b'Ashraf JohaardienNOT A SYMPOSIUM/CONFERENCE/INDABAThe Inaugural BASA ASSEMBLY in partnership with British Council Southern Africa ArtsTHE ARTS AND ITS VALUE will bethat collaborates and renegotiates withsomething we will certainly understandthe system. when it is gone. Without it, we face a bleak,The BURNING ISSUES panel drewASHRAF JOHAARDIEN (He/Xe/They) has over 20 years of homogenous future, culturally poor andtogether arts facilitators, marketers andexperience across a wide uninspiring. Our identities will be rootless.corporate leaders, in a robust debate aboutspectrum of creative and Our talent will leave these shores and wellthe tension between the intent of the artscultural disciplines. Xe be left with a life less rich, and a societyand the motivations of business. Can theyis the former Executive Producer of the National unchallenged by the deep thinking andsee eye to eye? The partnerships celebratedArts Festival (NAF) and creative energy that the arts bring us. Whenthrough the annual BASA Awards are proofhas held key positions we go to look in the mirror, we will insteadthat they can; but successful partnerships areat several academic and cultural institutions and took find a blank wall. Before COVID-19, Southdefined by clear rules of engagement, andup the role of CEO at BASA in African arts were already in crisis. Now, wethis comes down to mutual respect and aMarch 2019.have an ongoing arts emergency.solid understanding of value. BASAs inaugural ASSEMBLY partneredAs an agency committed to engaging by British Council Southern Africa Artsbusiness in supporting the arts, BASA is was created to discuss the sector in a waydriving research to extract evidence about that included the persistent undercurrents,the work and impact of the artsas welltexture into the DNA of the marketplace. themes and voices from business, marketingas the habits and thoughts of audiences.The relationship goes beyond fiscal ROI and the arts (recordings are freely availableBASA ASSEMBLY also marked the launchand into deeper layers of impact and social at www.assembly.basa.co.za). of ArtsTrack No. 9, a biennial researchcohesion, imagination, and progress. The During the ASSEMBLY, what struck apublication comprising business-orientatedartist is driven by passion and so by their particular chord was the notion that, acrossintelligence to help shape decision-makingvery nature they are often self-exploitative; the board, there is a need to define, or ratherabout investment in the arts.compelled to carry out their craft by redefine, the value of the arts in our society.The need is wide and deep. Southimpetuses other than money. In an ideal In her succinct talk, BETWEEN THE STATEAfricas systemic inequality has created aworld, artists are not exploited for their AND THE MARKET, leading researcher andunique demand for funding to assist artistspassion and dedication but rather find academic Johanna Mavhungu referred togain access into the market, but therethemselves free to define it and express it. Robert Picards observation that the artsis a necessity for multiple funding andBusiness has the power to breathe life into bring unique processes and products to thedevelopment agencies, donors and partners,that essence and give space to the rumblings market. That these processes are different toplugging into the ecosystem and stimulatingof our most creative minds. how business usually operates, and that thethe arts environment at all levels. As withBASA has long consulted with businesses arts contribute scarce skills and people intomany countries all over the world, too many to extract the tangible and profoundly the business environment.artists are reliant on the State for funding,rewarding gains of working with the creative Some brands have truly harnessed theand while the State has a vital role to playsector. As a business keen to contribute to nuanced curiosity of the artist by infusingin stimulating the arts economy, its mostthe country, this is more than CSI. Its a their brands with creativity; Nandos andimportant role is in defining cultural policycommitment to the telling of our collective Nike come to mind. But the arts can alsoand value.story, the preservation of our talent and lend a more distinct value as the conscienceBusiness has a role to play, not only inenergy and the pleasure of a life lived forof a business; an internal disruptor funding, but in integrating our culturalthe expression of it.SQUARE30'