Arts academy for Oudtshoorn

Economic stimulation and job creation

THE Oudtshoorn Municipality and NPO Kunste Onbeperk have partnered to establish an arts and culture academy in the small town.

A long relationship between the municipality and the Kunste Onbeperk, which hosts one of the biggest art festivals in the country, the Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees (KKNK), is set to yield good results.

A report tabled this week before the executive mayoral committee detailed the concept of the arts academy, which is aligned with the town’s long-term strategy called Vision 2030.

This strategy was aimed at stimulating the economy and creating sustainable job opportunities, said senior manager responsible for Strategic Services, Lluwellyn Coetzee.

The plan is to be tabled before the full Oudtshoorn municipal council in its next meeting for final endorsement.

Mayor Colan Sylvester said a facility of this nature has been long overdue for Oudtshoorn, “which has managed to position itself as an art hub with the existence of the KKNK and other arts and culture festivals that have over the years been hosted in our town”.

“Our vision 2030 strategy places the Greater Oudtshoorn as a training hub with a variety of training institutions, the establishment of an arts and culture academy therefore compliments our plan,” Sylvester added.

Following Kunste Onbeperk’s request in 2011 to the council to utilise the Toekomsrus Community Hall as a training facility for arts and culture, the municipality secured funding from the Neighbourhood Development Partnership Grant from the National Treasury to renovate the hall to be a suitable training facility.

A memorandum of understanding which will be undertaken by the two parties will provide detail and the nature of the arts and culture training that will take place at the envisaged academy.

The municipality has furthermore also commissioned a scope study to identify possibilities and the future development of the centre.

Adjacent to the Toekomsrus Community Hall is an open space that can be converted into a space for business activities, the landscaping of the “kloof” to an open-theatre and sports or recreational outdoor activities.

The development will include the establishment of an indigenous garden with pathways and seating areas in the open space next to the centre.

In addition, the scoping study also highlighted the functioning of the newly constructed BMX bicycle track as important infrastructure to develop more sports infrastructure in the development of this precinct.

Cultural Affairs and Sport MEC Anroux Marais has pledged support for the project, and possible funding towards the academy.