IN CONVERSATION WITH MPHO MOLEPO
Building the Future of Community Arts: The Thinking Behind the Indaba
Following our recent article, Re-imagining Community Arts in South Africa, published as part of the build-up to the Community Arts Indaba taking place from 19 January 2026, we continue the conversation by engaging directly with one of the key figures at the centre of this national process.
In this edition, we speak to Mpho Molepo, Head of Project at ATCA, to gain deeper insight into the vision, purpose, and strategic intent of the Community Arts Indaba.
The conversation also unpacks the role of ATCA, the organisation appointed by the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture, and the responsibility entrusted to it in convening and implementing this critical programme for the community arts sector.
Through this engagement, we explore the thinking, structures, and ambitions shaping the Indaba, as well as the broader implications for policy, funding, training, and the future positioning of community arts within South Africa’s Cultural and Creative Industries.
The Community Arts Indaba comes at a critical moment for the Cultural and Creative Industries. What gap were you responding to when you conceptualised this initiative, and what problem are you deliberately trying to solve?
The Community Arts Indaba is a project of the National Department of Sport, Arts and Culture (DSAC). The department advertised a tender, which we applied for and were appointed to implement.
The core intention of the initiative is to identify challenges, opportunities, and strategies for strengthening community arts and to reposition the sector meaningfully within the national Cultural and Creative Industries framework.
Through the process, several key issues were identified:
Policy: There is a clear need for inclusive policies that formally recognise community arts as an essential and distinct sector.
Models of Distribution: Access to resources and opportunities remains unequal, calling for more sustainable and equitable distribution models.
Funding Conduits: Existing funding and implementation channels require closer examination in terms of efficiency, transparency, and accessibility.
Identity of the Fund: There is confusion around the purpose, reach, and role of funding mechanisms meant for community arts.
Structural Representation: The sector needs to decide whether it should be organised under a National Federation or a Cluster Model.
The Indaba and its findings are intended to address these matters and contribute to practical solutions, particularly around policy and legislation, funding for community arts, defining community arts centres, infrastructure and land issues, and the creation of a national community arts network.
For those encountering it for the first time, what exactly is the Community Arts Indaba?
The Community Arts Indaba is a high-level engagement that brings together representatives from the community arts fraternity across all nine provinces.
Each province is represented by six community arts practitioners, alongside one representative from the funding conduit and one from the provincial department responsible for community arts.
In addition, independent experts from various institutions and platforms are invited to present and share their experience and involvement in community arts.
The primary focus of the Indaba is to engage with the report, review the findings, and collectively reflect on the state and future of the sector.
What is the purpose of the Academy, and why was it established?
The Alex Arts Academy was established to create a space for talented practitioners—both young and old—who may not have had access to formal arts education. Its purpose is to bridge the gap between formal and non-formal performing arts training.
The Academy serves as a hub for experimentation, using tested methodologies while also inventing new processes that can impact the arts industry. It trains practitioners with the clear intention of producing a skilled workforce for the creative sector.
Tagline: Nurturing Creatives
The Academy emerged from the need to establish an arts centre of excellence that focuses on producing practitioners capable of reshaping the industry. It asks critical questions such as: How do we train a new generation of artists who make discoveries? And how do we enable them to use creativity to interpret and reflect South African society?
Mission:
To be a leading performing arts training institution producing practitioners who will change the face of the industry.
Vision:
To be a leading performing arts training institution.
Objectives include:
Offering practical and theoretical arts training
Making discoveries and documenting them for the sector
Creating platforms for skills exchange
Producing highly qualified and versatile learners
Promoting an African perspective in the arts
Encouraging mass participation, social cohesion, and job creation
Founding values: Transparency, Respect, Discipline, Honesty, Excellence, and Ubuntu.
The Academy’s artistic identity is rooted in soul, spirituality, quality, physicality, stillness, and experimentation.
Courses offered: Drama, Dance, Music, Film, Arts Administration, and Technical Production.
Source: ATCA
Your work places strong emphasis on training and skills development. What informs your training philosophy, and how do you ensure relevance and professional standards?
The Academy is a fully accredited institution, which means we are intentional about balancing incubation-based training with theoretical grounding. Our approach is largely outcome-based—we evaluate learners based on what they can do and achieve, rather than only on what they can explain.
Our learners are multi-faceted and are exposed to a wide range of disciplines, ensuring they are adaptable and responsive to industry realities.
Source: ATCA
How do you balance theory, practice, and lived experience, especially for practitioners without formal arts education?
We ensure this balance by employing renowned artists who are not only skilled in their disciplines but are also qualified and capable of transferring knowledge. Learning takes place in a quiet and comfortable environment that supports creativity.
The Academy is supported by disciplined professionals with proven track records, and regular management meetings are held to troubleshoot challenges and ensure accountability, including financial reporting.
Image: Provincial Engagements
How is the programme curated, and how intentional are you about representation and community voice?
Programme curation is guided by quality, discipline diversity, and relevance. Facilitators are selected based on both their artistic excellence and their ability to mentor others. Representation across disciplines and communities is a deliberate priority.
Expected outcomes include:
Highly qualified and versatile graduates
Work of high artistic standards
Authentic and innovative creative outputs
Independent thinkers who challenge accepted norms
Art that is intriguing, research-driven, and community-centred
Source: ATCA
How do you ensure communities are active co-creators and decision-makers?
The journey toward the National Conference is designed to be inclusive and sector-driven:
Phase 1: Consolidation of provincial reports (completed)
Phase 2: Pre-conference dialogues with sector clusters, advocacy organisations, youth forums, and traditional leaders
Phase 3: Mobilisation and advocacy through a national communication campaign and media engagement
This approach ensures ownership, participation, and shared decision-making.
Beyond attendance, what does success look like for you?
Success is measured through tangible outcomes such as the development of community arts policy, committed grant funding, the establishment of a national cluster or federation, increased funding across provinces, functional provincial structures, and funded arts and culture councils.
What challenges have shaped the Academy?
Key challenges include limited capital funding, reliance on project-based funding, leadership transitions, and the reality that building an institution is far more demanding than running a single project.
These challenges have reinforced the importance of long-term investment in staff and systems.
Source: ATCA
How do you see the Indaba positioned within the broader ecosystem?
Redress of past imbalances is not a once-off project but a long-term commitment.
Community arts should be at the centre of community life and should drive the development of arts in South Africa.
Source: ATCA
What is your long-term vision for the next five years?
The Academy is currently led by two young leaders, Mr Archie Matsetela and Mr Mpho Masilela, with clear separation between the Academy and the company.
The Academy will focus on training, while the company will manage the theatre and produce work.
The Community Arts Indaba will be held every second year to review progress and developments arising from the 2026 Indaba.
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