At Shakespeare ZA, we know how tough it has been for performing artists over the last five months. But here is some good news: STAND (Sustaining Theatre and Dance Foundation) was launched at the start of September and YOU, theatre maker/watcher/lover/fighter, are invited to participate!
The STAND Foundation is a new, independent public benefit organisation that aims to provide ongoing support for the South African theatre and dance ecosystems.
The members of the steering committee are Gregory Maqoma (Chair), Yvette Hardie, Unathi Malunga, Saartjie Botha, Ismail Mahomed, Musa Hlatshwayo, Debbie Turner, Sbonakaliso Ndaba, Ricardo Peach and Mike van Graan.
At the launch, Maqoma (as Chairperson of the STAND Foundation), made five key points about STAND:
1. We are an independent, non-partisan entity, registered with the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission as a non-profit company. We are in the process of applying for Public Benefit Organisation status. And we will establish a trust, or an endowment to ensure the longevity of the Foundation. The committee members serve as individuals rather than as representatives of organisations in a voluntary capacity, and the committee is a self-perpetuating one that tries to be representative of the dance and theatre sectors, to be representative of all the things that are important to us in South Africa – ‘race’, gender, sexual orientation, etc; that combines experience and youth; and that includes the necessary expertise without being cumbersomely large.
2. The STAND Foundation has arisen out of the challenging COVID-19 conditions, but we are not an artists’ relief agency. The lockdown restrictions and the adverse impact on our sector have simply sharpened our vision to nurture, promote and celebrate contemporary South African dance and theatre which will always be in need of some form of support, whether we were in the midst of a pandemic or not. We applaud the work of other agencies engaged in relief funding to artists during this time, and we will work with them, but STAND’s vision is to provide work and opportunities for those in the dance and theatre sectors to earn an income through their work, and so keep them doing what they love to do, and in this way, to affirm their dignity.
3. While our committee includes individuals with much experience and stature within the dance and theatre sector, the STAND Foundation is not and does not seek to be the voice of the dance and theatre sector. We do not have the mandate, capacity or the desire play such a role. We are a few individuals who have come together to share our networks, our experience and whatever access to resources we have in order to serve the broader dance and theatre ecosystems of our country. Experts dealing with the coronavirus pandemic often repeat the phrase that ‘we are safe only when we are all safe’; for as long as someone is infected, we are all potentially faced with an existential crisis as we are all at risk of being infected. And so we all need to play our part in keeping all of us safe. We have extended this metaphor to our sector…rather than competing with each other for limited resources, or allowing the gap to widen between those who have historical and contemporary privilege and those who don’t, we need to overcome our divisions, to stand together and work towards a dispensation where we all benefit, where our whole sector is vibrant, sustainable and integrated into our broader society. The last twenty-six years have shown that we cannot depend on government, neither can we simply use our talents and expertise to support others; we have a right and the responsibility to look after ourselves, and particularly the vulnerable amongst us, both because it is in our interests to do so – we are safe only when we are all safe - and because it is the right thing to do.
4. We will seek to work with partners – organisations, institutions, individuals, festivals, theatres, companies – across our sector to make things happen. We do not see ourselves building a large staff contingent or having the capacity to implement numerous projects ourselves; our desire is to catalyse cooperation, to build partnerships and to work and stand together to build our sector. Of course, we will invite and encourage ideas and proposals that we could work with in partnership with stakeholders in the sector. At this point, our priorities are being determined by the conditions we are in currently and by a vision that we would want to develop for dance and theatre sector in concert with the sector. And so we will evolve as STAND Foundation as conditions change and hopefully, as the work we do with others starts to have positive impact. We invite you to work with us; we are not special, or different, we are part of the sector as much as anyone else, and we have chosen to work together in this way, for the greater good of our sector. If there are other initiatives that are driven by the same impulse, we welcome them and again, we would want to work with, rather than against anyone.
5. We are not a funding agency. We have raised funds and we will raise funds from local supporters, from partners within the sector, from corporates, from international agencies and through fundraising drives and initiatives that that we will undertake. But we are not a funding agency. We will raise and use these funds to support projects that help to pursue and realise the vision that we develop in concert with stakeholders in the sector, as well as projects that we believe are necessary interventions at particular times.
