Bank backs arts festival programme

Change is on the way for the country’s biggest arts event, the National Arts Festival (NAF), now that Standard Bank has renewed its sponsorship for the next three years.

While neither NAF not Standard Bank divulged the monetary value of the new sponsorship, they said it covers just under one-third of the festival’s operating budget, with the balance coming from other sponsors, including the Eastern Cape government, the national Department of Arts and Culture, the National Lotteries Commission and independent sources such as ticket sales and commissions.

NAF CEO Tony Lankester said their partnership with Standard Bank extended back to 1984 and has endured ever since, mostly recently as the title sponsor of both the Jazz Festival and the Young Artist Awards.

“The new agreement will see a deepening of the existing relationship, will bring a new project to life and will help reinvigorate an established project,” Lankester said.

The news of the renewal was announced on Wednesday night during the 2018 Standard Bank Young Artists Awards. The winners, who will be showcasing their talent on the NAF main programme, are Chuma Sopotela (performance art), Guy Buttery (music), Igshaan Adams (visual art), Jemma Kahn (theatre), Musa Hlatshwayo (dance) and Thandi Ntuli (jazz).

From next year, in addition to the sponsorship of the Jazz and Young Artist Awards, Standard Bank is partnering on the creation of a new mini festival that focuses on the digital arts and “the spaces where technology and the arts converge”, Lankester said.

“Technology is changing the way we experience art and it is giving artists new freedoms in the way they create and promote their work. Grahamstown is the perfect place to explore this new digital frontier and it will add a whole new dimension to the National Arts Festival,” he said.

Lankester said the bank will also acquire the naming rights to the festival’s new craft market as it moves to its new home and undergoes a facelift. Among the changes planned for the market are:

lThe introduction of performance spaces;

lExtended trading hours for the popular beer tent on certain nights;

lA layout redesign;

lInclusion of visual artists in the market precinct; and

lA greater emphasis on children’s entertainment and activities.

“We’re working with our various partners, including some of the traders and crafters, to design the new market. “Standard Bank’s investment will give the market a solid business partner, while also giving us the space to create a unique and memorable experience for our visitors,” he added.

Hazel Chimhandamba, head of group sponsorship at the bank, said that the sponsorship had evolved, and the changes planned for next year were part of an ongoing reinvention of the relationship.

“Standard Bank is truly part of the DNA of the National Arts Festival and our partnership ensures that it continues to not only provide a significant, credible platform for artists and audiences, but also that it makes a major contribution to the economy of Grahamstown and the Eastern Cape.”

The most recent study, conducted by Rhodes University’s department of economics, credited the festival with making a R377-million contribution to the GDP of the province and R94-million to the city, predominantly through employment and visitor spend. — poliswap@dispatch.co.za