Theatre for change and profit

The National Theatre of Namibia’s (NTN) five-year strategic plan took centre stage at the national theatre’s official opening ceremony for the year last month.

The theme for the NTN’s 2010 to 2014 strategic direction is: ‘Art is the seed for social transformation and change.” Speaking at the ceremony, NTN General Manager Werner Thaniseb said that over the past 20 years, the arts and culture sector has gone through commendable transformation and change – moving towards a creative and vibrant industry with the potential of contributing to Namibia’s Gross Domestic Product.

“We no longer confine our cultural expressions to customary or traditional rituals, rites and ceremonies but have transformed, refined and defined them as artistic expression with substantial monetary value, a tradable commodity,” he said. At the same event Deputy Minister of Youth, National Service, Sport and Culture Pohamba Shifeta said about the NTN’s five-year strategic plan: “This strategic direction looks at the market positioning of the institution within the broader heritage landscape, its own development as an institution, the development of audiences; the training and development of both staff and the artist, improving on stakeholder management and networking and provision of quality and diverse programs and activities.”

He however went on to say that the development of the NTN alone within the industry will not help to improve the development of all art forms. “There is a need for coordination and dialogue for resource sharing and establishing a common vision amongst the institutions dealing with heritage development,” he said. Shifeta said it is therefore “imperative to invest in the development of our artists and the arts and culture institutions.” Thaniseb added that “we should not underestimate the power and the potential of cultural spaces such as the National Theatre as social partners for change and transformation. To underscore the growth and transformation of the arts and culture landscape, we acknowledge and celebrated the achievements of our theatre and film practitioners through an award ceremony broadcasted by NBC across Namibia, last December, an event set to grow in statue and value.

A broader and a much representative and participatory NBC/MTC Music Awards will be held this year,” he pointed out. “The above sectors once guided, coordinated and developed will contribute handsomely to the GDP of the country,” said Thaniseb.

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