World Arts and Culture Summit for SA
Lesego Madumo
22 June 2009
The fourth triennial World Summit on Arts and Culture, taking place in Newtown, Johannesburg from 22 to 25 September, will explore ways in which the arts can help to bridge social and cultural divides in a post-9/11 world.
The summit, which takes place on African soil for the first time, will coincide with South Africa's Heritage Day on 24 September and with the Arts Alive arts and culture festival held annually in Johannesburg in the same month.
Topical issues like cultural diversity and intercultural dialogue in a globalised world will be under the spotlight.
Theme
According to Joburg's director of arts, culture and heritage, Steven Sack, the summit will be an opportunity for Johannesburg to show off its significant art and culture infrastructure and artists to delegates from many parts of the world.
The summit's theme is "Meeting of Cultures: Making Meaning through the Arts". Mike van Graan, executive director of the African Arts Institute and the summit's programme director, says the summit will explore how the arts can help to foster intercultural dialogue and social cohesion.
"We are living in a post-9/11 world, where communities are increasingly divided by values, beliefs and religion – their culture, rather than political ideology," says Van Graan. "Whether in Europe, Africa or Asia, immigrants often suffer the effects of xenophobia based on fear and perceived vulnerability, largely based on ignorance."
Focus
Symposiums, workshops and roundtable discussions will be held over the four-day summit. "The first day's workshop will focus on theoretical issues ... the second day's sessions will focus on practical ideas that could be catalysed at the summit," reads the summit website.
Weighty discussions, with titles like "Sword or plough, bridge or dynamite: the arts as vehicles for intercultural dialogue in a globalised world"; "Cultural diversity: essential for peace or the root of all conflict?" and "Saving the arts ... so the arts can save the world", are on the agenda.
Issues pertinent to the future of arts and culture in the world will also be discussed, with a look at questions like, How do we continue these discussions in our own countries? How do we advocate for the arts, nationally and internationally?
Other topics on the agenda will include how public arts policy can contribute towards creating decent jobs; the importance of intercultural dialogue; art as an instrument for public good; freedom of expression; the global economic downturn; art in conflict zones; climate change; and the arts and culture in post-apartheid South Africa.
The summit will also be used as a platform to examine various ways in which countries can support the arts. Overall, it aims to resolve how the arts can fit into a world where people are culturally divided and how they can be used to build multicultural societies, and foster social cohesion or development between people of different backgrounds.
Speakers
One of the confirmed speakers is Professor Njabulo Ndebele, an academic and author who has served as a vice-chancellor at the University of the North; chair and head of the department of African literature at the University of the Witwatersrand; and vice-chancellor, dean and head of the English department at the National University of Lesotho.
Ndebele is the author of "Fools and Other Stories", which won the Noma Award in 1983 for the best book published in Africa, and the novel, "The Cry of Winnie Mandela". He is a graduate of Lesotho, Cambridge, and Denver universities.
Other confirmed speakers include Dr Stojan Pelko, a film publicist, essay writer and the state secretary for culture of Slovenia, and Madeeha Gauhar from Pakistan, who has a masters degree in theatre studies from the University of London.
More than 500 delegates from over 70 countries are expected to attend, among them International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies (IFACCA) members and affiliates; representatives of international, national and regional artists' networks; ministries of culture and arts; cultural policymakers; researchers, arts educators and administrators; artists; and supporters of the arts.
"The real target market of this event is people involved in policy formulation and implementation of policy, arts councils, ministries responsible for arts and culture, culture funders, and the like," says Van Graan.
Sarah Gardner, the executive director of IFACCA, says: "Each year, the discourse and resulting practice is enriched through the increasing numbers and variety of delegates and evolving global significance of this event."
Members of the public are also invited to attend. "The artists and civil society are obviously crucial because ultimately they are the people who will be affected by these policies. But they are not the primary target of this particular summit," Van Graan explains, adding that "probably" only about 20 to 25 percent of seats will be allocated to artists and the public.
Goodwin Mnisi, acting chief executive of the National Arts Council, says: "We anticipate the highest-ever number of delegates from the African continent and look forward to an event featuring dialogue and outcomes that propel significant advancement for Africa's arts and culture sector.
Significant achievement
"Winning the bid to host the fourth World Summit on Arts and Culture is a significant achievement for the National Arts Council of South Africa and a major opportunity for Africa."
A triennial event, the summit was first held in Canada in 2000; it was held again in Singapore in 2003 and in the United Kingdom in 2006.
The summit is hosted under the auspices of IFACCA, the National Arts Council, the national Department of Arts and Culture, the provincial department of sport, arts, culture and recreation, the Johannesburg Tourism Company and Business and Arts South Africa.
"Intercultural dialogue has emerged as a critical issue for the world. The previous three summits have seen insightful dialogue and debate around issues of policy development for the arts across the globe," IFACCA's Gardner explains.
Different
Van Graan says this year's summit will be different in two ways. "Both from the perspective of the number of Africans who will participate to ensure that African ideas are articulated through a very visible African presence (and) ... the second way in which we hope to make it different is that, rather than speak about these particular themes, we want to show them through the arts.
"So we will have particular artistic interventions that will try to show how the arts can be used to explore different cultures. You might have an opera singer performing with a traditional musician from Zimbabwe, practically demonstrating the role of the arts in intercultural dialogue."
Van Graan says it will also attempt to explore the possibility of turning Johannesburg into a cultural capital for Africa, so that, after the summit, there will be a legacy left for arts and culture.
"I think Joburg would be an ideal city to be the first cultural capital of Africa because there is just so much that is happening in the city in terms of infrastructure that is available and new venues opening up. They provide an incredible vibrancy of artistic and creative practice."
Delegates will be taken on a tour of the city and on the final day, the organisers will announce the host of the fifth triennial World Summit on Arts and Culture.
Source: City of Johannesburg
