Protea Takes the Lead in Corporate Cultural Support

An age-old song that has been sung by practitioners in the creative sector has been how they are underfunded. While they are expected to do the labour of giving the masses the means of experiencing their deep-seated or immediate feelings, they are often given the bridesmaid role in envisioning economic development. Protea Hotel by Marriott made a bold statement in playing host to a number of their corporate clients and partners for the second run of Mophato Dance Theatre’s “PULA! The Musical” as a show of financial and human capital support. J[ihc-hide-content ihc_mb_type="show" ihc_mb_who="1,2,3,4" ihc_mb_template="3" ] oel Thuto, General Manager of Botswana Television and board member of the recently launched National Arts Council of Botswana, likened it to Mbongeni Ngema’s Sarafina! – in whose footsteps this production seeks to follow – which had its Broadway premiere on 28 January 1988 and had 597 performances in the famed theatre precinct as part of its initial run. As a returnee, he exclaimed that he “couldn’t get enough of the show as our talent and our performers have truly raised the bar despite the challenges we know they face”. Open-minded These challenges were not lost on Protea Hotel’s Chief Operations Officer, Andrew Kamanga, whose outlook on how the corporate sector in Botswana may offset the load in the government inspires commendation. Kamanga advises that corporates must stay open-minded when it comes to matters of sponsorships – especially when it comes to artistic ventures – because while hoteliers might be willing to offset accommodation costs by providing temporary housing, there are other costs that creative producers must satisfy in order for their visions to manifest at cost rather than at a loss. Loss is something that the entity is familiar with as the naming, and primary, sponsor of the Masa Fashion Show – which, according to Sales and Marketing Manager Botho Mogami, will be making a glorious return later this year. The willingness to absorb financial blows on the behalf of a sector that is undoubtedly necessary but veritably undervalued is a clear example of Kamanga’s institution’s commitment. Where Protea Hotel chipped in BWP 500, 000 toward the realisation of the fashion and lifestyle affair, Kamanga attests that the return of over a million pulas’ worth of public relations imprint far surpasses understandable apprehension at the onset. “A significant piece of life” Musonda Chishimba Musakanya, Acting Managing Director of Access Bank Botswana Limited whose pan-African business acumen can’t be underplayed, firmly suggested that “we need to make sure that financing opportunities remain there for up-and-coming artists because if we don’t support the theatres and artists, we will lose a significant piece of life”. Confessing that the first time she ever saw a musical was a transformational experience that left a glow in her heart, Musakanya said “there is something good about seeing a live performance… attending theatre is something that needs to be encouraged”. On getting artistic practitioners and producers financed through the standard ways, Musakanya stated that while there is “no specific programme within the financial industry” for this sector, it isn’t necessarily something that they do not promote. Using her experiences with Access Bank as an example, she cited that in Nigeria – where the bank has its headquarters – some of the ways artists have gained support has been in giving them soft landings such as fronting their studio hire, rehearsal space, instrument acquisition, and other mundane parts that make the return on investment much richer when the artists they’ve believed in have found their success. Opening doors The present generation, Musakanya says, is more amenable to realising that the old school ideology of progress being going to school and getting a corporate-directed degree and the subsequent job-money-retirement trajectory isn’t the only way to live a full and valuable life. By extension she says “they view themselves as service providers as much as they are artists, acknowledging that while ‘I am able to do what I love, I am giving to the community and in return I am making a living, I am in serious business’”. As such, her advice is that for the industry to be mainstreamed is for more exposure and regular engagement of the public. While this may be true, speaking to Karabo Legoabe, Operations Manager and Producer at UJ Arts & Culture, it is evident that while Mophato Dance Theatre bore the weight of making the production happen, this doesn’t have to be the case. Legoabe – who co-produced the 2023 Naledi multi-award-winning musical, Hlakanyana! – says that producers need to “network because those are the people that assist in opening doors, even if they’re from what you’d consider a distant industry”. Even though 2020 was cast as the year the musical would be birthed to the world – as mentioned by Legoabe and MoMo Matsunyane in their acceptance speeches – it took a few years and over ZAR 100,000 for it to be realised. Kamanga, under the community-centric parent company RDC Property Group, has changed their charge to ensure that corporate social responsibility (CSR) is not merely a means to appease critics but an implemented arm of their growth strategy. Marriott played a vital role in providing quarantine location facilities at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic “which was a risk worth taking”. Now continuing their soup kitchens and shoe and blanket donations in Old Naledi, they’re acknowledging that “there’s a bigger scope that we have to focus on”. On the job learnership One such endeavour is their ‘on the job learnership’ with Botho University that affords scholars the opportunity to shadow and practise under present workers in the hope that they too may be ascended expeditiously to such roles without having to endure the gripes of cutting one’s teeth through the industry in moving from theory to practical delivery. Kamanga himself has taken up the mantle of directly mentoring some scholars with the intention of having them ready to assume managerial roles upon their graduation. The challenge to the corporate sector remains. Where there is the opportunity to suffer the loss of half a million, the prospective gains cannot be redacted. In the simple mathematics of profit, what goes in will (eventually) result in outcomes beyond imagination. In Kamanga’s words, “The government can’t afford to do all the financing work; that’s for us corporates.” Looking forward to events such as the All White Prosecco Soirée in September, an art exhibition in July, the launch of a new menu, and the return of the Masa Square Fashion Show in November, it is clear that Protea Hotel by Marriott is committed to holding on to the bull’s horns when it comes to supporting the culture sector. [/ihc-hide-content]

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