The first national South African Cultural Observatory workshop took place on Friday, 19 February at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Johannesburg. Industry players gathered to hear the vision and motivation for this initiative, ask questions, and voice concerns.
The Deputy DG, Monica Newton, kicked things off by explaining the research priorities and national imperatives of the Department of Arts & Culture (DAC). Newton, a steadfast supporter of the arts, was an integral voice in the day’s proceedings. Throughout the workshop she addressed issues raised by delegates, and offered sound suggestions to predicted problems the Cultural Observatory may face.
The CEO of the Cultural Observatory, Prof Richard Haines, then took to the podium to provide an overview of the organisation, explaining their hopes to research infrastructure and advance the creative statistics and data available in South Africa. Prof Haines explained that the Cultural Observatory hopes to support existing research programmes, while at the same time create a holistic repository for arts and culture focused information. He said that the key objectives of the Cultural Observatory also include the “influencing of policy, the sharing of insight, training young scholars, and building capacity”. He further explained that while international benchmarks would be observed in the development and roll-out of the Observatory, it is imperative that all the resources utilised and created be nationally inclusive. Prof Haines explained that the success of the Cultural Observatory would offer significant transformational power and sustainable forms of development to arts and culture in the country.
A mapping study presentation was then delivered by SA Cultural Observatory Chief Research Strategist, Prof Jen Snowball. She explained that the cultural objectives included charting maps, developing rigorous data collection methodologies, researching agenda terms and seeing what fits best with available funding. Prof Snowball explained that in order to create an industry-based research platform, the focus of the Cultural Observatory needs to be on income generation, economic development and the cultural and social aspects that surround the cultural economy and consequently the creative industry.
Prof Snowball also stressed the importance of making sound economic decisions. She suggested making use of global knowledge to inform decisions, while insuring all research is backed-up by cohesive theory and case studies of other countries within, and beyond, the African continent.
The Cultural Observatory proposed that working province-by-province to map the available information might be a fruitful model, this information would then have to be analysed in order to decide what is relevant and what is not. Prof Snowball explained that research and development should be done on a project-to-project basis in order to evaluate progress in a logical framework. But, in order to really see what will work, Prof Snowball said real case studies are imperative; “Theory is great,” she said, “but we need to test it and do fieldwork.”
Cultural Observatory Researcher, Amy Shelver, further stressed the importance of research and data collection, but appealed to those present to view these tasks as a shared responsibility. Shelver explained the draft research agenda in detail, explaining that in order to collate best practices, constant feedback would be required from the industry’s key players.
During the workshop, feedback and constructive criticism were not in short supply. Delegates raised concern about the size of the research agenda, suggesting that it might be too large and that a smaller, more focused framework with determined terms of reference may be better suited. Identifying the correct audience and relevant information was also a point that was raised numerous times. In response to this Shelver explained that the nature of the data and information that the Observatory will deal with is fragmented, and therefore attempts to consolidate this data should be considered. Basal questions about how the data will be collected, the timelines for the project, and what the actual project agenda looks like were also brought to the fore.
Numerous delegates raised questions centred on custodianship and asked whether the 2019 General Elections would pose possible disruptions to the project. The Cultural Observatory believes this wouldn’t have a direct impact because the project is a living agenda and policy, and would take significant time to change.
Delegates also enquired about pertinent issues like racism, inclusion, available resources and processes of acquiring data from both the formal and informal arts and culture sectors.
The first national workshop certainly left all present with a good deal to think about. It is the DAC and the South African Cultural Observatory’s hope that discussions like these will continue to strengthen the project model. A series of these workshops will be run around the country including the South African Cultural Observatory conference due to take place in May in Port Elizabeth.
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