Vansa
Learning and Development in Johannesburg

The Visual Arts Network of South Africa (VANSA) was initiated by leading figures in the visual arts sector from across South Africa in 2003. Growth, Transformation and Opportunity were the three key ideas that motivated the organisation. People felt that the visual arts - unlike the film, performing arts, music, and publishing sectors - lacked a body that could tackle industry issues: from the need to address historical imbalances in access to opportunities in the visual arts, through to the need to attract more public investment and funding for the sector.

The Visual Arts Network of South Africa (VANSA) was initiated by leading figures in the visual arts sector from across South Africa in Growth, Transformation and Opportunity were the three key ideas that motivated the organisation. VANSA now functions as an industry body and development agency for the visual arts in South Africa. VANSA has offices in Johannesburg from which a small but dedicated staff pursue these areas of work in relationship with partners across the country. We are very pleased to introduce the new VANSA board to all our members. Part of building the new board has been possible through the generous support of BASA. VANSA is also a member of the pan-African network for the individual creatives, organisations and institutions, the Arterial Network. Underpinning the partnership is a basic interest in working together in ways that develop and expand the capacities and scope of both organisations, and also seek to enable and strengthen wider and open networks of project-based collaboration with partners elsewhere on the continent. The development of networks and a community of practice around work inthis area across the continent. The Chapter was established in 2010 when local committees were set up in Cape Town, Johanesburg and Durban and a National Steering Committee elected. The South African Chapter is made up of membership based organisations active in the arts, culture and heritage sector in South Africa, as well as arts organisations, artists, creative practitioners, administrators and activists. Most people entering the visual arts industry often have only a very hazy understanding of how the art world works, and the tools that they need to navigate through this complex environment. VANSA helps to bridge this gap through the provision of resources, workshops and mentorship programmes that focus on a range of professional, creative and technical skills. During the course of 2010, VANSA provided workshops and work-based training for more than 350 artists and twenty arts administrators across the country. These have included the Robben Island Curators Workshop in 2007, the International Association of Art Critics Workshop in Cape Town in 2008 and the Public Art Survivor Project in Johannesburg in VANSA has also recently developed a map of the contemporary visual arts in South Africa for the Mondriaan Foundation in Holland, which will function as a resource to facilitate connection between international artists, curators and projects, and the South African contemporary arts scene. We believe that contemporary art has a significant role to play in a complex and rapidly changing society and economy. In 2010, VANSA created work and project opportunities valued at more than R2,2 million for more than 100 artists, curators, arts administrators and other professionals, through working with local and international partners. Significant projects have included the Two Thousand and Ten Reasons to Live in a Small Town project, which has involved 17 contemporary artists researching and developing public art interventions in eleven small towns across South Africa. In Durban, the packed Creative Arts Bus entertains and transports art buyers on a tour of galleries across the city every weekend. We believe that research has a critical role to play in effecting change, transformation and growth in the visual arts industry in South Africa. VANSA was involved in the first major study of the visual arts industry in South Africa, recently undertaken by the Human Sciences Research Council. The study shows that the visual arts contributes over R1 billion to the national economy per annum and creates work for over 17 000 people. We think that this kind of information can help in getting government and the corporate sector to take what we do more seriously.