Opportunities in creative sector for youth

This is according to the South African Cultural Observatory (SACO) which recently concluded a nationwide roadshow delivering eight cultural industry workshops around the country.

The workshops examined the increasingly important role of the CCIs in economic growth, development and employment creation in the country.

“A trend we noticed is that young people are largely unaware of the job opportunities in the CCIs and arts, culture and heritage sectors,” says research manager, Unathi Lutshaba.

He believes the youth seem to have inherited a ‘previously-disadvantaged position’ when it comes to reaping the positive benefits of this sector.

This is especially to their awareness of and involvement in creative pursuits related to film, theatre and architecture.

“Creative colleges and higher education and training institutes need to align their planning with the Government’s agenda to ensure that young people are capacitated and mentored in the ACH sectors.

Local municipalities can also assist by organising capacity-building programmes aimed at facilitating assistance for the youth,” Lutshaba added.

The other three emerging trends from the workshops included:

1. Minority cultural identities are often overlooked

In some instances, certain cultural identities are overlooked and not prioritised. The Khoisan identity and culture is an example of this. Increased focus and attention need to be placed on promoting the heritage of the Khoisan people and other ‘forgotten’ identities.

2. Literacy and numeracy are major challenges for securing funding

Many people that reside in rural areas and who are doing useful culturally work struggle to gain access to resources and funding to boost their businesses. This is largely because they do not understand the application documents that they need to complete to apply for financial assistance. This limits their chances of getting access to funding.

3. Arts practitioners are not always linked to anything that can be measured

Many arts practitioners form part of an informal sector that is not always connected to something measurable. Crafters are one such example. Crafters are usually categorised as part of the informal sector because, normally, their trade is acquired through skills transfer. They sell their products by word of mouth and displaying them at events and they are not linked to activities that can be directly measured, most especially in terms of economic value.