Joseph Gaylar (picture provided); Tribuo logo: https://www.tribuo.co.za/tribuo-paying-it-forward/
The Tribuo Fund, as part of their Tribuo Sessions series, held a conference on 5-7 June 2025 at STIAS in Stellenbosch. Discussions and presentations focused on how leaders and creators are navigating change, driving innovation and shaping the future of the arts in South Africa.
Joseph Gaylard tells Naomi Meyer about his presentation at the recent Tribuo conference.
What is your role in the arts? Please tell our readers who you are.
I am an independent researcher, writer and collaborator in the cultural field, and until recently I was the head of the Johannesburg office of Pro Helvetia, the Swiss Arts Council.
Do elaborate on your specific presentation at this year’s Tribuo conference.
The talk was titled “The sound of philanthropy” and explored a case study of a Covid relief fund that fell under my strategic management in the context of my work with the Swiss Arts Council. A private Swiss foundation contributed more than R62 million to income relief grants over a six- to 12-month period, for more than 700 jazz musicians across South Africa. The fund operated with remarkable efficiency through trust, speed and anonymity, and raised interesting questions about the role of philanthropy in the South African context. While there is substantial data on public funding, corporate social investment and sponsorship in the arts, there is very little information about philanthropic contributions, with the 2021 Nedbank Giving Report suggesting that the arts have a 0% share of philanthropy giving. While this figure does not reflect the substantial and “noisy”/high-visibility contributions to arts infrastructure (such as Zeitz MOCAA, the Javett Centre, the Norval Foundation), it also does not reflect the significant “quieter”/anonymous contributions to various festivals and institutions, much of it happening in the realm of Afrikaans-language/culture projects. The talk noted both the special value and the untapped potential of philanthropic giving in our context: significant and usually unrestricted finance capable of long and deep investment, with generally low or no administrative demands, underpinned by relationships of trust and shared values. The need for better data on arts philanthropy in South Africa was highlighted, alongside the need to promote good practice and models for this form of giving through (for example) instruments such as endowments.
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The talk noted both the special value and the untapped potential of philanthropic giving in our context: significant and usually unrestricted finance capable of long and deep investment, with generally low or no administrative demands, underpinned by relationships of trust and shared values. The need for better data on arts philanthropy in South Africa was highlighted, alongside the need to promote good practice and models for this form of giving through (for example) instruments such as endowments.
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Artists think about the arts. Maybe they don’t even think about the arts – they create because they have no choice. However, artists need money to create more art and to pay their bills and to receive funds to keep creating. Please tell me about the mutual relationship between arts and money, and any other factors relevant which were discussed at this conference.
One of the points also made in the talk was that research that came out of the income relief fund showed that jazz musicians, on average, earn at a level similar to teachers – contrary to the popular image of impoverished musicians. At the same time, it also showed that this income is precarious and inconstant, and that most artists are not in a position to invest properly in the kinds of benefits that attach to formal employment, such as medical aid and retirement annuities or pension funds.
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There is a need to dispel myths about artists being unable to support themselves, but also for industry bodies such as Tribuo to push strategic interventions that speak to this fundamental challenge of precarity. And for us not to fall into the trap of thinking that artists must all now become businesspeople in order to solve this issue, noting that while some artists are highly successful entrepreneurs, others have talents that are more limited or focused on their core craft as artists.
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There is a need to dispel myths about artists being unable to support themselves, but also for industry bodies such as Tribuo to push strategic interventions that speak to this fundamental challenge of precarity. And for us not to fall into the trap of thinking that artists must all now become businesspeople in order to solve this issue, noting that while some artists are highly successful entrepreneurs, others have talents that are more limited or focused on their core craft as artists. Again, philanthropic funding can play a significant role (as the case study demonstrates) in addressing the needs of the latter group in a very simple and targeted way.
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The post Tribuo Conference 2025: an interview with Joseph Gaylard first appeared on LitNet.
The post Tribuo Conference 2025: an interview with Joseph Gaylard appeared first on LitNet.