ARTISTS who like to interact with the media and fellow artists now have a new home in the form of an upmarket media art resource and media centre.

ARTISTS who like to interact with the media and fellow artists now have a new home in the form of an upmarket media art resource and media centre.

It has top-class facilities and it is the only centre of its kind in South Africa.

Established by Johannesburg-based businesswoman Vanessa Perumal, the centre aims to give South Africa's cultural, entertainment, sporting and corporate industries a place to engage with the media from across South Africa, Africa and the world.

Called the JT Comms African Media Resource Centre of Excellence, it was launched recently to leading cultural media expertise and key arts and culture industry stakeholders.

Guests were treated to sublime entertainment by Sibongile Khumalo, Lebo Mashile and Gcina Mhlophe with music provided by music specialist Nicky Blumenfeld.

Based in the leafy Johannesburg suburb of Craighall, the easily accessible centre features several meeting rooms, a press conference area, a room for conducting television and radio interviews and a wireless network for instant story filing.

Plenty of off-street parking, suitable Afrocentric décor and an inviting garden complete the facilities at this innovative venue.

"For years, I have had this vision of a physical space that would provide a warm, intimate venue for the media to engage with a broad cross-section of sectors, and now finally it is a reality," Perumal explains.

For Perumal, creating a place where connections can be made and where Africa's cultural terrain in particular, can be exposed to a bigger audience, is a major part of what she has always hoped to achieve.

"Most of my work has been in the cultural industries and I am passionate about what that industry has to offer the world," Perumal says.