This Arts Fundraising Toolkit is one of a series of three developed to offer practical tools towards strengthening resources in civil society arts organisations throughout Africa. The other two are concerned with Marketing for the Arts and Advocacy and Networking for the Arts.
Project Management is a professional career for people who have the passion, personality type, drive and the expertise to thrive in the project management environment. It is also something that every person is confronted with at some stage of his or her life.
Everyone has to organise a birthday party or a function of some kind. Project management is more part of one’s daily life than we realise or even think of. The basic principles of project management can be applied in organising Sunday Lunch for a family gathering, managing the school drama competition, organising a national arts festival and building a bridge! This toolkit contains the practical guidelines for a best practice of Project Management.
The aims of this arts marketing toolkit are two-fold:
1. To provide African artists, cultural NGOs, creative companies and arts events with tools, resources and strategies to market their work more effectively within their countries and regions, and
2. To facilitate networking among those active in the African creative sector, in order to regularly share successful arts marketing practices.
There are many arts marketing manuals and materials from other continents. This toolkit tries to take into account the highly varied conditions on the continent and to provide case studies of successful marketing strategies for the African creative sector.
A new online toolkit, free to download, will guide and assist artists and arts organisations in the effective use of online and social media tools. The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Toolkit was developed by the African Arts Institute (AFAI) in partnership with the Arts & Culture Trust (ACT).
The toolkit provides an accessible online resource for anyone in need of advice on how to use everyday IT tools as effectively as possible. Its 45 pages cover new media platforms such as websites and blogs and social media tools such as Facebook, Twitter, Soundcloud and Vimeo. It also addresses recently popularized initiatives such as ‘crowd funding’.
Twenty-five Authors, Fourteen Countries in One Original Compilation
The e-book was produced as part of the Artwatch Africa project that aims to defend freedom of creative expression on the continent, and who better than the artists themselves to share their creative environment, their questions and their experiences.
How Free is Free? Reflections on Freedom of Creative Expression in Africa is above all a meditation on the artistic health of the continent, as lived and examined from twenty-five diverse, artistic viewpoints. This publication is a first for Arterial Network and it will be used as a tool to promote advocacy for freedom of expression and creative arts in Africa.
The Authors
Aisha Dème (Senegal)
Albie Sachs (South Africa)
Ayoko Mensah (Togo/ France)
Azad Essa (South Africa)
Boubacar Boris Diop (Senegal)
Chenjerai Hove (Zimbabwe)
Edgar Sekloka (Cameroon/ France)
Elana Bregin (South Africa)
Ellen BandaAaku (Zambia)
Gaël Faye (Rwanda/ France)
Hamadou Mande (Burkina Faso)
Jane Duncan (South Africa)
Jesmael Mataga (Zimbabwe)
Koleka Putuma (South Africa)
Lauren Beukes (South Africa)
Michèle Rakotoson (Madagascar)
Dr. Mohamed Abusabib (Sudan)
Prof. Patrick J Ebewo (South Africa)
Phiona Okumu (Uganda/ UK)
Raimi Gbadamosi (Nigeria/ UK)
Saad Elkersh (Egypt)
Sade Adeniran (Nigeria)
Sami Tchak (Togo)
Sylvia Vollenhoven (South Africa)
Yewande Omotoso (Barbados/ Nigeria)
Artwatch Africa Review 2014
Culture is both an enabler and driver of development in ways not fully appreciated by governments or society.
Culture, however, is not neutral. Culture embodies worldviews and values that influence how we perceive and interact with others. Because of Culture some cultural groups exert dominance over other cultural groups. Despite the clarion call to celebrate cultural diversity, cultural difference remains a major cause of marginalization, repression, xenophobia, conflict and war. The divisive aspects of culture need to be addressed; abuse of the rights of human beings cannot hide behind culture. Research has shown that the arts can play a role in bringing people together, in breaking down barriers, in facilitating understanding, tolerance and appreciation of cultures other than our own. Art is not just an expression of identity and culture, a means of social cohesion, a means to earn a living, it is also an important agent of change.
Freedom of expression is an essential condition for the practice of art, but it is only one dimension of artist rights, and artist rights are of course firmly based in human rights. This is the challenge that engages Artwatch Africa, to promote and defend these rights. The project is young, the challenges are enormous, but Arterial Network and like-minded partners, organisations and individuals have embarked on the journey with enthusiasm and commitment. There is much work to be done to conscientise artists, governments and society as to the intrinsic value of arts and culture for the wellbeing of our cities, countries, continent and its peoples. It is also a journey of discovery into the diverse contexts and ways of working in Africa. The experiences of the past year, presented in the Artwatch Africa Review 2014, have helped identify many of the concerns but have also precipitated hope and vision. Hope in an improved rights-based future, and the vision of thriving arts communities playing a significant part in development and democracy across Africa.