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The government's struggling culture and community programme have received a welcome boost with the signing of a bi-national agreement between the South African and Flemish governments to revitalise community art centres. Dr Gerard Hagg, chief research specialist at the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), has been seconded to the Department of Arts and Culture (DAC) as the national manager of the national team of the project, which will run for three years. Hagg, who was team leader of a HSRC national audit of 27 of the country's 42 art and cultural centres commissioned by DAC to investigate why these art and culture centres were failing, says he will be assisted by Flemish and South African experts in the field. The team's job will be to develop a policy framework for the national, provincial and local departments of arts and culture, and to develop and implement models for capacity building of the arts centres. The envisaged strategies will include the fostering of partnerships with higher education and training institutions, government departments, the cultural industries SETA CreateSA, community organisations and NGOs. The culture and community programme, established by DAC in 1996, was aimed at providing communities, art organisations, and individuals with opportunities to receive training and participate in artistic, craft and cultural activities. The goals of such activities were to provide recreation, develop and strengthen cultural identity and creativity, and to devise ways to generate much-needed income. The programme was financed by the RDP Youth Stabilisation programme at a cost of R50 million, and focused on building and upgrading arts and culture centres across the country. These facilities ranged from small libraries and community halls to ambitious craft production and retail hubs aimed at the growing tourist and export markets. Six years later, however, most of these centres have fallen short of their goals and are not serving their intended purpose. In his audit report, Towards optimally functioning community arts centres in South Africa, Hagg identified common problems, ranging from lack of policy development at national government level to shortfalls in the daily details of running the facilities, including programme management, funding, skills development, and identifying and meeting the needs of the local community. The report proposed a broad action plan to turn around the centres and make them more effective as drivers of community and performing arts, recreation, skills development, and employment. An action plan was discussed extensively at a five-day workshop in October 2002, involving all role players. Nine provincial representatives from art centres all over the country were elected to form an interim steering committee. This committee is currently preparing the terms of reference for the fulltime steering committee to be elected in April. The new committee will set up a national association of community art centres, which will lobby for more support and network between the centres and other role players within and outside the arts sector.
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