Chance for artists to secure funding

The deadline is looming for artists to submit funding proposals to the Goethe-Institut SA.

Artists are being called to submit applications for the institute’s Goethe-Institut Project Space (GPS) grant, of up to R60,000, before August 17.            

Earlier this year, the institute funded six artists from across the country, including New Brighton’s Xolani Ngesi and Xolisa Ngubelanga for their theatre play Singqokwana’s Dream Deferred which highlighted the plight of Red Location Museum.

The four other artists were from King William’s Town, Fairmont, Durban and Khayelitsha. They were each awarded R60,000 to fund their projects.

Founded in 2016, the GPS grant this year aims to focus on individual artists and smaller, marginalised arts venues outside the Johannesburg and Cape Town hubs.

This is meant to provide a fair opportunity to artists and spaces that have limited access to funding and infrastructure.

Ngesi said the funding helped them especially with research for the play and successfully providing workshops for the youth of New Brighton.

“The grant played a huge role in terms of helping us bridge the gap between the community and the municipality by getting kids involved.

“Our aim was to highlight the need for the museum to reopen and it became more beneficial for the community when we could hold workshops and upskill the youth in the process.

“Much of that would not have been possible without the grant,” Ngesi said.

Ngesi performed the play, written by playwright Xolisa Ngubelanga, over several days and incorporated it with open theatre workshops for the township’s youth.

Singqokwana’s Dream Deferred was written in honour of anti-apartheid activist Singqokwana Ernest Malgas, with the purpose of reminding the community of the importance of preserving the heritage of SA by protecting institutions such as the now derelict Red Location Museum.

The GPS is a multidisciplinary project which supports works ranging from workshops to exhibitions, events and performances; including visual art, literature, film, music, dance and theatre projects.

Applicants can choose an arts space to showcase their project and the institute could fund both the artist and their chosen space.

Francois Venter, of the Goethe-Institut’s cultural programmes department, said the project sought to identify and uplift worthwhile work across the country.

“With this project, we decided to privilege projects proposed for smaller, less institutional spaces, and particularly spaces outside the big urban centres of Johannesburg and Cape Town.

“The rationale behind this focus is, to put it in a nutshell, that we feel we want to support worthwhile work that would not otherwise have been possible and to present it to audiences who do not regularly get the chance to enjoy such work,” Venter said.

Previously, Goethe-Institut SA has, through the GPS grant, funded various Eastern Cape artists such as Makhanda’s Julie Nxadi for her project ZOLA, a multi-media narrative installation and performance.

It also funded Mgwali Village’s Skhumbuzo Makandula for his multimedia exhibition, Ingoma kaTiyo Soga.

The exhibitionwas delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown and is yet to be staged.

Click here to apply.

- HeraldLIVE