January 12, 2004
By Lucille Davie
THE City has a new director of arts, culture and heritage. His name is Steven Sack, and he comes brimming with ideas and enthusiasm, from the national department of the arts and culture, science and technology.
Sack, who describes himself as being "very passionate about the arts", sees his first priority as assessing his department. "I want to get to know my staff and their job descriptions, as my first task." There are a number of unfilled posts but that doesn't automatically mean he'll be filling them - he'll assess whether they need to be filled first.
Sack comes with a BA from Wits, and a Fine Arts degree from Unisa, and lots of experience in the arts - curating exhibitions, lecturing in art, working as an artist, writing articles, reviews and papers on South African art, research in his field overseas. And most recently, with six and a half years' experience with the national department.
There he was involved in a programme entitled "Investing in Culture", a national poverty alleviation project, focusing in particular on skills training in crafts and music in rural communities, where the need is enormous.
He also established CREATE SA, a training and development programme for the creative industries.
Both exciting projects, so why leave the national department? "I believe that no one should stay in a job more than seven years. You become stale and unproductive."
Their loss, the city's gain, many would say.
He has lots of big ideas. Top of the list is to rejuvenate MuseuMAfricA. He feels the quality of exhibitions could be improved, and he wants to see more traditional African art displayed at the museum.
"There're collections of traditional art dispersed around the city. I'd like to bring them together at MuseuMAfricA," he says.
He'll also be taking a hard look at the Johannesburg Art Gallery, and has plans to transform both the gallery and MuseuMAfricA into exciting, vibrant places, much like the Civic Theatre in Braamfontein, has become.
"The Civic Theatre is producing a product that citizens want," he announces.
And if MuseuMAfricA becomes a focal point, this will only serve to "assist the strategy around Newtown", one of creating a cultural precinct in the inner city suburb.
Sack will be looking at all the city's museums and galleries, and seeing how they can be improved to serve the city's citizens better.
Part of that process will be to create an asset register, a tool necessary for future planning.
Sack will be visiting each of the city's 11 regions, and examining their cultural activities. His plan is to get the public involved in what he calls "carnival acts". In other words, take people who have skills working in public spaces, like dancers, musicians, costume designers, float and procession designers, and get them to perform, and encourage and train others in these skills. He wants to link this to World Aids Day on 1 December, encouraging the youth to develop their skills, at the same time becoming more aware of their health and the need to look after themselves.
Sack plans to get private sector funding to help fulfil his goals, and that includes international donors.
Sack, a Joburger by birth and a "stayer", is working back in his home town, and is looking forward to having those two extra hours each day he would have spent travelling to and from Pretoria.
When asked, he says his greatest strength he brings to the new job as being "laid back, patient, and with lots of experience in working in the arts and culture sector".
Sounds like just what the doctor ordered for the city.
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