IFACCA is delighted to announce the IFACCA African Chapter will today be officially launched in Harare, Zimbabwe.
The African Chapter will hold its first formal meeting today and tomorrow (29-30 April), coinciding with the Harare International Festival of the Arts. The Chapter was established during a meeting of IFACCA’s African members at the 4th World Summit on Arts and Culture in Joburg, South Africa, in September last year.
During the meeting, African Chapter members will discuss: IFACCA’s Strategic Plan, research programme, current projects (such as Good Practice Guides and ACORNS) and forthcoming IFACCA events, such as the 5th World Summit (Melbourne, Australia, 3-6 October 2011) as well topics specific to the region.
The African Chapter joins IFACCA’s Asian Chapter, as well as an active regional grouping of IFACCA members in Europe and the first stages of a group in Latin America. Sixteen of IFACCA’s national members and a further six affiliate members are from Africa. In March this year, IFACCA announced the African Arts Institute, led by Executive Director, Mike van Graan, as IFACCA’s part-time regional coordinator for Africa [link to AFAI announcement].
The Chapter will be chaired initially by Quresh Ahmed, the CEO of Bomas of Kenya and the Deputy Chair of IFACCA’s board.
Regional chapters comprise, in general, IFACCA’s national members. The purpose of regional chapters is to:
• build inter- and intra-regional networks between national and affiliate members of IFACCA, to promote understanding and enhance cooperation between arts councils, ministries of culture and other key cultural agencies
• promote a consolidated platform for the sharing and exchange of collective knowledge of arts councils and ministries of culture
• strengthen the capacity of arts councils and ministries of culture to meet the challenges and opportunities of policy-making and funding issues
• promote IFACCA at the regional level and assist in increasing membership
• undertake activities of interest to regional members that meet the objectives of the Federation.
More information on the African Chapter can be found in the Fact Sheet. News, publications and events relating to arts and cultural policy for each country in Africa can be accessed from the IFACCA directory: http://www.ifacca.org/directory/