ARTerial Kenya

Launch Of Arterial Kenya Chapter

The Launch of the Kenya Chapter took place on November 2, 2010 at the Kenya Cultural Centre.

The following people were elected into leadership
Elected Country Representative/Chairperson: Joy Mboya
Elected Steering Committee Members:
Aghan Odero
KimaniwaWanjiru
Nancy Onyango
Boaz Adhengo.

ARTerial Network Reading Group 2011

Discussion Papers and meeting venues TBA.

ARTerial Network Reading Groups 2010

 The aim of the group is to encourage debate and responses on topics and their relevance to African conditions so that gradually, we may begin to see the emergence and documentation of the position and views of African

civil society organizations and individuals working in culture. The group meets  last Tuesday of the month at 5.30 pm at Alliance Francaise (3rd flor Multipurpose Hall located in the city center Monrovia street.

History of the reading Groups
At its cultural policy seminar and subsequent Steering Committee meeting in Nairobi in November 2009, it was agreed that Arterial Network would establish a number of in-country reading groups of 3-10 participants who would meet fortnightly (or at least monthly) for two hours to read about, debate and write responses to current international cultural discourses and themes.The purpose of these reading groups is to develop greater understanding of these themes, to develop responses to these from within varying African conditions and to help to build African leadership in the ongoing debate.

Reading groups are structured around the following themes:

1. The cultural dimension of development: what is its relevance today?
2. Understanding the creative industries and its importance within Africa, particularly in the light of the Nairobi Plan of Action on Cultural Industries
3. Intellectual property rights within an African context
4. Climate change and its impact on culture, cultural diversity and culture and development
5. The UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions and its relevance to Africa
6. Intercultural dialogue, cultural diplomacy and its meaning for Africa
7. The Recommendation on the Rights and Status of the Artist and its applicability to African countries
8. Culture, the arts, human rights and democracy in the African context
9. Artists’ mobility within Africa and between Africa and other continents

Depending on the interest shown, the Secretariat – together with country representatives – will establish reading groups around these themes. Initial meetings of the group will debate a paper on the relevant theme commissioned by Arterial Network.

Monthly seminars

It was agreed at the Arterial Network conference to establish a programme of monthly seminars around themes that would be discussed in countries around the continent. This would be both to inform the arts community and public about these themes, but also to develop responses to these and so feed into the reading groups. It is envisaged that by the end of 2010, substantial papers would have been developed on these themes that could be published by the Arterial Network and represent its positions on these themes.

The agreed monthly themes resonate with the reading groups and are:

February: The cultural dimension of development and its relevance to Africa today
March: Understanding the Creative Industries and its importance – if any – to Africa
April: The Nairobi Plan of Action on Cultural Industries: a civil society response
May: Climate change and its relevance to culture, cultural diversity and culture and development
June: The UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions: Just another document?
July: Intellectual property rights, piracy and collective ownership within an African context
August: Intercultural dialogue and cultural diplomacy

Country representatives will work with partners in their country to host these monthly seminars. Introductory papers on these topics will be provided by the Cultural Policy Task Group.