union (EU), British Council, the European Union National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC) network, Arterial Network South Africa and the Visual Arts Network of South Africa (VANSA).
Pieter Jacobs, Arts Culture Trust CEO, notes: “ACT is delighted to be in a position to, once again, invite arts, culture and heritage practitioners, academia and people who are involved in the commerce of the arts and culture industry to attend the conference and participate in rigorous debate around trade and exchange in the arts and culture environment” and adds “we look forward to presenting fresh content which will go beyond trade and exchange in economic terms by also looking at it from a multi-dimensional perspective which includes the interchange of ideas, research, information and knowledge.”
Knowledgeable local and international speakers and panellists will cover a wide range of topics related to trade, exchange and commerce within the creative sectors. Through the presentation of keynote speeches, case studies and panel discussions; the roles of government, donors/funders and other stakeholders will be discussed. Focus areas will concern policy enabling and encouraging creative and culture-based industries, and international best practice regarding trade in creative/cultural goods and services. A detailed conference programme will be made available in due course.
Conference registration is invited at www.act.org.za. In an effort to encourage participation from all stakeholder industries, including arts and culture, education, government and business sectors; conference registration fees will be heavily subsidised. A limited number of sponsored registrations will be made available to arts, culture and heritage practitioners. Applications for sponsored registrations will be welcome from 02 May 2013.
A second edition of the SA Arts and Culture Listing, an up-to-date national database of industry stakeholders, will be released at this year’s conference. Arts industry stakeholders that are engaged in performing arts, visual arts, music, dance, heritage, arts training, community art, literature and South African arts and culture festivals, as well as agencies engaged in the sponsorship of arts, culture and heritage, will be invited to submit their details for inclusion.
A partnership with the Cultural Development Trust will see the conference include an expo component for the first time. Media partners SAFM, Mail Guardian and Classicfeel magazine add additional strategic marketing opportunities. The organisers further wish to acknowledge the invaluable support of Santam, Business and Arts South Africa (BASA), the SAMRO Foundation and Distell Foundation.
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NOTES TO THE EDITORS
About the Arts Culture Trust (ACT): The Arts Culture Trust (ACT) is South Africa’s premier independent arts funding and development agency. The primary aim of ACT is to increase the amount of funding available for arts and culture initiatives, and to apply these funds to innovative, sustainable projects that make a meaningful contribution to society. Through structured funding programmes, ACT provides support for all expressions of arts and culture, including literature, music, visual art, theatre and dance, and the support extends to festivals, community arts initiatives, arts management, arts education and arts administration. To receive updates follow ACT on Twitter at https://twitter.com/#!/actorgza or like the Trust’s Facebook page at
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Arts-Culture-Trust-ACT/162339817162875.
About UJ Arts Culture: UJ Arts Culture produces student and professional performing arts in three theatres as well as exhibitions, concerts and a range of cultural and creative activities across all four UJ campuses. Facilities include the UJ Arts Centre located on the Kingsway Campus that comprises the 436-seater Arts Centre Theatre, the Art Gallery, dance studios and choir rooms, as well as the Experimental Theatre Space on the Kingsway Campus and the 180-seater Con Cowan Theatre and dance studios on the Bunting Road Campus. These venues also serve as receiving houses for professional South African and international productions, concerts, exhibitions, conferences and cultural events.
About the European Union: The EU is a unique economic and political partnership between 27 European countries that has delivered half a century of peace, stability and prosperity, has helped raise living standards, launched a single European currency and is progressively building a single Europe-wide market in which people, goods, services and capital move between Member States as freely as they would within a country. Since its creation in the aftermath of the Second World War, the EU that started off as a purely economic union has evolved into an organisation spanning all areas, from development aid and trade to arts and culture development. The EU actively promotes human rights and democracy and has the most ambitious emission reduction targets for fighting climate change in the world.
About the British Council:The British Council creates international opportunities for the people of the UK and other countries and builds trust between them worldwide. We work in the areas of English language, the arts, and education and society. In South Africa we build partnerships with local and UK organisations to deliver development projects, arts events, skills training, policy dialogues and examination services.
About VANSA: VANSA aspires to be a dynamic and resilient network-based organisation operating as a key support point for contemporary art practice in South Africa. The organisation works with and through a powerful local, continental and international network of visual arts professionals, businesses, organisations, institutions and agencies on initiatives and projects across five key areas:
• Strengthening informational networks;
• Promoting better professional and business practice;
• Facilitating opportunities for new approaches to contemporary art practice, in new
Contexts with new audiences and publics;
• Opening up new market opportunities for contemporary art in South Africa; and
• Lobbying and advocacy in all of the above areas, informed by research and evidence.
The organisation has a national office in Johannesburg and has recently appointed five regional coordinators located across the country.
About Eunic: EUNIC – the European Union National Institutes for Culture – is a network of international cultural relations institutes from the member states of the European Union. EUNIC’s members work in over 150 countries with over 2,000 branches. They work in the arts, languages, youth, education, science, intercultural dialogue and development. EUNIC’s members seek to facilitate cultural co-operation, to create lasting partnerships between professionals, to encourage greater understanding and awareness of the diverse European cultures, and to encourage language learning.
The EUNIC South Africa cluster was formed in 2008. Current members are the Alliance Francaise, the British Council, the Camoes Institute, the French Institute (IFAS), the Goethe-Institut, the Italian Institute of Culture, and the Embassies of Austria and Spain.
EUNIC is:
• An active network: encouraging members to implement shared projects
• A learning network: sharing ideas and practices between members
• A partnering network: working with partners including the European Commission, the Council of Europe and partners around the world
• An advocacy network: raising the awareness and effectiveness of building cultural relationships between people worldwide
About Arterial Network South Africa (ANSA): ANSA is the National Chapter of a dynamic network of individuals, organizations, donors, companies and institutions engaged in the African creative and cultural sector.
URL: http://www.act.org.za/
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Author: Fiona Gordon from The Famous Idea Trading Co.. Originally distributed by MyPR.co.za.
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