Durban’s Caroline Smart, veteran entertainment journalist and editor of the popular KZN arts website, artSMart has been honoured by the National Arts Festival (NAF) for her unbroken 25 years’ coverage of the NAF as a member of the media.
News of Smart’s achievement is an added feather in the cap of the KwaZulu-Natal arts commu-nity after local production houses received Ovation Awards, which acknowledge excellence on the Fringe programme.
The local winners were Bhakti (Flatfoot Dance company); Crushhopper (Mandisa Roeleene Haarhoff and Ntokozo Madlala – Pietermaritzburg); Paperboy (2 Tone Productions); and To be like this Rock (Umsindo Theatre Projects).
Smart was acknowledged for her year with the former D’ARTS Magazine, produced by the Durban Arts Association, the radio programme Durban After Dark, hosted by the late Monica Fairall on SAfm, and various Durban newspapers. She also covered many Grahamstown events during the years when she worked as a magazine producer for television arts programmes.
The main outlet for her coverage, though, is on a voluntary basis for this website and artSMart celebrates its 12th year of existence this year. She also writes a Durban column for the prestigious ClassicFeel magazine and occasionally writes for Tonight.
Director of the Festival, Ismail Mahomed, said over these years Smart has given enormous exposure to a diverse group of artists. “For many such artists, this kind of exposure is often one of the most important platforms to catapult their careers even further and to grow their audiences. In recent years, you have also embarked on a programme to nurture younger writers to continue in your fine tradition of honest and structured reporting of the arts. This is an incredibly wonderful legacy that you are investing for the future growth of both the South African arts sector and for South African arts journalism.
“I wish you continued strength as we look forward to the years ahead. Your passion to document and interpret the vibrant expressions of our artists, whose work defines us as a nation, is highly valued.”
Smart said she was honoured by the acknowledgement. “If I have achieved any success, it is mainly due to the hard-working and passionate arts practitioners in Durban and further afield in KZN. It was a very proud moment at the festival this year to attend the world premiere of Neil Coppen’s Abnormal Loads and to see a Durban artist being acknowledged and acclaimed at such a high level.”
Meanwhile, the NAF has announced its call for 2012 proposals, saying they are looking “for new and compelling work that raises the bar on excellence and innovation at the National Arts Festival”.
For more information on criteria and how to submit, see the NAF website.