Achieving the Achievable

Propositions Around the Funding of the Arts in South Africa

Cultural and Creative Industries SymposiumJoseph Gaylard

Director, VANSA / ANSA NEC26 July 2013

Overview

• Outline of arts funding in South Africa• Analysis of key issues/challenges• Consideration of regional/continental

implications• Update on Lotteries Amendment Bill process

VANSA context• Research underpinning five areas of work:

– Network Development• www.artmap.co.za

– Professional development• Copyright• NAC funding for specialist postgraduate study

– New Practice• Public art and safety and security

– Market Development• World Cities Culture Report (Creative Cities)• Trade in cultural and creative goods and services• Zero interest purachase scheme for contemporary art

– Lobbying• All of the above• Link to ANSA

The Good News

Arts funding in SA

• Most sophisticated and resourced arts funding system on the continent

• Significant application-based funding available to both public and independent arts organisations through variety of mechanisms for adjudication

• Publicly nominated panels/committees across various agencies, with varying degrees of state oversight on appointments

Grant funding (public agencies)

50%National Theatres and Museums (public agen-

cies)33%

Corporate Sponsor-

ship17%

Public Funding and Sponsorship (2011)

R2,4 billion Rand

Circa 1800 grants20 institutions

Arts, Culture, Heritage grants (2011)

Grant funding (2011)

R1,2 billion Rand

Lottery - Arts, Culture, Heritage

65%

National Arts Council

4%

National Film and

Video Foundation

2%

National Heritage Council

0%

Provincial Arts

Councils3%

DAC discretionary25%

Other agencies/organisations

• Local Gov - Municipal Museums, Theatres, Programmes

• Provincial programmes • Metros and Public Art • International Cultural Agencies and Funding• Business and Arts South Africa• Private Foundations/Trusts

Problems

Arts, Culture, Heritage grants (2011)

The Decision-Making Problem

Funding Agencies: R1,2 billion Rand

Lottery - Arts, Culture, Heritage

65%

National Arts Council

4%

National Film and

Video Foundation

2%

National Heritage Council

0%

Provincial Arts

Councils3%

DAC discretionary25%

8 people

30 people

10 people

8 people

40 peopleUnknown people

The Top-Heaviness ProblemMunicipal Museums/Theatres

4%Municipal Programming

3%Provin-

cial Funding

5%

National Funding52%

National Institutions35%

Public sector investment: R2,3 billion

The Model not the Money Problem

Arts Council England Australia Council for the Arts

National Arts Council (current)

0

1000000000

2000000000

3000000000

4000000000

5000000000

6000000000

7000000000

8000000000

9000000000

NAC vs international comparators – funding distributed to artists and organisations (2011)

ZAR

billi

on

The Expectation Problem

0

1000000000

2000000000

3000000000

4000000000

5000000000

6000000000

7000000000

8000000000

9000000000

Impact of ANSA proposal on comparative analysis

ZAR

billi

ons

The Institution Problem

The Mandate Problem

• Mandates derived from high-level policy• Acronym soup: NGP, NDP, IPAP, SDS, MGE• All concerned with job creation, social

cohesion, addressing inequality and so on• Inadequate articulation of roles and detailed,

practical frameworks within the system to address what these mandates can sensibly mean for our sector.

Issues for the sector to address

• Problem of entitlement and culture of complaint/adversarial engagement

• Organisational resilience as a strategic priority addressing both internal and external realities

• Strengthened leadership and diversified skills within governance

• Co-operation and partnership between organisations

• Building a coherent and informed lobby

Solutions?

• Delegation of funding from the Lottery to statutory bodies• The Missing Middle - a more programmatic approach to

funding across all agencies, and structured dialogue between them

• Radically rethink state cultural institutions and dichotomy with ‘independent arts’

• Building of capacity within government for cultural planning at local level

• Devolution of mandate and resources to the most local level

• Incentives for new approaches to corporate investment

Lottery Amendment Bill

ANSA lobbyANSA member associations and networks include:• South African Screen Federation (SASFED)• South African Music Rights Organisation (SAMRO)• Performing Arts Network of South Africa (PANSA)• South African Guild of Actors (SAGA)• International Association of Theatre for Children and Young People – South Africa

Chapter (ASSITEJ-South Africa)• Visual Arts Network of South Africa (VANSA)• Academic and Non-Fiction Authors Association of South Africa (ANFASA)• South African Association of Puppetry and Visual Performance• Limpopo Arts and Culture Association

The combined membership of these networks and associations, and other member organisations, is in excess of 16 000 individuals and 2000 organisations and businesses working across the cultural and creative industries in South Africa. ANSA is currently auditing the membership base of the network.

Process to Date

• dti Lottery Policy Review document (December 2012)

• Lotteries Amendment Bill (June 2013)• Presentation to Portfolio Committee (July

2013)• Public Hearings (from mid August 2013)

“A capable state does not materialise by decree… It has to be painstakingly built …. It requires leadership, sound policies, skilled managers and workers, clear lines of

accountability, appropriate systems and consistent and fair application of rules.” National Development Plan

Principles

• promote the greatest degree of efficiency and impact in the deployment of limited resources to the larger purposes of the social and economic development of the people of the Republic of South Africa along the lines articulated in the National Development Plan..

• maximise coherence and minimise duplication within and between the functions of different public agencies responsible for the funding of civil society organisations and good causes.

• minimise opportunities for the abuse of the system by civil society organisations, party political interests or purely individual interests.

Key issues with the Bill

• 3 distributing agencies (appear to) become one

• Members appointed by the Minister as full-time employees, without reference to public process

• National Lotteries Board given discretionary power to allocate funding without reference to process of application – significant scope for abuse

Our proposals

• ANSA proposals based on the view that the Bill is based on a misdiagnosis of the problems that the Lottery faces

• Presently the Lottery’s mandate with regard to ACH is essentially an “all things to all people” approach which – Dilutes the possibility of a clear strategic usage of these funds, – Provides no basis against which the performance/ impact of

the Fund can be measured in clear ways– Duplicates the work of other funding agencies– Lack of clarity establishes substantial scope for opportunistic

abuse of funds

Principal Proposals

• Strengthen the grant management and administration capacity of the staff supporting the work of the Distributing Agencies

• Delegate funds to relevant statutory bodies according to their capacity and competence, within an overall ‘big picture’ of the impacts that the Lottery seeks to achieve, both directly and through partner bodies

• Bring new focus to the funds that the Lottery disburses directly within a clear programmatic framework for funding, in which the desired outcomes and impacts are clear, specific and measurable

A possible framework for Lottery money

• Provincial Arts Councils (with delegated funds)– Multi-year organisational funding for organisations of provincial/regional significance– Project funding at a provincial/regional level

• NAC, NFVF, NHC (with delegated funds)– Multi-year organisational funding for organisations with national/international footprint– Project funding for initiatives of national and international artistic significance

• Lottery– Capital infrastructure grants focused, for example, on developing new infrastructure outside of

the Metros– Strategic grants focused on, for example:

• Bridging urban and rural divide• Building arts and cultural leadership and management at local government level• Research in strategic areas, aimed at identifying trends, opportunities and best practice

– With precise criterion, types of output and desired outcomes/impact specified

Some other points

• Funding to national cultural and municipal cultural institutions should be focused on strengthening their programming (vs infrastructure, maintenance, operational costs) - so that money gets to artists, organisations and companies

• Funding to local municipalities should only be given on the basis of a clear demonstration of partnership/relationship with independent arts organisations – it should not be used to finance ‘vanity projects’ that have no developmental impact