The African Arts Institute (AFAI) was launched in February 2009 with a grant from Spier to establish an entity that would work in the creative sector across the continent. It was also launched to house the secretariat of the Arterial Network, a continent-wide body dedicated to advancing the African creative sector.
Africa has a wealth of creative talent and abundant natural and human resources. It is also a continent that faces numerous developmental and political challenges, many of which interface with culture. Artists and cultural workers play significant roles in addressing these challenges but conditions on the continent are not always conducive to the rights and the status that artists should enjoy.
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.
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POPCAP 2013 Awards - Applications now open!
The prize for contemporary African photography now open...