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Open Letter to Executive Mayor Bhanga

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Please address the lack of transparency in SRAC, ignoring emails, not sharing their programmes for the financial year during last IDP session

Dear Honourable Mayor Bhanga

Congratulations on your appointment!

Now business can go ahead in the Municipality serving our people at large!

I wish to bring the following to your attention please.:

  1. During the last IDP session of SRAC, there was no presentation of their programmes at all to those who attended, not even a document.
  2. Lack of Covid19 support. I emailed to SRAC last year to encourage them to have an information session with our artists about this – I received no response from them.
  3. There is no transparency from SRAC regarding the opening of the Mendi Arts & Culture Centre and the operation of the Red Location Cultural Precinct. And in 2017, Monde Ngonyama from the Opera House received R1.4 (under correction) to manage the Mendi Arts & Cultural Centre. As was reported in the Herald Live. Why did this not happen? And what happened to that funding?
  4. Concern that SRAC does not consult with our artists when programmes are drawn up. For instance their current open call on purchasing art from artists: On the surface, the call to visual artists to make applications for possible art purchasing under the banner of the NMBM (Nelson Mandela Art Museum & Red Location Art Gallery) seems great and awesome, as this is what so many of our local artists desired – recognition of their artworks and to have their art in public collections.

Some serious concerns however include the following:

  1. The initiative was not consulted with the “clients” of our City, namely our local visual artists. It is a one way approach. Yet we have so many times reminded SRAC that they need to put artists (people) first before putting their projects/initiatives into action. In fact during the last IDP/Budget session under this Department (which took place at the Tramways Building a short while ago), none of their forthcoming plans were mentioned to our artists.
  2. The budget for this initiative is secret. I emailed them about this, raising personal concerns that some artists work on their artworks over long periods, and that it would be unfair if their applications will be rejected based on budget limit & not on the merit of their artworks in question. The Art Museum responded with the criteria in the advertised call only, making it clear to me that no further questions such as budget, would be accommodated. Yet the Public Information Acts clearly states that such information be shared with the public. Please refer to attached document.
  3. They request a motivational “essay” downgrading all artists, no matter how long they have been doing art, reducing our artists to some kind of high school level.
  4. The Call is under the banner of the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality, extended to all Eastern Cape Artists. As if we don’t already have plenty of artists in our own Metro.
  5. Is this initiative perhaps indirectly under the Eastern Cape Provincial Arts & Culture Department, who have often demonstrated a lack of professionalism – for instance many artists who made Covid19 grant applications to this Department, never even received as much as even an email response.
  6. Who is serving on the Selection Team for Art Purchasing? How are we assured that they are not corrupt-able, will not be inclined to favour specific artists, and that each member of this team would truely have the deep levels of – understanding & knowledge about all forms of visual arts? Do they for instance have the support of International experience? Are our International partners such as Jackson City & Göteborg drawn in for instance?
  7. How will our Black artists benefit specifically? Most of them do not have the tools of professional photographers to take high quality photos of their artworks, and data/device capability to submit their artworks digitally & to write these unusual “motivational” essays.

I would so much appreciate your urgent intervention in these issues.

Thank you so much in advance

Best regards

Annette du Plessis

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Port Elizabethan

This author is a 'catch-all' for occasional articles and letters written to MyPE. The Author of each article can be found in the signature at the bottom of each individual article.