Programme Director and CEO of BASA, Ms Michelle Constant
CEO of Citadel, Mr Neil Brown
Representatives of Econix and Auction Vault,
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
It is an absolutely pleasure to have accepted the invitation to be part of the launch of the Citadel Art Index, which is a first of its kind in our country. Let me congratulate Citadel on this groundbreaking innovation that will, without doubt, benefit the arts sector. I believe that is finds synergy with the plans that government and the Department of Arts and Culture has for the development of the sector.
I have chosen to speak today firstly broadly on the repositioning of the arts sector in the country, which we are working on, share some of the insights on fine arts and then address the importance of this innovation, from a government’s perspective.
Arts and Culture plays two critical roles in society, that of facilitating nation building, pride and social cohesion, on the one hand, and that of contributing to economic growth and job creation. Artistic expression and cultural participation are important for any nation and society as it builds identity and pride in a people and their abilities. Arts, culture and heritage have an intrinsic and intangible value in contributing to social development.
Global evidence suggests that countries with a high degree of social cohesion experience better prospects for sustainable economic development. Societies that demonstrate high degree of social cohesion provide greater protection for vulnerable groups in society and more sharing of resources and services.
Arts also have a great potential of contributing to economic growth and job creation. It is a sector, whose barriers to entry are low especially for young people. The rise in significance of creative industries globally clearly demonstrates this fact. The nature of these industries is such that they can produce goods of high value, with relatively low outlay costs than other industries. Being skilled intensive, they also have the potential to absorb high numbers of people, including people with low education levels.
South Africa faces both the challenges of low employment levels and the resultant poverty as well as low levels of social cohesion. As the national diagnostic evaluation of the National Planning Commission demonstrates, this twin challenges pose the greatest risk to our freedom and development.
“The continued social and economic exclusion of millions of South Africans, reflected in high levels of poverty and inequality, is our biggest challenge. In our view, these high levels of poverty and inequality have a historical basis in apartheid and are driven principally by the fact that too few people work and that the quality of many Black people remains poor. Central to addressing these challenges sustainably over time is our ability to create jobs for more people and to improve the quality of education, especially for poor Black people”
With this context in mind, the New Growth Path was approved by Cabinet last year, which is government’s commitment to creating 5 million jobs over the next 10 years. The New Growth Path identifies sectors that can be prioritised and supported to generate these jobs. The Creative and cultural industry is identified as growth sectors.
The Department of Arts and Culture has, for the past few months, been developing the strategy to realise this potential. The result of this process is a strategy, which we have called, Mzansi’s Golden Economy (MGE). The MGE is an explicit choice by the Minister and the department to position arts and culture in the country as a driver of jobs and economic growth. This does not eliminate our sector’s role in social cohesion, but there is a new emphasis on job creation and therefore our programmes should all work towards meeting this objective.
The MGE is not just a strategy, it is a set of projects whose main goal is to grow the arts as well as its employment yield. These projects address both the demand as well as the supply side of the sector. The projects deal with inducing demand and audience development, addressing infrastructure, and access to the sector, especially for communities staying far from the main urban centres, addressing skills deficits and competitiveness. The strategy clearly positions government as a facilitator and playing a role of addressing barriers, with the private sectors being the key role player.
If I may now turn my attention to fine arts, which is closer to the index being launched here today. Fine arts is an important sub-sector in the creative industries. It has the following economic characteristics:
- There are more that 17 700 people working in this sector, of which 5 500 are full time and part time artists
- More than 53% of its employment are young people
- The annual income for artists in this subsector is R140 000
- The annual direct turnover of the fine arts is R1 858 775 133
- It is however smaller than other subsectors by turnover (publishing R4 billion, and music R 3.5 billion)
- South Africa has the largest visual arts economy on the continent, with the most extensive network of museums and collections
- There are indications of growing international interest in SA creative output.
However,
- there are indications of reduced consumption of visual arts in the local market
- there is reduced corporate investment
- closure of galleries and exit of artists.
The Citadel Arts Index therefore finds resonance with the plans for government in that:
- Not only will it promote Art as a valuable asset class but it will also create more interest in Art and culture in SA. People who were not investors may now become so, as they are able to benchmark their investments.
- We have never been able to track the top 100 artists before and now will be able to accurately measure the value of their works over decades and have an accurate and credible measure of their value
- This Index will in all likelihood increase the interest of international art community in SA art, therefore it can only be of value to SA artists and the community at large.
- Why do we need Art collectors and Investors to continue investing in art in SA. Important for the continued growth of the art community.
Finally, the only way that we will be able to grow this sector is when we get more consumption in the arts. It is the way is which there will be growth or security and incomes for artists. It is for this reason that we welcome this index. And hope that it will lead to collaboration between government and the private sector in growing the arts.
Let me end of by thanking BASA for the role that they have and continue playing in encouraging the private sector’s participation in the arts and supporting the growth of this important sector.
I thank you.
