Speech delivered by Ismail Mahomed at the Opening of the 2010 Hilton Arts Festival.

A daily newspaper, a secondary school and an arts festival .... these are three agencies in our society who are central to the way in which we access information, reflect on it, process it, and act on it.

The Natal Witness, Hilton College and the Hilton Arts Festival ... this is a powerful partnership particularly because it exists at a time when our societyis grappling with the possible imposition of a new censorship law that will curbthe way in which we will be able to access information.

Artists are like the media. Through their creative expressions artists disseminate information. They contextualise ideas. They reposition our thoughts, they allow us to reflect on our world. They force us to be critical. They engage our minds in analysis. So, it is inevitable that with any kind of anassault on media freedom, an assault on the artistic freedoms of artists will also be likely to follow.

Given the past history of South Africa, we have been witness to how censorship can be a debilitating cancer which eats into all forms of expression that is artistically and I or politically controversial.

In the old South Africa, Anna Sewell's 1887, novel, Black Beauty, which spoke about animal welfare but also about how to treat people with kindness, sympathy and respect was banned. The Nationalist Party government could ban any material if government bureaucrats deemed the work to be obscene, depraved, immoral or a danger to the State. And we all know just how subjective those morals judgements were!

Post 1994, the pending law-suit against political cartoonist Zapiro is awonderful case in point of the attempts to curb media and artistic expressionthat is politically critical and controversial.

As vocal as we are about the freedom and independence of the media, weneed to be equally adamant that the creative spirit, of our artists must also always remain free.

The freedom of our artists to express themselves through theatre, music, dance, photography, and other art forms is already threatened by a funding climate that makes it incredibly difficult for most of them to work sustainably. We need to ensure that the freedoms of our artists will not be further curbedby pressure from lawmakers, prosecutors and self-appointed guardians ofmorality, taste and political whim.

John Kani: Opening of the Witness Hilton Arts Festival

11 SEPTEMBER 2008

Ladies and gentlemen, I want to begin by thanking the two major sponsors of this unique arts festival which is a meeting of the community of arts practitioners and the people of this region.

The partnership of artists and business is as old as the bible, if not older. Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and all the other artists of their time did not paint those great paintings in the hope of selling them to some buyer or art gallery so that they could live. Oh no, they were commissioned to produce that work. That means they were funded by Popes, Kings, Emperors and very rich individuals. Mozart, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky and many other composers of our classical music inheritance, they too played for Kings, Dukes, Emperors and nobility - and were actually paid / subsidised. This then proves, without doubt, that the partnerships between business and arts are essential for the development of arts and artists in our country. To Nedbank, The Witness and all other sponsors, your contributions to this important festival must not only be seen as a social responsibility but as an investment in preparing our younger generation, which includes your children, to become better citizens of this country.

This great institution, Hilton College, has a reputation of having produced some of our leaders in politics, education, business, and in the arts as well. One of South Africa's greatest actors, Richard Haines, comes to my mind; Richard Green, an award winning film maker, and many others have left their footprints on the grounds, halls and classrooms of Hilton College and have, later, also left grand footprints on the South African landscape of life.