DIRECTOR’S REPORT

The 2019/2020 year has been characterised as a year of radical shifts and change. Whilst this moment required us to be socially apart it did also allow us a moment of reflection and to actively and intentionally create ways of being that truly brought us together for our collective greater good. Covid-19 has had a huge impact on not only the work we do but how we do it. We have had to ask ourselves a lot of important questions about who we are, what we do and what it means for us to do the work we do in the ways in which we do it. We remain committed to creating a fair, just and equitable visual arts sector which is accessible to all.

As we come to the end of the five year strategy focused on Membership, Programmes and Income Generation, and make plans for the new, we continue to be guided by the three pillars on which our work exists - Study, Decentralisation and Professional Access. This solid foundation has allowed us to be flexible and agile through internal changes and challenging external times. As we navigate this moment and develop the new strategy that will guide us, four things have become abundantly clear in terms of the elements which are needed in our ecosystem.

We need to CARE for ourselves and our community, this means understanding how deeply interconnected we are and that our strength lies in us, the community that makes up our ecosystem.

This focus on care in how we work has been reflected internally through ensuring the safety of our team and all we work with

and ensuring we imbue care centred approaches to our work - committed to honouring our work and caring for each other, our continued work on mental health and wellness reflects our ongoing commitment to our collective care and well being.

Through isolation came CONNECTION and we developed a webinar series titled VANSA Perspectives to engage with our community and develop greater interaction using social media and technology.

We recognised that systemic CHANGE is needed in our sector and the role of VANSA as the voice of the sector became increasingly necessary. Now, more than ever we need to come together and create the visual art landscape where we can all thrive. We engaged with other sectors in the creative arts, met with government officials and sector leaders, contributed towards strategies for relief and revival of the creative arts and continued to advocate for the sector all whilst developing partnerships locally and abroad to ensure the vision of a more empowered sector is realised.

All of this however is not possible without support and in order to build sustainability through income generation not only for VANSA but for the sector as a whole, resources and CASH are imperative. We developed and strengthened our business unit and continue to develop income generating mechanisms to ensure we are able to continue the work we do.

We were also able to continue to work with partners in the sector to ensure resources and opportunities reached those who need them. Through our nationwide Internship program, we were able to place interns in employment creating opportunities across the country. We ran multiple professional practice and skills development workshops on the Best Practice Guide for Visual Artists, Governance Toolkit and Mental Health workshops across the country. We also began connecting with young people and disabled members of our community to ensure that the arts are truly accessible to all.

VANSA is a participatory membership based organisation, membership continues to grow and social media engagement has shown steady and continuous growth. As we move into the new financial year, we are placing a greater significance on strengthening and deepening member engagement, growing our community particularly in rural and peri-urban areas and developing sustainability strategies.

We have an amazing and committed team supported by a strong board of directors with an ever increasingly engaged and empowered membership. Thank you for trusting us and continuing to support the work we do and our collective vision for the sector.

Refilwe Nkomo