The National Arts Festival (NAF) seeks to appoint a dynamic, highly networked Artistic Director on a 5-year renewable-term contract.

The Artistic Director builds the soul of the festival. They set the artistic vision and curatorial identity that make Makhanda the place where Africa’s artistic future is imagined, created, discovered and shared with the world. The role is to make NAF the leading contemporary African arts festival of the next 50 years, defined by quality, relevance, discovery and international reach rather than size alone.

ROLE OVERVIEW

The Artistic Director reports to the Chief Executive Officer and, with the CEO, forms NAF’s executive leadership. The Artistic Director is accountable, jointly with the CEO, for the creative agenda: artistic vision, programme quality, commissioning, artist relationships, the Fringe, Young Artists and international artistic exchange. The Artistic Director chairs an Artistic Committee of practising artists, curators and sector experts, which advises on programme selection, recognition and artistic standards. The programme and production team reports to the Artistic Director. Other management functions report to the CEO but work directly with the Artistic Director where the artistic programme requires it. The Board provides strategic oversight through the CEO and its Artistic Programming subcommittee, approving the artistic framework without directing programme selection.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Artistic vision and curatorial identity

• Articulate a compelling, distinctive vision for NAF and a multi-year curatorial strategy.
• Curate across disciplines: theatre, dance, music, comedy, visual art, literature, film, digital and interdisciplinary work.
• Take forward the broader demographic, linguistic and cultural representation achieved in recent programmes.
• Embrace the full cultural spectrum, including popular culture, indigenous African forms and new technology.
• Lead a NAF New Works programme that commissions new theatre, dance, music, interdisciplinary and emerging-artist projects, with development funding, rehearsal support and mentorship.
• Build pathways for successful productions to tour after the festival, nationally and internationally.

The Fringe and discovery

• Run the Fringe as an innovation laboratory that champions unknown companies, young artists and experimental work.
• Restore the festival’s reputation as the place where audiences discover what everyone will be talking about the following years.

African and international programming

• Build a strong programme with artists from across the continent, connected to South African artists.
• Develop artist exchange and co-commissioning agreements with festivals in Africa and around the world.

Artist development

• Champion artists’ economic benefit from the festival, working with the CEO on an Artist Development Fund and career support beyond Makhanda.
• Lead emerging-artist and youth programmes, including a New Voices initiative.

Audiences and legacy

• Programme for young audiences without losing existing patrons.
• Work with the CEO and Makhanda stakeholders, including Rhodes University, to shape year-round creative programmes.
• Contribute to digital content and to the use of the festival’s 52-year archive.
• Be a self-starter, able to work independently without direct day-to-day supervision;
• Be able to manage large budgets and take accountability for expenditure;
• Work under pressure and tight deadlines;
• Be a strong communicator and highly consultative in style;
• Demonstrate resourcefulness and creativity in working within financial constraints; and
• Contribute to the Festival’s fundraising activities through the identification of partnership opportunities.

All applications must be submitted via the online application form below.

Applications submitted by email or through any other channel will not be considered.

Employment Equity statement of intent

Employment Equity is not just a governance imperative for the National Arts Festival – it is a critical part of us being a Company that acknowledges, understands, reflects and celebrates the diversity of our country which, in turn, enables us to be the more effective and relevant in the work we do. And so we strive to make appointments that ensure that our team composition reflects that diversity.