director's message

At a meeting of the Southern Flagship Institution (SFI) held on 26 August, it was decided that an interim management committee comprising directors of the SFI components would be formed, and that Mike Cluver, director of the South African Museum, would take over from Colin Jones as Acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Owing to professional commitments Colin Jones was no longer available for the position, but has been elected as Chairperson. An advertisement for the post of CEO has appeared in the press and the new arrangement will be effective until the end of the year, or until the CEO is appointed.

In order to move the process forward, the directors have been seconded to the SFI: Mike Cluver heads Operations (finance, administration, human resources, information technology, security, property, shops and restaurants); Aron Mazel (South African Cultural History Museum) takes charge of Collections (curatorship and research) and co-ordinates Policy Development; Marilyn Martin is responsible for Public Programmes (education, exhibitions, public relations, marketing, fund-raising and visitor development); Paul Grobbelaar (William Fehr Collection) directs Information (internal communications, publications, libraries) and Hans Fransen (Michaelis Collection) contributes to all the different sections. Council members with special interests and expertise have been assigned to work with the directors in the different sections. We welcome Roy du Pré, who has recently been appointed to the SFI Council.

One of the steps in the implementation of the restructuring and the creation of a sense of unity and cohesion in the SFI, is that of a joint newsletter. As we will all be working towards this in the next few months, this issue of bonani is the last. I would like to take this opportunity of thanking all the staff, contributors and sponsors for enabling us, since 1991, to publish a newsletter that has gone from strength to strength and that is read across the globe - in print and electronic form. It has informed the public about our programmes, but it has also kept readers abreast of the shifts and events in the broader fields of arts, culture and heritage. It has generated discussion, debate and caused controversy. We at the Sang are proud of bonani and look forward to participating in the new publication. Special thanks must go to Nicolaas Vergunst, who has devoted himself to producing a newsletter of quality in every sense and one of which we at the Sang are proud. We look forward to participating in the new SFI publication.

In her report, Chairperson of the FONG Caryll Shear, pays tribute to Ann Norris who resigned as Secretary/Treasurer after 16 years. Ann not only ran the Friends' office, she was responsible for the minutes of the Sang Board of Trustees, a task which she fulfilled with unfailing accuracy, efficiency and care. Ann's presence and contribution will be greatly missed and we wish her well for the future.

During August-September, we were privileged to host the exhibition 'Africa meets Africa', which comprised a selection of works from the permanent collection of the Museum of Ethnology in Rotterdam, Holland, and which was sponsored by the Museum, the City of Rotterdam, the Government of the Netherlands, the South African Embassy in the Netherlands, the Mondriaan Foundation, Dräger, Mercedes-Benz, Standard Bank and vodacom. 'Africa meets Africa' offered South Africans and foreign visitors a unique opportunity of encountering superb examples of the cultural and aesthetic production of our continent. It was in keeping with our policy of acquiring works from the African continent where possible, and of showing objects from the Sang permanent collection and other sources - national and international. Since 1993 we have held a series of groundbreaking exhibitions to explore the history and celebrate the art of southern Africa and further afield - 'Ezakwantu - beadwork from the Eastern Cape', 'IGugu lamaNdebele', 'African Art Heritage Collection (acquired for the Sang by the German Government in 1994), 'Miscast - Negotiating Khoisan history and material culture', 'Forging Links with Ghana and her neighbours', 'The Pierre Guerre Collection of African Art (which came from a museum and private collection in France through the French Government and the French Institute of South Africa) and recently 'Evocations of the Child'.

The project exposed us to the working methods of European museum professionals - Erna Beumers the curator, and Sietske Kentie the collections manager at the Museum of Ethnology in Rotterdam and it raised many questions, e.g. around the capacity of the institution on the one hand and the aspirations and expectations of visiting curators on the other. It also raised deeper questions about the future of museums and heritage in South Africa, in the sense that we cannot be equal partners with international museums and museum workers while we have no budget for maintenance and basic museological functions. We have a great deal to contribute and can enter the international debate at the highest level, but will remain disempowered until the financial situation is resolved. The exhibition revealed critical differences between Europe and South Africa, particularly in relation to how the continent is perceived (the works come only from 'sub-Saharan' Africa) and what is meant by contemporary African art. This is Africa seen through European eyes.

The invaluable collections housed in the five components of the SFI have legally been transferred to the new institution. This provides us with a collection that is extraordinary in its variety and depth and one that will enable us to work creatively across disciplines and boundaries, thereby discovering and presenting our history and cultural production through our own eyes. 'Africa meets Africa' and 'Lines of Sight - Perspectives on South African Photography' have received wide and enthusiastic press coverage. One reviewer recognised our ability and commitment to curate and present excellent exhibitions in the current finacial crisis. In his review of 'Lines of Sight' (Mail & Guardian, July 23 - 29) Chris Roper wrote:

Given the budgetary constraints the South African National Gallery has to work under, deciding to hold an exhibition of the history of Souh African photography this century seems a foolhardy venture. This makes the hugely successful 'Lines of Sight' show even more laudable.

I arrived to view it expecting, at most, one room of photographs, and those pretty much devoted to the usual idea of history. Photos of famous people, famous incidents and a bit of nostalgia - the choices forced on curators when they're trying to juggle limited funds with the demands of politically correct representation.

What the visitor gets is five rooms filled with a rich, varied collection that documents, comments on and creates multitudinous views of South Africa. These are 'Lines of Sight' that, as with all effective photography, work both ways: often you notice the image staring back at you, accusingly, seductively, or uncaringly.

We are grateful for this acknowledgement and thank the National Arts Council and Arts and Culture Trust of the President for making 'Lines of Sight' possible.

As we look towards the future, we have to hold onto the conviction that museums have a vital and significant role to play and that those who govern this country will grow to understand that calls for a renaissance/rebirth/ wedergeboorte/ uvuselelo of this continent will remain hollow and meaningless without arts, culture amd heritage.

In a lecture delivered at the University of Cape Town recently, playwright Wole Soyinka spoke of the silencing of creative voices in the 'arenas of competitive atrocoties' that is Africa today: "I do not hear, in this travesty of the creative process, the annunciation of a renaissance, nor read the first flickers of its regenerating fires on our ever-receding horizons".

Marilyn Martin

Untitled poster, c1942

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