Listening to Evidence as the Community Arts Indaba Begins As the formal programme of the Community Arts Indaba kicks off tomorrow at the Market Theatre ,  The Creative Passport deliberately pauses to foreground a voice that is often sidelined in arts conversations: that of researchers and academics . In moments of heightened policy debate and sector frustration, the loudest voices are usually those of practitioners and officials.  Yet too rarely do we sit with the people whose work is to trace evidence, interrogate assumptions, document impact, and ask uncomfortable questions that emotion alone cannot answer .  If Community Arts is to move beyond survival mode into sustainability, equity, and long-term relevance, then research is not a luxury. It is a necessity. In this interview, we speak to Traver Mudz , whose reflections challenge many of the comfortable narratives the sector has grown used to.  From the assumption that minimal grant funding can magically produc...

  Departmental Position, Governance, and Strategic Commitments Listening to the Provinces: Reclaiming Community Arts from Policy Silence As South Africa prepares for critical conversations on the future of Community Arts, The Creative Passport has deliberately turned its attention away from rhetoric and toward accountability.  We have asked a simple but powerful question to all nine provinces :  How do you understand Community Arts, how are you governing it, and how are communities actually benefiting? Too often, Community Arts is spoken about for communities rather than with them. It is invoked in policy documents, funding calls, and political speeches, yet remains inconsistently defined, unevenly resourced, and poorly coordinated across provinces.  This series is therefore not about opinion alone. It is about recording official positions , interrogating governance frameworks, and placing provincial commitments on the public record. In this edition, we turn our f...

Coming Full Circle — A Personal Reflection Rooted in the Teachings of the late Simba Pemhenayi By Thami akaMbongo Manzana  As we move closer to the Community Arts Indaba, I find myself reflecting deeply on teachings that began for me in 1998 at an institution in Cape Town called the Community Arts Project (CAP) .  At the time, I could not have fully grasped how formative those lessons would be, nor how relevant they would remain decades later.  Today, it feels as though those teachings are coming full circle. Image: Simba Pemhenayi with         CAP students Source:   University of Cape Town. Libraries. Special Collections BC1195 Community Arts Project. Before embarking on my studies at the University of Cape Town in 1999, I had the privilege of studying at CAP, where I was exposed to courses such as Cultural Studies, Theatre Studies, and, most importantly for me,  Community Theatre .            Image: CAP L...

  WHAT A NATIONAL RESEARCH JOURNEY REVEALS ABOUT DISTANCE, INFRASTRUCTURE AND SURVIVAL By Mpho J Molepo At The Creative Passport, we continue to ask a simple but urgent question:  What does the state of arts and culture look like when viewed from the ground, not from policy desks?  As national conversations increasingly turn to redress, access and sustainability in the arts, it has become clear that community arts cannot be discussed in abstraction.  They exist within specific geographies, infrastructures, and lived conditions that shape how creativity survives and evolves. The National Community Arts Research Travel experience offers a rare window into these realities. More than a research exercise, the journey across South Africa’s provinces exposed the physical distances, infrastructural limitations and operational pressures that define everyday life for community arts practitioners. Long hours on the road, remote locations and uneven access to basic resources wer...

POLICY, LAW, GOVERNANCE AND THE RESPONSIBILITY TO READ In the Cultural and Creative Industries, performance often takes centre stage — as it should.  Art moves people, heals communities, preserves memory and challenges power. But behind every performance lies a system of policies, legislation, governance frameworks and funding rules that quietly determine who gets supported, who is excluded, and whose work survives. For too long, many practitioners have chosen to engage only at the level of practice and expression, while avoiding the uncomfortable terrain of reading, policy engagement and intellectual participation . This has come at a cost — not only to individual artists, but to entire communities.          Image: ATCA Logo            Source: ATCA THE COMFORT ZONE OF PERFORMANCE — AND ITS LIMITS There is nothing wrong with being a performer, maker or creative worker.  The problem arises when practitioners disconnect the...