The arts need serious corporate support

Raisedon Baya
A MAJOR concern in the arts sector (there is still a confusion whether it’s a sector or an industry among some of us) has been the near absence of corporate sector support. With the serious cut on financial support of the arts by international donors it has become more critical for government and the corporate sector to keep the arts alive in this country.

At the moment it is common that whenever artistes converge the issue of corporate support as a possible alternative to international donor funding pops up. The reality is that the arts on their own cannot be sustainable, especially in Africa, except perhaps music. Many arts forms definitely need some form of constant first aid in the form of financial assistance. In most countries, especially developed countries, the arts survive on government subsidies.

However, for artistes to be dreaming of a government subsidy for arts and culture when the government is failing to deliver the National Cultural Policy is obviously an exercise in futility. A National Cultural Policy is a critical document that could give direction as to how the arts ought to be funded or supported in this country. So without that guiding document it would be folly for the sector to talk anything sensible about government support. That is why today my focus is on corporate support.

In other countries, regardless of how their economies are performing, the business sector plays a big supporting role to the arts. Good businesses know that they owe their successes to the people and as a way of giving back they support arts and culture. For the soul of the people cannot be found far away from their arts and culture. We know of big companies that support the arts in a big way. In India the car making company Mahindira supports various arts festivals in that country.

In Swaziland the biggest arts festival there is supported by a communications company, MTN. In South Africa a few banks and other leading companies are known to support the arts. In Botswana it is the same. Here in Zimbabwe the company that everyone knows has a heart for the arts is Delta Corporations. There is no big arts event in this country that has not been supported by Delta. But one company alone is not enough. We need other companies to also jump on board. Banks, Communication companies, Insurance companies and others. As they say the more the merrier.

Obviously, there are a lot of reasons why the arts are not attracting corporate support. Let us look at two of those.

One, there seems to be a lot of disorganisation in the sector. No standards. Little professionalism. More than half of the so called arts companies are actually briefcase companies. There is also an apparent lack of proper structures and unions or associations. The solution here is simple. The sector needs to evolve into something formal and easy to understand. The sector also needs to develop a culture of accountability and delivering proper results. More importantly there is need for the sector to come together and speak with one voice. As it is the sector’s priorities continue to be mixed up. It is only when artists get organised and start to speak with one voice will someone sit up and start listening to what they are saying.

The second reason is that the sector continues to operate in a cloud of secrecy. The sector is a mystery. Very few people, including those that purport to lead it, understand how it works. There is serious need to demystify the sector because as long as the sector remains a muddy area no one will be willing to invest in them. So the onus is on artists to intensify advocacy work that will help not only business people, but the general public as well, to understand arts and culture and the crucial role they play in people’s lives.

The corporates need to be told about the benefits of associating with the arts. They need assurance that investing in the arts will not be throwing money into a bottomless pit. They need assurance that artists are not a lost generation but a vital cog in the social well-being of any normal society. I believe that only when the mystery and the murkiness that surrounds the arts is dealt with are we going to witness a great response from the corporate sector.