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The Artist-in-Residence Programme was introduced for the first time in 2005. It is hosted by the Tshwane Leadership Foundation, an umbrella organization for a broad-based movement of community-and church-based organizations in the inner city of Tshwane (Pretoria), the capital city of South Africa. It emerged from the work of Pretoria Community Ministries (PCM), a partnership of 6 different inner city churches formed in 1993.
The Foundation is committed to · the most vulnerable people and communities of the inner city, · their empowerment and full integration into the city, · the building of healthy inner city communities, · the facilitation of social infrastructure, · capacity-building of social leadership and institutions, · and the regeneration of struggling urban areas in ways that are socially inclusive.
The Artist-in-Residence programme offers experienced artists from various disciplines (visual arts, dance, music, mime, graphic design) a sabbatical opportunity away from their usual environment.
It is especially designed for artists who want to explore the relationship between their art and spirituality, or community development, or social justice, or healing.
We will help you structure this time in the way most appropriate to your needs, but also creating spaces for your experience and expertise to be shared with inner city communities (residents, children, vulnerable groups, NGO’s & CBO’s, churches, local artists, schools, tertiary institutions).
Typically such a sabbatical period could include times of rest and reflection, writing, individual creative work, workshops with groups, therapeutic workshops, lectures, and exposure visits. The programme will be designed around the individual needs and goals of the artist.
We invite local or international artists to visit us for periods ranging from 1 month to 1 year.
Why does the Tshwane Leadership Foundation offer this opportunity?
Art is a celebration of beauty, if offers social commentary and critique, and it helps to foster an imagination of a world that could be.
The Tshwane Leadership Foundation wants to build healthy and socially inclusive communities. We want to employ every possible resource to achieve this vision – creating a hopeful imagination, overcoming social fragmentation, and affirming the beauty of the city and its people, wonderfully made in the image of God.
As part of mainstreaming the arts into our programmes, we introduced the Artist-in-Residence Programme. It was also encouraged by the powerful images certain artists left with us after performing in one or more of our events. We want to create more spaces for these gifts to be celebrated and shared, and for these voices to be heard.
We also hope that this could strengthen our own focus on the arts, our annual Feast of the Clowns, and our unfolding School of Creative Arts.
When is the best time for such a Sabbatical?
You can apply to be with us any time of the year. But certain times of the year might be more fruitful for such sabbatical periods, if an individual would like to participate in one or more of the local events that include artistic expression and training / inspiration of community leaders.
We have regular national consultations drawing together community leaders around July, and the annual Feast of the Clowns in August, that is becoming a key inner city festival. These are useful times to be around.
We are developing a School of Creative Arts, and would hope that your presence would contribute to and strengthen this process.
Individuals in the programme are invited and encouraged to participate in the community events of the Foundation, including community meetings, devotional and reflective times, community celebrations, and so forth.
They could also volunteer in one of our many programmes in a way that is not necessarily involving their art form primarily (women & girls at-risk, day care for children, outreach programmes, homeless support, HIV/AIDS support, research, advocacy work, administrative work, marketing).
Costs
The Tshwane Leadership Foundation does not offer scholarships or finance.
What we offer is to facilitate and design the programme with you, we offer the local context and community, exposure opportunities, opportunities for sharing of your skills and experience, spaces for reflection, and a network of local resource people and institutions.
We could help to facilitate budget accommodation (very basic) in our facilities, or alternatively affordable accommodation within walking distance of most of our programmes. we could also provide you with accurate information about other local costs.
Work space
If your accommodation is suitable you can also use that as work space. Alternatively you can either work with the concept of a mobile studio, moving between our different programmes and working on site, or setting up a work space in one of the programmes of our movement (depending on your own need and our available space).
As every artist’s needs differ, we would rely on individual artists to equip their work spaces accordingly. Questions in this regard would gladly be responded to, and in some cases we might have the available infrastructure.
If you are interested in this programme, please contact us at info@tlf.org.za! |
