Artists applaud Arts and Heritage Fund progress
Stakeholders in the development of regulations for the implementation of the National Arts and Heritage Promotion Fund have expressed satisfaction with the progress made so far.
This was revealed in Mponela, Dowa when the national technical team met to review and provide feedback on the first draft of the regulation developed for the fund.
The initiative is led by the Department of Arts in the Ministry of Local Government, Unity and Culture with support from United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco).
The regulations, drafted by Unesco consultants, received positive reactions from the attendees who refined and reviewed them.
In an interview, Ministry of Local Government, Unity and Culture deputy director of arts and crafts McDonald Mawulaya said the review was a crucial stage in the realisation of the fund which is expected to reduce on challenges in the creative and heritage industry.
“In the absence of regulations, there has for a long time been lack of coordination of activities and projects in the sector throughout the production chain and issues of funding to promote the sector, but the progress is satisfactory,” he said.
Mawulaya highlighted that the regulations for the forth-coming National Arts and Heritage Fund will help bring sanity and establish systems with regards to how full operationalisation can be achieved to benefit the industry.
In a separate interview, a member of the creative sector, Ezaius Mkandawire, said although progress in developing regulations is satisfying, there is need for key stakeholders to ensure availability of the funds.
He added that apart from getting excited over paperwork which has been the trend, it is important that resources are invested towards the realisation of the fund and it awaits passing of the National Arts and Heritage Council (Nahec) Bill.
“Other than making sure we have good regulations, we want to see that there is money and resources available for the implementation of the fund, so currently we are requesting government to set aside money to capitalise the fund so that once the Bill is enacted, we go straight on the ground,” Mkandawire explained.
Unesco senior assistant executive secretary Christopher Magomelo said progress is overwhelming and is in line with the timelines as per their agreement.
“The fact that a draft has been produced means good progress for the projects according to the timelines and we hope that going forward, the team will use their knowledge to represent the needs of those in the industry,” he said.
The fund is stipulated in the Nahec bill which solicits the establishment of the National Arts and Cultural Heritage Council with a mandate to spearhead the arts and cultural heritage promotion and funding drives.
