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Arts Alive set to move into a dynamic new era

Commenting on the appointment of Zanusi Brand Solutions to a three-year contract (from 2009 to 2011), City of Joburg Director: Arts, Culture and Heritage, Steven Sack said “Zanusi bring together a strong team of arts, marketing and communication specialists many of whom have experience in managing Arts Alive during the period 2003-2005. They were selected from a list of seventeen companies that tendered to run this prestigious programme. They have many contacts and networks in the arts sector and are well positioned to deliver an event that addresses the core values and objectives of the City. “These values and objectives require that our work addresses the needs of the poor and marginalised communities as well as providing a showcase for the best and most talented artists from Johannesburg, South Africa and a variety of countries around the world. We look forward to a vibrant, entertaining and successful Arts Alive in 2009.” According to Simamane, Arts Alive 2009 will showcase a side of Johannesburg that defines a world class African city that can “play as hard as it works”. The benchmark for Zanusi’s three-year vision is world-renowned arts and culture festivals, among them the Mardi Gras in New Orleans and even homegrown success stories, like the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown.

Simamane is confident this can be achieved. “If you look at what we have to work with in
the city itself, you know this is an achievable goal. We have such fantastic arts and culture practitioners in the city and we aim to elevate the creative work they are doing onto a bigger stage through Arts Alive, while also bringing in their peers from Africa and internationally.” Arts Alive is set to incorporate many different arts disciplines in a scintillating mix, including theatre, dance (from classical to contemporary and street), visual arts, comedy, spoken word, poetry, and much more.

Longtime favourites, like Jazz on the Lake, are to remain with music continuing to be a big focus of the 2009 Arts Alive programme, details of which will be revealed in the coming month. Arts Alive will also open and close with a“zing and a bang”, so that
no-one will be left wondering why they didn’t know the official programme had kicked off and come to a close.

Another key aspect of Arts Alive 2009 is the multiple partnerships and collaborations that
will deliver some stunning content during September. Among these is the Indian ‘Shared Histories’ programme and a Best of the National Arts Festival run, as well as partnerships with the Royal Thai Embassy, the Austrian Embassy, Jamaican Embassy, the Soweto
Festival and the National Arts Council. This will also feed into Arts Alive 2009’s outreach programme which will see workshops, shows, and collaborative events taking place in Johannesburg’s townships and those areas not regularly serviced by the arts
and culture community.

Also adding significantly to the impact of Arts Alive 2009’s re-energised campaign to position Johannesburg as the arts and culture hub of Africa is the 4th World Summit on Arts and Culture which takes place in the city from 22nd to 25th September.

This is the first Summit to take place on the African continent and will see arts and culture policy makers, funders and representatives of international, regional and
national artist’s networks make up the 400 delegates from over 70 countries across the
world.

Created by the International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies (IFACCA), the WSoAC events have grown to become the most influential gathering in the global arts and culture arena. The City of Joburg: Directorate of Arts, Culture and
Heritage is one of the key support bodies at the Summit which will be co-hosted by the National Arts Council of South Africa and IFACCA.

The other side of this reinvigorated and fresh look at Arts Alive is synergy with the objectives of the City of Joburg, chiefly job creation and skills transfer, the latter being effected by job shadowing across all areas of the Arts Alive production value chain.

Says Simamane: “We are ecstatic about possibilities that exist with Arts Alive. We are taking a well-established brand that already has many loyal followers and taking it to the next level. It’s a chance to position the City of Joburg as a real arts destination to the city’s residents, the province, the country, the continent and the world.”

For more information and media related queries call Rami Nhlapo on 011 886-0502 or emailrami@zanusi.co.za