Note from the Culturalist: CEO

IT WAS quite something to see the incredible women in the arts, heritage and cultural and creative industries (CCIs) profiled during Women’s Month. If you missed National Film and Television Foundation CEO, Zama Mkosi’s piece on the challenges women in the film industry face, read it here. It’s worth some consideration – and possibly further research.

Of course, the gains women make in across these industries should have centre stage outside Women’s Month since the challenges they have to overcome remain significant. 

As we look forward into Heritage Month in September, we consider the importance of heritage to our national identity, the value of our long and celebrated heritage, and how we chart a way forward in continuing to both profile and preserve our heritage.

The SACO’s National Research Agenda focuses in part on heritage – for example the need to develop and populate a consolidated National Living Human Treasure (LHT) database because they represent and are custodians of intangible cultural heritage. But many other areas of the Research Agenda also deal ostensibly with heritage, among other matters. A good example of this is the focus on understanding the role that the CCIs plays in building social cohesion, the impact of cultural and creative education on learners and in general the economic impact of the CCIs on the South African economy. Tourism growth is directly linked to the way we preserve and profile heritage.

There is a real need for deeper research into these matters. There are also different heritages to consider including the three that Unesco elevates – natural, cultural and digital heritage. The National Heritage Council is doing good work here, but more is always needed and we encourage any young researchers that are interested in pursuing studies that look broadly at heritage and align with the Research Agenda to get in touch with us.

SACO Activities

This month we kicked off with the first in a series of eight domain workshops and four capacity-building workshops. Our roadshow started in Mpumalanga on August 18 – a worthy site given its heritage wealth. Our central focus for the next month or so is primarily on these connects nationwide. In these sessions we are essentially introducing the SACO, workshopping inputs into the Research Agenda, discussing possible areas of collaboration and generally connecting with organisations and practioners across the country.

The upcoming domain workshops include

• SACO Domain Workshop 2: Polokwane – Limpopo on 29 August 2016
• SACO Domain Workshop 3: Rustenburg – North West Province on 31 August 2016
• SACO Domain Workshop 4: Kimberley – Northern Cape Province on 2 September 2016
• SACO Domain Workshop 8: Bloemfontein – Free State Province on 5 October 2016.
• SACO Domain Workshop 6: Johannesburg – Gauteng Province on 12 October 2016.
• SACO Domain Workshop 7: Durban – KwaZulu-Natal Province on 18 October 2016.
• SACO Domain Workshop 5: Cape Town – Western Cape Province on 20 October 2016.

The workshop series will culminate in a final National Conference in January 2016, where the revised Research Agenda – which will have been adjusted based on the stakeholder feedback garnered from the workshops – among other pressing matters emerging from the sector and broad industry.

Other than planning for the workshops the SACO team has been busy working on updates to the Research Agenda, the finalisation of a number of country briefs for our cultural diplomacy efforts and some early planning for the conference.

I just wanted to remind all readers that we are accepting suggestions of books and other materials to include in our library – both the physical ones at Missionvale and at our offices and the online library. Reach out to our knowledge manager, Tazleen January to find out more.

With heritage in focus, I strongly encourage all you culturalists to visit a heritage site, revel in the length, breadth and diversity of our heritage. The Department of Tourism would encourage you to take a sho’t left and explore your country – SANParks offers free entry during September for South Africans wanting to explore their natural heritage.

Robbie Robertson once said, “You don't stumble upon your heritage. It's there, just waiting to be explored and shared.” Now is the time, if ever.

Until then, enjoy the August edition of The Cultural Observer.

Your culturalist,

Prof. Richard Haines

South African Cultural Observatory: CEO