A practical understanding of business is fundamental for a career in creativity. Henley Business School’s newly launched MBA for Music and the Creative Industries seeks to strengthen, professionalise and maximise the profit potential of the creative industries in Africa.
During the 2014 Design Indaba, Henley Business School held a competition among Conference delegates, speakers and exhibitors with a MBA Music and the Creative Industries scholarship worth R220 000 up for grabs.
The strategic trinity of success is creativity, commerce and culture; each impacts the other. There is a dire need for more intellectual curiosity, says Ravi Naidoo, founder of Design Indaba.
The recipient of the scholarship went to Johannesburg-based designer-maker Mia van Zyl. Founder of m!a design & make, Van Zyl specialises in creative fabrication, model building and puppet making.
Through m!a design & make I have the honour and privilege of collaborating with and learning from various talented individuals and companies, thereby nurturing and developing my greatest assets: my creative talent, technical ability and academic strength, combined with my love for collaborative effort, says Van Zyl.
The scholarship was awarded to Van Zyl for her commitment to creativity and for her detailed international work.
I feel totally overwhelmed and deeply blessed that I am the recipient of such a life changing opportunity, says Van Zyl.
After seven years as a self-employed creative, she receives the “nudge” to really excel, especially in a business sense.
Jon Foster-Pedley, Dean of Henley Business School Africa, said: “We launched this scholarship to support the design and creative industries. They are, in many ways, the future of Africa.”