Rosemary Mangope, CEO of National Arts Council fo South Africa, state: 'This year we need to take some brave steps forward. When people are afraid to make mistakes, they can get into a state of paralysis with the result that there’s very little progress. If people are willing to “fall forward”, then we can work together and achieve impressive results.

In terms of advancing arts promotion, I believe that we need to use cultural engagement as a rallying point to unlock resources and leverage partnerships as we find ways to augment government funding.

Combining old-fashioned values with a new vision means that 2016 holds exciting promise. Passion, dedication, commitment and hard work are just some of the drivers for achieving the results we want to achieve.

On a broader scale, we’ll be looking at the role of arts and culture in environmental sustainability. The National Arts Council (NAC) should be a thought leader in creating initiatives in this area. To this end, we’ll be working within government protocol, with a key partnership between the NAC and the Department of Environmental Affairs.

The NAC aspires to provide arts and culture leadership that takes into account the changing realities of today’s world. This is fundamental for ensuring that arts and culture is seen as a pillar of social development in the 21st century.

We are looking to work with partners who can add leadership and provide both the strength and vision to help us choose the right direction. Traditionally, the concept of leadership has been associated with the top-down approach, where leaders were found primarily in key positions in government and/or big national and international organisations.

While the role of government remains essential, a network society brings fundamental change to the perception on the role and nature of leadership. Leaders can no longer be identified solely based on their positions in governmental or governance structures but rather on their ability to articulate vision and carry out change.

In order to understand the changing roles of various stakeholders, it is crucial to affirm the roles of artists, leaders of networks and advocacy groups as well as civil society or professional organisations at local and international levels, all actively debating and proposing solutions for the contemporary challenges of today’s society.'

http://nac.org.za/publications/artisan/the-artisan-volume-2/a-word-from-the-ceo