FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 04 MARCH 2022
The Arts & Culture Trust announces the first recipients of an investment from the ACT Thuthukisani Programme 2021, proudly funded by Nedbank
{Thuthukisani is a call to action taken from the Zulu word thuthukisa (verb), meaning ‘develop’}
The ACT Thuthukisani Programme is a partnership between the Arts & Culture Trust (ACT) and Nedbank Arts Affinity. It aims to empower small to medium organisations and artists to develop new projects, and offers mentorship, training and investment towards a sustained participation in the creative economy.
Applications for the ACT Thuthukisani Programme Cycle 1 opened on 8 August 2021 and closed on 10 September 2021, and more than 100 arts entrepreneurs from North West, Mpumalanga and Limpopo competed for a place in the programme.
Seven participants with qualifying projects from each of the provinces recently completed the ACT Thuthukisani Programme Business Training Modules as well as one-on-one mentoring sessions.
The participants then pitched their project plans to the ACT board for review, hoping to be selected as one of the provincial candidates to receive a cash investment of R45 000 towards the development and implementation of their submitted project.
Of the 14 proposals submitted, the following four projects from North West, Mpumalanga and Limpopo were selected:
- Tourism, Arts and Culture Music Festivals Project (Mahubo Phungulwa, North West).
- Toro Ya Bokamoso Project (Mogomotsi Simon Maphutha, North West).
- Witsbank Arts Campus Project (Marie Lombard, Mpumalanga).
- South African Arts Culture Thursday Knights 2022 Project (Lethabo Ramokgopa, Limpopo).
All four participants received R45 000 to start or boost their project. Mentoring continues throughout the implementation stage, which began last month and runs through March 2022.
The ACT Thuthukisani Programme is the first of the new ACT programmes to be rolled out as part of the new ACT strategy. The ACT Thuthukisani Programme has challenged the participants of cycle 1 to undergo a paradigm shift in their approach to project development and delivery, with a deliberate focus on income generation. They had to interrogate their environments, networks, partnerships and project viability throughout the Master Class Series. Mentors have also been working with the group to highlight and exploit their respective assests to produce a project that could potentially generate an income when implemented.
‘The high levels of enthusiasm shown by the applicants, coupled with their willingness to learn and determination to succeed in the ACT Thuthukisani Programme is enormously rewarding,’ says ACT Interim Chief Executive Officer, Jessica Denyschen. ‘The entrepreneurial mindset starts with one project at a time, scaling and learning becomes crucial to creating more income generating opportunities. Thanks to the generosity of our sponsorship from Nedbank, the added cash investment creates further business opportunities for these recipients.’
‘Congratulations to the four artists on the selection of their projects. We are very excited to be part of your journey and to see how your projects progress,’ says Tobie Badenhorst, Head of Group Sponsorships and Cause Marketing at Nedbank.
He explains that the Thuthukisani Programme was the result of a roadshow that ACT undertook to all nine provinces in 2019.
‘The roadshow revealed that ACT has enabled thousands of arts and culture projects to make a meaningful contribution to society, but that the majority of artists and arts organisation need skills development in order to hone and manage their projects and people,’ he says. ‘The programme goal is to empower participants with the tools they need to operate professionally and sustainably as artists and arts entrepreneurs, and to open doors for investor and partnership opportunities in diverse South African communities.’
The ACT Thuthukisani Programme is taking a total of 63 successful applicants from across South Africa on an empowering journey to learn business skills through developmental training and one-on-one mentoring. The roll-out runs in three cycles, inviting applications from three provinces per cycle, with seven Thuthukisani participants selected per province. After completing the thorough training modules and mentoring, the participants will pitch their particular project, hoping to receive a monetary investment.
Arts businesses in the remaining six provinces will be able to apply for the programme at a later stage. Details will be announced in due course. Applicants may register on the ACT website www.act.org.za when the ACT Thuthukisani Cycle 2 Open Call announcement is made. ENDS
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Over 28 years of arts funding
The Arts & Culture Trust is South Africa’s premier independent development and arts funding organisation. The main aim of ACT is to increase the capacity for arts and culture initiatives to create sustainable futures, through development and investment in innovative, sustainable projects that make a meaningful contribution to society. Through structured development programmes, ACT provides support to all expressions of arts and culture, including literature, music, visual art, theatre and dance, extending to festivals, community arts initiatives, arts management, education and administration. For more information, please visit the ACT website, follow them on Twitter or like their Facebook page.
About Nedbank
In partnership with the ACT, the Nedbank Arts Affinity has donated more than R25 million to support over 800 arts, culture and heritage development projects countrywide. If you would like to make a difference to the lives of talented young artists in South Africa, simply link your Nedbank Greenbacks to the Arts Affinity and Nedbank will donate money to ACT, at no cost to you. The Arts Affinity currently supports the ACT Thuthukisani Programme and the ACT Tlholo Project. For more information, visit any Nedbank branch, call us on 0860 555 111 or visit nedbankarts.co.za.