NCN Review 2016
Expanding Creative Opportunities
Newcastle Creative Network organization gives a platform/space for local artists to share ideas, and projects through hosting public exhibitions, talks and stage plays and performances In Newcastle.
The current executive and operational team of the Newcastle Creative Network was constituted in 2015 and have gone on to have a really successful operative year in 2016. Now in our 5th year of operation the organisation has survived some very troubling times. The year 2016 was successful not because the team was constituted by young and diverse individuals, but also because through the support of the NAC we were able to optimally produce two projects.
Fast Forward Here was supported by the Africa Centre for Cities UCT, through funds received from the NLC. Fast Forward Here through a consultative approach solicited opinions and ideas from youth in the township as to what kind of cultural infrastructure they would like to see realised in the township. The project highlighted the lack of cultural infrastructure and the lacklustre public image of the township brings with them social challenges targeted to ensure poverty alleviation and gender equity that specifically tackle the issues of a low skills base stemming from lack of adequate or appropriate information within the population falling below the age of 34 in this context. With this realization in mind the concept of what public art should be outside of the city bowl and by whom it should be created is not easily answered by artistic solutions alone. The result are made public through a publication.
The 5th Annual Newcastle Township Arts Festival, took place in November 2016 in Madadeni Township and received additional funding from the Arts and Culture Trust.
The funding from the NAC was used to pay two contracts of the administrators of the festival (Sibongile Cynthia, Lindelwa Tshabalala), and support the running cost of the organisation (Mark Matamisa). Additionally the funds went towards paying artists and service providers that assisted and contributed to the festival (Tebogo Ramabulana, Vusi Thwala, Carlos Marzia Studio). We noticed the gender bias in the people that we were working with and will make a bigger effort in working with more women across the whole roles of the festival. The catering was done by a woman owned company (Matheco).
One of the challenges we encountered in administering the funds generously given to us by the NAC is that the organisation had not adequately been able to raise enough funds for its projects and therefore ended up apportioning some of the funds to the project when it could have gone towards more opportunity creation. For 2017 more of the funding from the NAC will be able to go to paying Artists and administrators since the festival already will receive 60 000 rand from the Goethe Institute and 15 000 from BASA. We are still actively fundraising and hope that these funds will grow. This will ensure that the funds from the NAC will not be use for other purposes other than those that are contractually agreed.
