Ladysmith Black Mambazo
Pretoria – King Juan Carlos of Spain wants to see more South African music, films and crafts in their country, Spanish Ambassador Benavides Orgaz told Arts and Culture Minister Paul Mashatile during the signing of a cultural agreement between the two countries in Pretoria on Tuesday.
“For us, signing a cultural agreement with a country with such an important historical background is a luxury, hence we are saying bring more South African music, crafts and films to our country,” said Orgaz.
He added that Spain was committed to fighting poverty by creating more jobs in the arts and culture industry
Mashatile said in future, following the signing of the agreement, they would consider establishing South African Week in Spain, where they would take local artists to perform at various organised events in that country.
The South African minister said the signing of the cultural agreement would go a long way in strengthening people-to-people contact between the two countries.
“As we have said on various occasions, people-to-people contact is one of the key instruments to promote greater understanding and appreciation of one another.
“People-to-people contact is also the key that opens other doors of interaction, be it in the fields of trade and commerce, education, technology exchanges and many other strategic areas,” he said.
The minister thanked the Spanish government for its commitment to placing high on their agenda relations with the African continent.
“We are encouraged by the work done by the Spanish government to support the African World Heritage Fund. We thank the government and the people to support the Africa World Heritage Fund,” he said.
According to Mashatile, the agreement also opens new avenues for cooperation in the areas of book publishing, heritage preservation and museums, music, theatre, dance and film.
Development cooperation between South Africa and Spain started in 1995 and has matured into a meaningful partnership.
South Africa and Spain are interlinked by multifaceted economic relations and Spain is considered an important economic partner for South Africa. – BuaNews
