Every Town Should Have One: the Role of the Arts Centre in Community Development and Employment Provision 1

Suid-Afrikaanse Tydskrif vir Kunsgeskiedenis 9

EVERY TOWN SHOULD HAVE ONE: THE ROLE OF THE ARTS CENTRE IN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AND EMPLOYMENT PROVISION 1

GERARD HAGG Human Sciences Research Council Pretoria

alexandra one roomed houses We workers are a worried lot We wanted to gain peace overcrowded sagging dangerously Racist Racist Racist - A common friend and overflowing and leaning backwards Wake up! We wanted like a fallen dustbin at sunset Workers are a worried lot/ To win equality dark city like drunkards We thought we work - A common friend of dust clouds drinking up the night To fight injustices KodwaHawu! rabid dogs alexandra - A common foe To you, our friends acrid smells of shit buckets the big toilet We thought Are foes! assailing nostrils stuck unceremoniously We work To you, our foes from dusk to dawn like a black anus To fight unemployment Are friends! in wide dust bowl between the white buttocks - A common foe We workers are a worried lot treeless avenues of johannesburg city ... We thought we work fringed by battalions To fight against staNation of crumbling (Dikobe wa Mogale) - A common foe (Mi S'dumo Hlatswayo)

"For here was the artist touching the so-called 'common man'. That is what art should actually be doing, not something only to exercise the intellectual sensibilities, but a living thing that reaches into the hearts of all the people" (Aggrey Klaaste 1989:11).

"The goal of development can therefore be defined as follows: to provide all human beings with the opportunity to live a filII life" (Paul Streeten in Coetzee & Ligthelm 1989b:352).

Some stretch its meaning to "anything that 1 CULTURE, WORK AND COMMUNITY gives meaning to life", others limit culture to DEVELOPMENT the refined artistic products of a society. A second reason could be the nature of culture

Inthis article the relationship between culturel which is difficult to quantify, rationalise or community development, employment and predetermine. Therefore the traditional ap- unemployment will be discussed. The role of proach of community development as con- culture and community arts centres in this trolled social change found little use for cul- context will be highlighted with the sugges- ture. A third reason could be the fact that tion that the development of these centres ethnic cultural differentiation formed one of can playa major role in empowering the town- the cornerstones for apartheid policy. ship communities with regard to both self-de- Under the current socio-economic circum- velopment and participation in employment stances in the townships employment is more provision. than just a job. To have work is to have a future In addressing tne issues of community de- for yourself and your family, it determines velopment and employment emphasis is nor- your way of living, even mere survival. This placed on housing, job creation, health means employment - and conversely unem- services, education and other traditional ployment - can only be discussed within a economic fields. Very little is ever said about wider social, culturally determined, context. culture or the arts. Even when a humanist This need for an integration of work, com- approach is advocated (Holscher & Romm munity development and culture is clearest 1989; J.K. Coetzee 1989b), cultural issues are when we look at unemployment and its bleak seldomly mentioned. One could find various effect on community life. reasons for this neglect. One could be the In this article the discussion will be limited lack of agreement on the definition of culture. to the artistic aspects of culture, as they are 1 Paper delivered at the Conference of development, employment and the new South Africa, Development Society of Southern Africa, Johannesburg, 5-7 September 1990.

Digitised by the University of Pretoria, Library Services socially typified in the activities of the community arts centre. According to John English (n.d.:9), founder of the famous Midlands Arts Centre, Birmingham, an arts centre is an in- stitution or building where: "there is a pro- gramme and a policy for more than one art form, more than one space is used for arts activities, there is some professional input (artistic or managerial), there is a substantial usage which is not part of formal education." Activities could include theatre performance, music, dance, the visual arts, exhibi- tions, literary workshops etc. It could also include calligraphy, sewing classes, gymnas- tics, martial arts and domestic arts like flower arranging. As community participation is a major aim the selection of activities will be determined by the users, normally under the guidance of professional facilitators.

1.2 THE VALUE OF THE ARTS FOR COM- MUNITY DEVELOPMENT

Arts and community centres have proven their worth in many overseas countries and Figure 1. Mzwakhe Mbuli performing at the Unity '91 form the core element in community develop- Concert in Johannesburg. ment in Israel and the UK. In the former more than 150 are functioning on a full-time basis, community centres are heavily subsidised by in the UK more than 250 arts centres offer the government, local authorities and the pri- participatory services to the inhabitants of vate sector. In South Africa about fifteen full- most cities and towns. In both countries the

Figure 2. People's park at Oukasie.

33 Digitised by the University of Pretoria, Library Services art?', one can only answer that the artist is there to ask 'why?'; The artist has the power to pose alternatives, to induce people to think, and to accompany society through the inevitable trauma of change (Dubow 1979:125). Fe- derico Mayor, Director-General of Unesco, stated in 1988 (Malan 1990:30): "Whenever a country has set itself the target of economic growth without reference to its cultural environment, grave economic and cultural imbal- ances have resulted and its creative potential has been seri- ously weakened. Genuine development must be based on the best possible use of the human resources and material wealth of the community. Thus in the final analysis the priorities, motivations and objectives of development must be found in culture. But in the past this has been conspicuously ignored." The interdependence of culture· and socio-political ad- vancement was well-under- stood by the · Afrikaners in the early 20th century. Soon after the Broederbond had started its battle for economic and political Figure 3. Poster for Bhambatha's children power in 1918, the Federasie van Afrikaanse Kultuurverenig- time centres (e.g. African Institute of Art, inge was founded (1929). It was through lehong Art Centre, Afrika Cultural Centre, tural activities like the unveiling of the Bloedn- Alexandra Arts Centre, Community Arts Pro- vier and Voortrekker monuments that mass ject) are struggling for survival, mainly in the support was mobilised. metropolitan areas. Similarly poetry, theatre, music and the The importance of culture in a community visual arts play an important role in the way development context has often been indi- black people experience their daily lives, both cated by international agencies. Peter Stark at home and at work. It emerges as an aspect (n.d. :26) quotes a Swedish minister of cUl- of social action and resonates with emotion ture: "[... ] in time of massive and fast techno- and meaning among members of com- logical and social change, when the basic munities in the context of social institutions pattern of our lives is changing at an extraor- (Coplan 1985:3). This can be seen in the dinary rate, the greatest cause of personal popularity of people's poets such and communal distress is an inflexible cul- Mzwakhe Mbuli, attendance at cultural festI- ture; an inflexible notion of that which can't be vals during the weekends, dances like the done. And the prime function of art is that it toyi-toyi and performances on the factory keeps culture flexible, it keeps our percep- floor during strikes (figure 1). tions of what is possible moving. And that comes at root from an individual creative mind 1.3 CULTURE IN THE TOWNSHIPS meditated by social, economic and political forces." - In the townships cultural activities aim at For decades we have experienced the rigid tertainment, expression of everyday life ex- regulatory process of politics that conditions perience and the mobilisation for the struggle the quality of life in South Africa. Art as a for power. Music, singing and dramatic per- revelatory process, a reflection of life, pro- formance have always been a natural ingre- vides. an antidote. To the question of 'why dient of social activities in the black com-

Digitised by the University of Pretoria, Library Services munity. Especially during the weekends the dreariness of labour is drowned in the sound of mbaqanga, jazz, reggae and Afro-fusion of bands like Sakhile and African Youth Band. The township performances of plays such as Crime does not pay and Unfaithful woman by playwright Sam Mhangwane or Mama and the load by Gibson Kente with their melodramatic realism remain popular with the people. Art has for a long time been used as a tool of liberation, for example in the production of banners, pos- ters, graffiti and murals (William- son 1989). So-called cultural workers - activists that organise cultural activities for political causes - played an important role in this process. In 1985 in the most politically engaged form of township art, the community was mobilised around cleaning up debris-littered townships at the same time as they celebrated the struggle for freedom. Part of this mobilisation was the development of people's parks (Ver- gunst 1988: 10). These parks were not merely acts of protest or revolt, but actions aimed at social transformation and political reconstruction (figure 2). Simi- Figure 4. Poster for the Zabalaza festival larly the women of Crossroads protested against their removal through the function as linkages between the better es- development of the play Imfuduso in 1978. tablished cultural institutions elsewhere in of town. However, the few facilities for cultural activities that exist in the townships at the mo- 1.4 CULTURE IN THE FACTORY ment, such as community, church or YMCA halls, lack proper lighting or sound systems As in most Western businesses art is mainly and are totally inadequate for the basic needs considered as a commodity to enhance the of even amateur performances. Many protest management office appartments or the re- plays gain support after performance at the ception area. Other working environments well-equipped Market Theatre, the Graham- seldomly receive any aesthetic attention. stown Arts Festival or the Wits Nunnery Thus the importance of the arts in the factory Theatre. Notwithstanding the lack of facilities applies primarily to its use for resistance from an abundance of performances takes place, the workers. Shop-stewards trained as cultu- e.g. Kavanagh has counted no less than 150 ral workers played an important role in labour separate theatre productions between 1953 relationships as they provided the tools that and 1977 (Coplan 1985:226). At the moment allowed workers to express their feelings. The more than 120 gospel choirs perform on a play I/anga was developed to express regular basis in and around Pretoria, and the strikers' experience of their working circum- exhibition of black art atthe Johannesburg Art stances, and was eventually used as evi- Gallery, The neglected tradition, acknow- dence in a court case (Coplan 1985:226). ledging the historical role of black artists, lite- Spontaneous theatre performances like the rally forced us to rewrite the South African art Dunlop Play and Bhambatha's children (figure history. The presence of efficient community 3) bound the workers together, as it was char- arts centres could solve many of the prob- acterised by a lack of written script, improvi- lems that are experienced with the existing sation and impromptu participation of facilities in the townships. Besides they could workers' audiences, this all leading to self-

Digitised by the University of Pretoria, Library Services managerial skills during the Za- balaza festival marked a stance more positive and constructive in terms of a new future. The · development of arts centres in the townships themselves could create the much overdue dy- namic training centres for cultural workers, linking community life and working context. No wonder they form the basis of policy within most progressive movements.

2 THE INFLUENCE OF MOD- ERNISATION ON WORK AND TOWNSHIP LIFE To understand the role of the arts centre in a broader context than just the provision of a few more jobs we shall have to consider some influences of the industrialisation or modernisation process that took place in South Africa - especially during urbani- sation - over the past century. The relationship between modernisation and community development has always been paradoxical, as Warren (1970:33) indicates: "Community development is being asked to bring about a set Figure 5. limited to a few more: advertising new models in international maga- of conditions - roughly modern- zines. isation - and is then being asked confidence and leadership development (Co- plan 1986: 174). Overseas it is not unusual to to cope with the conditions modernisation import art into the factory at an enormous have created. " The effect of modernisation on scale and to much acclaim by the workers, life in developing communities has been de- like at the Morris plants in the USA as well as at Upjohn in Denmark. In Europe this is considered as an extension of existing structures in the neighbourhoods. Although the cultural workers perform within the context of the unions, their role could be positively augmented in a new South Africa if enough efficient structures, like arts centres, could be developed. It was exactly for the purpose of preparation for a constructive social role of art in a new South Africa that the ANC organised the Zabalaza festival in London in July 1990 (figure 4) . Al- though the Zabalaza festival was announced as a continuation of the Culture in Another South Africa conference, held in Amsterdam in 1987 and aimed at strengthening the cultural boycott against the South African government, the content and introductory notes indicated a dissatisfaction with the negative Figure 6. The high costs of ballet classes and the limited influences of a boycott attitude. The em- facilities available make it almost inaccessible to anyone phasis on training in all type of artistic and but the affluent sector of society.

Digitised by the University of Pretoria, Library Services modern education, totally emasculated the or- dinary person and dei- fied the scientists and social engineers. The standard for intelligence has become scientific intelligence, functional relationship and practical application in a new industrial society (Franks 1978:65,88). The monopoly of tech- nology is even visible in the predominance of high or elitist culture over popular culture. The former is judged against professional standards that comprise of highly refined technical skills. Obviously participation Figure 7. Shopping malls like this one offer secluded spaces for performances and meetings. is then limited to the few highly talented who also mine-hostels have recreation halls and pro- had access to training at the right time of life grammes for participation? As an example (figure 6). The majority of state funds for the Schlemmer (1978: 10) refers to the fact that arts go to the professional arts notwithstand- "the metropolis takes the labour and the ing the fact that they are closed to 95% of the money of Kwa Mashu in its factories, offices population both in terms of participation and arid shops but offers little in return. The me- audience. tropolitan centre of Durban with all its spe- This does not mean that funds are not cialised attractions and entertainment, is available for the popular arts. Millions of largely closed to residents of Kwa Mashu." Rands are spend on the recording of town- The negative influences of modernisation ship music, for example. The problem is that affect especially people living at a subsist- commercialisation makes even leisure and ence level. The atomisation of their lives often culture into an industry, a production process makes them highly competitive in a negative for the enlargement of capital and the provi- sense, almost predatory and above all highly sion of more cultural commodities for popular fearful and sceptical about possiblities of im- consumption. Leisure is no longer a festival, provement in their circumstances (Schlem- the reward of labour. It is a generalised dis- mer 1978:14). Township life is bleak, dusty, play: television, cinema, tourism (Lefebvre violent. Reality forces us to accept that the 1971 :54). This process of passification is ag- abolition of the Group Areas Act will not bring grevated by the influence of TV on especially about an integration of the various com- the younger generation. TV which is sup- munities in the near future. For rewarding posed to be a public facility, seems to make blacks' identification with their residential absolutely no effort to promote participation areas and neighbourhoods, major require- in live activity at a local level. The most adver- ments have to be met in the planning of these tised product on TV is TV: "The mass media areas, as Schlemmer (1975: 13,15) points [ ... ] make you a passive victim ofthe situation" out: (Lefebvre 1971 :71). People are educated for employment, not "We need the opportunity for informal face for leisure. ·Western ethics emphasises the to face interaction in a relaxed atmosphere, contrast between work and recreation. It for smaller neighbourhood units [ ... ] a place should be clear that non-work is as important where people can meet, eg a shopping mall, for employees as work. This applies even milkbar, small stage for amateur bands (fig- more to the black community in which music ure 7). Basically what is being argued is that - a leisure commodity in the modernised so- community development must emerge in ciety - is an integral part of life experience. such a way that not only welfare is empha- Social destabilisation and violence between sised, but also the promotion of local leader - migrant labourers and township people has ship, the alleviation of boredom and the im- as much to do with working circumstances as provement of general morale." with boredom during off-hours. How many It will be argued below that participation in

38 Digitised by the University of Pretoria, Library Services creative and artistic activities can provide an uals and communities, as pointed out by antidote to the negative effects of modernisa- Marie Jehoda (Stark n.d.:24): tion. • Employment means the pursuit of collec- tive purposes in which individuals go be- 3 EFFECTS OF EMPLOYMENT AND UN- yond their personal and immediate goals EMPLOYMENT ON COMMUNITY LIFE for the benefit of the production process and the market system. Personal relation- 3.1 EMPLOYMENT AND SOCIAL LIFE ships like family life are easily sacrificed for The provision of employment is normally re- this purpose. lated to economic issues like production, ex- • Employment disciplines people by forcing port and growth rate, all aimed at providing them to work within a production oriented welfare. Indeed, the importance of having a time structure which governs execution of job must be recognised as it is basic to life activities and orders life accordingly. fullfilment. Production, however, also has a socio-psychological aspect, as Baudrillard • Individual social contact is enforced out- (1983:97) has pointed out: side the home and family. This broadens "The entire analysis of production changes one's world view but also alienates the according to whether you no longer see in it family that has to stay at home. an original process [ ... ] but on the contrary a process of absorption of all original being and • Work increases self-esteem as well as ad- of introduction to a series of identical beings." miration from members of the family. Thus the repetitiveness of industrial pro- • It allows one to improve living circum- duction has a negative effect on especially stances; employees have easier access to the labourer's experience of the work context. leisure and other social commitments inso- Frankl warns that this reductionism deprives far as time permits. human phenomena of their humanness (De Beer 1988: 11 ). This danger pertains to Mar- • Social status can be derived from a combi- xist work methods as much as those of capi- nation of the prestige in occupational talism. Marx's emphasis on production, and status and the potential to create personal thus the product, rather than the producer led wealth. Thus the unemployed carry a to factory environments that did little to enrich double stigma: no job and no money. life for the worker. On the other hand capital- Ways have to be found for the unemployed ism considers the employee mainly as an to create these experiences if we want them individual in relation to production and re- to participate fruitfully in their community. muneration. In both cases the workers and The provision of employment can also cre- their community are treated as separate en- ate undesired effects in the long run if it is not tities, the worker being only a single cog in the integrated within a broader development production machinery. The factory uses the strategy. A clear example is the effect of mi- South African worker outside his community gration labour on family life, violence and on the assumption that it is the responsibility Aids. If' employment has to do with people's of the employee to take care of his social welfare, it should be clear that a holistic ap- context, as if a community could take care of proach is imperative in which all the needs of itself after decades of disruption. No wonder the worker have to be taken into consider- business has been accused of supporting the ation. apartheid system in the past. The modernised employment situation may easily result 3.2 UNEMPLOYMENT AND SOCIAL LIFE in alienation between the role played in the Western working environment during the day, International and local trends indicate that a and the role of member of the community high unemployment rate will be with us per- played afterwards. The anti-social repetitive- manently. Official unemployment numbers ness of labour necessitates an antidote in the for blacks for February 1989 was 730 000 or form of stimulation on other levels as was 10.7% (CSS 1990:2). This number does not provided in earlier integrated working con- take the informal sector into consideration texts. This is accepted in Europe where com- and other estimates talk about 1-2 million. panies like Volvo, realising that motivation for Stef Coetzee warns that the modern sector of work is social and not economic, have the economy will not be able to create enough changed single action conveyor-belt produc- jobs and income to accommodate the fast tion into complete task teamwork years ago. growing labour force (Coetzee B.F. Employment has positive and negative in- 1989:334). This was acknowledged by the fluences on behaviour. The following are government White Paper on employment some of the effects of employment on individ- (RSA 1984). A deterioration of the unemploy-

Digitised by the University of Pretoria, Library Services ment context will annihi- late any progress made in employment provision. Whatever the exact number of unemployed people, it implies that attention will have to be paid to the accommoda- tion of this phenomenon as much as to the creation of jobs. If this problem is ignored violence will increase, destabilis- ing theattempts to improve the economy through job creation. Ac- commodation means providing means for the absorption of psychological trauma that is the product of mass unemployment. In simple Figure 8. The late Bill Ainslie, founder of the Johannesburg Art Foundation. words: these people will have to be kept busy and climate than the formal sector. The well- given access to skills development to retain known piece job may prevent the starvation their potential for re-entering the market. of the worker, it does very little to improve the One factor in unemployment that directly living circumstances of a family. Basically it relates to the need for arts centres is the sustains the status quo, which means that it negative effect it has on community life and still shows up negatively in comparison to the education, with the resulting juvenile delin- desired growth rate of 5-6 % (Coetzee S. F. quency, the phenomenon of comtsotsis and 1989:334). violence. The disastrous failure rate of black matriculants in 1989 and 1990 adds hun- No work means no income, or poverty. This dreds of thousand unmotivated youngsters is aggrevated by the phenomenon of com- to the number of unemployed. Even those parative poverty. Although wages have in- that make matric have only the slightest creased tremendously over the past decade, chance to find work. Unemployment, as it had little influence as the cost of living Schlemmer (1978:11) has shown, is thus vir- soared and advertising promoted the ideal of tually a built-in demoraliser in the educational an increasingly higher standard of living. Sj stem for Africans. Besides the opposites of the effects of em- Unemployment does not only increase as ployment on social life as mentioned above, a result of a reduced economic growth. Inter- the following effects of unemployment are nationally persons over 45 years old find it relevant (Stark n.d.:22): difficult to get employed. Business considers it a bad investment unless the person is highly • Poor people are prone to ill-health in- qualified. In South Africa this problem crease. In our work-based society, basic threatens especially the black unskilled la- human needs like health services, can only bourer. Overseas provision is made for the be obtained by people with an income. The absorption of the psychological shock of concept of free medical services for blacks early retirement in centres for the unem- is in practice mainly a myth. Department of ployed. In South Africa no such services are available. Health clinics for township inhabitants requires the patient to arrive early in the Not only unemployment, but also under- morning, and with the general shortage of employment has to be accepted as perma- nent, especially in the informal sector. Some doctors results in queuing for most of the estimations indicate a 5-7% of the employ- day. Townships like Soshanguve near ment to lie within this sector. Informal employ- Pretoria have no ambulance services or ment occurs mainly within the townships and hospital. Little can be done for under- has therefore often been seen as a stabilising nourished and pschychologically affected factor. However, we should not be romantic people. Those unable to have their medical about the influence of the informal sector, as needs met are at risk physically and psy- it is even more affected by the economic chologically (Impasse n.d.:18). Heart dis-

40 Digitised by the University of Pretoria, Library Services eases, stress and depression are on the uries'. Several direct links with employment increase in the townships. provision and the alleviation of unemployment can also be pointed out. These issues • Unemployed people live a life that is struc- seen in a wider social context, as argued tured according to their circumstances. above, make them even more relevant to the There is no need for waking up early in the needs in a so-called 'new South Africa'. Both morning or sleeping early at night. Daily in the (long) transition period towards a new activities are decided on at random while society and in the recovery period after estab- little planning takes place. The irregularity lishing more or less balanced social patterns, of living undermines the self-motivation the following roles of the community arts and unemployed people often tend to suf- centre can contribute to the prevention of fer from an impaired time sense. However, breakdowns in the process and a human- those that find a job in the informal sector, oriented community development strategy. with its similar time structure, are more Thus the value of the community centre must easily accommodated. Impaired time be seen in the widest applicable sense sense is in many cases aggrevated by the possible. The centre can contribute consider- so-called problem of "African time". This ably to the general upliftment of a community, refers to the fact that black employees are destabilised by the modernisation process. often late for work. The cliche has it that this This would be reason enough for its existence in the townships. is mainly a traditional cultural attitude. However, more important in the urban con- As simple as it may sound, the first function of the arts centre is to be available in the text is the myriad of time consuming ele- township. Lack of long term town planning ments in the workers' lifes, such as the vast resulted in high density of houses with very distance between home and work (often a few multi-storey structures like churches or heritage from the apartheid era) and townhalls. These buildings, common to all general lack of high speed transport result- developed towns, function as beacons for ing in long hours spent on travelling; lack physical and psychological movement and of pre-school and nursery provisions for are socially directives. Schlemmer (1978: 11) small children at home; boring working points out that "the mere presence of appro- conditions, etc. These circumstances have priate facilities could have an impact on mo- affected the life of black employees for rale which far exceeds its actual performance such a long time that even the workers in improving standards of education and job tend to take them for granted and do not opportunities [ ... ] a visible means of getting a consider time loss as a major problem. second chance". The content of these fa- Fact is that this phenomenon decreases cilities has to be determined by the com- their possibility for re-employment. munity that is served by them. Physical venues themselves will not solve • Unemployment reduces social participa- the cultural problems of the townships. Pro- tion. Partly it is a result of the reduction in fessional facilitators are needed to guide par- range and volume of social contacts, partly in the centre (figure 8). In Israel, it is the psychological pressure of not con- where the emphasis lies on general com- tributing to the household income. munity development, standard composition of staff is a director or administrative man- • These circumstances lead to a low self-es- ager, an anthropologist, a psychologist and a teem in individuals. Many unemployed re- social worker or change agent. These profes- port their lives as meaningless and pur- sionals receive training at tertiary institutions. In the proper arts centre, like the ones in the UK and in South Africa, staff would be com- 4 HOW CAN THE ARTS CENTRE CON· posed in proportion to the subjects taught, TRIBUTE POSITIVELY TO THE LIVES but at least a full-time manager, a secretary, an administrative manager and trainers in OF UNEMPLOYED AND EMPLOYED drama, music, visual arts. PEOPLE? Training would encompass typical artistic skills such as, for the visual art, silkscreen 4.1 THE ARTS AS AN INTEGRAL PART printing on paper or cloth, e.g. T-shirts; OF LIFE ing in oil, acrylics and aquarelles; sculpture in wood, metal and clay; drawing of the human The basic purpose of any arts centre is to figure, the environment and still-life; graphic provide facilities for artistic activities. How- techniques like etching, woodcuts, lino cuts; ever, the role of the arts centre should not be weaving and pottery, especially for the seen ,as limited to these 'recreational lux- women. In the drama classes tuition would be

Digitised by the University of Pretoria, Library Services in stage crafts, body movement including traditional and modern dancing, speech, 4.2 THE ARTS CENTRE, EDUCATION group interaction, script writing, decor de- AND HEALTH sign, lighting, etc. Music would make provision for individual instrumental tuition, group Less than 30 secondary schools in the town- and orchestral work, theory, score reading ships throughout the country offer art or and writing, composition, etc. Training would music as matric subject, a privilege that is not be necessarily limited to classical or mod- readily available at white schools: in the ern music. Depending on the wishes of the greater Pretoria area more than 20 high- community quite probably traditional artistic schools of the TED offer art as matric subject. forms would feature highly on the menu, as It is assumed that in any society at least 4% happens at the Afrika Cultural Centre (Johan- of the pupils are gifted, often in the artistic nesburg) and in Busang Thakaneng (Sharp- sense. In a city like Mamelodi this would imply eville). a need for tuition for at least 15 000 pupils. In the light of the shortage of facilitators in Lack of funds for art rooms - or rather the low the community, training in management and priority of art for education planners - bar organisational skills receives increasingly at- these children from access to the arts. An tention. This need has been recognised by· attempt to start the PAMDA Mamelodi Arts the progressive movements years ago and Centre offered facilities for about fifty children the Zabalaza festival was one attempt to ad- and had to be suspended due to a lack of dress them. Both the Afrika Cultural Centre funds. Arts programmes like Khula Udweba and the Community Arts Project offer two and at the African Institute of Art (FUNDA) can three year courses for cultural workers, ad- make a considerable contribution here as no dressing, besides artistic training, issues like additional classrooms have to be provided at planning, bookkeeping and administration, the schools that share an arts centre. community organisation and mobilisation, re- Much has been said and will be said about port writing, fundraising, leadership develop- illiteracy in South Africa. 55% of the popula- ment, etc. tion is defined as illiterate. Most people think Not all trainees find a place in society to of reading and writing in this regard and in- make a living. Many find regular work as a deed they form the core of literacy. However result of the positive influence of the courses . communication, the aim of literacy, is not only on their ability to organise their lives. Those verbal. Speaking is one thing, expressing who have talent sell their works through art yourself is quite another one. Illiteracy is as galleries or join existing performing troupes. much a cultural phenomenon as a technical At the Katlehong Art Centre (KAC) more than one. The' existence of disciplines like semi- 30 artists live mainly on the sales of their otics indicate the vast field of sign systems of products which in total runs into more than which the arts are important exponents. R10 000 per month. The informal market pro- Training in artistic expression is as important vides work for those who can print banners as mere reading and writing technics. An and T-shirts. Gibson Kente can often accept analysis of communication patterns in the new actors for his township performances. townships confirms this approach. Interac- From tendencies overseas it can be accepted tion with art forms like' theatre improves that in any given community at least one people's literacy, especially in the cultural professional artist is needed for every 10 000 sense. Very little is known about perceptive inhabitants. These artists again need other skills and habits of black people - knowledge people to support them, such as stage- that is needed by the advertising world as hands, make-up specialists, etc. In the UK, much as by general education. Unless with its total population of 65 million, the arts people get a chance to participate in the arts, provide fulltime employment to 64 000 this lack of information will remain. people, a ratio of 1 : 1000. This figure does not Cultural literacy allows the individual, as incorporate In a developing country like much as the community, to put meaning into South Africa the ratio of 1: 1a 000 could be action (semiopraxis). This is considered as a considered as an absolute minimum, al- major aim of community development by though it could be argued that a country that various theoreticians (J.K. Coetzee, HOl- experiences social upheavals needs more ar- scher, Romm). One of the main objections to tists' rather than less than a stable society. modern industrialisation was the senseless Anyway it would still mean 50 artists in Ma- repetition of action and the compartmentali- melodi or Katlehong, and 200 in Soweto. At sation of production. The production of an art the moment we have not even half those work is primarily the creation of meaning numbers and the overall lack of facilities pre- through form. Artistic production has the ad- vents those who want to train as artists from vantage over industrial production that 'mis- achieving this aim. takes' can be made without causing damage

Digitised by the University of Pretoria, Library Services to the process or the end product. It also potency and to achieve some mastery over allows the creator to explore alternative forms their lives. and meanings without a prescriptive formula. Two other aspects that have to be men- Art as therapy is an accepted practice over- tioned in this context are the relationship be- seas. Through artistic activities handicaps tween creativity and process orientation, and are overcome in children, patients in the hos- creativity and problem-solving processes. pitals and mental institutions, and with the Modern production in all spheres of life has aged. In this country only a handful of trained always emphasised the end product. Little therapists are practicing. Yet several artists in attention is paid to the nature of the process. the townships do this work regularly, e.g. Some disastrous results are seen in ecologi- Dumisani Khumalo from the Katlehong Art cal fields and education. Artistic production Centre at the Natalspruit Hospital and the emphasises the process, from concept to KAC. This is one area where training from arts finished product, as holistic, and with regard centres could be applied. About the need in to human experience, as qualitative, two con- this field no one can argue: if projections are cepts that are central to community develop- correct, SoUth Africa will have one million Aids ment as well. A major problem in any devel- patients by the end of the decade. opment context is the inability of people to define and solve their problems. This subject 4.3 THE NEED FOR CREATIVITY IN LIFE could fill books. Its relevance here is the fact that the artistic production is characterised by This brings us to one of the most important the integration of posing, defining and solving reasons for the existence of art in society: the complex problems. This implies the constant stimulation of creativity and creative pro- evaluation of alternatives from multiple view- cesses with the individual. pOints, selection of adequate methods and Bill Ainslie (1979:81), founder of the Johan- techniques, stating of priorities, unity of ma- nesburg Art Foundation and initiator of nual and mental work, quality control and a various other arts centres correctly points to myriad of aspects of conceptual, abstract and the basic fact that "man has a built-in imper- technical nature that can be found in any ative to make things, [00'] to take raw material complex social, economic or political situ- of himself and his environment and fashion it ation. As such artistic practice is an ideal according to his needs" (figure 8). This does training ground for planners, managers, etc. not only pertain to art. Creativity is mentioned The women of the Ipopeng project at the SAB as one ofthe most needed qualities in today's in Waltloo, Pretoria, have had tremendous society. It forms one of the cornerstones of success in this regard: they deSign, print, industrial progress and management for the market and develop greeting cards of high 21 st century. Regularly people are called up quality nationally. to come forward with imaginative solutions to One other aspect of creativity must be problems in areas as wide apart as politics, mentioned here. Despite the emphasiS on environmental conservation, constitutional control and order in our society, intuition re- and educational models, development mains of great importance to development at strategies, etc. The lack of genuine creative all levels. Nobel prize winning SCientists, in- response and the repetition of old recipes for deed the greatest logical minds the world has solutions can be glanced from newspaper ever known, have endorsed the importance and official reports alike. and even the primacy of intuition. Einstein is Traditional formal education - for whites as often quoted as saying that the really valuable much as for blacks - is notoriously effective thing is intuition. And Eugene Wigner states in killing creativity. Studies indicate that a (Holdstock 1987:67): "The discovery of the child's creativity plummets 90% between the laws of nature requires first and foremost in- ages five and seven when schooling is intro- tuition, conceiving of pictures and a great duced. According to Holdstock (1987:82, many subconscious processes. The use and 204) it is estimated that by the time they are also the confirmation of these laws is another forty, most adults are about 2% as creative as matter. logic comes after intuition." they were at five. Children who had the oppor- Creativity and intuition lead to relational tunity to participate in imaginative play by thinking, a prerequisite for survival in the acting out fairy tales or real-life experiences, chaos of modern life. Artistic practice is char- not only scored higher on IQ tests, but as long acterised by relational thinking: every aspect as four years afterwards continued to show of a play must be related to a whole in order marked superiority in amusing themselves, in to communicate effectively. As De Beer controlling impulsive behaviour and in con- (1988:11) states: "Die taak van die oorsk- cept learning tasks. And Coplan (1987:18) rydende denke is om die sfeer van geldigheid states that participation in theatre allows te ontwerp, die verbande tussen ge'isoleerde black people to express their creative dinge te sien, die spel te heropen."

Digitised by the University of Pretoria, Library Services Although playfulness and creativity are im- power of art it is generally accepted that the portant aspects of art, even in everyday life it arts have been very successfull in blending facilitates a search for structure and a dis- various cultural forms and methods. Coplan covery of order. The lack of constructive mentions, for example, the use of the work- rhythm and order in the life of unemployed shop by Athol Fugard to integrate African people is often mentioned. Without this order qualities of imagery, visibility and improvising life falls apart. The rhythm of regular work composition into contemporary Western processes is seen as a positive aspect of theatre (Coplan 1986:166). Meintjes dis- people's personal development. Without it cusses the use, and abuse, of cross-cultural there can be no planning or control, thus no blending of musical and political elements in cumulation of experience, so needed for any Paul Simon's LP record Graceland, and progress in a developing community. Artistic points to the 'collaboration' as a possible experience can provide the necessary exer- "gateway to the future" (Meintjes 1990:57). cise for creative control practice. The need for a new identity is especially relevant on a community level. Without a 4.4 ART AND IDENTITY sense of communal identity the social ten- sions will for ever impede social reconstruc- With the expansion of social roles and ident- tion. Comparisons with the situation in Israel ities has come a corresponding elaboration could be drawn here. Immigrants from more of the importance of personal identity, associ- than 79 cultural and language backgrounds ated with variations in lifestyle and the pres- had to be assimilated in the shortest time entation of self in the community (Schlemmer possible. Afterwards social reconstruction 1978:9). A lack of positive self-image as a had to be facilitated on a continuous basis. people other than oppressed does much The population of new settlements had to be harm to all development attempts. This haun- forged into coherent communities through tedness by the spectre of apartheid was projects like Project Renewal. The community clearly argued by Albie Sachs in his seminar centre formed the core element in this paper Preparing ourselves for freedom (De strategy. Similar developments have taken Kock & Press 1990:20). Meintjes quotes place in the United Kingdom since the Sec- Shuenyane's remark on the influence of ond World War. Over 250 community arts music on self-image: "Respecting one's centres function on a daily basis, with vast music is an encouraging step toward respect- community participation and a national finan- ing one's self" (Meintjes 1990:61). cial support of more than R15 million per year. From the debate on nationalisation and Additional benefits from identity enrich- democracy it is clear that a new South Africa ment is leadership development - an obvious needs more than economic growth. No aspect of community development - and the equality is possible unless more social co- enhancement of communication skills. The herence is found. This implies partly the de- former has direct implications for empower- velopment of a new urban culture which has ing the individual and the community within to be a mixture of African and Western values. the socio-political context. Progressive move- Western culture could do with a blending with ments stress this need for power to improve the best of Africa. There is in African culture a circumstances, e.g. people's power for greater bias toward spontaneous, artistic, people's education. Indeed most important musical and non-verbal forms of self-ex- decisions are taken at a leaders' level, and pression, as evidenced in dance and ges- skills have to be acquired to function success- tures (Holdstock 1987:245). On the other fully in the leadership position. The lack of hand Africa needs some of the order and expertise on this level is one of. the major efficiency of the West. In the face of the ration- causes for the breakdown of activities in the alist and reductionist life-styles of the West townships. The same applies to other con- one could easily romanticise township life- texts. It is estimated that business alone style, as an extension of the Romanticist view needs more than 50 000 managers on middle of the 'innocent' African primitive. The recent level and upwards within the next decade. violence in some of the townships and the Under the present circumstances not even general chaos on all structural levels - be they half of them can be produced through the in state or progressive organisations - has led existing institutions (Sowetan 1991 :5). to repeated calls for efficient structures If qualitative empowerment of the individ- throughout since the unbanning of the ANC, - ual and the community were the only benefits SAPC and the PAC. On the other hand it is from the arts centre, it would be reason clear that purely Western models cannot pro- enough to increase support for them. The vide strategies that answer the typical prob- enhancement of communication is of import- lems of a country in cultural, economic and ance in cross-cultural contact at all levels. political transition. Without overestimating the Various studies on this subject with regard to

Digitised by the University of Pretoria, Library Services the labour situation have been conducted by the Language Section of the Human Sciences Re- search Council. Efficient communication might be one of the most important factors in national reconciliation. The arts centre can provide the resources to give people the opportunity to meet others and do things communally. Actors ad- dress the audience not as a collection of money- paying strangers or forced participants in a show of solidarity but as a community, even as a congregation, in order to create a sense of collec- Figure 9. Participation in music increases social unity. tive participation and transformation (Coplan tion in the work situation integrates the needs 1986: 174). Participation by the audience, one for employed and unemployed people into a of the main aims of the arts centre, increases holistic pattern, restores confidence and self- this unity (figure 10). esteem of individuals and community and Participation by the community in their de- can form one of the cornerstones of com- velopment is by now an accepted principle. munity development for a future South Africa. Practice indicates how difficult it is to obtain efficient participation. Marxist theories that emphasise the natural or spontaneous mo- BIBLIOGRAPHY bilisation of the masses do not find much confirmation in the South African context. Ainslie, B. 1979. An artists workshop - flash in the pan or Spontaneous community participation is a brick that the builders rejected. The state of art in South Africa: Conference proceedings, July 1979. scarce, especially after years of inhibited de- Cape Town: University of Cape Town: 80-89. velopment during the State of Emergency Battram, A.& Segal, S. [n.d.] Arts & unemployment. Lon- 1985-1989. People who want to participate don: CASAIRTI. need training in basic procedures. The arts Baudrillard, J. 1983. Simulations. New York: Columbia can provide the right opportunity as they deal University . with the realities of life. Social harmony is the Bell, T. 1984. Unemployment in South Africa. Durban: University of Durban-Westville. (Occasional paper no. key to a new South African society. But 10). people have to acquire the skirls to restore Coetzee, J.K. (ed). 1989. Development is for people. this harmony. Johannesburg: Southern Books. A last social function of the arts centre can Coetzee, J.K. 1989a. A micro foundation as alternative for be mentioned here. Due to the state's as- development thought. Coetzee 1989:86-107. sumption that black townships were of a tem- Coetzee, J.K. 1989b. Hermeneutics as the basis of development thinking. Coetzee 1989:152-164. porary nature, all of them lack a proper town Coetzee, J.K. 1989c. Modernisation: An idea and model plan. All over the world and throughout his- of progress. Coetzee 1989:17-36. tory it has been typical of a town to have a Coetzee, S.F.& Ligthelm, A.A. 1989a. A profile of the town centre, normally in the form of some Southern African development area. Coetzee municipal buildings. Even small towns in the 1989:333-349. Karoo have their post office and cafe. These Coetzee, S.F.& Ligthelm, A.A. 1989b. Towards an integrated development approach. Coetzee 1989:350- centres literally have a cohesive function. Few 363. black townships have this type of develop- Coplan, D.B. 1983. Editorial: Popular culture and perfor- ment. The arts centre, with its social activities, mance in Africa. Critical Arts, 30:1-8. could provide atleast some cohesion in the Coplan, D.B. 1985. In township tonight! Johannesburg: neighbourhood where it is situated. Ravan Press. The community arts centre can fullfil a heal- Coplan, D.B. 1986. Ideology and tradition in South Afri- can black popular theatre. Journal of American Folk- ing function in a new South Africa. Its ability lore, 99(392):151-176. to provide opportunities for life enrichment Coplan, D.B. 1987. Dialectics oftradition in South African and preparation for more efficient participa- black popular theatre. Critical Arts, 4(3):5-27.

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