PROPOSAL

Introduction

Arterial Network is a continental network of artists, cultural activists, creative enterprises and cultural NGOs operating in the African creative space. Our mission is to develop African music, theatre, dance, film, literature, craft, design and visual art in their own rights, but also to meet the challenges of development, particularly with the fast-approaching deadline for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The current popular uprisings in North Africa resonate with similar struggles for dignity, human rights and democracy all over the continent, from Angola, Ivory Coast and Zimbabwe to Chad, Gabon and Sudan. Even in relatively democratic countries such as South Africa and Senegal, it is necessary constantly to defend the political space for freedom of creative expression and critical engagement.

It is in this context that Arterial Network has launched national chapters in 18 African countries to date, with at least a further 12 launches scheduled over the next year. Effective struggles for change and the protection of progressive changes are contingent upon sectors of civil society organising themselves to advocate for, and to defend their interests.

The need for civil society organisations in the creative sector - taken for granted in the global north - is imperative in the global south generally, and in Africa in particular. The Brussels Declaration adopted at the end of the EU-ACP Symposium on Culture as a Vector of Development in April 2009, strongly advocates for the establishment of professional networks and civil society organisations to advance and defend the interests of the creative sector.

Countries in which we currently have national chapters are: North Africa - Algeria, Egypt, Morocco; West Africa - Benin, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Togo; East Africa - Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda; Central Africa - Cameroon and DRC and in Southern Africa - Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland and Zimbabwe. Countries in which Arterial Network chapters will be launched in the next six months include Burkina Faso, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria and Senegal.

Given the challenges and the relative absence of democratic practice across the continent on the one hand, and the lack of support for the arts from official structures on the other, it is highly unlikely that any of these civil society national chapters - much of whose responsibility will revolve around advocacy for better policy and funding frameworks and working conditions for artists - will receive financial or other support from their respective governments, or their public or private sector funding agencies.

It is against this background that we are inviting you (or your organisation/institution or network) to partner with us in growing vibrant and sustainable civil society National Chapters of Arterial Network around the African continent, and that could have financial and other benefits for your and/or artists and networks in your country.

In doing so, we would want to pursue some of the objectives and give practical content to UNESCO's Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, more particularly, the clauses that
a. encourage the active participation of civil society in the implementation of the Convention (Article 11)
b. encourage international co-operation in matters of cultural policy, building human capacity and the exchange of information (Article 12)
c. encourage countries in the global north to assist in the growth of cultural industries in the global south by providing access to markets for creative goods from the south, providing financial and technical support, facilitating artists' mobility to and in the north (Article 14)
d. encouraging developed countries to provide preferential treatment to cultural professionals and their creative work from developing countries (Article 16) and
e. encouraging international cooperation particularly to defend cultural practice and cultural diversity in the global south (Article 17).

In the context of the UNESCO Convention, we are inviting European cultural agencies, organisations, networks, institutions, collectives, enterprises and even individuals to partner with Arterial Network National Chapters in Africa over a period of up to five years in order to help build the respective national chapter into a sustainable entity that would last indefinitely, and play an effective role within and on behalf of civil society in the creative sector.

An Arterial Network National Chapter could operate with an annual budget of 30 000-50 000 Euros (depending on the country). However, we are seeking partnerships that are not simply about the European partner raising funds from their governments or funding institutions for the African partner. Rather, we are seeking real partnerships in which both parties benefit, that pursue the objectives of the UNESCO Convention and
a. generate funds through enterprise, collaboration and mutual respect
b. build capacity through technology and skills transfer and
c. provide platforms for African artists to be introduced to, and to access European markets, and vice versa

As a practical illustration of how this could work, imagine that a Spanish artists' network agrees to partner with the Arterial Network National Chapter in Mozambique. At the outset, they would agree on the terms of a generic protocol outlining the terms, expectations and goals of their partnership in which both parties articulate their respective aims. The goal of the Mozambique National Chapter might be to raise 30 000 Euros annually to take care of its operational costs, as well as an additional 30 000-60 000 Euros to be put aside in an endowment fund each year, so that by the end of the 5-year period, this fund would have 150 000-300 000 Euros to invest in order to generate annual income for the operational costs of the Network. The goal of the Spanish artists' network might be to facilitate residencies in Mozambique for their members, to use the Mozambique network as a platform to project Spanish work into the Portuguese-speaking or African markets and to undertake collaborative dance, theatre, music or other creative work. It might also be a strategic way in which to generate income for their members.

One way in which this latter objective could be pursued - and achieve an aim of the Convention - is to host an annual exhibition in Spain of 50 of works from the best Spanish artists and 50 of works from the best Mozambican artists. At the end of the exhibition, these works would be auctioned to the Spanish arts market, with every artist getting the reserve price that they had set for their work, and the profits then being split in an agreed manner between the Spanish artists' network and the Mozambican National Chapter. Similar partnerships can be undertaken in film, dance, music and theatre and there is much potential to grow cultural tourism markets that generate real income for both partners. If done properly, artists - and their respective networks - in both Spain and Mozambique stand to benefit and will be a different way in which to sustain artistic practice at a time of deep government cuts to arts funding and in recessionary times that impact negatively on arts markets generally.

In our view, the best North-South, European-African partnerships will
a. generate income for artists and their respective networks in both Europe and Africa
b. facilitate access to each other's markets and in so doing, meet one of the objectives of the UNESCO convention promoting cultural diversity
c. encourage international artistic collaboration that would lead to artistic innovation and renewal and
d. in the process, contribute to democracy, human rights and the realisation of the Millennium Development Goals

This, then, is to invite you to explore such a partnership with an Arterial Network national chapter. If you, your organisation, institution or network is interested in doing this, we would welcome an expression of interest that would not commit you at this stage, but that would open the way for further dialogue. If this is not appropriate for you or your organisation, perhaps you could pass this on to an organisation and/or individual who might be interested. Alternatively, you could provide us with the details of such an entity and we will make the approach ourselves.
Should you have any further ideas or advice regarding this approach, we would be happy to receive it.

One of our colleagues - Margerie Vacle - will soon be based in Europe with a specific brief to help to establish and manage these partnerships. She will be visiting Europe at the end of March, early April and should you wish to meet with her during that time, please indicate this, and she will contact you to set up a time that would be mutually convenient.

Thank you for your time.

Kind regards

Mike van Graan