Arterial Network is a dynamic Pan-African, civil-society network of artists, cultural activists, entrepreneurs, enterprises, NGOs, institutions, and donors active in Africa’s creative and cultural sectors. Established as a member-based, non-profit organization, Arterial Network operates all across the continent in both English and French, and is led by an elected Steering Committee which represents the five regions of the continent. Arterial Network’s five core focus areas to support the arts are advocacy, capacity building, market access, knowledge management and information dissemination. Its Continental Secretariat is now based in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, as of the 1st of February 2017. Arterial Network celebrated its 10th anniversary in March 2017 in Abidjan.
VISION
Arterial Network’s vision is to ensure a dynamic and prosperous African creative sector, engaged in qualitative creative practices that contribute to positive and lasting changes in governance policies, as well as cultural, economic and social living environments.
MISSION
Arterial Network’s mission is to create civil society networks of cultural role players and empower their work for the cultural dimension of development.
AIMS
The aims of Arterial Network are as follows:
- to build effective, sustainable in-country, regional and continental networks within and across arts disciplines to play advocacy and lobbying roles within countries, regions, on the continent and internationally as appropriate.
- to collect and distribute relevant information, data and documents to empower civil society arts and culture organizations in African countries and regions to plan and take informed action in their interests.
- to provoke debate, discussions and theorizing around arts, culture, creative industries and contemporary arts and culture discourses and to develop African positions and leadership on such issues.
- to help to build national, regional, continental and international circuits (festivals, outlets, etc.) to distribute African cultural goods and services and enable African artists to tour their works and to generate income through their creative output.
- to facilitate the training and development of human resources required to practice, distribute and market the arts and creative goods and services of the African continent.
- to mobilize local, regional, continental and international resources in support of the development, promotion and distribution of African creative goods and services.
- to improve the working and living conditions, and to defend the rights of artists and creative practitioners on the African continent.
CORE FOCUS AREAS
As a result of its members being present in English-speaking and French-speaking African countries, Arterial Network conducts all of its work in these two languages. Its activities are led by five core focus areas: advocacy, capacity building, market access, knowledge management and information dissemination.
Advancing Africa’s Creative Sector
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