Department Of Arts And Culture Brochure

02/LUYANDA MPAHLWA’S AWARD-WINNINGLOW-COST HOUSING DESIGN, FREEDOM PARKa broadercontextWorldDesignCapital2014It was a designation thatstunned the nation andthe world. But what doesit mean for the people ofCape Town? World DesignCapital 2014 has been anopportunity to engagedeeply with the power andpotential of design-ledthinking to create a bettercity for allAbout World Design CapitalEvery two years the InternationalCouncil of Societies of IndustrialDesign (ICSID) awards the honour ofWorld Design Capital (WDC). In part,WDC is about celebrating designexcellence. More than that, however,WDC is about promoting appreciationfor the transformative role of design.Cape Town’s 2014 title is an affirmationof the city’s commitment to using designas a tool of social, cultural and economictransformation. It is also an opportunityto engage deeply with the power andpotential of design-led thinking.8 ARTS AND CULTURE CAPE TOWNDesign-led thinking ischanging our cityCities face challenges that are evermore complex. Addressing theseshould be a creative, collaborativeprocess that draws on the energyand innovation of individuals, communities and companies as well asall levels of government. Design-ledthinking is an excellent approach toworking with complexity.Cape Town’s World DesignCapital 2014 Programme2014 sees Cape Town host over460 Transformative Design Projectsthroughout the year, under theguidance of Cape Town’s WDCimplementation company,Cape Town Design NPC.As an independent, not-for-profitorganisation, Cape Town DesignNPC is responsible for ensuringthat the requirements of the WorldDesign Capital 2014 Host CityAgreement are met, and thatprogramme delivery is alignedwith Cape Town’s vision of bridginghistoric divides and repositioning thecity for a sustainable inclusive future,through design.How the City of Cape Townis embracing designWhen Cape Town won the WDC2014 title, the City not only approvedthe establishment of an external implementation company, Cape TownDesign NPC, it also appointed itsown senior inward-looking designteam to investigate how design-ledthinking manifests in the City, and towork to further embed it where appropriate. This internal team and the Cityare taking a two-tier approach: A top-down approach through training and project showcasing – theCity has 76 active World DesignCapital 2014 projects. A bottom-up approach, throughthe ward co-design workshops andprojects (see below).Ward co-design workshopsWhen Cape Town was awarded theWDC mantle, the Executive Mayormade a promise that during 2014‘design will touch every ward’. But whatkind of interventions would give valueto every one of the city’s 111 wards?The answer lay in a mechanism thatcould help sub-council structures andtheir line department counterparts toengage design and design-led thinkingin their planning and spending.GREEN POINT URBAN PARKAnd so the City launched a series ofco-creation workshops. Ward councillors were invited to propose appropriate problem statements; andthe City developed a methodologyaimed at extracting maximum valuefrom a design-led approach to publicparticipation. What is emerging fromthe workshops involving stakeholdersfrom across the spectrum, is a series ofdesigns that reflects the real needs andimagination of the community. Otheroutcomes include exposing designersto social design, awakening an oftendormant sense of active citizenshipamong participants, and giving Cityofficials another way to access publicparticipation.COMMUNITY SOCCER FIELDSMASIBAMBANE COMMUNITY HALL, KHAYLETSHAWALL ART AT GARDENS MYCITI BUS STOPARTS AND CULTURE CAPE TOWN 9

02/a broadercontextcape town:creativeand culturalcityA vibrant city thatsupports its arts,heritage and culturalassets is a city witha strong creativeeconomy. We look atthe knock-on effectof this niche growtharea and why it’s beingnurtured to achieveeconomic, social,environmental andcommunity goalsOn the basis of an extensive studyof design in the city, Cape Town wasable to scoop the prestigious WorldDesign Capital 2014 title. As one ofthe most exciting creative andcultural capitals in Africa, CapeTown’s World Design Capital 2014status also gave the city anopportunity to build an evenstronger creative economy forthe future: one that includes arts,heritage and cultural assets. Butwhile a significant aspect of the bidfocused on the use of design for thepurposes of transforming the City, italso recognised the strong creativeeconomy in Cape Town, including its extensive arts, heritage and10 cultural assets. For a similar reason,Cape Town was able to win thebid to host the African EconomyConference in 2013, attractingcreatives from a number of significant African cultural cities. The citywas subsequently recognised asa key African cultural capital witha profile that places it in the sameleague as other culturally rich citiesincluding Nairobi, Johannesburg,Accra, Dakar and Casablanca.For a number of years CreativeCape Town, a project of the CapeTown Partnership, funded predominantly by the City, has facilitatedgrowth in the creative economy.As the initial custodian for the WorldDesign Capital Bid, Creative CapeTown has built a strong following onsocial media and with a networkof major players in the creativeeconomy. In addition to its communication, advocacy and networking function, it has hosted a seriesof projects, research, activities andevents which have all sought todevelop and share informationrelated to the creative economy.It has also facilitated partnershipssuch as the East City Collective (forthe area once known as The Fringe)ARTS AND CULTURE CAPE TOWN‘Of all the capitalsCape Towncould be, the“Ideas Capital”is undoubtedlythe best. Couldthere be anythinggreater, anythingas important,anything worthnurturing anddeveloping morethan the humanimagination?I believe thatis Cape Town'sdestiny. Greatideas and rich,fertile imaginationswill be themost valuablecommodity onearth one day,and that's not aresource that canbe depleted’Alistair King,Chief Creative Officer,King James Groupand the Cape Town DesignNetwork. These have all playeda role in fostering a creativemilieu in the city, which has ledto greater innovation. Many ofCreative Cape Town’s activitieswere influenced by initial workdone by the Western CapeGovernment’s Department ofEconomic Development andTourism from the early 2000s.A series of studies werecommissioned as part of theMicro Economic DevelopmentStrategy (MEDS) developmentprocess. Within this, thecreative industry in Cape Townwas identified as a growingniche economic sector that isworth developing.‘Here inWoodstock, CapeTown, we aresurrounded by athriving creativeindustry with ahost of galleriesand studios. Andwe get to feed it!There is a hungerfor food that isfresh, sustainablysourced, variedand delicious. Andthere are beautiful,funky and uniquerestaurantsand eateriesproducing themost exciting foodwe have seensince the birth ofour democracy.It is a thrillingenvironment andI am so proud tobe part of it’Over the years, Cape Townhas become a vibrant city forculture – it’s regarded as theleader in publishing, digitalmedia, illustration, the visualarts, IT, and now in design. It hasa thriving film and music sectorand a growing animation andgaming industry. And whileJohannesburg may be theundoubted leader in fashion,music, broadcast media, film,and has a cutting-edge blackyouth culture, Cape Town hasalways attracted the edgierartists who are drawn to the cityfor its inspiring environment,as well as its friendly, laid-backvibe. This is especially attractiveto artists who enjoy the relaxedcity centre, which is smallerthan other cities and has morepedestrian and non-motorisedtransport friendly spaces,making it more welcoming.Karen Dudley,WOODSTOCK WALL ARTrestaurateur, cookand authorARTS AND CULTURE CAPE TOWN 11

03/BRETT BAILEY’S MACBETHWhy artsand culture?fast facts: Open Book festivalTotal attendance:8 797 in 2013The importanceof CULTURE initselfUnderstanding thecultural ecology of acity and developing aviable arts and culturestrategy in turn createscultural wellbeingand identity, a majorcontributor to thequality of life in a cityCulture has a vital role to play in animating cities. It’s increasingly recognisedglobally as a critical element insustainability, and positively affects thetypes of urban polarisation that resultsin a rapidly globalising world. The newArts and Culture policy looks at howto realise the city culturally, in ways thatlead to an appreciation of culturaldiversity and with a more inclusivesense of ‘city-ness’, especially in adivided and polarised city. The city isculturally creolised and rich in culturalresources, the result of unique movements and mixings of peoples, formsand practices. This richly layered andinclusive culture creates urban connectivity and intercultural communication.Sir Peter Bazalgette, chair of ArtsCouncil England, puts it in a nutshell:‘Imagine society without the civilisinginfluence of the arts and you’ll haveto strip out what is most pleasurablein life – and much that is educationally12 ARTS AND CULTURE CAPE TOWNvital. Take the collective memory fromour museums; remove the bandsfrom our schools and choirs from ourcommunities; lose the empatheticplays and dance from our theatres orthe books from our libraries; expungeour festivals, literature and painting, andyou’re left with a society bereft of anational conversation about its identity or anything else. The inherent valueof culture, its contribution to society, itssymbiotic relationship with educationand, yes, its economic power (but inthat order) this is what we call theholistic case for public support of artsand culture.’ (The Guardian)Agenda 21 acknowledges that ‘culturaldiversity is the main heritage of humanity’ and outlines the essential elementsin the transformation of urban and socialreality, one that ensures creative continuity and job creation. ‘Cities and localspaces are a privileged setting for culturalinvention which is in constant evolution,and provide the environment for creativediversity. Dialogue between identity anddiversity, individual and group, is a vitaltool for guaranteeing both a planetarycultural citizenship as well as the survivalof linguistic diversity and the development of cultures.’Overall increase of41%‘It is a real privilege to bea participant in the worldof books and writingin Cape Town at thismoment. There are somany wonderful booksbeing published inSouth Africa - and whatis particularly excitingfor me is the range ofwonderfully stimulatingnovels being producedby young South Africanswhich in variousways are completelychanging the terrain ofSouth African literature.These are young gunssharing stories withoutregard for what “shouldbe written” or what“can be published”.They are telling storiesin fresh and excitingways and through theirwords recasting the wayin which SA literaturereflects on our society’The power of theatreOPEN BOOK FESTIVALIf anyone can transcend the notion of ‘planetary cultural citizenship’, it is Brett Bailey, oneof SA’s most exciting and provocative theatredirectors, best known for his radical performance of Verdi’s 19th-century reinterpretationof Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Says Bailey: ‘Ibelieve one of my functions as an artist, anda human being who cares about justice andequality, is to shake up the lazy, prejudiced,fearful beast that is society. I really believetheatre can have the power to make a difference, and I drive myself to make multilayered,deep, conscious works.’ ( Mail & Guardian).‘Brett Bailey,’ says Ashraf Jamal, writer andeditor of Art South Africa,‘ is our greatesttheatre director, hauntologist, mesmeriser,an artist who returns us over and over againto an Africa that is as obscene as it is elegiac,as deranged as it is transfigural. Our Rimbaudin Africa – trafficker in the illicit, unconscious,sublime – Bailey returns us to the complexity ofa continent which remains perversely resistantto categorization.’Merwyn Sloman,The Book LoungeARTS AND CULTURE CAPE TOWN 13

03/WHY ARTS ANDCULTURE?heritage and creativeindustries play asignificant andtransformative rolein terms of incomegeneration, jobcreation and urbanregeneration incities. Unlocking thisuntapped potential iskey to new growth,adding sustainableenergy to a cityMike van Graan14 ARTS AND CULTURE CAPE TOWNErica Elk, Executive Director of theCape Craft and Design Institute (CCDI),agrees: ‘Designers and makers are avital part of the creative economy andare an important part of the fabric of ourCity. Investing in them is an investmentin the greater economy of a city, with farreaching consequences. Encouragingthe growth and flourishing of creativeentrepreneurs influences the culturalrichness, liveability, welfare, resilience,and innovative energy in a city’.But there is much to be done. Mike vanGraan, Executive Director of the AfricanArts Institute, puts it in perspective: ‘TheCreative Economy Reports of the United Nations Conference on Trade andDevelopment (UNCTAD) have shownthat Africa’s share of the global creativeeconomy – worth billions of dollars.The main countries contributing to thisshare are in North Africa – Morocco,Tunisia and Algeria – and South Africa.And the primary creative industrymaking this contribution is design.There is huge potential then forthe creative industries on our continentto become global players but this willrequire much greater investment ineducation, infrastructure, distributionand market development.’Research undertaken by theUnited Nations Conferenceon Trade and Development(UNCTAD) has shown that morethan 7% of world gross domesticproduct (GDP) can be attributedto the creative industries andthat future annual growth ratesare expected to be significant.Over the last decade the totalglobal market value for creativeindustries estimated atMONKEYBIZ BEADERUS 1.3 trillion,Mzansigoldeneconomyshowing remarkable growth.UNITED NATIONSCREATIVE ECONOMYREPORT 2013According to this SpecialEdition: ‘The creative economyis not only one of the mostrapidly growing sectors of theworld economy, it is also ahighly transformative one interms of income generation, jobcreation and export earnings.But this is not all there is to it.Unlocking the potential ofthe creative economy alsomeans promoting the overallcreativity of societies, affirming the distinctive identity ofthe places where it flourishesand clusters, improving thequality of life there, enhancinglocal image and prestige, andstrengthening the resourcesfor the imagining of diversenew futures.Launched in 2011, the Mzansi GoldenEconomy offered groundbreakingdocumentation to illustrate the roleof the creative and cultural industrieshave on the economy of South Africa.The importance of its findingsreinforces the City Of Cape Town’svision and strategy for the futureCopyright United Nations/UNDP/UNESCO, 2013culture’sECONOMICvalue‘The new vision of arts and culture goesbeyond social cohesion and nourishingOPEN BOOK FESTIVALthe soul of the nation. We believe thatarts, culture and heritage play a pivotalrole in the economic empowermentand skills development of a people,’says Arts and Culture Minister Mashatilein introducing the concept of Mzansi’sGolden Economy (see page 14), anddocumenting the contribution of theInternationally,arts, culture and heritage sector to thethe arts, culture,new growth path of South Africa.The importance of culture for socialcohesion and nation building has longbeen a key priority of the South Africangovernment. More recently however,and especially since 2000, the priorityof Government has been focusedstrongly on economic developmentand job creation, because of the highlevels of poverty and unemploymentthe country faces.In recognition of the role of the Creativeand Cultural Industries in the economy,the Minister for Arts and Culture, PaulMashatile, launched the Mzansi GoldenCAPE CRAFT & DESIGN INSTITUTEEconomy: Contribution of the Arts,Culture and Heritage Sector to the NewGrowth Path: 2011.Elaborating on its goals for SouthAfrica, Mashatile said:‘The new vision ofarts and culture goesbeyond social cohesionand nourishing thesoul of the nation.We believe that arts,culture and heritageplay a pivotal rolein the economicempowerment andskills developmentof a people.’VISUAL ARTSNETWORK OFSOUTH AFRICA(VANSA)VANSA lobbied for and wasinvolved in the first majornational study of the visualarts industry in South Africa,recently undertaken by theHuman Sciences ResearchCouncil. Published in 2011,the study showed that thevisual arts contributed overR1 billionto the national economy perannum and created work forover 17 000peopleARTS AND CULTURE CAPE TOWN 15

03/WHY ARTS ANDCULTURE?global Case studIES01Medellín,ColombiaOnce known as of the mostviolent drug cities in the world,Colombia’s second largest city,Medellín, has transformed itselfand is today known as one ofthe most innovative cities in theworld and a model of social andsustainable urban development.The city successfully used urbanplanning as a tool to create amore balanced community andfocused change and constructionaround schools, libraries, parks andcultural centres. One of its manyprojects was a cable car systemdevised to bring fragmented andimpoverished neighbourhoodstogether, an excellent exampleof ‘urban acupuncture’ that hasbrought peace and hope. Thenetwork of cable car systems nowlinks the hilly areas of Medellín andall its community and educationalcentres with the city centre, makinggetting around an easy and scenic25-minute ride, instead of takingall day on foot or on unreliablebus transport.Avenue of02the Arts,Philadelphia, USAPhiladelphia’s Avenue of the Arts isa classic case study of how publicand private investment in artsand cultural programmingand development can assist inovercoming a variety of economic,social, and physical challenges.More than 100 million in publicfunds and 1 billion in privatefunds transformed South BroadStreet from decline into a vibrantcorridor that embraces its heritageand provides a home for 23 artsorganizations, three major artinstitutions, three large hotels,more than 20 high-end retailers,more than 30 restaurants, and1 450 residential units eitherconverted from vacant officebuildings or newly constructed.Improvements included vintagelampposts, sidewalk pavers,planters, bus shelters, and decorativesubway entrances. Wide sidewalksaccommodated outdoor seating, andmixed use developments provideample space for street-level retailand restaurants along with a mixtureof office and residential spaceon upper floors. According to aneconomic impact study conductedin September 2007 by Econsult,in 2006 the avenue generated anestimated 424 million, with anestimated 150 million in totalearnings, supporting approximately6 000 jobs.03US/Mexicanart festivalThe InSITE arts festival first tookplace in 1992 In the San Diego-Tijuana region and is now heldevery three years. Regarded as oneof the most successful bi-nationalvisu

Tourism Events and Economic Develop-ment Directorate (TEED). The story starts with Cape Town as an important tourism centre and the department’s place in TEED. It continues by establishing the city’s worldwide recognition as a creative and cultural city, including Cape Town’s designation as World Design Capital 2014.