Mintirho ya Vulavula is about arts, culture, development and democracy. It is an important addition to the arts, culture and literary space as it shines light on the importance of centralising arts, culture and heritage in the building of a democracy.

The book magnifies the value proposition of arts and culture in social cohesion, socio-economic transformation and nation building. It brings together seasoned and young cultural practitioners and artists to debate how the cultural sector can be transformed not only to be inclusive, but also to respond to the contemporary challenges facing humanity. Its themes cut across time and space, capturing the past, analysing the present by exploring how we have reached where we are, and asking what options we have for the future. Some of the key questions that contributors to the book seek to answer are:

• How do the arts and culture shape society and its collective imagination? This question, which cuts across time limitations as denoted by the past, present and future, interrogates the long-term role that the arts play in processes of nation and identity formation, and social cohesion.

• How have the challenges and possibilities for the arts been altered, or in some instances remained the same, before and since 1994? This question addresses issues of archiving within the art. This should be viewed in its broadest sense, going beyond just documentation, to include issues of what can and cannot be said by those in the margins.

• What has been the contribution of the arts to the present order in South Africa – socially, economically, ideologically?

• How have globalisation and the domestic socio-economic system influenced not only the arts as part of the creative economy, but also the syncretic strands that make up our rich cultural heritage?