BASA Supporting Grants are designed to assist a cross-section of arts projects in different regions of the country by providing financial support to a project that is in an already existing business and arts relationship.
“BASA grantmaking has a significantly different purpose compared to other more conventional arts funding models,” comments BASA CEO, Ashraf Johaardien. “The purpose of our Supporting Grants has never been to fund projects per se, but rather to support partnerships with a clear focus on amplifying and extending these,” he explains.
“To date, BASA has supported 1718 projects with Supporting Grants to the value of more than R43.8 million, which have leveraged over R567 million in sponsorship from the corporate sector – that equates to R13 million of corporate support for every R1 million of Supporting Grant funding,” adds Aviwe Matandela who recently took up the helm of BASA Finance and Operations Manager.
The following is a list of current recipients of BASA Supporting Grants:
THE ANNUAL HERMANUS FYN ARTS FESTIVAL (Hermanus Fyn Arts) partnered by Strauss & Co Fine Art / Pioneer Freight / Windsor Hotel: the annual Hermanus Fyn Arts Festival entered its ninth showing in June 2021. The programme included visual arts, music, literature, and performance. The project offered a more intimate, hybrid programme for smaller audiences, adaptable to the Covid19 regulations in place at the time. The cancellation of Fyn Arts festival 2020 allowed Hermanus Fyn Arts to re-design the festival to become more flexible and more sustainable for the future. Read more at https://www.hermanusfynarts.co.za/
THE CREATIVE FEEL VIRTUAL PORTAL (Desk link Media) partnered by Rand Merchant Bank: the Creative Feel team works on the Virtual Events Portal daily, sourcing events on social media, from emails, from artists themselves, and from artists who fill in their Google Form. These events are then shared on Creative Feel’s social media outputs. The Creative Feel portal serves a very important segment of South African society and the Arts community by helping artists to continue generating an income and art spaces to stay open. Read more at https://creativefeel.co.za/
THE 4TH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION (Sibikwa Arts Centre) partnered by Brandou / DMN Creative: the digital transformation project is centred on the development of Sibikwa’s online communication around which the broader social media, marketing and sales strategies revolve. The objective is to build Sibikwa’s brand visibility, organizational credibility and funder/partner base for increased engagement and investment, through the development of a professional, appealing, and user-friendly website that is easy to administer. Read more at http://sibikwa.co.za/
CONTINENTAL DANCE CHAMPIONSHIP 2021 (Global Dance Supreme) partnered by Redbull SA:
Inter-Continental Dance Championship 2021 showcaseda week of extraordinary events, exciting competitions and the most inventive workshops. In virtual attendance were the best dancers from around the world, dance legends & icons, celebrities, renowned presenters and returning Inter-Continental champions. The project also included a Dance Awards South Africa event,centred around celebrating achievements, hard work and excellence in the dance industry. Read more at https://www.globaldancesupreme.com/
SUIDOOSTERFEES FESTIVAL (Suidoosterfees) partnered by Media24: scheduled around Youth Day 2021, Suidoosterfeesfestival presented as a mini-festival in different venues in the Mother City, including the city hall, Artscape, schools and hotels. The programme consisted of Skool – a site-specific theatre experience. The project aims to address pressing social issues relevant to school children, while also providing much-needed work and income for theatre-makers. Read more at https://suidoosterfees.com/
THE HILTON ARTS FESTIVAL (HAF)(The Arts Trust of South Africa (ATSA) partnered by Anew Hotel / The Hiltonian Society: the Hilton Arts Festival (HAF) is now in its 29th year. It began in 1993 and has grown to be one of the leading theatre festivals in the country. It aims to bring the pick of South African theatre to KZN and support it with a programme of music, lectures, visual arts and crafts. The Jongosi youth programme forms a vital part of the overall event. It attracts about 25 000 people annually and has an increasing lifestyle element as well. Read more at https://hiltonfestival.co.za/
DECOLONIZING AFRICAN FOLKLORE AND ART (Made Entertainment) partnered by Distell, Youngblood Gallery and UJ Arts and Culture: the nature of this project is ongoing with being one of the first public iterations all leading up to the full-scale theatrical event – Hlakanyana set to take place Post-Covid or in Spring 2022. Made Entertainment, in partnership with UJ Arts & Culture, Distell, Youngblood Africa Gallery and Marche Media, presents a new play with music, based on the folklore of the same name. Read more at https://www.facebook.com/MadevuOriginal/
HESSEQUA HARMONIES FESTIVAL (Hessequa Harmonies) partnered by Easy Equities, CN&CO and NATI: the Hessequa Harmonies festival took place in Heidelberg (Western Cape) and is now in its 4th year. It is a countryside festival – with world-class productions that offer an affordable option to residents of the greater Hessequa / Southern Cape in the Western Cape. Read more at https://www.facebook.com/nielrademankunstenar/videos/?ref=page_internal
MUSIC EDUCATION PROGRAMME (MEP) (West Coast Youth Orchestra (WCYCO)
West Coast Music Academy partnered by Mykonos Casino: the WCYO strives to teach music to all children in the Hopefield community regardless of their background, race, gender, or religion with the goal to develop, inspire, stimulate, and formally educate the youth to reach their full musical potential. The project consists of a variety of programmes such as the Outreach and Development programme, Orchestral Programme, Jazz programme, Financial Aid programme, Skills Training programme, and Yamaha Recorder programme. Read more at https://wcyo.org.za/
BASHA UHURU FIRED UP BY NANDO’S (Spear Arts Trust) Chicken Land PTY (Ltd) t/a Nando’s SA: a Nando’s initiative that seeks to nurture and showcase South African creative talent in art, design, and music, the project consists of two main events which are Basha Bacha Creative Uprising: a three-day creative summit that includes workshops, talks and an industry pitch session where designers can win funding and mentorship opportunities; and Sounds of Freedom Music Festival: a showcase of established and emerging musicians, performers, and DJs. Read more at https://www.nandos.co.za/explore/news/celebrate-mzansi%E2%80%99s-hottest-creative-talent
SOWETO POETRY FESTIVAL (Poetic Thursdays) partnered by Eyethu Lifestyle Centre: the Soweto Poetry festival is a Poetic Thursday initiative to further improve the livelihood of poets and other stakeholders. The project seeks to expand the platform to poets generally and, by doing so, increase the opportunities for artists to monetize their arts and present them in front of an audience. Read more at https://www.quicket.co.za/events/140469-soweto-poetry-festival/
SHAKESPEARE SCHOOL FESTIVAL SOUTH AFRICA 2022 (Educape Trusts) partnered by Penny Lane Studios: Shakespeare Schools Festival celebrates the youth, by assisting young people to produce and perform their modern interpretation of abridged Shakespearean plays within a professional theatre environment. The festival is fully interactive and provides guidance and resources through scripts, training, framework and feedback; allowing learners and educators to successfully direct and perform Shakespearean plays from the first line to the final bow. Read more at https://www.educapetrust.org/programs.php and https://youtu.be/zBTSwoC9O9Y
THE LAST FIVE YEARS (Tally Ho!Productions) partnered Frisbee Trade: the Last Five Years is a theatre production depicting an intimate window into the relationship between Catherine Hiatt, a struggling actress, and Jamie Wellerste. This local production of The Last Five Years presented by Tally Ho! Productions and generously sponsored by Frisbee trade ran in the Artscape Arena at the Artscape Theatre Centre from 9 February to 5 March 2022. Read more at https://www.tallyhoproductions.co.za/
MUSIC FREE-LEARNING (Sausage Film Company) partnered by In Broadcasting (Pty) Ltd (AMPD Studios): the Music: Free-Learning is a targeted series of music education videos aimed at institutions, community centres, scholars, and students to provide quality free education to assist current and future generations of musicians. Through inspirational video lessons sandwiched between task-based learning, this series aims facilitate deep contemplation about teachings from South Africa’s most creative spirits to develop one’s approach, style and inner resources. Read more at http://afribeat.com/webpages/freelearning/freelearning.html
JOURNEY RETURNS-SYMPHONIC CIRCUS (Zip Zap Circus School Trust) partnered by Cape Talk Radio: Zip Zap Social Circus celebrated the return to live performance with an uplifting production at Artscape on 29 and 30 October 2021. Following the success of Journey in Cape Town in 2017 and Journey Beyond in Cape Town in 2018 and Johannesburg in 2019, the original plan was to continue the series with the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra in 2020 and add the Ndlovu Choir after their collaboration at the Match in Africa at the Cape Town Stadium in February 2020. Since then, the COVID-19 pandemic has altered the entire world and particularly affected the lives of the performing industry in South Africa. Read more at https://www.zip-zap.co.za/journey-returns-symphonic-circus/
THE MUSEUM OF PLASTIC (BAZ-Art NPC) partnered by Arte Mea: Baz-Art, with support from Arte Mea, is working across countries to produce the “Museum of Plastic”. This online museum will form part of a series of ground-breaking creative commissions that bring together art, science and digital technology this year in global projects that offer innovative, interdisciplinary and collaborative responses to climate change. The commissions were part of the cultural programme in the build-up to the United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26), which Glasgow, UK hosted from 1-12 November 2021. Read more at https://baz-art.co.za/highlights/projects/museum-of-plastic/
FAKUGESI AFRICAN DIGITAL INNOVATION FESTIVAL (Wits Incubator (Pty) Ltd t/a Tshimolong Innovation Precinct) partnered by Google Arts and Culture and Telkom SA: Fak’ugesi African Digital Innovation Festival is an annual public Festival programme founded in 2014 between the Tshimologong Digital Innovation Precinct and the Wits School of Arts. The 2021 programme is planned as a hybrid offering between online engagement and physical encounters at the Tshimologong Innovation Precinct in vibey Braamfontein in Johannesburg, a centre for youth and creativity. Read more at https://www.fakugesi.co.za/
THE RETAIL READINESS LIVING LAB (The Craft and Design Institute) partnered by the V&A Waterfront: The Craft and Design Institute (CDI) is currently in partnership with the V&A Waterfront to implement the Retail Readiness Living Lab programme which seeks to assist creative entrepreneurs to get ready for retail through a real-life experience of running a store in a supported environment. The programme provides them with individual business assessments, hands-on product support, tailor-made business training and mentorship. These business development activities are coupled with full onsite training around all aspects of running a retail store. Read more at https://www.thecdi.org.za/
CION REQUIEM OF RAVEL’S BOLERO (Vuyani Dance Theatre) partnered by Gear House Split beam (Pty) Ltd.: Cion Requiem of Ravel’s Bolero is a stage production created by Gregory Maqoma in collaboration with Nhlanhla Mahlangu. This production draws inspiration from author Zakes Mda’s character Toloki in Ways of Dying. The production deals with a heavy topic of death as we weave through the scenes following Toloki who is a professional mourner. Death has become so prevalent more so with the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic and this production offers an opportunity for the audience to stop, reflect, mourn, and heal in the seat they occupy in the theatre. Read more at https://vuyani.co.za/public/
DANCE FOR ALL OUTREACH PROGRAMME (Dance for All SA) partnered by G&M Food Co.:
Dance for All-Outreach Programme teaches a variety of dance styles through top quality, professional training to some of the most disenfranchised, vulnerable children and youth in South African society. Through providing after‐school daily classes in rural areas and townships across the Western Cape, with a pathway to a professional career for those who choose, DFA SA provides real career opportunities in the creative industry. Read more at https://danceforall.co.za/
MENTORSHIP RESIDENCY PROGRAMMES FOR EMERGING WRITERS (The Jakes Gerwel Foundation) partnered by Media24: the Mentorship Residency Programmes for Emerging Writers seeks to contribute to social cohesion, equality, and writers’ development in vulnerable and disadvantaged communities. It focuses on various genres, and therefore presents three separate residencies from 25 July to 27 November 2022. Completing the residencies will result in showcases at Suidoosterfees and publishing in Huisgenoot / You magazines. Read more a thttps://jgf.org.za/
Read more at https://kknk.co.za/eng/
VRYSTAAT ARTS FESTIVAL ENGAGEMENT (Vrystaat Kunstefees) partnered by Netwerk24:
The Vrystaat Arts Festival is one of the key arts festivals on the African continent that has been offering national and international work in a range of genres for the past 21 years. The festival’s vision is centred on the principle of ‘One festival, many stories,’ with its mission to support the development and presentation of great art in the Free State for all. The festival is the first and only South African cultural entity to follow the Khoi-San protocol, recognizing the first nations people and traditional owners of the land on public platforms and in the festival programme. The festival boasts 9 initiatives that focus on innovative art, literature, dance, health, exchange, and marketplaces. Read more at http://www.vrystaatkunstefees.co.za/en/home/
NEW CONTEMPORARIES AWARD (University of Johannesburg Art Gallery) partnered by MTN SA Foundation: the newly envisaged MTN – UJ New Contemporaries Award is a bi-annual nationwide competition that focuses on developing and mentoring emerging young artists, curators, and university students. It further explores innovative ways and ICT solutions that contribute toward art education and skills development among the youth. This will concurrently be running a UJ mentorship programme. Read more at https://arts.uj.ac.za/
2022 SUIDOOSTERFEES FESTIVAL (Suidoosterfees) partnered by Media24: the Suidoosterfees is one of South Africa’s six biggest arts festivals. Theirr slogan, A festival for all! reflects their commitment to inclusivity, as stated in their mission.The festival’s year projects also focus on stimulating development, bolstering their vision of inclusivity.Suidoosterfees aims to create a platform to showcase local artistic talent and to seek out and develop new talent, all the while making theatre and art more accessible, in an affordable manner. Read more at https://suidoosterfees.com/
THE KICKSTARTER CREATIVE ARTS PROJECT (ASSITEJ SA) partnered by First Rand Empowerment Fund (FREF): the Kickstarter Creative Arts Empowerment project is an Artist in Residency and teacher training initiative that improves the skills of Intermediate Phase Life Orientation teachers in their delivery of the compulsory curriculum subject ‘Creative Arts’, which includes Dramatic Arts, Music, Dance and Visual Arts. It is the first of its kind in South Africa and was originally implemented as a case study to assess programme outcomes for both target and beneficiary groups from 2015-to 2016, that is, creative arts teachers and their pupils, across 20 different schools. The ASSITEJ SA Kickstarter Creative Arts project won the Business Arts South Africa Development Award with Rand Merchant Bank in 2017. Read more at https://assitej.org.za/
TURBINE ART FAIR 2022 (Turbine Art Fair) partnered by the Forum Company: Turbine Art Fair marks its 10th edition in 2022 with a hybrid art fair. Regarded as SA’s most loved art fair, TAF was the first fair in SA to produce a hybrid art fair in 2021 in line with current Lockdown regulations. Since its inception the fair has endeavoured to be at the epicentre of emerging and accessible art in South Africa and has expanded its reach with participating exhibitors from Botswana, Morocco and Namibia and global audience reach through a partnership with Artsy in 2021. For the 2022 Hybrid edition, TAF aims to improve its local and global marketing and media presence through several initiatives, including a renewed partnership with Artsy. Read more at https://turbineartfair.co.za/
ILUKULUKU TEMPLE OF CURIOSITY AT AFRIKA BURN 2022 (Ilukuluku Collective) partnered by AfrikaBurn/ CCPP: the Ilukuluku Temple of Curiosity is a large scale interactive temporary architectural art installation and structure bound for Afrika Burn 2022. The collective continued its work during the pandemic and painted a local school as part of its legacy project. After the event, its legacy will continue when we create a library for a local community school as we repurpose all the panels we painted for the event to create this safe space for children. Read more at https://www.instagram.com/ilukuluku/?hl=en
HESSEQUA HARMONIE FESTIVAL (Hessequa Harmonie) partnered by Mzansi Makers/ NATi:
the Hessequa Harmony takes place in Heidelberg (Western Cape) and is now in its 5th year. It is a countryside festival – with world-class productions – that offer an affordable option to residents of the greater Hessequa / Southern Cape in the Western Cape. The main objective is to programme and create music productions that are intellectually stimulating but also accessible to people. The project will bring younger people to the productions as well as the development of young artists through music productions. Read more at https://hessequaharmonie.co.za/
MY BODY MY SPACE PUBLIC ARTS FESTIVAL (MBMS) 2022 (The Forgotten Angle Theatre Collaborative) partnered by Desk Link Media (Creative Feel)/Buz Publicity/Zebra 360 online: the My Body My Space: Public Arts Festival (MBMS) is a large-scale international festival of public performances, exhibitions, and cultural events, curated by The Forgotten Angle Theatre Collaborative (FATC). The MBMS festival contributes to the process of social cohesion in an area that is still palpably lacking in socio-political and socio-economic integration. It does so through structuring and programming which brings the diverse rural citizenry of Emakhazeni together by perforating and disrupting the familiar ways in which people traverse shared social spaces. Read more at http://forgottenangle.co.za/?page_id=458
2022 FEDA FESTIVAL (FEDA Festival) partnered by Easy Equities: FEDA Ltd. is a one-act play festival that provides young creatives (high school students) a space to create and perform original and scripted pieces in front of an audience. The students have complete creative autonomy over their work. This year the festival hopes to mark the return of a more normal festival and back to our original format after 2 years of small-scale events and pop-up festivals. Read more at https://www.fedafestival.co.za/
EMPOWERING WOMEN TO PLAY MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS AND CELEBRATING CAIPHUS SEMENYA MUSIC LEGACY CONCERT (Women in Music SA) partnered by African Spear Records:
Women in Music is a 12-piece female band that seeks to host musical workshops talking about how COVID-19 has impacted the arts for over 2 years in the industry without work and income. The project will be celebrating legends while they are still alive, on this concert and will be raising funds to buy musical instruments for the young and old women involved with the initiative with the eventual goal to open an All-Female Music Academy.
2022 CASSIRER WELZ AWARD (Fordsburg Artists’ Studios (trading as Bag Factory Artists’ Studios)
partnered by Strauss & Co.: the Bag Factory is proud to host the annual Cassirer Welz Award, in partnership with Strauss Education. The award acknowledges excellence in emerging artists specialising in sculpture, drawing, and painting. The winner receives a ten-week residency at the Bag Factory, culminating in a solo exhibition of newly created work, providing an opportunity to showcase their talents to a broader audience. Through this long-term partnership with Strauss Education, after celebrating ten years of the Cassirer Welz Award in 2021, the award has been opened for the first time to artists beyond South Africa’s borders in African countries where the Bag Factory has existing partners and where Straus & Co would like to expand its market to reach new art dealers and collectors. Read more at http://www.bagfactoryart.org.za/
LETTERS TO MARIAM (Poetic Thursday) partnered by Eyethu Lifestyle Centre: Letters to Mariam is the latest album by Mandi Vundla, one of South Africa’s most critically acclaimed poets, which just premiered in Maboneng. Mandi, being a household name in poetry will continue travelling to venues showcasing her high level of work and Poetic Thursdayhas invited her into their platform. This event will be a booster to the performance scene and will contribute to a curfew free market allowing all involved artists to maximize their craft and marketing at the highest level in this period. Poetic Thursday has worked with the artist in multiple residencies and concert and festival formats and hopes to harness the relationship with the poetry star. Read more at https://www.facebook.com/poeticthursdays/
FLIPSIDE – THE INADVERTENT ARCHIVE (Association for Visual Arts) partnered by Spier Wine Farm: this seminar will focus on the method and conceptual architecture of a creative nonfiction book project to seed a larger discussion around some challenges of arts-based research and creative outputs. Flipside is a work in progress that brings to literary life the substantial document archive of one of South Africa’s oldest independent art spaces. Accompanied by oral storytelling and bookended by a piece of creative fabulation, Flipside ultimately speaks to the mutability of archives and their leakiness. Read more at https://www.ava.co.za/
JOINT OPEN STUDIOS (META Foundation) partnered by Quorum Holdings: the Joint Open Studios is an event that combines the open studio days of August House and Ellis House. In October 2021, the META Foundation expanded the event to include the Bag Factory Artists’ Studios, Nugget Square (and the Stokvel Gallery), Victoria Yards, and Living Artist Emporium. The event was a huge success, attracting many new audience members to the city and to spaces that they were not familiar with. The event was held over 2 days with a shuttle service connecting the studios. It is through such collaborations that the META Foundation believes we can show the importance of collaborative work for the growth of a healthy arts industry whilst extending both the artist’s reach and the network of the studios. Read more at https://augusthouse.co.za/meta-foundation/
BODY OF EVIDENCE A GBV/F RURAL/FARM CREATIVE ARTS ACTIVATION (Mud and Fire Parables) partnered by Distell Group Limited: Mud and Fire Parables’ Body of Evidence is augmenting its multidiscipline creative expression ambitious of its ongoing online national gender-based violence (GBV) and femicide awareness campaign with a new grassroots programme. A program that will culminate into a rural and farm multidisciplinary and mass participation artist festival. The company is bringing its online Body of Evidence campaign collection of artworks from video and song, visual arts to dance and performed poetry to Rurals and farms. Offering creative and artist tools to identify GBV+ F and creative strategies to manage, heal, and seek protection against it in pursuit of making better communities. The project will be working with both the professional and the community-based artists informing and facilitating artist creative groups with these communities in combating the scourge and developing jobs through physical events. Read more at http://infectingthecity.com/2021/artist/mud-and-fire-parables/