WHEN minister of finance and public enterprises Iipumbu Shiimi tables the national budget today the creative and arts industry is certainly one sector that will not be holding its breath as it has for years been begging for more government support.
These are the sentiments of some artists who believe the government is failing the Namibian arts sector which has created very little room for upcoming artists to excel.
One such frustrated artist is rapper JBlack, who says he does not anticipate any change in the way the government prioritises artists and the creative industry in the country.
“I expect a very low allocation to the arts industry. I’m yet to be proven wrong that they want to help the industry grow. The government has a select few artists they consider, and the rest of us get nothing.
“The arts industry needs to become a priority. It shouldn’t get the smallest budget as always,” he says.
Another artist, Chella, is not convinced that the government appreciates the arts industry enough.
He advocates more funding to uplift local artists and to help them create sustainable careers.
Chella calls on local corporates to support local artists and to nurture creative talent by investing in these communities.
“Our government doesn’t care about arts and crafts in Namibia, and the Ministry of Sport, Youth and National Service is just relaxing and doing nothing.
“As musicians we are suffering, we need to see them helping us or giving us loans or uplifting our industry.
“The ministry must allocate some money to us, and big companies must also come on board to sponsor our art work,” he says.
The government supports the local arts sector through various schemes, including National Arts Council of Namibia (NACN) grants.
Artists have, however, in the past said the government only supports a select few of them.
Some of the concerns raised in the past were the tedious process of acquiring grants, and the fact that many artists do not have the resources to travel from their homes to the relevant offices.
Last year, the arts director in the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture, M’kariko Amugulu, expressed concern over artists’ lack of interest in supporting the government to improve the existing laws that concern them, and the lack of media interest in raising awareness of these issues.
At the time, Amugulu was confident that the arts could offer sustainable careers if the public and artists took it seriously.
Recently, the government sought funding through the European Union’s and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation’s initiative titled ‘Supporting New Regulatory Frameworks to Strengthen the Cultural and Creative Industries and Promote South-South Cooperation’.
The initiative aimed to revise the copyright laws pertaining to the digital environment.
Currently, the government is the biggest investor in the arts in Namibia through the NACN, the National Theatre of Namibia, and the College of the Arts, as well as the arts faculty at the University of Namibia.
These challenges are raised at a time when artists have lost faith in the Namibian Society of Composers and Authors of Music board, which they claim is not acting in their interests.
Meanwhile, veteran artist Erna Chimu said throughout the year, arts had not been considered a job where one can make a living, although it has been proven that artists all over the world can make a living out of it.
“It would be applaudable if the directorates of arts and culture can be considered in the budget. Some of us do get invitations to go perform abroad, but due to no sponsorships, we forfeit the spot to go represent our country,” she said.
Chimu also believes that elevating arts and culture as mainstream subjects in school will help not only artists find jobs but to address the social ills in society.
“We have professional musicians that can teach afternoon classes at various schools, if we can bring arts back to schools. This will reduce this kids roaming the streets and at the same time giving musicians a chance to share their experience and plough back to society.” – unWrap.online
