African ACES Trust

EMPOWERMENT THROUGH
EDUCATION

Development and production of digital communications across multiple media platforms in order to preserve cultural heritage,  promote nation building and assist in uplifting disadvantaged communities through transfer of knowledge, skills, education and inspiration from leading experts and icons in their fields. 

About African Arts, Culture, Education & Sports Trust

The African Arts, Culture, Education & Sports Trust (African ACES) is a registered NPO co-founded in 2012 by renowned storyteller, author and literary academic Dr Sindiwe Magona and veteran filmmaker Bjorn Rudner, in order to harness the power of media to inspire, entertain, motivate and educate audiences across South Africa.

With the understanding that in order to change attitudes and build a better future we need to start with children, the first pilot project created by African ACES was a Xhosa storytelling DVD consisting of a number of ‘iintsomi’ (fireside stories) presented by Sindiwe Magona entitled ‘Isilo Esoyisa Ingonyama’ (or ‘Stronger than Lion’).
African ACES has since partnered with communities, sports and education based NGO’s to create specific projects in these sectors.

Following Bjorn Rudner’s two previous cultural arts television series “Voices of Africa” (SABC1) and “Omang?” (Who are you?) screened on ETV, the National Heritage Council and the National Lotteries Commission partnered with African ACES to produce a 26-part television series entitled “Kwathi ke kaloku…” (Once upon a time…), a traditional storytelling series in isiXhosa and Afrikaans, currently in release.

Welfare and Humanitarian programmes

Healthcare programmes

Land and Agriculture programmes

Education and Development programmes

Culture and Herit​age programmes

Conservation and Environmental programmes

Sport and Development programmes

Kwathi ke kaloku…Promo:

Promo for the traditional Xhosa storytelling series"Kwathi ke kaloku...(Once upon a time...). Produced by Bjorn Rudner through the African ACES Trust and funded with a heritage grant from the National Lotteries Commission and the National Heritage Council.

African ACES vision

To develop and produce audio-visual communications using multiple media platforms to promote nation building through preservation and promotion of our cultural heritage and to transfer knowledge, skills, education and inspiration from leading experts and icons to assist disadvantaged individuals and communities uplift their lives.

About the Organisation

Our belief is that every young person in South Africa deserves the best opportunities in acquiring knowledge, inspiration and education in order to uplift their lives and provide the best possible future for themselves and their families.This belief is shared by numerous personalities who have reached the pinnacle of their professions – people who are able to motivate, inspire and educate others.

Our mission is to harness the knowledge and inspiration of these African ‘aces’ through the power of television, radio, print and new media – and to develop mass and niche media opportunities to distribute their knowledge across the nation in order to motivate and empower individuals and communities to provide a better future for themselves.

Our Values

Robert Louis Stevenson said: “Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.” Our team is unified by the desire to create media programmes that make a difference to people’s lives – programmes that provide a transfer of knowledge which ultimately inspires and empowers the audience to take significant steps up the ladder of self-sustainability.

To achieve this, we are committed to plough back our knowledge, skills and experience into all of our projects and while doing so, work with integrity, maintain the highest ethical values and treat our partners, funders and beneficiaries with respect and humility.

African Art Group

African Art Group is an African Aces initiative that is helping artists from across South Africa to get recognition and exposure in a very difficult market. The website allows people from around the globe to view and even purchase art pieces from the artists. 

www.africanartgroup.org