Call for entries: 2020 Business Arts South Africa Awards

All creative mediums will be considered, including music, visual arts, dance, theatre, physical performance, architecture, fashion and design, as well as any other form of arts, culture and creativity. Where sponsorship of a project, event or organisation has been shared, every sponsoring company is eligible to enter.

This year, BASA introduced a streamlined, two-step application process:

• Phase 1: Submission of an expression of interest letter, from which eligible applications will be invited to continue.
• Phase 2: Those shortlisted from Phase 1 will be invited to complete an application via BASA’s new online platform.

The expression of interest letter can be submitted via email at awards@basa.co.za. The Phase 1 submission deadline is 27 August.

View the application process, guidelines and criteria here.

The finalists and winners in each category will be announced in November. BASA will recognise work done in 2019 and award partnerships in the following seven categories:

Community Development: Recognises business support for arts and culture projects enhancing their communities, whether through education, skills development, contributing to livelihoods or employment, tourism, or other growth opportunities in the community.

SMME: Awarded for vital support given to the arts by a micro, small or medium enterprise with up to 200 full-time employees and an annual turnover of no more than R10m.

Sponsorship in-kind: Acknowledging a business giving quantifiable and impactful non-monetary support to the arts. This may be through in-kind provision of equipment, materials, media or PR support, space, transportation or travel, or any other products or services, as opposed to monetary sponsorship.

Innovation: Celebrating the most innovative, cutting-edge and progressive partnership that served all partners’ purposes effectively. These breakthrough projects and partnerships should demonstrate great creativity, originality, reinvention, new methodologies, or technological/digital innovation.

First-time Sponsor: Awarded to a business supporting the arts for the first time, regardless of size, budget, whether it is CSI, marketing, HR, B-BBEE or other.

Beyond Borders: Awarded to a partnership that builds brand reputation and audience for both the business and arts partners across borders, through a project showcasing South Africa to the rest of the continent and/or overseas, or bringing international or intercontinental arts projects to South Africa.

Long-term Partnership: Recognising outstanding initiative and commitment to the arts over a longer period (at least one year) as an integral part of the business’s strategy. The value to the arts project, the broader community and the business, must be apparent.

In addition, two special awards will be made at the discretion of the BASA board of directors to celebrate remarkable contributions by individuals, businesses, and organisations to the sustainability of South Africa’s arts.

The categories for the special awards are as follows:

BASA Chairperson’s Advocacy Award: In recognition of sustained and extraordinary commitment to the arts in South Africa, in the form of advocacy and awareness initiatives and/or direct support for the arts, whether in a personal or professional capacity at a local, national or international level.

Diplomacy in the Arts Award: Recognising foreign missions that contribute to the development and preservation of the arts in South Africa, as well as the continued prioritisation of cultural diplomacy between South Africa and the international community.

"What hasn’t changed is the commitment of both BASA and Hollard to encourage excellence and innovation in the arts, as well as promote those mutually beneficial partnerships between business and the arts," BASA head of marketing Savannah Feeke-Fortune said. “The awards always strive to shine a spotlight on the diverse and imaginative relationships forged between the business partner and the creative projects, events and initiatives. The 2020 iteration is dedicated to its mandate of identifying artistic best practice, as well as recognising and celebrating these partnerships."

BASA Awards judge Khanyi Mamba added: “The BASA Awards are not just sponsorship awards. The awards recognise engaged collaborations between businesses and the arts. It’s easy to just hand over money. Building a sustainable, results-driven partnership is far more challenging and requires an elevated level of commitment from both parties. This is what we want to see.”

View original call here.