CASE STUDIES FROM AFRICA

Categories of Members 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Literature 9 14 16 25 26 27 19 15 18 16 31 54
Choreography 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 3 3 0
Drama 1 1 2 2 4 2 0 9 7 7 10 293
Graphic and plastic arts 3 6 9 2 10 2 5 9 13 21 31 42
Total 76 122 108 260 767 470 297 439 370 303 549 930
Source: Bureau Burkinabé d’Études et d’Appui-Conseils (2012). Étude sur les impacts du secteur de la culture sur le
développement social et économique du Burkina Faso.
To complete this first inventory of cultural service providers, we propose to use the distribution
of activities by cultural sectors (Table 19) used by the government and consulting agencies in all
recent reports on cultural industries. It shows that Visual Arts and Crafts is the most important
cultural sector in terms of both employment and incomes. The expansion and growing
production of the digital film market as well as the growth of radio and TV channels explain the
importance of the second sector (Audiovisual and Interactive Media). However, Plastic Arts
and Traditional Arts and Crafts, as well as Books and Press, primarily supply products and not
services. It is critical to note that the following description of the cultural industries, that follows
the distribution found in official documents, concentrates on cultural services only. There are
six main distinctive sectors (Visual Arts and Crafts, Audiovisual and Interactive Media, the
Music Industry, Performing Arts, Press and Books, and Cultural Heritage) to which two crosscutting
sectors can be added—cultural events and training and advisory services.
Visual Arts and Crafts
As stated above, the supply from these sectors mostly concerns the production of cultural goods
only. Despite an important number of actors involved in these activities (Table 13), there are
however a number of important missing players in the plastic arts supply chain able to provide
services, e.g., art galleries, agents, and auctioneers.
Table 13: Activities of Stakeholders in the Plastic Arts and Traditional Arts and Crafts
Activities Number % of Total
Creation/composition/collection 109 67
Conservation/restoration 12 7
Production/publication 34 21
Reproduction 14 9
Manufacture 43 26
Promotion/marketing 49 30
Distribution/sales 77 47
Funding 3 2
Training/advisory services 11 7
Source: BBEAC (2012). Étude sur les impacts du secteur de la culture sur le développement social et économique du Burkina
Faso.
Without these cultural services providers, the Burkinabe cultural industry would suffer from a
lack of recognition of the value of its cultural productions, and local traditional arts and crafts
would not be likely to command their proper prices.
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