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ANNUAL REPORT 2010

Isaac Makeleni www.asai.co.za/isaacmakeleni

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Vision To implement visual arts projects that are relevant to African contexts.

Mission

To create quality resources on art in Africa for educational and professional contexts; to provide a platform for debate and polemics in art and art history; and to be a point of contact between scholars and

art practitioners.

Values

Accessibility: ensuring that our projects are accessible to all constituents and create opportunities for meaningful participation.

Relevance: ensuring that our work is relevant for African and developing contexts.

Innovation: promoting a culture of imagination, resourcefulness and collaboration.

Inclusive Africanism: promoting critical engagement with what it

means to be African in the contemporary, postcolonial, globalised context.

Patrons

Dr Rasheed Araeen, Prof Chabani Manganyi, Ms Barbara Murray, Prof Nkiru Nzegwu, Prof Sylvester Ogbechie, Prof Uche Okeke, Mr Steven Sack.

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Chairperson’s report to the 2nd Annual General Meeting, 15 May 2010.

Mario Pissarra started ASAI with an immense amount of enthusiasm

and determination. He hand picked each and every member and

lobbied potential members to take up positions on the board. It was a

pleasure for me to meet fellow board members: Garth Erasmus,

Tracey Saunders, Gill Cowan, Tony Mhayi and Dathini Mzayiya.

Initially, the board met monthly then quarterly as systems were put in

place and the first audited financial statements were produced along

with the annual report – this is available for downloading on our

website (www.asai.co.za > Word View > Reports).

In a year where donors were allocating funds more cautiously Mario

soldiered on where lesser mortals might have thrown in the towel.

The successes slowly but surely began to be ticked off. These

included: upgrading of the website; the partnership with Third Text

Africa; the conclusion of project managing Gavin Jantjes’ impressive

Visual Century: South African art in context 1907-2007, which was

coupled to funding from the American Centre Foundation (now known

as the Foundation for Arts Initiatives). Funding was also received from

Zemba Luzamba www.asai.co.za/zemba

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the Western Cape Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport. The

cherry on top, which will be reflected in next year’s report, was the

funding and recognition received from the National Arts Council, with

ASAI identified as a NAC flagship project. This has resulted in us

being able to employ three new people in the following posts: projects

coordinator, project assistant and administrative assistant, which will

considerably ease capacity constraints in the short term. Furthermore,

the NAC funding allows for consolidation and expansion not only of

the organisation but also of its various projects.

From inception ASAI was expressly concerned with contributing to the

growing discourse in contemporary African art. A key part was the

development of accessible resources, and the creation of a platform

for debate. The website has given expression to these aims,

particularly through generating resources on artists, and facilitating

debates on relevant issues. The publication of selected articles from

Lizette Chirrime www.asai.co.za/lizette

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the archives of Third Text, which ASAI makes freely available online

to readers on the African continent was a significant addition to our

other projects. Titled Third Text Africa this partnership was made

possible through the agency of one of our patrons, Rasheed Araeen,

who is the founding editor of Third Text, and who subsequently

appointed Mario to the advisory council of Third Text, the only South

African to currently serve in this capacity.

Several other patrons have also contributed directly to ASAI, mostly

in advising and supporting our fundraising efforts, as well as advising

on future projects. We are immensely grateful to all our patrons for

the contributions that they make to ASAI.

It is a privilege to present the annual report. I would like to take this

opportunity of wishing the new board and staff every success.

The quality and diversity of the free resources available on the ASAI

website will ensure that this organisation goes from strength to

strength.

Athena Sotomi, Acting Chairperson

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Managing Director’s report

From the present vantage point, where ASAI is in a comparatively good health, it is perhaps easy to forget that last year was a very

challenging one.

During 2009 fundraising was prioritised, with little success. Visual Century was scheduled to go to print but final editing consumed more

attention than anticipated. Consequently it was a year in which comparatively little content was added to the website. It was also a

year that ended with an unanticipated move of office, albeit in the same building.

Notwithstanding this grim sketch it was also a year in which progress

was made. Most notably, Third Text Africa came to fruition with four editions published online. Modest but significant changes were made

to the website, and are still underway. Partnerships with third parties have slowly taken shape and are evolving steadily. Funding remains a

feasible prospect, with several proposals currently being considered.

Ayesha Price www.asai.co.za/ayesha

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Fundraising

A model to attract corporate sponsorship was developed and presented to a corporate organisation offering exclusive branding

rights for the South African Artists Index but our request was declined. Applications to the Department of Arts & Culture, Pro

Helvetia, the National Arts Council (for company as well as for project funding) and the Zimbabwean office of Hivos were all unsuccessful.

Where we were more successful was in being awarded R50,000.00 by

the Western Cape Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport to document artists in the Western Cape.

Despite the struggle to raise funds the year ended on an optimistic

note with the National Arts Council inviting us to apply for flagship

funding, which as we now know, we were subsequently awarded.

Visual Century

The publication of Visual Century, a four-volume series of books

covering one hundred years of South African visual arts, was originally scheduled for publication in 2009. From the outset the

publishers cautioned against our expectations that a project of this

scope – over 30 writers and five editors are involved - could be completed within this schedule, and they have been proved correct.

George Hallett www.asai.co.za/georgehallett

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From the position of project manager and editor-in-chief I can

acknowledge that the single most demanding factor in the management of this project has been the failure of many writers, and

to some extent editors, including myself, to meet deadlines and to fully complete their tasks. Several ‘drop-outs’ cost us precious time,

as did numerous loose ends that were ultimately left to the editor-in-chief to complete. A tight budget and limited administrative capacity

to support the management of this project has not only impeded progress on this project, but also effectively impacted on ASAI’s other

projects. Notwithstanding such challenges, it has been hugely rewarding to see the pieces coming together and the project remains

on course for publication.

Enhancing Visibility: documenting African artists

The previous AGM noted the need to expand beyond the current

emphasis on artists from the Western Cape. However, as indicated in the report on fundraising, the inverse has taken place, with an

additional 10 artists from the Western Cape being added, of which

two are nationals from other African countries. Where we have complied with the AGM is in beginning to address the gender

imbalance and we have also made some progress in developing a

Brendhan Dickerson www.asai.co.za/bdickerson

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more inclusive profile by identifying artists from ‘minority’ groups. The

range of media has also been broadened.

Funds from the NAC will enable us to add more artists from other parts of the country. The next stage will be to add artists from other

African countries.

What has become increasingly urgent is to update the profiles on existing artists on our website. Hopefully the new facility for artists to

update their own pages (which will initially be tested by extending it to members who are featured as artists on our website), will lighten

the administrative load of maintaining these pages, as well as provide a practical way for more direct participation in ASAI projects.

Several featured artists have generated sales or earned commissions

after their work was seen on the website, and some have been

identified for international residencies. Thus, while it is very clear that we are not primarily a commercial project, the prospect for earning

income for artists as well as for ASAI remains a largely untapped possibility, awaiting the right person to develop this opportunity.

Linked to this is the promotion of public events featuring members

and artists represented on the website. Of late the events section has been almost dormant, but is being revamped so as to include

documentation of events, including online catalogues. It thus presents

Sonya Rademeyer www.asai.co.za/sonyarademeyer

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an inexpensive opportunity to document group exhibitions curated by

members, particularly where budgets do not allow for print catalogues.

Word View

Formerly known as Forum, Word View exemplifies the distinguishing

element of ASAI: an independent, critical platform for debate. Word View has been re-organised to distinguish between different types of

material. Further material has been sourced, but editorial capacity remains a challenge.

Lizza Littlewort www.asai.co.za/lizza

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There is also the question of whether Word View should continue to

serve as a catch-all space for written material, or take a more strategic approach to generating discussion. With this in mind a

special project, Visual Voices, was developed. Visual Voices will see writers, and ideally editors, from across SADC being commissioned to

discuss the state of the visual arts in southern Africa.

While Visual Voices will become a specific section of Word View, there is still the question of how to best stimulate discussion on a wide

range of critical issues. With this in mind, funding proposals have included provision for ASAI to contract one or two columnists, who, it

is envisaged, would be persons who could advance critical arguments and stimulate public comment.

While creating an accessible platform for public debate is a critical

objective of ASAI, the question as to how to attract more

contributions from academics is an important one. The key barrier here is that academics are pressured to publish in peer reviewed

journals, and certainly the very premise of ASAI: to provide a non-elitist intellectual space rules out the prospects of turning Word View

into a peer reviewed online journal. However, should we consider establishing a section on the website, possibly as a semi-autonomous

section within Word View where we institute a peer review process and apply for accreditation from the Department of Education? There

are precedents for this in the form of peer reviewed online journals. The questions concern whether this would add value to the website,

by building a bridge between academic and popular discourse. It is also a process that would require a fair amount of work- do we have

the interest and capacity to pursue this?

Clearly the potential of Word View has not been fully realised, and the

establishment of a reference or advisory structure to support its development should be considered. This could comprise both

members and non-members, but ideally, at this stage of ASAI’s development, this should be driven by someone with a clear

understanding of what it is that sets us apart from other organisations and websites.

Third Text Africa

During 2009 we successfully published four editions of Third Text Africa. These editions comprise selected archival material grouped

into themes, and complemented with an original editorial.

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Four more issues of Third Text Africa will be published during 2010. The prospect of extending this project has been raised with Third

Text, and they have agreed to discuss this with their publisher, Routledge. Since this section does not function in the same way as

Word View, i.e. readers do not comment on articles, it has been

difficult to assess what its impact has been on visitors to the website, although general feedback has been positive.

The Artists Indexes & Bibliographies

The South African and Pan-African Artists Indexes and Bibliographies

are increasingly in need of updating. Yet they remain relatively high on google searches, comprising as they do a substantive amount of

data. The scope of data captured will be broadened, to include places and dates of birth and residence or death, as well as gender. This

enables a more useful research purpose: not only is it a list of artists and a guide to publications on these artists, but they can also be used

to identify and interpret patterns of migration, location, age, and gender, as well as publication, across decades. In developing targets

for adding data as part of the process of developing proposals it has

also been identified that these Indexes can potentially generate a substantial amount of work for researchers and research assistants.

www.asai.co.za/thirdtextafrica

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Community Archives for Visual Arts

There has been some progress, notably in developing frameworks for

cooperation with the Centre for Humanities Research at the University of the Western Cape and the Department of Manuscripts and Archives

at the University of Cape Town, both of which hold some of the material that will feature in this project. This forthcoming year will see

visible progress, although it remains necessary to raise additional funds.

Several members expressed interest in working on this project, and it

will be necessary to look at how members can contribute in practical

terms.

Omar Badsha www.asai.co.za/omarbadsha

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Networking and partnerships

In a year when work has overwhelmed capacity it has not been

possible to actively pursue links with many other organisations. Where these relationships have begun to take shape these have

largely been linked to specific projects. Of those not already mentioned above, it is worth noting that we contributed towards a

study on digitisation projects undertaken by the National Research Foundation, and I attended an NRF stakeholder workshop in Pretoria

in March 2009.

In December 2009 I was invited to a meeting of Africa.Cont a new

multi-disciplinary arts centre in Lisbon, where I represented ASAI and contributed to one of the panel discussions. An article arising from

this meeting was published in Art South Africa, and my contribution to the panel discussion was published on our website.

A meeting was held with the Africa Centre, where the prospects of

cooperation were discussed, and which led to them kindly partnering our application to the National Lotteries Distribution Trust Fund, as we

were not established enough to have the required two audits behind us.

This coming year, we will extend the number of artists on our

website. This will provide a good opportunity to develop our

relationships with various artists organisations and galleries, some of which we have good informal links with, and to address the

sometimes unspoken concerns of others who are ‘protective’ of ‘their’ artists and eye us warily as an unwelcome predator rather than as an

ally. The extent to which we can contribute towards a vibrant visual arts sector by building sound relationships without compromising our

ability to articulate critical perspectives on the art industry as a whole remains to be tested.

Manfred Zylla www.asai.co.za/manfredzylla

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Perhaps the most critical relationship that needs to be addressed is that with the Department of Historical Studies, and more broadly, the

University of Cape Town. The precise nature of our relationship lacks definition. We are temporarily housed there, and I am a research

associate within the department, and Michael Godby, Professor of Art History within the department, is also a member of ASAI.

Garth Erasmus www.asai.co.za/gartherasmus

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There are undeniably benefits to being located at UCT, but this is not

the place to go into such detail. The question of our relationship to UCT, and universities in general, is not only a question of convenience

– it goes to the heart of what kind of organisation are we building? Are we best served being located in an academic environment, or

would, for example, location alongside other arts or community organisations serve us better? This is a critical question that needs to

be addressed within the context of our long-term vision, and not simply left to fate to determine.

Enhancing capacity through exercising ownership

The above questions of strategic partnerships bring to the fore a multitude of challenges and opportunities faced by ASAI. Ultimately

fulfilling our potential will depend on our capacity, which in part is

contingent on funding, and bringing in contract staff particularly writers, researchers, editors, and assistants. Arguably, even more

than capacity to implement, ASAI requires greater critical capacity in the form of imaginative and strategic thinking, and this should come

from the heart of our organisation, its members. I say this mindful that all members are already oversubscribed with their own

commitments.

Nonetheless it is essential that members engage in critical self-reflection, specifically around what exactly they expect of and can

bring to ASAI. Perhaps members can begin to identify where their particular interests and skills overlap with ASAI’s vision and mission,

and values? In this case making specific contributions to ASAI may well serve to complement existing projects. Let me identify some

glaring gaps in our work where such opportunities for strategic

participation can be identified.

i) Currently the use of our resources by educators is a ‘happy consequence’ of our work, rather than a deliberate outcome. As an

organisation with a strong core of art educators who are mindful of the challenges facing art education in our country we have the

capacity to develop a coherent strategy that links our central purpose: i.e. the generation of resources, to specific educational contexts.

While this would have to be specific to the South African context, in order to find application in schools, it could hopefully also contribute

to addressing the needs of other developing countries.

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Jeannette Unite www.asai.co.za/jeannetteunite

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ii) As an organisation well resourced with artists and curators we

should have a coherent policy on how “generating resources’ links to exhibitions, and a programme for exhibitions, both online and in real

time.

iii) As an organisation blessed with writers and intellectuals we should have a coherent strategy on publications, and on generating research

and debate, both online as well as in the form of print publications, seminars, and other interventions.

iv) As an organisation rich with the collective organisational

experience of our members, the strategic questions of relationships, networks and identity represent another level of intellectual

engagement that is urgently required. We have the capacity to clarify where we are going, and how we will get there, rather than ambling

along.

Whereas the examples given above highlight that we do have this

capacity to draw on from membership, there are also areas where we have gaps with little to fill them at present.

i) We lack capacity in matters of IT, particularly web-design and

development. We are not yet at the stage where we can employ staff with these skills, and have to outsource this work. Recruiting

members with these skills who can advise and guide us in these areas would definitely be helpful.

ii) We also lack capacity in legal support. Advice regarding intellectual

property rights as well as agreements with third parties is sometimes needed, and having this expertise would defiinitely add value.

These gaps need to be addressed.

The Board represents one level where members can participate in capacitating ASAI. Certainly we need a strong Board of Directors. But

we should not repeat the mistakes of countless organisations where the Directors (or sometimes a few of them) are totally overextended

whereas members not on the Board have no insight, access or way to contribute to ASAI. Members can make specific contributions that

draw on their individual expertise and interests and are aligned to particular projects. Even if such contributions are not frequent or

grand, if considered and timely they can make a huge difference.

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This year will mark the 5th birthday of our website. Will it also

mark the year that members begin to take effective ownership of the organisation? And can the next year’s report begin: This has been an

exciting and fruitful year for ASAI?

Mario Pissarra Managing Director

Some members at the AGM, 2010: (back) Glen Arendse (newly elected director),

David Hlongwane, Tony Mhayi (project assistant, former director), Mario Pissarra

(managing director), Gill Cowan (former director), Tracey Saunders (treasurer),

Athena Sotomi (former director) (front) Jill Williams (projects coordinator),

Farzanah Badsha (newly elected director), Liesl Hartman (newly elected director).

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Department of Historical Studies, BG5 Beattie Building, University of Cape Town

Rondebosch, 7701, South Africa

Tel: +27 (0)21 650 3581/ 3267, Fax: +27 (0)21 689 7581

Email: info@asai.co.za, Website: www.asai.co.za

Registered with CIPRO as a Section 21 company: 2008/004687/08 Registered with SARS as a Public Benefit Organisation: 930 027 865