Programme Director
The Minister of Social Development, Honourable Bathabile Dlamini
Minister of Public Enterprises, Honourable Malusi Gigaba
His Excellency Elio Menzione, Ambassador of Italy
Professor Molamu, Registrar of Unisa
Professor Moeketsi, Executive Dean of the College of Human Sciences in Unisa
Ndabezitha Shembe from the Shembe Church
Prince Mguqiso Dlamini (from Swaziland)
Nkosi Pathekile Holomisa from CONTRALESA
Nkosi Mwelo Nonkonyane, the Vice President of SAFA
Traditional leaders here present
Ms Annabell Lebethe, CEO of the National Arts Council
Ms Nonkululeko Sindane, the Director General of the Department of Justice
Members of the Academia
Honoured guests
Ladies and gentlemen
Today, 25 May, is an important day on the African calendar.
This is Africa Day; a day that symbolises Africa’s unity as well as its ongoing commitment to peace, democracy and economic development.
This is also a day in which we reaffirm the importance of our worth as Africans; which include our indigenous knowledge systems, our cultural and artistic skills.
On this day, among others, we confront the persistently dominant ideology that says; all that is African is inferior and invaluable.
It is therefore fitting that on this day we are opening this massive Retrospective Exhibition of African art, sculpted by Professor Pitika Ntuli, one of most talented and brilliant sculptors from our country and continent.
I am told that this Exhibition comprises of around 130 sculptures in a variety of materials, including found objects, metal, wood, bone, stone, and bronze.
It also includes a number of works recently brought back from overseas and Swaziland that have not been shown in our country before.
I therefore take this opportunity to congratulate all those who have made this exhibition possible.
Indeed as the Department of Arts and Culture through the National Arts Council we are proud to be associated with this exhibition.
Our support for this exhibition is in recognition of the importance of Professor Ntuli’s works as a major contribution to the development of the artistic language.
It is also in recognition of the reality that; Professor Ntuli’s brilliant artistic works are an achievement not just for South Africa, but for the African continent as a whole.
Professor Ntuli defines himself as an African Artist who is acutely aware of the significance of all things African.
This includes his ancestors, the interconnectedness of natural and human worlds, his large extended family, the inevitability of Ubuntu in our society, and the role all of these play in shaping his art.
He is an African artist who has traversed many continents and absorbed influences from other spaces and times.
Through his artistic works Professor Ntuli has proved that; modern African art compares favourably with the greatest art works in the world.
He has demonstrated that modern African Art should not be relegated to the supposedly inferior category of craft.
Through his work Professor Ntuli shows that; the business of art is indeed a serious business. It is a business from which our artists can build for themselves sustainable livelihoods.
In this regard we are encouraged that works of art by South African artists such Irma Stern, Deborah Bell and William Kentridge are beginning to gain the recognition that was long overdue to them on the international art scene.
We are confident that more of our artists will follow these proud examples and build for themselves sustainable livelihoods and create more job opportunities within our sector.
Programme Director in order to achieve this goal, delegates at the historic National Consultative Conference on the contribution of the arts, culture and heritage sector to the economy held in April this year committed themselves to:
“Facilitate the expansion and growth of existing initiatives in the cultural and creative industries to create large scale and high impact programmes, maximising the growth and employment potential of the sector.”
Guided by this commitment, the Department of Arts and Culture will continue to work with stakeholders to ensure that our collective interventions in the sector yield maximum impact in terms of job creation and the building of sustainable livelihoods for our artists.
In the coming months we will announce details of our implementation plan of all conference resolutions.
These plans will give practical meaning to our commitment to ensuring that the cultural and creative industries take their rightful place as major contributors to economic growth and job creation.
These plans will also assist us to appropriately position our cultural products on the local and international stage.
We once more take this opportunity to thank all those who took part in the consultative conference and contributed towards its success.
We look forward to working with all of you as we implement the outcomes of this epoch making conference.
As I conclude, I wish to say well done to Professor Pitika Ntuli for putting together this exhibition. May you have a successful exhibition.
Thank you.
Source: Department of Arts and Culture
