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Arts organisation ASSITEJ SA has launched legal action against the National Arts Council (NAC) over what it says is the maladministration of the government’s promised stimulus fund.

This action is supported by Im4theArts, SAUCCIF, ASSITEJ SA, TADA, TDEA and others.

The NAC said it was not aware of the court action.

Yvette Hardie, director of ASSITEJ SA — a national network of artists, educators, organisations and institutions across the country — said that through this legal action they wanted the NAC to properly support artists.

“It is utterly unacceptable that after a year of closure and continued uncertainty, the arts and culture sector — the very sector that helped the world cope with lockdown through music, literature, film — continues to suffer injustice.

“Artists are, quite literally, starving, and instead of supporting organisations to retain jobs and stimulate the economy, as was the purpose of the grant, the National Arts Council has in fact made organisations more vulnerable and the situation more precarious,” Hardie said.