Mandie van der Spuy
Posted on 27. Aug, 2009 by admin in Personality Profiles
Making Music with Mandie van der Spuy
Mandie van der Spuy’s name is synonymous with two of South Africa’s most iconic arts events: the National Arts Festival and the Standard Bank Joy of Jazz festivals. In her role as Head of Arts & Jazz Sponsorships with Standard Bank, she has worked actively towards mainstreaming the arts through its corporate social responsibility programmes.
Mandie is quick to point out that this is not a philanthropic venture by a key financial institution but rather a business investment in communities and sectors that reinforce the bank’s values and bottom line objectives. Be that as it may, a survey of her career is indicative of her dedication to the arts and over the years, she has been immersed in nurturing, developing and sustaining an immensely important aspect of a society.
What distinguishes Mandie’s work from many CSI managers is her very real knowledge of her sector, its dynamics, challenges and the creative spirits that make up this highly charged environment.
Her career started with the Market Theatre under the leadership of a theatre luminary Barney Simon. It was the beginning of a long relationship with some of South Africa’s foremost theatre spaces which also involved moving to Durban to take up the position of Head of Publicity and Public Relations at NAPAC during a particularly exciting time period that saw the birth of the Natal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Loft Theatre Company. Later she joined PACT as the Head of Marketing and Publicity and when the Head of PACT Drama Lynette Marais took up the post of Festival Director for the National Arts Festival, Mandie herself assumed the reins.
Ironically, her next career move to Standard Bank continued another working relationship with Lynette since the bank was the naming sponsor. She admits that she is exceptionally blessed to be able to combine her abiding passion for the arts with a career. Receiving a Chevalier Award of the National Order of Merit in 2007 from the French government was unarguably the highlight of her long career in the arts and corporate social investment. It was bestowed on her for her promotion of cultural exchange between France and South Africa that resulted in a number of joint projects with the three major exhibitions of the paintings of Picasso, Chagall and Miro the crowning achievements.
An ardent Francophile, her relationship with France goes back a long way and she holds an Honours degree in French Literature, a post-graduate degree in Theatre Studies from UCT, as well as a Master’s degree in Theatre Literature from the Sorbonne University, Paris. Mandie loves to travel, go for long walks and read.
