VANSA is a network that brings together several players in the visual arts in South Africa. Africalia works in partnership with VANSA's national headquarters in Johannesburg and collaborates with provincial offices through VANSA.
As a key representative of the visual arts, VANSA functions as an agency for the development of the sector. The network's mission is to reduce the difficulties encountered in accessing funding, to encourage meetings and dialogue between members, to inform artists about current events in the sector, to develop the skills of operators and artists, and to defend the interests of its members in dealings with politicians and the private sector. It goes even further, developing large-scale social/artistic projects and promoting innovation and research.
VANSA is seeking to strengthen its network and the regional branches of its structure through job creation and targeted training. As part of this, VANSA is offering traineeships of between six months and a year to forty-five people. An internship programme is specifically aimed at Previously Disadvantaged Individuals (PDIs) so that they can gain work experience in one of the regional offices or in a member organisation of the network.
VANSA also wants to strengthen the network it set up following the large-scale residency and the public arts project "two thousand and ten reasons to live in a small town", which represents artists, collectives and organisations from rural areas.
Programme 2015-2016: Africalia contributes to the costs of management staff, supports training courses and activities and aims to strengthen the associative, administrative and financial management of the provincial offices.
La VANSA internship toolbox contains practical advice for trainees and organisations in the cultural sector, based on VANSA's experience of its trainee programme over the last 5 years. Download the pdf version here (in English).
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Melanie Jackson, Connecting artists ... promoting opportunities
