Art News:
THE LARGEST FRAUD IN SA'S VISUAL ART HISTORY STARTS TODAY 25-26 OCTOBER 2012: 2 DAYS THAT WILL LIVE IN OUR PROUD SA ART HISTORY IN INFAMY.
Serious charges should be laid against DAC's Visual Arts Indaba Organizers 25-26 October, Johannesburg.
Concerned members of the visual arts community should lay charges against DAC Visual Arts Indaba organisers on the basis of Gross incompetence and the failure of the Department of the A&C to properly represent the visual arts sector as a whole, and to realistically for once in SA's History make a visual arts policy based on on a real Democratic consensus.
This includes:
1. Giving (less than) 1 weeks' notice by the DAC to national Arts practitioners- throughout SA - to make proper arrangements to attend the Visual Arts Indaba, ( even current events advertised on opening are inconclusive).
2. Not making any provision to get visual arts delegates from across the country to attend (of which "space is not guaranteed"), all are from Central Johannesburg - with very few exceptions.
3. Not supplying, even at the opening, a conclusive list of speakers or topics to be raised by the DAC's Visual Indaba
4. Many art organisations placed on the Indaba's website has no knowledge of their being represented, or are falsely represented as "Suggested", like the SA Art Times and many more other creditable art organisations.
5. The Vansa and HSRC Audit of the SA Visual Arts and Culture that was (maybe) to be discussed are now totally outdated and are irrelevant.
6. One of the very few (Jhb) gallery represented has only been open for a few months- compared to other galleries that have been open for over 20 years fail to be mentioned, while many of the delegates advertised on the website are unheard of, and are given a day or two to organise some irrelevant response.
7. The list of delegates is totally overloaded from Gauteng and totally fails in representing 80- 90% of the other Democratic landscape of SA Visual Arts.
8. The Indaba has not accommodated other Visual arts body meetings and academic end of the year deadlines that clash with the DAC Visual Arts Indaba
As concerned SA Visual Artists we recommend the following:
1, Boycott the DAC's Visual Arts Indaba
2. Seek out a better national representation than the incompetent ANC's DAC
3. Reject visual arts organisations lap dog desire to seek financial or political scraps from the current DAC
Furthermore:
1. The ANC's DAC cannot, on the basis of gross incompetence and absenteeism from the Visual Arts Community represents the SA visual arts community
2. Demand that The Minister of DAC , Deputy Minister and the whole of the illusive DAC staff to step down due to failing to realistically assist the visual arts sector that represents you and me as SA Visual Artists.
3. Liquidate the Departments huge (incompetent) staff and "grants" budget and re- assign it directly to the visual arts community that actually need it.(apparently a DAC arts grant officer earns more than a 30 year art teaching staff academic, and many, many times more than the average SA artist)
4. Bar DAC and it- who have generally lost credit in seemingly aliening itself from the the SA visual arts community.
Gabriel Clark-Brown :
South African Artist and Publisher
