By Emily Setona
QWAQWA – The National Arts Council of South Africa (NAC) visits Maluti – a – Phofung (MAP) to encourage artists of this community to take the compliance aspect of their craft seriously because talent without success is almost a proverb.
According to Zothani Vilakazi a representative from the NAC, the reason why he has come to Qwaqwa is through the collaborative efforts with the Thabo Mofutsanyana Arts and Culture Centre (TMACC). “This session in Qwaqwa is very important because the NAC has a lot of opportunities that artists is this community struggle to access because of things such as noncompliance. It was very critical for me to come here to explain the NAC’s funding criteria so that artists in Qwaqwa can be able to comply and access the opportunities available,” Vilakazi said.
Ntsani Mopeli from the TMACC highlighted to artists the importance of this funding workshop so that local artists can get the correct information about the funding processes of the NAC from their representative so that they are better equipped to access the opportunities available.
Artists who attended this session shared similar sentiments regarding the NAC’s funding process, most expressed that they tried applying for funding but received no clear explanation why their applications were unsuccessful after applying.
“When I applied for funding from the NAC, I was not told what I did wrong. I just received a message that said that my application was not successful. I suggest that the NAC clearly explains to artists where we go wrong with our applications so that we can comply,” local artist from Phuthadithjaba Mojalefa Maloleka said.
In response to this Vilakazi said that such feedback is very important and that he will report it to the relevant people in the council.
Vilakazi also explained that when it comes to applying for the NAC’s project funding calls artist must follow the proper guidelines so that they can be eligible for the funding. If they do not follow these guidelines correctly it is highly likely that their applications will immediately be disqualified before it even reaches the panel that needs to decide whether their proposal deserves to be funded or not.
