CALL FOR APPLICATIONS - CULTURAL LEADERSHIP TRAINING COURSE PROJECTS

APPLICATION  CLOSED.

This call is for applicants from English-speaking African countries and is aimed at high-level leaders within the African creative sector, representing civil society, government or the public sector. A similar initiative serving French-speaking African countries will be launched later this year.

THE CONTEXT

The African Arts Institute (AFAI) is a non-profit entity that works, in South Africa, in support of the creative sector across the continent. It also houses the secretariat of the Arterial Network, a continent-wide network dedicated to advancing the African creative sector.

Mindful of the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals, the African Charter on Human Rights and its protocols and UNESCO’s Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, the African Union’s Nairobi Plan of Action on Cultural Industries and the Belgrade Recommendation on the Status of the Artist among other international cultural instruments - the African Arts Institute locates itself firmly within the challenges and the abundant possibilities of the African continent.

The Institute’s core focus is two-fold, building leadership within the African creative sector, and building markets for African creative goods, services and artists’ brands.

The European Union’s Investing in People programme is the main thematic instrument of the European Commission for support of programmes in the area of human and social development. It is the only thematic programme which covers nearly all the Millennium Development Goals and all developing countries, giving priority to those in most need of assistance to achieve these goals. The particular areas looked at are education, health, gender equality, social cohesion, employment, childhood and youth, and culture. It supports activities under four main pillars: good health for all; education, knowledge and skills; gender equality; and other aspects of human and social development, which includes “culture”.

The African Arts Institute’s three-year continental Cultural Leadership Training Programme, is funded by the European Union’s Investing in People programme.

THE PROGRAMME

The three-year programme will lay the basis for five regional Training Hubs for Cultural Leadership, Train-the-Trainer and Entrepreneurship programmes. These hubs are being established by AFAI in Southern Africa, and by project partners Casamemoire in Morocco, serving North Africa; by Groupe 30 Afrique in Senegal, serving West Africa; by Doual’art in Cameroon, serving Central Africa; and by The GoDown Arts Centre in Kenya, serving East Africa.

The programme’s ultimate goal is to advance the cultural dimension of development and cultural diversity in Africa through improved cultural governance. The Institute proposes to capacitate skilled leadership to effectively formulate and implement policies and strategies, and to effectively manage civil society organisations and public institutions.

The programme will target leading arts professionals, government officials responsible for culture, those responsible for implementing cultural policy and others. Skilled leadership and effectively managed policies will benefit artists and cultural entrepreneurs as well as the general public.

The programme was successfully launched with a Southern African regional Train-the-Trainer course at the Goethe-Institut in Johannesburg during May 2012. Fourteen participants representing 10 Southern African countries successfully completed the course.

THIS CALL

This call is open for applicants from English-speaking African countries, to participate in the second course offered by the Southern African regional Cultural Leadership Training Hub.

This second course is in Cultural Leadership and Governance and is aimed at high-level leaders within the African creative sector, representing civil society or government or hold positions in the public sector.

This course will cover areas such as global economic and political structures; the history and political economy of Africa; international and African cultural policy instruments; African human development, economic, transparency, democratic, etc indicators; regional, continental and international opportunities and challenges for the African creative sector.

The event, scheduled for Cape Town, South Africa from 6 to 16 August 2012 will take the form of seminars, lectures, debates, working groups with a high emphasis on participation, encouraging reading and critical thought, and equipping or sharpening participants with the theoretical and other relevant tools to be able to provide intellectual and political leadership within the African creative sector.

It is intended that the graduates of this training will be able to debate in public forums, represent their organisations in national, regional and international forums, write critical blogs, papers and articles, provide intellectually rigorous vision within their respective organisations and institutions, engage in cultural policy formulation and advocacy, and will be able continuously to research, read and synthesise the theoretical and relevant material. Furthermore, they will have had opportunities to network and build relationships with participants from other countries on the continent.

Click here for more details on eligibility and application procedure