SAAWCA’s Critics Mentorship Programme 2013

The recipients of SAAWCA’s Critics Mentorship Programme 2013 are Sakhiziwe Gcina and Murray Kruger. Gcina is a third-year student in Film and Media at the University of Cape Town and he will be mentored by Matthew Krouse, the arts editor at the Mail & Guardian.

“Being an arts journalist, critic and media professional is challenging and demanding. The field is fiercely competitive and dynamic. Given these pressures one has to be not only passionate about art journalism, but should be exposed to these stresses in the media industry early in their training,” observed Gcina.

Kruger is an artist and curator, completing his masters in Fine Arts at Wits University.  He will be mentored by Mary Corrigall, the Books Editor and Senior Feature Writer at the Sunday Independent.

“My primary interest is to look deeper into the implied relationships between performance and these respective modes of production, ideally laying the foundation for a workable multi-modal practice that does not privilege one of these particular disciplines. I see this 2013 Critics Mentorship Programme as a structured context within which to return to arts writing.”

After spending the month of June under the guidance of Krouse and Corrigall, Gcina and Kruger will travel to the National Arts Festival where they will write and publish reports on the festival. This is the second year that the Critics Mentorship Programme has been running. This year it has been funded by the Goethe-Institut. This support has allowed the programme to be expanded to include two candidates.

The programme was initiated by Corrigall, the head and founder of SAAWCA, in an attempt to encourage and nurture new arts writers and critics.

Call for Critics/Writers Mentorship Programme 2013

The  South African Arts Writers and Critics Association is pleased to announce a call for applications for the 2013 Critics Mentorship Programme. With the support of the Goethe-Institut this year the programme has been expanded and will offer two individuals an opportunity to be mentored by established critics/writers.

How does it work? Participants will spend a month under the guidance of a mentor before attending the National Arts Festival, where they will be expected to write reviews, interviews and features, which will be published in local, national or niche publications.

The mentorship period beings June 4 and exposes the participants to the working life of a critic/writer which would include attending arts related events, conducting interviews and engaging in research activities with the mentor, as well as spending time at the offices of a mainstream print publication.  In this way the participant will gain insight into the general running of a media organisation. During this period the mentor will set a number of writing assignments for the participant. They will be given detailed feedback for each assignment and if the standard of the work is high, these assignments may be considered for publication.

Who should apply? Young freelance arts writers/bloggers who are struggling to get a foothold in the industry. Any aspiring or young/new arts writer, critic with an aptitude for, and or, experience in writing, cultivated through university studies, a journalism course or any other writing workshop. Applicants must be knowledgeable about one discipline of the arts and have an interest in another. This is not a full-time programme but the participants will need to be available during weekday hours and evenings to attend events, complete writing assignments and observe the workings of a newspaper.  The participant will also be required to travel to Grahamstown for the festival – travel and accommodation costs will be covered by the programme and they will be given a stipend.

At this time the mentorship programme will only be available to Joburg based participants. Those who already have experience in arts writing and criticism will be given preference. Ultimately we are looking to provide guidance to an individual who has already shown talent in arts writing but requires a close level of mentorship to develop their work further. 

Criteria: A participant will be selected based on the strength of his/her writing abilities and knowledge or affinity for the arts and their grasp on journalistic conventions. Short listed candidates may have to produce a short review to secure a place on the programme.

Deadline:  May 13, 2013.  Please send a copy of your CV, a short letter of motivation outlining which discipline or disciplines of the arts you are interested in, as well as two examples of arts writing. Please title your mail: Mentorship programme application. Send your applications or any queries to mary@plotbeep.co.za or criticsassoc@gmail.com

Ethics & Arts Journalism: discussion topic at SAAWCA meeting

South African Arts Writers and Critics Association (SAAWCA) will be holding a meeting in Joburg in November. This year it will include an invigorating debate regarding ethics and arts journalism followed by a networking session, allowing for the discussion to evolve more informally and give an opportunity for young or aspiring critics to meet our established members. Anyone with a vested interested in arts writing is welcome to attend. 

Date: November 10

Venue: Theatre on the Square, Sandton, Nelson Mandela Square, Johannesburg

Time: 11am to 2pm

Topic: Are arts media sponsorship deals compromising arts journalism?

Panellists:  Anton Harber (professor of Journalism at Wits) will join Matthew Krouse (Arts Editor, Mail and Guardian), Georgina Thompson (director Dance Umbrella, Dance Forum), Michelle Constant (head of BASA, journalist), Adrienne Sichel (Independent Arts Writer) Edward Tsumele (Editor CityLife)

Please RSVP: criticsassoc@gmail.com

Discussion: More and more arts institutions are entering into deals with publications/ newspapers/media groups as a way of guaranteeing the promotion and coverage of their events. In some instances money exchanges hands in the form of advertising, in other instances both organisations enter into an agreement whereby the publication offers coverage in exchange for the marketing their brand at a particular event or through the advertising and promotion of it. Because objectivity in arts reporting is seen as less important than say in hard news, few questions have been raised around the ethics of these deals, and more importantly the impact they may have on the impartiality and quality of the reporting and whose work or event receives coverage.

Here are few pertinent questions that this discussion needs to address

Is the media/editorial for sale? What impact could this have on how the public and arts community view arts journalism?

Is it an even playing field when only arts organisations with money or affiliations to institutions with funds are given space/coverage in newspapers or other arts publications? What of those that don’t have any financial clout?

Do arts journalists feel free to critically appraise an arts event produced by an organisation that their publication has entered into a deal?

Should an institution be able to end a media sponsorship deal because of unfavourable comments in the coverage they secured?

Why are publications entering into these deals; are limited budgets and the pressure to sustain arts journalism contributing towards this phenomenon?

How does this impact on the arts? These deals may help grow audiences but does it educate them? What of artists and performers who depend on impartial critical arts writing to grow their practice?

If this has become an essential part of arts journalism, are there different ways that we could conceive of these agreements so as to minimise their impact on the quality of arts journalism? In other words should the terms of these agreements be renegotiated, should there be a set of rules in place?

In the digital sphere these deals manifest in slightly different ways, perhaps more pervasive ways where the online publication is solely reliant on sponsorship from arts institutions or establishments to survive. What kind of relationships are these and how are they impacting on whose events, works are covered and how they are covered?

SAAWCA Critics Mentorship Programme 2012

We are pleased to announce that the recipient of SAAWCA’s inaugural Critics Mentorship Programme 2012 is Same Mdluli, a twenty-nine-year old PHD art history student from Wits University, who is keen to explore the journalistic realm. Mdluli believes that “art criticism has to adapt and follow current trends including the influences of social media and technological advances.”

Mdluli was selected by SAAWCA board members; Bruce Dennill, Edward Tsumele and Mary Corrigall. Corrigall will serve as a mentor for Mdluli at The Sunday Independent newspaper. Mdluli will travel to the National Arts Festival, where she will write reviews on visuals arts and film productions.

SAAWCA received a really good number of applications and the applicants were all quite strong.  It is encouraging to learn that there are so many young talented people eager to become arts writers. It reinforces our need to increase platforms for arts writing.  SAAWCA must find a way to support all of these young people, as our industry could benefit from the influx of a new generation of critics.

The SAAWCA Critics Mentorship Programme 2012 was made possible by a grant from the Arts & Culture Trust’s (ACT) Development Programme, which is funded by Nedbank Arts Affinity. It has been designed to enhance the continued development of arts and culture in South Africa.

SAAWCA would also like to thank Ismail Mahomed, the director of the National Arts Festival, who has funded one of our young-up-and-coming members, Mpho Moshe Matheolane, to travel to Grahamstown to attend the festival.

SAAWCA at UJ/ACT Arts & Culture conference

The UJ/ACT Arts and Culture conference takes place this week in Johannesburg and SAAWCA head and founder, Mary Corrigall, will be making a presentation during the first afternoon session on May 24 at the UJ Arts Centre.

In a panel dubbed State of the Sectors, she will join key representatives from the realms of theatre, music, dance and film who will present sector over-views. That we have cinched a spot on this slot is a great coup as it immediately identifies arts writing as a sector and one which falls under the arts and not just journalism. This should have significant impact on how the arts industry views us and will also aid how we can shape and enhance our role in the arts.

Criticism in Print

The internet might be turning our once transient products into permanent texts, yet it’s always rewarding to see a critic or commentator’s work being published in book form. SAAWCA member Chris Thurman is launching just such a book. It’s dubbed At Large: Reviewing the Arts in South Africa. The launch will include a panel discussion that forms part of the Wale festival at Wits University. If you are in Joburg don’t miss it.  Here are the details:

Date: Wednesday 9 May
Time: 18h30-19h30
Venue: Pentz Bookshop
Convener: Dr Chris Thurman
Panel discussion and public debate around the “why, what and how” of arts writing in South Africa.

Call for Critics Mentorship Programme 2012

Since the inception of SAAWCA we have been committed to attracting new writers to the arts writing and criticism sector.  The inaugural Critics Mentorship Programme 2012 is the first initiative in service of this objective and is made possible by a grant from the Arts & Culture Trust (ACT). The Development Programme is funded by Nedbank Arts Affinity and has been

designed to enhance the continued development of arts and culture in South Africa.

How does it work? The Mentorship Programme will see one individual spend a month under the guidance of a mentor before attending the National Arts Festival from 29 June to 8 July, where they will be expected to write reviews and interviews, which will be published either in the Cue Newspaper and/or in other national publications.

This mentorship period beings June 4 and would involve being exposed to the working life of a critic, which would include attending arts related events, interviews and other research activities with the mentor, as well as spending time at the offices of newspapers, and being exposed to the general running of a media organisation. During this period the mentor will set a number of writing assignments for the participant. They will be given detailed feedback for each assignment and if the standard of the work is high, these assignments may be considered for publication.

Who should apply? Any aspiring or young/new arts writer, critic with some basic experience in writing, either at university or through a journalism course or any other writing workshop or with a background in the arts. It is not a full-time programme but the participant will need to be available during some weekday hours.  The participant will also be required to travel to Grahamstown for the festival – travel and accommodation costs will be covered by SAAWCA. At this time the mentorship programme will only be available to Joburg based participants. Those who already have experience in arts writing and criticism will be considered. Ultimately we are looking to provide guidance to an individual who has already shown talent in arts writing but requires a close level of mentorship to develop their work further.  The participant will receive a substantial stipend.  

Criteria: A participant will be selected based on the strength of his/her writing abilities and knowledge or affinity for the arts

Deadline:  May 31, 2012.  Please send a copy of your CV, a short letter of motivation outlining which discipline or disciplines of the arts you are interested in, as well as two examples of your arts writing that are longer than 500 words. Please title your mail: Mentorship programme application. Send your applications or any queries to mary@plotbeep.co.za or criticsassoc@gmail.com