PENMAC Audio Visual is nominated for a Small Business Award in the 2013 Business Day BASA (Business and Arts South Africa) Awards and they couldn’t be more ecstatic: “It was during the Mediatech Exhibition that PENMAC received the unexpected news of being nominated as finalist in the annual BASA awards supported by Anglo America,’ says Malcolm Finlay, Director at PENMAC Audio Visual.
“We feel very privileged to be part of this national award which has been made possible through our involvement over the past year with the Johannesburg Youth Ballet Company. The enthusiasm of this young cast under the direction of Mark Hawkins has been inspirational to us all as we watched passion advance way beyond reward. WATCHOUT is used in the production to provide visual stage backdrops as well as stream all audio content,’ comments Finlay.
Other nominees include the Johannesburg Stock Exchange for its work with the Three2Six School for Refugee Children, which has seen it nominated for an Increasing Access to the Arts Award; Rand Merchant Bank, which in 2013 has earned nominations in the Long Term Partnership Award category for the Johannesburg Youth Orchestra Company’s Instrumental Training and Development project; as well as two nods in the Youth Development Award category for the Durban Music School and the Dance XChange Project. The spectrum of business and arts partnerships celebrated by this year’s Business Day BASA nominations is impressive.
“What we are clearly seeing with the nominations for several big and medium sized enterprises is the ROI that partnering with an arts project can bring,’ comments Michelle Constant, CEO of Business and Arts South Africa. “This is a strong signal to South African business that working with an arts project is far more than a feel good exercise but brings shared value.’
Chairperson of the judging panel, Dr Andrew Human, notes the evolution in the range and quality of entries this year. “There is definitely far more recognition of the mutual benefit and value that arts can lend to business, as opposed to seeing a partnership with the arts as a charitable sponsorship.’
A total of 12 categories were open for entry in the 16th annual Business Day BASA Awards.
