WHAT WE SHARED AND LEARNT FROM THE ZANZIGNITE PANEL SESSIONS

Ignite Culture EA
6 min readAug 2, 2023

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INTRODUCTION

What an event! Over a period of 3 days we got to meet, present, share, learn, agree, disagree, and form connections—all with the aim of advancing Eastern Africa’s creative and cultural industries and the creative economy.

Our ZanzIgnite panel sessions centered on audio-visual arts, a sub sector that cuts across the CCIs, offering opportunities for creation and dissemination across various sub sectors. We welcomed beneficiaries from 8 countries representing film, television, animation, photography, festivals, performing arts and music, virtual and augmented reality and CCI policy. These 8 beneficiaries interacted with delegates from our funding partners at ACP-EU Culture and OACPs, the programme implementing team at HEVA Fund and British Council, as well as CCI principals and policymakers from Tanzania and Zanzibar.

To capture the full depth and breadth of all that we shared and learnt in this article alone is impossible. However, we have all the details you need to follow the events that happened. We are putting out this content in the form of graphic recordings, short videos featuring the beneficiaries and the Ignite Culture partners, a 7 minute highlight video of the 3 days, a policy mapping toolkit, and of course, lots of pictures! Keep an eye on our Medium and social media pages for all this content.

Today, we focus on the outcomes of the various panel sessions which have been captured in the form of graphic recordings.

A special thanks to the panelists for contributing to the rich and meaningful conversations, our moderators who enabled the exchanges to happen as smoothly as possible, our partners who lent their ears and resources to these CCI conversations, the communication team who helped capture the special moments, the Thinkillustrate team who helped us to put these doodles together, and our hosts — the Zanzibar International Film Festival (ZIFF). You can read all about their 2023 festival here.

THE PANEL SESSIONS

KEYNOTE SPEECHES & FESTIVAL MANAGEMENT AND CULTURAL TOURISM

The highlights:

The panel: Laza Razanajatovo (RFC), Maureen Wambui (perFORM), Martin Mhando (ZIFF), Dr. Kiiru Kahithe (Bomas of Kenya), Peter Mudamba (Docubox), Dr Kedmon Mapana (BASATA), Journey Ramadhan (Sauti za Busara). Moderated by Eric Onyango (British Council Kenya).

The highlights explained:

Those who go first set the tone, and set the tone they did! Our Keynote speakers boosted the room’s energy by presenting the significant outcomes that the multi-regional ACP-EU Culture programme has been able to achieve to date. This includes job creation in the thousands, hundreds of funded projects, and the programme’s overall contribution to human and economic wellbeing. The programme objectives gave scope to the umbrella that all ACP-EU culture beneficiaries, partners and project teams come under, connecting us to something larger.

The first panel discussion was on Festival Management and Cultural Tourism. We talked about the significance of festivals as platforms of creative and cultural exchange, an economic driver, and a celebration of diversity. Part of understanding how best to leverage our region’s festivals was understanding the challenges around catering to different festival goers, the role of public sector, regulations around the mechanisms of festivals, and the marketing and promotion of our festivals.

CREATING AN ENABLING, CROSS-CUTTING AUDIO-VISUAL POLICY ENVIRONMENT TO SUPPORT PERFORMING ARTS, FILM & OTHER CCI VALUE CHAINS

The highlights:

The panel: Diana Ramarohetra (IOC), Angela Kilusungu (CDEA), Mudamba Mudamba (Docubox), COSOTA Tanzania. Moderated by: Anne Mazimhaka (Illume) and Dr Akati Khasiani (HEVA Fund)

The highlights explained:

Panelists shared some of the policy issues faced in their home countries — what isn’t working, what is lacking and what is needed. In the graphic we see some highlights from Tanzania, Rwanda and Kenya. We also talked about how creative practitioners (individuals and organisations) can be more active in the knowledge building of policy, help to disseminate the importance of policy for CCIs, and influence policymaking. In addition, we touched on efforts already made by government for CCIs and further pragmatic steps that can be taken by public sector to better support the creative industries.

A Policy Mapping Research Guide Toolkit to guide practitioners, stakeholders, and sector bodies on how to conduct a comprehensive analysis on the existing CCI policy landscape in their country and/or region is in development. This toolkit will be made accessible to all on the Ignite Culture platforms soon.

SUPPORTING THE PERFORMING ARTS IN THE REGION

The Highlights:

The panel: Faith Mwende (KCC), Felix Mwitah (Santuri EA), Safina Juma (Sauti za Busara), Frank Ross (Buni Media), Ibrahim Mkude (Nafasi Art Space), Martina Ayoro (Jukwaa Arts). Moderated by: Dr Kiiru Kahithe (Bomas of Kenya)

The highlights explained:

How can the public, private and donor sectors adequately support the performing arts? Our panelists shared the measures that their organisations have put in place to best support the creative practitioners within their ecosystems, and gave insights on how others can also intervene. Martina from Jukwaa Arts shared some of the challenges that the Mombasa-based theatre arts company has faced and the steps that they took to overcome them. The creative practitioners in the room also took the opportunity to share their experiences of donor funding vs sponsorship funding. We then stepped into the shoes of businesses and the challenges they regularly face around stringent requirements of application when it comes to opportunities put out by funding organisations from both public and private sectors.

The FUTURE OF CCIs

The highlights:

The highlights explained:

What does the future of the region hold for CCIs? We covered the value of the overall ACP-EU Culture programme, the key elements that are needed from future opportunities, and the general challenges that creative practitioners face when it comes to the available creative and cultural opportunities.

OPPORTUNITIES IN THE CCIs

Relevant links to opportunities presented by the panelists:

ACP-EU Culture Programme: The audio-visual strand through the three main projects CLAP ACP2, DEENTAL and WCF will offer a number of opportunities throughout this year and until 2025.

SSA Arts Opportunities: Keep up with opportunities from The British Council in the Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) region

Other sources:

Beneficiary led opportunities:

Opportunities in other sectors:

We will continue to keep you posted on other CCI opportunities available. Thanks for reading!

Keep up with beneficiary events, news and updates:

Twitter: @ignite_ea

Instagram: @ignite_cultureea

Facebook: Ignite Culture EA

Events Calendar: Events 2022/ 2023

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Ignite Culture EA

Eastern Africa’s Largest Grant Fund For Creative and Cultural Industries