Theme: Decolonisation and Cultural Heritage in Africa

We are thrilled to announce another edition of our Cultural Heritage for Inclusive Growth Symposium scheduled for March 16th to 19th, 2022. Anchored on this year’s Cultural Heritage Week hosted by the British Council and Twaweza Communications, this edition will be a build-up of our previous symposium aiming to unpack the decolonization of cultural heritage. What does decolonization for our cultural heritage and art look like? Can we build inclusive cultural institutions? 

In our last edition in 2020, we delved into our past, present, and future; learning from each other and the larger arts and culture ecosystem. Our goal then was to look at cultural heritage through a contemporary lens and explore new possibilities for different communities.

Some key lessons from the event were an analysis of how cultural institutions still propagate Western and colonial forms of engagement and the need to correct that paradigm. If you missed it, catch the picture highlights here.

In this edition, we will unpack and identify ways we can recognize and address injustices through cultural heritage to benefit Africa’s youth. Our overall goal is to get communities more engaged in cultural heritage experiences in Africa and provide solutions to the challenges of climate change through indigenous knowledge.

This edition will also be a hybrid event featuring in-person conversations, keynotes, and panels with cultural practitioners and professionals, tech leaders, academia, and policymakers across the continent and the globe. We will also host musical performances by Labdi, a singer-songwriter and African single-stringed fiddle (Orutu) instrumentalist, and Juma Tutu and the Swahili Jazz band from Mombasa! 

This free event will be held at the Nairobi National Museum, Botanical Gardens (limited space available) and simultaneously live streamed on Zoom and on British Council’s social media platforms including Youtube, Facebook, and Twitter. 

Register to Join Virtually : https://linktr.ee/eastafricaarts

Day One

Day 2

Day 3