About the Committe

Objective: To stimulate collaboration and create a shared platform that provides accessible information to artists, agents, labels, managers, and other creative businesses and promoters interested in conducting business on both continents.

 

Motivation:

All our efforts can amount to nothing if they are not aligned with government priorities. We would like to join forces with the embassies and consulates of Canada, Mexico, Colombia, the USA, Cuba, Chile, and others in Latin America and Southern Africa, to ensure a warm welcome for creatives from Canada and the Americas entering the markets of Southern Africa and the PALOP, through our initiative. Similarly, we aim to collaborate with the embassies and consulates of the PALOP and Southern Africa in the Americas to jointly promote the circulation and distribution of African cultural products in Canada and the Americas.

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In discussion:

From our perspective, the Arts Councils could help forge this relationship by becoming invited members of our Roots En Route Exchange Network, exploring medium- and long-term partnerships together to accelerate professional development and mobility in the arts. The questions that arise are: What types of resources can we collectively offer to maximize exchange? What is the role of Foreign Affairs departments regarding the creative economy and the exploration of new markets? What are the existing investment and exchange opportunities, and how can we access them?

About the Committe

 Objective: To influence collaboration and the tour circuit for women in the arts and literature in the Americas and Southern Africa.

 Motivation:

 The fight for equality continues to be on the global agenda, although the reality in America differs from that in Africa. What pathways can enable women from Southern Africa and the PALOP to have a voice in forming partnerships with women in the creative industries in the Americas, without needing to go through a traditionally male-dominated business world?

 In discussion:

 Is the approach in the Americas aligned with the visions and traditions of African women? How can we create a mechanism to support each other in an environment of respect and shared beliefs? What are the real challenges, and what actions can be taken? Can festivals and spaces on both continents play an important role in accelerating the integration of women into decision-making roles and facilitating tours and professional development?

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About this committee

Objective: To explore markets, venues, and festivals while stimulating collaboration and exchange between the Americas, Southern Africa, and the PALOP.

 

Motivation:

While the Americas discuss the economic impact of the creative industries, artists and creators from the PALOP strive to find alternatives to the regime imposed by post-independence governments, which place the creative industry outside their agendas and priorities. This results in agreements with European entities that are discussed without the involvement of the local creative sector, creating an artistic elite serving the embassies and the government. On the other hand, we see in Southern Africa the example of South Africa, which presents itself as a hub of creative development in the region, where we believe it has a leading role in this network.

 

In Discussion:

What are the opportunities for the PALOP in Southern Africa and the Americas, and vice-versa? When and how can one apply, considering the language barrier? What are the main challenges and possible solutions? What is the role of agents and managers, and how can they operate in both markets? What should be done if there is no representative? How to deal with visa and tax issues? How can we influence the government to support the network, and what are the requirements to be included in the governmental agenda annually for the next three years? Does the creative industry play apart in the strategies of government cooperation agreements? If not, why? Whatcan be done to reduce the language barrier? How can we introduce an exchange that emphasizes collaboration with the Francophonie, Hispano-Latin, and PALOP?

About this committee

Objective: To connect galleries, artistic residencies, and artists from both continents. To develop national and international collaboration projects focusing on artistic residencies for visual artists and artisans, as well as the creation and production of exhibitions, conferences, training, exchanges, and art publications.

Motivation:

With the growing virtual exposure and the difficulties affecting the economy, especially in the Global South countries, which reflect in the accounts of galleries and in the pockets of artists, we are certain that new alternatives must be found.

In discussion:

From established to emerging galleries, how can we keep them sustainable? What sustainable methods and practices could we use to contribute to the sustainability of art spaces? What are the challenges faced by visual artists and artisans in the PALOP to stand out in the markets of the Americas and Southern Africa, and vice-versa? How can we establish a continuous effort to support artists in residency and continue developing new markets? What funding mechanisms are available that could contribute to the creation and mobility of these artists, both nationally and global? How can we use digital platforms as spaces for sharing, training, and artistic production? What are the main challenges in the circulation of artists and works between the continents?

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About this committee

Objective: To connect arts organizations focused on the education of children and young people for shared resources and potential exchange.

Motivation:

"Everyone has the right to freely participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts, and to share in the scientific advancement and its benefits." —Article 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Discussion:

Does this universal right apply to children and young people in the PALOP, when the priority for their families is daily bread? Can we succeed by following this model if children in the West benefit while children in Africa rarely have access to this right? Can we trust the government policy in the PALOP, which clearly makes no efforts to create access to the arts? How can we emphasize an exchange that brings benefits and provides experiences for children and teachers from both continents?

Aboutthis committee

Objective1: To create a discussion forum and provide a platform for artists, researchers, and professors from both continents to share resources and create a new narrative that recognizes Afro and Indigenous Arts as they are, or as presented by native and Afro artists. To allow scholars from the PALOP and Southern Africa to share their narratives in universities in the Americas. To enable BIPOC researchers from Canada and the Americas to share their narratives in Southern Africa and the PALOP. 

Motivation:

It is urgent to decolonize the theory of modernism (neocolonization), which practices discrimination and forces changes in Afro and Indigenous arts in almost every part of the world.

Discussion:

Why are traditional and contemporary art forms of Africans and Indigenous peoples often considered exotic or artisanal, while traditional Western art is regarded as classical? Who defines the value of African and Indigenous Art? How can we build a new approach to collaborations based on equality and mutual trust? Why is our traditional and contemporary vision always forced to conform to Western standards?

We believe in the role of universities in restoring facts and repairing historical losses, whose impacts prevail in the recognition process by university professors who believe that Western knowledge is still the most valuable compared to African scholars. Can we work to present the arts with respect to our identities and excellence? What role can universities play in reducing negative impact and forging intercultural dialogue, accompanied by research that advances the new narratives of Afro and Indigenous arts globally?

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Objective2: To stimulate collaborative initiatives on topics of interest to both continents and create a platform for publications.

 Motivation:

We are motivated by the desire for inclusion, which is permanently denied in the corridors of global decision-making, placing our stories and knowledge in forgotten drawers or narrated by unknowns, diminishing our intellectual capacity. We are classified as minorities, of color, from the Global South, Third World, developing countries, among other adjectives, and we believe it is timely to change this narrative through the creation of journals, research, and academic publications focused on partnership and exchange between the continents.

Discussion:

Is the language barrier and isolation among the same challenges or benefits faced by Brazil in the Americas and Mozambique and Angola in Southern Africa? How can we stimulate scientific collaboration to accelerate the integration of research and publications on both continents, ensuring that publications can be translated and accessible? We are also concerned with understanding how we can stimulate collaboration between French-Canadian and Spanish publications to make them available in universities in Southern Africa. We would like to explore all possible ways to include more Southern Africans in journals and develop an intercultural student research exchange aimed at joint publications and professional development in matters related to the Creative Industries and the history of post-colonial arts.

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About this committee

Objective1: To stimulate collaboration and influence the acquisition of new markets for LGBTQ+artists, artists with disabilities, and those with language barriers.

Objective2: To ensure a network of festivals, spaces, and a platform for shared resources for queer artists on both continents.

Motivation:

(Dis)abilities in the arts, inclusion, and mobility.
The experience of queer artists in Southern Africa compared to the Americas.
Language barriers.

We are all equal according to the principles of human rights, and we are professionals like any others, so why is it so difficult for us to be included in most festival programs? Who advocates for us? An example is the experience of the Body Moves Festival in South Africa and the Solo para Maria project by Panaibra Gabriel Canda.

 

Discussion:

What is the risk of being a queer artist in Southern Africa? Do we have safe markets or festivals for queer artists? What would be the best approach to avoid conflicts with traditions in Southern Africa when presenting queer festivals or events? How can the Americas support queer artists from Southern Africa, respecting the realities of each country and their traditions, without imposing theories and practices that are only applicable in the Americas and often endanger people's lives when misinterpreted in Southern Africa?

Franco Connection:

How to create new routes for Franco-Canadian artists in Southern Africa while exploring collaborations and tour circuits among Francophone spaces in the region.

Latin America Connection:

How to create new routes for Afro-Latin America to connect with the PALOP and Southern Africa while exploring collaborations, similarities, tours, and exchanges.

 Asian Connection:

How to create new routes for Asian-Canadian artists to connect with the PALOP and Southern Africa while exploring collaborations, similarities, tours, and exchanges.

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