South African National Gallery

bonani 2nd quarter 1997

Current Exhibitions & Special Events Natale Labia Museum Friends of the National Gallery

The initiatives taken by the Ministry of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology over the past eighteen months, are gradually coming to fruition. On 5 February Minister Lionel Mtshali announced that Cabinet had approved the appointment of the persons who would serve as members of the National Arts Council: Elize Botha, Lisa Combrink, Vanessa Cooke, John Kani, David Koloane, Corinna Lowry, Marilyn Martin, Zakhe Ngqobe, Christopher Seabrooke, Bongani Thembe, Kiren Thathiah, Musa Xulu. These names were selected from a short list of eighteen which was drawn up by the selection panel chaired by Justice Albie Sachs; the panel interviewed thirty two candidates in November 1996. The Minister took the following criteria into account in selecting candidates: representation of different disciplines, gender balance, regional spread and financial and administrative capability. The fact that eight candidates come from Gauteng, three from KwaZulu Natal and one from the Western Cape, will to some extent be compensated for by the nine provincial representatives. Of particular significance to the SANG is that the Director and two members of the Board of Trustees (David Koloane and Kiren Thathiah) are on the NAC.

NAC Councillors serve in an honorary capacity for an initial period of three years and will be eligible for reappointment. They will elect a Chairperson and will establish advisory panels in various fields to assist in formulating policy, fund raising and assessing applications for funding. As the cornerstone of the Government's new arts and culture policy, the NAC will channel public funds to the arts, while maintaining an arm’s length independence of Government.

On 3 February Business Arts South Africa (BASA) was launched by Deputy President Thabo Mbeki in Pretoria. Established by the Department of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology (DACST), the Mission is ‘to promote and to encourage sustainable partnerships between the private sector and the arts, to their mutual benefit and to that of the community at large’. The association is modelled along similar lines as its counterparts in the USA (Business Committee for the Arts), Great Britain (Association for Business Sponsorship of the Arts) and Japan (Association for Corporate Support of the Arts in Japan). BASA, while being autonomous, is the principal private sector partner of government in the field of arts and culture. The Board comprises: Wendy Appelbaum, Richard Cock, Oscar Dhlomo, Hazel Feldman, Nomhle Gcabashe, Aggrey Klaaste, Mandla Langa, Zanele Mbeki, Eric Molobi, Dawn Mkhobo, Sam Montsi, Mark Read, Christopher Seabrooke, Mary Slack (Chairperson) and Conrad Strauss. There are already 49 founder members of BASA.

The restructuring of national collections, which is proposed in the White Paper on Arts and Culture, found concrete expression in a document, ‘Towards a New National Museums Service: a Vision for the Restructuring of Declared Cultural Institutions’, which was made available to institutions in October 1996. At an historic meeting on Robben Island called by Roger Jardine, Director-General of the DACST, on 31 January, members of the Association of Directors of National Collections (ADNC) aligned themselves with the Department’s vision and the framework for change, and we made a commitment to its implementation. The process for achieving this is exciting and demanding and will require a great deal of work, energy and application from all of us working in Declared Cultural Institutions. The focus on heritage and its institutions, which will include the establishment of the National Heritage Council (NHC) this year, is laudible and much appreciated. This is supported by positive budget allocations for the 1997/98 financial year.

Robben Island now forms part of the DACST as a heritage site, national monument and museum. An interim management authority led by André Odendaal has been established to take on the 568 hectare cultural precinct. What has been achieved since 20 December 1996 is impressive, and we benefited from a guided tour of the island, which included historic buildings, the graveyard, guns mounted during World War II and the infamous lime quarry. A former inmate was our guide through the prison and his first-hand account of procedures, conditions and human behaviour were illuminating and moving. No descriptions, photographs or films can prepare one for the confrontation with the cell in which Nelson Mandela spent nineteen years of his life; and I can find no words with which to convey my emotions, then or now.

On 22 February we invited the public to attend a discussion forum and debate on the contemporary South African art acquired by the SANG over the last decade, which can be seen on the exhibition ‘Contemporary South African Art 1985-1995’. It was very different from the first such public debate organised at the time of the exhibition ‘Recent Acquisitions 1990-1991’, held in 1992. The first was characterised by anger, disapproval and criticism of the new directions we were taking – mostly by the traditional stakeholders of the SANG and some artists. Those who attended the recent forum certainly had incisive questions to ask and opinions to express, but it was done in a spirit of constructive engagement and concern. It would seem that visitors to the Gallery have become accustomed to and are appreciative of the way in which the institution has changed and grown. We are grateful for your support and encouragement.

Marilyn Martin