The increasing cooperation and exchange of ideas in the cultural and academic fields were among the aspects highlighted at last nights reception at the Ambassadors residence.
05/02/2008 ::
In his speech, the Norwegian Ambassador said that the wide range of academic fields represented by the grant- winning authors is indeed reflecting the extending academic collaboration between Norway and South Africa. The longstanding cooperation on development issues and science based fields are increasingly being accompanied by support to research focusing on more cultural affairs.
Several of the authors receiving grants sponsored by NFFO, the Norwegian counterpart of the Academic and Non- Fiction Author’s Association of South Africa (ANFASA) last night, have done extensive research in field such as indigenous food and knowledge as well as languages and culture.
The ANFASA- representatives thanked the Ambassador for hosting the event and expressed hope that the funds will help authors publish their work and boost their profile.
One of the judges selecting the winner projects, Mr Nhlanhla Ngubane stressed the importance of supporting “unsexy” things like book projects, as they are the very foundation of democracy, heritage and culture. His Excellency the Ambassador joined the judge in highlighting the important work done by ANFASA and their Norwegian counterpart. The leader of NFFO, Trond Andreassen congratulates all winners and participants.