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Centre for the Creative Arts

The Centre for the Creative Arts (CCA) is an inter-disciplinary hub in the School of the Arts in the College of Humanities at the University of Kwazulu-Natal. The Centre plays host to four festivals which over many years have built a strong international profile for artistic excellence and for how the arts are engaged to advance social change and to strengthen South Africa’s constitutional democracy

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The Core

Values of the Centre

Teamwork

The Centre for Creative Arts works through a spirit of team-work and collaborative engagement. Staff at the Centre in the nature of co-creation, co-production ...

Integrity

Integrity is paramount to the Centre for Creative Arts. It informs everything we do and how we do it. We are committed to a high level of honesty, transparency ...

Trust

The Centre for Creative Arts recognises that transparency and accountability are critical principles for building trust with the Centre’s stakeholder com ...

Deadline Driven

The Centre for Creative Arts is a deadline-driven environment where the meeting of scheduled targets is essential for sm ...

Diversity

We embrace, value and leverage diversity and we ensure that all stakeholders are treated with respect and dignity.

Leadership

The Centre for Creative Arts recognises that transparency and accountability are critical principles for building trust with the Cent ...

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Our Creative

Team

Ismail Mahomed

Director

Ismail Mahomed

Director

With more than 35 years in cultural leadership Ismail Mahomed is a multi-award winning arts administrator and published playwright. His previous roles include serving as the Chief Executive Officer of the Market Theatre Foundation, Artistic Director of the National Arts Festival and as Senior Cultural Specialist of the US Embassy (South Africa). Working collaboratively with the Centre’s team and University leadership he provides strategic and visionary leadership for the Centre for Creative Arts and oversees its governance, management and administration.

Siphindile Hlongwa

Senior Administrator

Siphindile Hlongwa

Senior Administrator

Siphindile Hlongwa works as the Senior Administrator and Curator for the Time of the Writer Festival and Poetry Africa Festival. She attained her Bachelor of Technology degree in business administration and holds a diploma in drama studies obtained from the Durban University of Technology. She joined the Centre for Creative Arts in 2011, after working for the Siwela Sonke Dance theatre company and Eager Artists productions as a performing artist and an art administrator. Siphindile oversees the general office administration for the CCA as well undertaking responsibilities as the Centre’s Safety & Health Officer and Covid-19 compliance administrator.

Nonsikelelo Ndaba

Finance Officer

Nonsikelelo Ndaba

Finance Officer

Nonsikelelo Ndaba manages the CCA’s finances for the CCA’s varied festivals and operations by administering day-today financial transactions according to the University’s strict financial controls, policies and regulations. She supports the CCA’s festival curators in budget planning, administration and procurement as well as logging of all contracts and Service Level Agreements with suppliers on the University’s central control system. She administers all artist payments, productions fees and international payments for the CCA and she ensures that expenditure is incurred within the CCA’s approved budget. The CCA’s good financial health is maintained by her through regular reporting and her strict management of the CCA’s cost centres.

Chipo Zhou

Programming Manager - DIFF

Chipo Zhou

Programming Manager - DIFF

Chipo Zhou is the Head of Programming and Curator for the Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) since 2017 and has worked in the film industry for almost a decade and a half in various capacities. She sits on the Short Film Conference Board and previously on the Women Filmmakers of Zimbabwe Board. She has served on several local and international film festival juries as well as project selection panels for various residency programmes.

Sakhile Gumede

Special Projects & Community Engagement Officer

Sakhile Gumede

Special Projects & Community Engagement Officer

Previously worked as a peer educator under HIVAN at the UKZN and previous roles including programming the shorts section for the DIFF. His role includes talent search, community events organising, schools programme as well as the prison programme for the literature festivals. He is currently heading Isiphethu which is the industry programme for the Durban International Film Festival.

Lliane Loots

Curator - Jomba!

Lliane Loots

Curator - Jomba!

Lliane Loots hold the founding position of Artistic Director for UKZN’s Centre for Creative Arts’s annual international JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience – a festival that turns 23 in 2021. She combines her curatorial work for JOMBA! and the CCA with simultaneous holding of the positions of Dance Lecturer in the Drama and Performance Studies Programme at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (Howard College Campus). She has a Master’s degree in Gender Studies and completed her PhD in 2018 looking at contemporary dance/performance histories on the African continent. Loots founded her FLATFOOT DANCE COMPANY as a professional dance company in 2003 when it grew out of a dance training programme that originally began in 1994. As the artistic director and resident choreographer for FLATFOOT DANCE COMPANY, she has won numerous national choreographic awards and has travelled extensively in Europe, America and within the African continent with her dance work. Loots was awarded the Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres (Knight in the Order of Arts and Letters) by the French government in 2017 for her work (both artistic and curatorial) in the South African dance sector.

Nonjabulo Bhengu

Intern - Administrative Assistant

Nonjabulo Bhengu

Intern - Administrative Assistant

Nonjabulo Bengu provides general administrative support for the Centre for Creative Arts. She performs a diversity of roles that range from strategic administrative tasks to responsibilities that may seem mundane but which are essential for the smooth administrative operations of the Centre.

Nomvuselelo Myende

Intern - Social Media Content Creation Assistant

Nomvuselelo Myende

Intern - Social Media Content Creation Assistant

Nomvuselo Yende assists with researching from the archives and records of the Centre Creative Arts and is connected with developments and trends in the arts & cultural sector to develop and promote content for and on the Centre’s social media platforms. She works directly with the festival curators and has a functional relationship with the Centre’s marketing service provider to monitor and grow the Centre’s social media engagement with stakeholders.

Bash Siddiqi

Intern - Website & database Coordinator Assistant

Bash Siddiqi

Intern - Website & database Coordinator Assistant

Bash Siddique maintains the Centre’s web-pages by working with the CCA’s festival curators, marketing team and CCA director. He also participates in the planning of the Centre’s online festivals and events by providing strategic and technical support for the festivals. He also has a direct functional relationship with the Centre’s marketing service provider and works closely with the Centre’s Director to maintain the website as engaging for audiences, artists, stakeholders and attractive for potential new funders and partners.

Sheryl Ramphele

Intern - Research, Publications & Marketing Assistant

Sheryl Ramphele

Intern - Research, Publications & Marketing Assistant

Sheryl Rampele assists with researching content, audiences and opportunities for the Centre for Creative Arts. She works directly with each festival curator and over-all with the Director of the Centre and with the Centre’s Senior Administrator and the Finance Officer to obtain quotes, procurement and support general administrative tasks.

Sfundo Cele

Intern - IT & Audio-Visual Assistant

Sfundo Cele

Intern - IT & Audio-Visual Assistant

Sfundo Cele withs with maintaining inventories and systems for the Centre technical, digital and audio-visual equipment and resources. He administers systemic controls for the Centre’s stores, compliance regulations and safety protocols. He also provides IT & Audio-Visual support for the Centre’s events and oversee branding at all of the Centre’s public events.

Fezile Mkhize

Intern - Administrative Assistant / Officer Coordinator

Fezile Mkhize

Intern - Administrative Assistant / Officer Coordinator

Fezile Mkhize assists with the systemic flow of operations at the Centre by working closely with the Senior Administrator, Finance Administrator and Director to ensure that administrative systems are supportive and conducive for creating a welcoming and engaging space for the Centre’s employees, interns, artists and other stakeholders. She supports each festival curator in the build-up to festivals and works work closely as administrative assistant for the Centre’s resident fellows.

Thobile Maphanga

JOMBA! Curator Mentee

Thobile Maphanga

JOMBA! Curator Mentee

Thobile is a Durban based dance practitioner, creative collaborator and emerging writer with a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Information Systems and Drama from Rhodes University. She is currently reading for her post graduate degrees at the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal. She has worked both in corporate and artistic sectors and is interested in how these two worlds can interact and prove beneficial for all involved. Her recent work has been site specific and film based as she interrogates how we define and make purposeful the arts and the industry it sits in. She is passionate about engaging the public in dialogue around topical societal issues to find solutions for better living. And she is deeply interested in the various expressions of individual voices. Her dance career has spanned two decades, working with various South African Companies and choreographers. She has collaborated with local and international artists to produce independent work. She was a co-founder of The Rickshaw Collective, sits on the board of the Flatfoot Dance Company and is a part of the steering committee for the KZN branch of the I'm4theArts movement.