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The United Nations Conference for Trade and Development (UNCTAD) will host the Africa launch of its new Creative Economy Outlook and Report 2022 at the conference.

The South African Cultural Observatory announces an exciting line-up of international speakers for the upcoming 4th SACO International Conference. The conference has attracted leading minds and experts working in and across the cultural and creative economy on the African continent, in Europe, Australia and the Americas.

SA Cultural Observatory executive director Unathi Lutshaba was recognised by the UN as one of the global Top 100 under 40 Most Influential People of African Descent.

As I pen this, I am beaming with excitement. After a four-year-long wait, the 4th SACO International Conference 2022 is finally here. We are literally a few weeks away from the much-anticipated SACO International Conference that so many in the industry have kept asking me about.

Full-time artist Mondli Mbhele from Durban was announced as the winner of the 2022 Sasol New Signatures Art Competition. With the win he walks away with a cash prize of R100 000 and an opportunity to have a solo exhibition at the Pretoria Art Museum in 2023.

In our previous editions this section has been dedicated to key highlights from our recent reports with a view to providing insights on some of the main issues facing the cultural and creative industries (CCIs).

The deadline for the call for abstracts, papers and presentations has been extended to 9 September 2022.

The creative industries carried us through the darkest days of the COVID-19 crisis through music, film, literature, craft and more. But the long-term impact of the pandemic – prolonged closures and lack of social security – has hit the world’s creatives hardest, as the most precarious and vulnerable of workers.

I am hopeful that as you read this edition of The Cultural Observer you are warm as this winter has been very chilly, with temperatures plummeting to close to zero degrees in some parts of the country.

The award-winning actor and director James Ngcobo has joined Joburg City Theatres (JCT) as an artistic director. Ngcobo who was with the Market Theatre Foundation for nine years joins the JCT as of July 1 and will be responsible for developing and implementing an artistic vision for organisation’s 10 spaces.

As you read this the final cultural shows of National Arts Festival are possibly on stage in Makhanda. The National Arts Festival came back in a face-to-face format for the first time in two years.

In this edition we highlight key findings from our recent reports. The reports are: a chapter from the Mapping Study that gives the provincial profile of the cultural and creative industry and the South African’s Animation Industry: Ecosystem Analysis.