Samanthole Arts Foundation

Thanks to one of our wonderful Art Writers in Residency, Khumo Kimati Mcunu for compering this event tonight. We are so proud of you! Ladies and gentlemen, Good evening and welcome to the William Humphreys Art Gallery. On behalf of the gallery, I extend our deepest apologies for the absence of our director, Ms. Nelly Mkhize, who regrettably couldn't be with us tonight. Nevertheless, her spirit of support and appreciation for the arts resonates throughout this event. Khumo Kimati Mcunu ( Arts Writer In Residence) Sabata-mpho Mokae ( Author and Creative Writing Lecturer at SPU ) Rochester Rocky Mafafo ( Renowned Veteran based artist) Chepape Makgato ( Chief Curator at WHAG) and Jonathan van der Walt ( WHAG's 2024 Artist In Residency ) at the opening reception of From the Woods to the Soil. Tonight, we gather not only to celebrate the remarkable talent of Jonathan van der Walt but, we stand not only as stewards of artistic expression but as custodians of memory and tri

Day 31 of 100 of the Siphindile Nuh Chelsea Hlongwa challenge that I should write down my thoughts / experiences about how I survived four decades in cultural leadership positions. In this post I write about why I took full ownership for how I defined my role as an Artistic Director and my relationship with festival committees.   Dr. Ismail Mahomed Illustrated Portrait. Photo Credit: Facebook  Arts festivals in South Africa generally operate on one of three programming models: 1. Festivals can have a curatorial committee that is responsible for the overall selection of the content for a festival and a director who essentially is reduced to being a technocrat who is tasked with having to schedule the committee’s selections.  2. Festivals which have an Artistic Director who is accountable for the overall artistic programme and who may be supported by a non-executive Artistic Advisory Committee comprised of experts.  3. Festivals can have a hybrid model of the above with the

The “So Called” Emerging Black Artist’ is a group exhibition featuring three prominent South African artists; Professor Pitika Ntuli, Mbongeni Buthelezi and Vusi Mfupi at the Constitution Hill, Hillbrow Johannesburg. Curated by Gaisang Sathekge, this well-timed exhibition questions the ‘perpetual emergence’ of black artists in art history by pulling together artists who work within the recycling process to reinterpret discarded objects in order to give them a new life and meaning. Khehla Chepape Makgato visited the exhibition and spoke with the curator and artists involved. Photographs by Khehla Chepape Makgato. According to Sathekge, this group show “addresses the way black artists, within art historical canon, have been stereotyped and their subject matter and style understood only within the framework of terminology such as township art or ‘folk-art’ while their white counterparts dominated and continue to dominate the industry economically.” The resulting exhibition is

In an address to young arts managers in 2017 I said to them: 'if you’re spending your entire marketing budget on posters, banners, handbills and other forms of advertising collateral to promote your shows then you are channeling your company into irrelevance and you are sailing on a sinking ship. You can save your company by moving the marketing budget that you spend on advertising collateral to spending it more on giving the artists, your company and the people who work in it a more human face.' Portrait Illustration of Dr. Ismail Mahomed. Photo Credit: Facebook The budget that you spend on paying an artist to participate in a post-show discussion or a walkabout or a writer to attend an opening night of his play gives you bigger returns on investment than what you spend on glossy street posting or billboard advertising. In very simple words it is called “Audience Engagement Strategy”. Patron loyalty is less dependent on them coming to a show because the show is wid

Partnerships must be built on integrity and not on political correctness. Partnerships that are erected on political correctness are erected on unstable foundations. At some point, your partners and others will see right through you and your project. When your “political correctness” has been exposed you and your project will have no integrity and you may have difficulty in finding other partners.  Portrait Illustration of Dr. Ismail Mahomed. Photo Credit: Facebook  Partnerships are ethical when it protects rather than damages public trust. It’s ethical when the relationship is two-way between donor and organisation. It’s ethical when it brings meaning or increases the value of the work that is being created, the people engaged in the production, the recipient constituencies and the community in which the project is exercised. It needs to benefit and empower rather than destroy and leave nothing in its place.  In simple words, don’t be afraid to say no. Don’t be afraid to c

On Monday, March 11th, 2024, my colleague Moses Senyatso and I experienced a profound journey as we took delivery of artworks by two exceptional artists, Zakes Mda and Mbongeni Buthelezi, located in different corners of our Johannesburg artistic landscape. Mda's pieces arrived fresh from his successful exhibition at the William Humphreys Art Gallery, where his captivating works had enraptured audiences from November 2023 to the end of February 2024. Meanwhile, Buthelezi's creations had been entrusted to our care for some time. Installation View from Mbongeni Buthelezi's warehouse studio.  After handling the delivery of Mda's artworks, we embarked on a poignant pilgrimage to Buthelezi's studio, nestled within the warehouse confines of Booysen. It was a reunion filled with nostalgia and admiration as we reconnected with the master of plastic collage after many years. The last time I had the privilege of encountering him was in 2015, during the opening rece

Day 17 of 100 of the Siphindile Nuh Chelsea Hlongwa Challenge that I should write down my thought and experiences about how I survived holding key cultural leadership positions over the past four decades. In my post today I write about understanding and navigating the funding landscape.  Portrait Illustration of Dr. Ismail Mahomed. Photo Credit: Facebook  In 1996, when I moved from freelancing to working in formally structured arts organisations one of the fastest things that I learnt is how to tap on different sources of funding that can make up the total income for an arts company.  Each kind of funding whether it is subsidies, grants, corporate sponsorship, self-generated funding or international donor funding has its own rules, regulatory & accounting systems, reporting systems and risks. The sooner I learnt about this the easier it became to tap into different sources for funding.  At a workshop hosted by Drama for Life at Wits University yesterday I spoke to stude

Arts organisations often have clearly stated vision & mission statements. The struggle that artists / new arts managers often have when they have to apply for funding is how to write a vision statement for a specifically funded project. This requires more than simply stating the organisation’s broad vision statement. Ismail Mahomed Illustrated Portrait. Photo Credit: Facebook A vision statement for a funding proposal should offer a clearer indicator of what the project proposed by the organisation or the artists intends to do (programme) how they intend to do it (processes & outputs) with whom ( partners & enablers) and why (social benefit). The above information contained in the project proposal vision statement then becomes the architecture on which the proposal targets, processes, timelines and budgets are evolved. An easy way to achieve this is to draw a stocksheet (inventory) of an organisation’s key players, partners, infrastructure & resources through which the p

Below are some of the advantages of investing your time and money into the arts or creative sector in general.  1. Enhancing Esthetics: Elevate your living space with original artwork, transforming it into a visually captivating haven where colors, textures, and forms breathe life into your surroundings. 2. Infusing Vitality: Art injects vitality into your home, stirring emotions, igniting conversations, and fostering a dynamic atmosphere that offers a glimpse into the artist's soul. Baeng Lenyalong (Guests At The Wedding), Mixed Media Acrylic Painting on Canvas, 92cm x 56cm, 2024. ARTIST: Khehla Chepape Makgato.  3. Fostering Creativity: Immerse yourself in art to stimulate creativity, connecting with the artist's vision to explore new perspectives and nurture your own creative expression. 4. Thoughtful Gifting: Consider art as a unique and meaningful gift that transcends material possessions, leaving a lasting impression and conveying heartfelt sentiments. 5. Ment