The AFH Artist Solidarity Fund is a short-term intervention set up to provide immediate relief to artists, art students and creative practitioners based in the Durban area in the context of the COVID-19 crisis. The Fund seeks to centralise efforts to help lessen the burden of various financial insecurities caused or aggravated by the current crisis. In this process we aim to create a database of working artists and creatives, as well as arts-based students and graduates based in the wider Durban area.

As we enter level 4 of the lockdown, artists and the families they support continue to face dangerous loss of income as well as platforms for exhibiting, performing their work, resulting in a variety of difficulties from food and housing insecurity to an inability to purchase basic needs for survival. Our cash payments to artists are aimed to ease some of this financial stress.

The AfH Artist Solidarity Fund committee has successfully paid out the first round of disbursements for the month of April.  We raised a total of R43085.35 in 9 days and paid 77 verified applicants a total of R559.55 each. We hope to make a second round of disbursements at the end of May and are focusing our efforts on fundraising for now. We will make an announcement as soon as the application process is open again. The amount provided to artists is entirely dependent on the amount we are able to raise as well as the number of applicants.

We hope to work together to prioritize those vulnerable sectors such as working artists and creatives, as well as students from the creative disciplines, as their work is not only essential but is often carried out at great personal sacrifice and cost, since artists often have no stable source of income or employment. During a time in which what we consider essential is in the spotlight, we wish to highlight the role of artists in creating, experimenting and dreaming for presents and futures of social justice, freedom, healing and solidarity, by extending our own solidarity and support for this crucial work.

 

How to donate to the Fund?

You can make a direct deposit to the following account:

Account Name: Art For Humanity

Bank: Nedbank

Brach: 130126

Account Number: 1301289353

Account Type: Cheque/Transmission

Reference: ALP

 

The AFH Artist Solidarity Fund has an online donations page here. All the funds raised go directly to vulnerable artists, and the families they support.

https://www.payfast.co.za/donate/go/artforhumanity.

 

AfH PBO Status 

AfH is a public benefit organisation (PBO No. 930020636). Donations are tax deductible.

 

Arts Lives Project (ALP)

DUT’s Faculty of Arts and Design (FoAD) is involved with different projects as part of its Arts Lives Project (ALP). AfH is one of the Faculty’s Community Engagement Projects. FoAD communities (staff, students, graduates, partners and other stakeholders) are encouraged to include ALP as part of the donation reference.

 

Who can apply? 

This fund is specifically designed to serve artists, art students, graduates and creative practitioners.

This includes, but is not limited to, performing artists, designers, technicians in creative industries, musicians, composers, choreographers, visual artists, filmmakers, craft artists, teaching artists, dancers, writers, photographers, etc. Creatives facing food and income insecurity or not having the means to acquire essential items for survival need apply.

 

For now the application process is closed. We will make an announcement as soon as the application process is open again along with details on how to apply. 

 

How does the application verification process work?

AfH has established a Working Committee that will ensure the applicant information captured through the application process is processed with urgency and transparency (information is not shared with third parties, without prior permission.).  All supporting documents (ID’s and CV’s are checked) and all references are called. Applicants with missing supporting documentation are called and provided with alternative methods to send documents. e.g. Whatsapp

 

NOTE:

  • Applicants must reside in the EThekwini municipal area.
  • Only one application per individual
  • No organisations are allowed to apply.

 

Our purpose is to extend our solidarity and support, making sure artists and creatives who are vulnerable during this crisis do not feel alone or abandoned. A longer term goal of having a growing database of artists allows us to facilitate ongoing solidarity and mutual aid work, towards a more resilient and supportive local arts community in the wider Durban area.

 

With gratitude,

Art For Humanity

admin@artforhumanity.co.za