Art Moves Africa – Retracing Roots and Tracing New Routes: Mobility and Touring in North Africa

4.
Support the
structuring of the
arts and culture
sector(s) in
North Africa
—
QUOTE:
« Grants are there for artists to concentrate
on the artistic and not the economic sides
of their work. That’s where grants get
interesting. I would never have travelled as
much in Africa if I hadn’t had the help I got.
I received AMA grants, grants from the Institut
Français, which was much more open and
generous; it was a different system.
It changed my outlook once I was on the spot;
I wasn’t caught up in the same calculations,
the same deception and disillusionment.
It’s important that those kinds of structures
continue to support artists’ travels.»
Hind Benali,
Dancer and choreographer, Compagnie Fleur
d’orange, Casablanca/Nouméa*
—
With visa issues the most frequently cited
obstacle to mobility, it seems vital to work
to reverse the dramatic trends currently
underway through advocacy, monitoring
and information-sharing:
100
Conclusion & Recommendations
Strengthening mobility goes hand in hand with
strengthening the cultural sector as a whole. Various
stakeholders can participate in advocacy efforts
for the following objectives:
4.1 Advocacy for increased public support for
arts and culture, especially in countries which have
the budgetary capacity to do so (e.g., Algeria)
4.2. Advocacy for greater transparency about public administrations’
and international organizations’ budgets and
allocation of funds
4.3. Multiply opportunities for trainings for cultural managers
4.4 Encourage grassroots-level organizations to federate,
organize and advocate for greater structuration at the
local level
5.5 Reduce dependency on foreign organizations and cultural
institutes
5.
Advocate for freedom
of movement for
artists and cultural
practitioners
5.1. Create spaces for debate, exchange, solidarity and information-sharing
to emerge amongst cultural actors as a first step towards improved advocacy,
for example through round-tables at events
5.2. Monitor cases of visa refusals and build database
5.3. Create a secure hotline that artists / cultural operators can contact in
case of emergency (Tamizdat in the USA could be a model)
5.4. Advocate for true bilaterality and equitable treatment at the level of European
and other foreign cultural institutes
5.5. Advocate for freedom of movement for artists and cultural operators at
the national and supra-national levels, namely by leveraging Article 16
of the UNESCO 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the
Diversity of Cultural Expressions