Another annus horribilis?

Is it really a year ago that I wrote the last December/January editor’s note? It seems to have been just yesterday and many friends, colleagues and clients feel the same about the fast pace of time.

Many of us who are in the arts environment also feel that it has been a true annus horribilis, and with that I am actually repeating last year’s note. Instead of having improved, we feel that in the past year the arts and creative sectors have had even more drama than deserved, with disruptions at the National Arts Council (NAC), the South African Music Rights Organisation (SAMRO), the Market Theatre Foundation, and the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF). As Michelle Constant writes, ‘This has caused higher levels of tension in the sector, and deepening mistrust between agencies, staffing, the sector and broader society. It talks to the need for extremely rigorous governance and interrogation as we move forward.’ Perhaps all this contributed to her resignation as the CEO of Business and Arts (BASA)? But as she says, it has also made her more determined to stay in the arts sector and make her own mark and contributions. Her column in our magazine will continue and great plans are being made for those pages.

For us here at Creative Feel, all of these disruptions also mean that we have to work even harder to persuade clients to believe in and to invest in the arts. For the clients who still do so, we are really grateful and thank them. Actually, we are lucky to have so many loyal ‘old’ or, rather, ‘long-term’ clients and subscribers. We have some fantastic partnerships already in place for next year and are excited about these events that still make our arts sector the vibrant, colourful environment we all love, while providing work for artists and, of course, marketing budgets for Creative Feel – wonderful partnerships indeed.

To share our commitment to the environment – and to face a new exciting design challenge for the ‘Feel’ of our publication – we have decided to change the paper we are printing on. With this, our first issue on the new paper, we are entering a new phase and a time of greater awareness of the environment. We will be also changing how we package the magazine in order to get away from plastic once we have finalised the software we will use.

The whole Creative Feel team will be recharging their well-worn 2018 batteries over the next few weeks and we all wish you, our friends, clients and readers, a wonderful and restful festive season and a peaceful new year, hopefully with less disruptions, and instead full of possibilities for our country and the arts – both deserve it!

Lore