This year SLF won funding from the National Lotteries Commission of South Africa to fund a ground-breaking and ambitious project which aims to collaborate, record and perform with Township musicians and other creative artists. The Artists so far nominated for this project are: DJ Sweetest- A reggae Artist from Ivory Park, Gauteng Bongz – A rapper from Welkom, Free State Pretty- A poet from Modjadji, Limpopo Simmah- A soul singer from Cape Town, Western Cape Tremaine Barnes- A singer from Kimberly, Northern Cape G Major O – A rapper from Cape Town, Western Cape T Man- A gqom artist from Durban, KwaZulu-Natal Portia- A singer from Durban, KwaZulu-Natal TCIYF- A skate punk band from Soweto, Gauteng These chosen musicians will write and record songs with our production team (Arthur Collier and Leif Petersen) for inclusion on a forthcoming release of ‘State of The Nation’ – a concept album reflecting on 25 years of democracy in South Africa. Recording is ongoing, and the album is due for release and free download in June 2019. The recording and collaborative process with the artists is being filmed and documented by SLF team member Kayla Petersen for a full-length documentary in conjunction with Substance Films. The documentary will track the progress of the artists and the SLF team through the production process, and detail the importance of creative arts in promoting sustainable livelihoods. We will be posting a series of single/video releases in the new year in the lead up to the album launch.