Morgan Ndlovu, Student no 0000141H, MA thesis, School of Arts, Faculty of Humanities, 2006. email: mn59@sussex.ac.uk / The emergence and development of tourism attractions in inner cities throughout the world has given rise to a number of scholarly debates in the academic study of urban tourism. While academic scholarship in the field of urban tourism began with the cities of the developed states mostly in the 1980s, the emergence and development of tourism initiatives in the inner cities of the developing states in 1990s has drawn a great deal of attention to the South as well. This research explores the emergence and development of an inner city tourism initiative in the form of a craft project known as Beautiful Things. Beautiful Things is a two-year-old craft project located at Newtown’s Cultural Precinct, in the inner city of Johannesburg. The project was inaugurated at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in August 2002, and has since its relocation to the inner city of Johannesburg in December 2002, contributed significantly to the physical, social and economic regeneration of this area. The study of this project is very important in that it is shedding some light on the role of heritage and cultural industries in rejuvenating declining inner cities. It gives light on how Newtown Cultural Precinct as a whole functions within the inner city of Johannesburg. In spite of this project’s role in the development of the Johannesburg inner city, Beautiful Things has not yet been explored for academic research. This research on Beautiful Things is set to be informative on a number of theoretical issues underpinning the development of urban heritage and cultural tourism in general and the development of tourism in Johannesburg. The findings of the study of Beautiful Things hopes to reveal important international trends on the development of heritage and cultural attractions in inner cities and to elucidate a number of similarities in the development of tourism policies across the cities of the world. This research begins with a chapter on the international experiences of heritage and cultural tourism developments in inner cities and is then followed by a study of Johannesburg’s tourism policy and strategy developments. Both chapters are vital in providing the context under which Beautiful Things came to emerge in the inner city of Johannesburg, performing an important role of regenerating the declining inner city. The last part of this research is an empirical confirmation study of physical, social and economic contributions of Beautiful Things in the inner city of Johannesburg. The research is informed by theories of neo-liberalization, local economic development, and inner city regeneration.

Abstract: The emergence and development of tourism attractions in inner cities throughout the world has given rise to a number of scholarly debates in the academic study of urban tourism. While academic scholarship in the field of urban tourism began with the cities of the developed states mostly in the 1980s, the emergence and development of tourism initiatives in the inner cities of the developing states in 1990s has drawn a great deal of attention to the South as well. This research explores the emergence and development of an inner city tourism initiative in the form of a craft project known as Beautiful Things. Beautiful Things is a two-year-old craft project located at Newtown’s Cultural Precinct, in the inner city of Johannesburg. The project was inaugurated at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in August 2002, and has since its relocation to the inner city of Johannesburg in December 2002, contributed significantly to the physical, social and economic regeneration of this area. The study of this project is very important in that it is shedding some light on the role of heritage and cultural industries in rejuvenating declining inner cities. It gives light on how Newtown Cultural Precinct as a whole functions within the inner city of Johannesburg. In spite of this project’s role in the development of the Johannesburg inner city, Beautiful Things has not yet been explored for academic research. This research on Beautiful Things is set to be informative on a number of theoretical issues underpinning the development of urban heritage and cultural tourism in general and the development of tourism in Johannesburg. The findings of the study of Beautiful Things reveal important international trends on the development of heritage and cultural attractions in inner cities and elucidate a number of similarities in the development of tourism policies across the cities of the world. This research begins with a chapter on the international experiences of heritage and cultural tourism developments in inner cities and then follows by a study of Johannesburg’s tourism policy and strategy developments. Both chapters are vital in providing the context under which Beautiful Things came to emerge in the inner city of Johannesburg, performing an important role of regenerating the declining inner city. The last part of this research is an empirical confirmation study of physical, social and economic contributions of Beautiful Things in the inner city of Johannesburg. The research is informed by theories of neo-liberalization, local economic development, and inner city regeneration.

In 1998, the national Department of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology published a document aimed at the growth of culture industries in South Africa (DACST, "Creative South Africa", July 1998). Focussing on aspects of economic growth which this development could generate for South Africa, it nonetheless points to issues of cultural understanding which need to be addressed. Projects aimed at the development of arts and culture in South Africa have followed troubled paths. While projects aimed at establishing discourse for this development have succeeded on many levels, the imperatives of showcasing, rather than implementing cultural concepts appropriate to South African contexts, have tended to dominate. When the Dakawa Art and Craft Project was established by the ANC, in 1992, in Grahamstown, as the locus for the deve! opment of an arts and culture discourse in the liberated South Africa, all seemed set for success. Yet, less than four years after opening, the Project was closed. While speculatory reasons for closure tended to focus on financial and administrative problems, the basis for this closure had its roots in problems of cultural understanding manifesting themselves at the Project. These reflected a lack of cultural understanding on the part of the ANC and SIDA, the Swedish administrators sent to the Project, and the lack of clear cultural guidelines on the part of the trainees to the Project itself. These reasons for the Project's failure are integral to an understanding of arts add culture development and needs in South Africa today. As other projects, aimed at the same issues of development grow, an understanding of the history of the Project's failure is essential, for it poses questions still in need of answers. Part One examines the historical significance of the Dakawa Art and Craft Project between 1982 and 1994, recording the reasons for its establishment, the path of implementation it followed, and the cultural misunderstandings it posed to development. Part Two examines the cultural context of the trainees to the Project, followed by an account of the printmaking teaching practice, and the effects of cultural concepts on two printmakers trained during the Project's initial establishment, at the time of South Africa's political transformation.