Following an advocacy seminar for cultural policies, sponsored by Pro-Helvetia, and held in Harare on the 2nd and the 3rd May, Arterial Network Zimbabwe hosted its first general meeting on the 4th May 2013 at the Bronte Garden Hotel. The assembly included outgoing steering committee members, representatives from Arterial Network’s continental secretariat, as well as other stakeholders in the Arts fraternity. Following discussion of the Arterial Network Strategic Plan and Constitution the meeting concluded with the election of the new steering committee of Arterial Network Zimbabwe.

Artists are good at complaining. What they’re not good at is speaking to one another. That’s why more than 100 artists and stakeholders met at the Goethe-Institut on Jan Smuts Avenue in Parkwood last Monday to discuss arts funding. The meeting was organised by Business and Arts South Africa (Basa) and the Arterial Network of South Africa. Joseph Gaylard, of the Visual Arts Network of South Africa, said the lottery board had indicated there was a mismatch between those who had the expertise and those who had the money.

In the context of a current review of the White Paper on Arts, Culture and Heritage, Arterial Network and Business and Arts South Africa hosted a public panel discussion at the Goethe Institut, Johannesburg, on Monday 22 April 2013. The panelists were Joseph Gaylard, Director of the Visual Arts Network of South Africa and ANSA Steering Committee member, Michelle Constant, CEO of Business and Arts South Africa, Gabrielle Ritchie, Programme Manager of Inyathelo: the South African Institute for Advancement, and Andre le Roux, Chairperson of ANSA and Executive General Manager of SAMRO Foundation.