Provincial department and City of Johannesburg commit to work with local creatives
Molepo called on local creatives to use the summit as an opportunity to unite and organise themselves to reclaim their rights to tell the stories of their township through art.
The Department of Sport, Arts, Culture, and Recreation in the province has committed to working with local creatives from Alexandra in tackling challenges facing the art industry in the area.
In its quest to finds solutions to challenges faced by the local art industry, the department, in conjunction with the city of Johannesburg, recently hosted a two-day Alexandra Cultural Creatives Summit in East Bank Community Hall.
According to the head of department Monica Newton, the idea for the summit came after the former MEC, Faith Mazibuko, hosted a post-state of the province address consultative session with the local art industry stakeholders in Altrec Sports Complex earlier this year to hear challenges faced by creatives in the area.
Among issues discussed during the summit were knowledge and information empowerment of local creatives by government, the issue of funding, training and the shortage of art facilities in the area.
Legendary actor and the chairperson of the Alexandra Arts Academy, Mpho Molepo, said the fact that a township like Alexandra, which is extremely rich in history, has not produced even one artwork to showcase its struggles was a clear sign that the area is neglected and its creatives not considered at all.
He called upon all local creatives to use the summit as an opportunity to unite and organise themselves to reclaim their rights to tell the stories of their township through art.
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