Africa’s share of global arts economy less than 1%

Executive Director of the African Arts Institute and
Arterial Network secretary general Mike van Graan
speaking in Nairobi - (Pictures courtesy Thabiso Mashaba)

By Andrew Mulenga

The first conference on the African Creative Economy which took place in Nairobi recently was attended by more than 120 delegates representing 36 countries.
Running from December 4 to 7, the conference interrogated arguments such as "Assessing markets in the global south", "The contribution of the creative economy to African cities and the potential for an African creative cities network", The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs): development, culture and the creative industries and Reducing dependency among other things.
Organised by the Arterial Network,  a continental network of artists, cultural activists, arts NGOs,  the event was the first of what is planned as an annual conference that rotates from region to region. The Conference also coincided with the election of a new continental steering committee for Arterial seeing Ghana's Korkor Amarteifio take over the reigns from Zambia's Mulenga Kapwepwe.
Highlighting the purpose for having such a conference to start with, Arterial Network Secretary general Mike van Graan, who is also executive director of the African Arts Institute based in Cape Town observed "By understanding the creative economy, we as artists hope to understand how our creative practice may be more sustainable, how we might generate the income we need to pay our rent, put bread on the table, prepare for our old age, etc."
In a presentation entitled "The creative economy, development, culture, human rights and democracy in Africa: joining the dots", van Graan stated "There are at least five possible answers as to why a conference on the creative economy should be held in the first place, and those are Economic, Developmental, Political, Strategic/advocacy and Sustainability".
On Economy he stated: "Over the last 30 years, the creative industries have made major contributions to national and regional economies in the global north with Japan, the USA, China, the UK and Germany accounting for more than 50 per cent of global exports in the creative sector. With Africa’s share of global trade at just over 2 per cent and its share of the global creative economy at below 1 per cent, the creative industries are promoted as areas of potentially huge growth that will boost Africa’s global trade position. And yet, we have to ask: if the creative industries are such major contributors to economic growth and job creation in the north, why is the sector facing such dramatic cuts in Europe at the moment?"
As for development, van Graan observes on a more positive note that the 2015 deadline for the Millennium Development Goals - most relevant to Africa - is fast approaching and the creative economy is being advanced as a key contributor to the economic growth believed to be necessary to realise the MDGs.
On his third and political assessment he observes that: "Embedded in creative products are ideas, world views, aesthetics and values so that as primary importers and consumers of television, movies, literature, music, etc, we in Africa imbibe these, assuming the values, aesthetics and perspectives of others, thereby eroding our own identities and cultural traditions in the process. Thus are we challenged to project our perspectives into the global market of ideas, to have a creative voice that will speak our stories, assert our perspectives, share our values through creative products."
On strategy and advocacy, he observes that "given the lack of support for the arts by African governments who generally deem it a luxury in the context of other development or vote-catching needs, we in the arts community believe that by showing the economic impact of the arts, politicians will be better disposed towards investing in the arts."
In conclusion, van Graan states given the conditions on the African continent, the challenges with regard to development, the challenges of democracy and human rights, the challenges of poverty and inequity, Africa's starting point, in his view, should not be economic growth or development, but rather human rights and freedoms, and a pursuit of creative industries and the creative economy should be to serve human rights and freedom, rather than have these fundamental rights subservient to economic growth.

Arts should fall under tourism ministry - Kausa

By Andrew Mulenga

Seasoned critic and contemporary Zambian art historian, Roy Kausa, has called on the new government to place support of the arts under the Ministry of Information, Broadcasting and Tourism rather than the Ministry of Chiefs and Traditional Affairs.

Art critic Roy Kausa is also condemned the
rebranding of the Zambia tourism logo and slogan

"I am appealing to government to quickly consider the arts to fall under the tourism ministry. Then with the help of stakeholders the ministry can identify which people can sit on the National Arts Council from the various arts disciplines," said Kausa in an interview early this week "The minister of tourism should call a meeting where the creative community can sit down and map a way forward otherwise I see no future for the arts if they fall under the ministry of chiefs and traditional rulers, because tourism as well as art is dynamic. Let culture related issues be handled by the chiefs and other traditional rulers"
Kausa also argues that disunity, modest education and a general lack of seriousness within the ranks of the arts fraternity has been detrimental to the advancement of the arts since Zambia's independence.
"Let me amplify on this one, first of all let me say for the past 47 years, Zambian artists have not been sincere with themselves, sincere in the sense that we are probably the only country in the sub-region without proper academic education in the arts and lack of serious recognition from government," he said, also highlighting what he observed as anomalies within the creative and tourism sectors early this year.

Fally Ipupa

"Look at what happened recently in the previous government. If we (the arts fraternity) had fallen under a serious ministry. I don't think the ministry would have allowed the Zambia Tourism Board (ZTB) to allow a foreign musician to come and be the face of a re launch or help rebrand Zambia's tourism slogan," argues Kausa "Even if you look at the new logo 'Let's Explore' for me thats a national disaster. I'm also appealing to the minister of tourism to investigate what happened, how did they change from our beautiful logo 'Zambia The  Real Africa'. I know there was a lot of money that ended up in the pockets of whoever came up with this funny idea."
Early this year Congolese Rhumba star Fally Ipupa performed at Lusaka’s Taj Pamodzi Hotel to launch the new ZTB brand under the slogan ‘Zambia: Let’s Explore’, much to the displeasure of local artists, prominent among them Maiko Zulu, Chairman of Zambia Association of Musicians (ZAM) who expressed great disappointment by ZTB’s decision to sideline Zambian artistes.
Ironically, as much as the likes of Kausa, Zulu and local artistes at large may show disappointment at ZTB's invitation of a Congolese artist to 'rebrand' Zambia, the ZTB marketing gimmick seems to have done quite well if this year’s Zambia Institute of Marketing awards are anything to go by. "Let’s Explore" has been nominated in the Best Brand Marketing Campaign of The Year and the Board itself has been nominated for the "Best Product Launch Of The Year".
Nevertheles, back to  Kausa, he had no kind words for the National Arts Council's and the Ngoma Awards, saying they need an entire revamp.

The new tourism logo as launched
by Congolese artiste Fally Ipupa 

"For years now, the National Arts Council has lost direction that is why arts bodies have collapsed. I therefore find it prudent that honourable Given Lubinda an artist  himself should take up the arts under his ministry it would be easier for him to identify which leaders in the arts who can provide a formidable arts council as it was under Mumba Kapumpa's leadership. Kapumpa worked closely with people who had a vision... like Martin Phiri for the visual arts and Webster Malama in music... in fact what's what made things work not just because he is brother K," he explains "And the giving of awards to artists of late has been a big joke. These are just events for people to come together to drink and eat, what should be done is at least after every two years the NAC works closely with the business community. Giving an artiste K1.5m is a joke, imagine converting that to dollars, its peanuts. First prize should be something like K100 million per prize. It’s supposed to be a life-changing moment to win a national award."
Kausa says what artists need first of all is unity so that even the government can recognise them as partners and not the 'beggars' that they have been for the past 50 years or so.
Kausa has written critically on the arts for over three decades and has contributed to publications such as the Zambia Daily Mail, Lusaka Lowdown and The Zambian Traveller. He has also written several exhibition catalogues and has played the role of curator. Kausa sits on the board of the Lechwe Arts Trust.

The old tourism logo

Kausa's cry evidently comes from the fact that the Zambian creative fraternity have for a long time felt orphaned as they have been handed over from ministry to ministry since Zambia's independence.
Public grants to support the sector are as good as non-existent. The National Arts Council (NAC),  a statutory body governed by an Act of Parliament is supposed to oversee such support. By definition, its role is as clear as it was formulated to mediate, regulate and provide technical support needs to artists of various back-grounds and forms. On the practical front, NAC is grossly underfunded, disenfranchised and not as organised as well as it should have been.
Current statistics show that NAC – which is also the mother body of the Visual Arts Council – has regrettably not lived up to its own mission statement - "To facilitate the development, promotion and nurturing of all forms of amateur and professional arts practice countrywide".
As a cultural entity it competes for funding with several other cultural bodies, and as a governing body its core areas of patronage have been divided across several line ministries. This has not made its work any easier. Ironically these are problems that the previous government itself acknowledged by means of a disclaimer in its National Cultural Policy (2003, p6):

"2.7 Administration and Co-ordination of Cultural Affairs. The Cultural Sector cuts across a number of line ministries such as: 
a) The Ministry of Community Development and Social Services (under which the Department of Cultural services and the National Arts Council of Zambia fall); 
b) The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Services (under which Zambia Music Copyright Protection Society and film and cinema administration fall); 
c) The Ministry of Tourism (under which the National Museum Board and National Heritage Conservation Commission Falls);
d) The Ministry of Local Government and Housing (under which the administration of Chiefs falls); e) The Ministry of Science Technology and Vocational Training (under which the training of artists in col- leges falls); 
f) The Ministry of Home Affairs (under which the national Archives falls).
The above scenario raises the problem of co-ordination for effective and efficient delivery of cultural services to the nation."

It is under this gloom and neglect that fleeting subsistence from foreign granting bodies and embassies provide a glimmer of support. Under the PF, some of the ministries mentioned here may have been merged or scrapped all together. Nevertheless even as the new government settles in, there still seems no clarity or clear-cut policy that has been adopted to foster the arts industry vis-a-vis Zambia’s creative economy.

Matero Girls pupils call for government policy on art education

Education Post  deputy editor and Weekend Post  art columnist
Andrew Mulenga (l) addresses Matero Girls’ Art Club when the
pupil’s visited the newspaper’s offices to view it’s art collection

By Allan Mulenga

APART from art's crucial role in helping young people  express themselves freely, it is an important creative outlet for children of all ages.
Last week, about 30 Matero Girls High School Art Club members visited the Post newspapers head office to view the paper's corporate collection of paintings, as well as share experiences with Education Post deputy editor and Weekend Post art columnist Andrew Mulenga.
And 16-year-old Ziwase Nindi observes that many young people have a wrong perception of art.
The Grade 10 pupil, says most pupils do not know that art is complex in nature. "At our school most of the girls think art is all about drawing and most of them can’t draw. So, many young people have no interest in art," she says.
Ziwase urges pupils to generate interest in art, saying it enables young people to see the world and the human condition differently.

Kumbukani Zulu (art club club president) -
art is healing to the soul; it is the light
that shines in the darkest parts of our lives

"Art is not only a talent, but a skill that can be improved on over time. Through art we can get to know and understand things well," she says.
Ziwase also urged the new government to come up with a deliberate policy that would help develop art in schools.
"Art raises questions and compels us to think. Children have vivid imaginations and they need to be able to express them creatively. There are many great artists being born everyday but will those children know that they have a greatest artists within them if they are never exposed to the tools to create their art?," she asked.
And 16-year-old Kumbukani Zulu says art could unlock pupils' imagination and stir them to pause, think, and reflect on various aspects of life.
"Art is healing to the soul; it is the light that shines in the darkest parts of our lives; and art comes in an exemplary character that stands the taste of time," Kumbukani says.
The religious pupil says young people needed to take art seriously, just like God the creator, who is the great artist.
Kumbukani, who is also president  of the school art club , urged the PF government to take keen interest in issues relating to art.
Meanwhile, Education Post deputy editor Andrew Mulenga urged the pupils to develop interest in art-related activities.

Ziwase Nindi - art raises questions and compels
us to think. Children have vivid imaginations and
they need to be able to express them creatively

He explained that although there has always been a semblance of a creative industry in Zambia, the arts had been neglected as a sector by previous governments, and while it has always had a potential to grow as a professional fraternity it has never had much support, as such much of what is Zambian art is not documented.
"Seeing that there are no books on art in Zambia, I'll share some of my own writing that highlights more current issues that are surrounding contemporary art, the challenges visual artists face, as well as the lack of recognition from the public and the corporate community. But I don't know as yet what the new government has in store for the creative sector," he said as he presented them with copies of a 12 page conference paper on Zambian art entitled Exhibition Content: A Stillborn Birth In The Artist and Funder’s Matrimony that he delivered at the University of California in Los Angeles during a symposiumthe Arts Council of the African Studies Association early this year.
He urged young artistes to take time to read art-related educational materials wherever they can find them.
"Do take time to read this [his publication] and be inspired because art is still growing in Zambia and I am sure at some point it will be recognised, as long as people are still active and as long as people like yourselves continue to be creative," he said.
Mulenga challenged the pupils to look up to established artists for inspiration.
"Mingle with artists, visit exhibitions. Ask them [artists] questions and they will be very happy to share with you. Keep learning new techniques maybe painting here and there, then you will grow the passion. Luckily, entry to exhibitions in Zambia is free," said Mulenga.