Art Talk takes on 'The Media & Us'

Art Talk returns next month with the theme ‘The Media & Us’ - an open discussion on cultural and entertainment reporting in Namibia. It will be held on February 10 at the FNCC Cinema and starts at 18:00. Art Talk is an initiative of the Franco-Namibian Cultural Centre to get those who love art talking. It is about sharing experiences, voicing differing opinions, but also finding common ground and developing agendas for the advancement of the arts in Namibia across the arts disciplines. ARTNam is a voluntary organisation founded recently with the aim to improve on the business parameters within the arts industry and to further the status of the individual artist in Namibia. ARTNam approached the FNCC in 2015 with the proposal to ‘tackle’, at the first Art Talk in 2015, a subject matter that is close to the selling artists, i.e. those who have dared to step out of their studios, rehearsal rooms or dance classes to present their work to a wider, buying public. It is the objective of ‘The Media & Us’ (us being the artists) to enter into discourse with the media, that is radio, television, newspaper and IT platform, with the aim to better understand each other’s position. For it is no secret – as much as the artists depend on the media to sell their product, it is similarly vital for the media to draw from the pool of artistic content and activity available to fill their entertainment supplements and radio waves to please their clients. Thus ‘The Media & Us’ is an attempt to nurture the symbiosis that exists. A part of the aspiration is to raise awareness for the need within the media to improve on critical and substantiated cultural reporting. Representatives of the media and media stakeholders will be given opportunity to present policies related to their cultural and entertainment sections, if available, and/or to share their editorial, commercial and/or organisational aspirations as well as constraints with the plenum. Selected representatives will be requested to make presentations and will thereby, hopefully, prepare the ground for fruitful discussion. And you never know – where there are artists involved and a potential audience – one might be witness to a surprise presentation or two. Artists from across all disciplines are encouraged to partake, as are members of the general public, who have an interest in the subject matter. For further information interested people can contact Isabel Katjavivi at the FNCC at 061 387330 or or Ernst Herma from ARTNam at 081 122 3709.