Kauma's Brief Encounters - Global Frameworks for Creative Exchange (Parts I & II)

Funder

Policy Support Funds

Value

£14,000

PI and Project Team Members

Rosa Cisneros (PI)

Jade Ward (Co-I and Postgraduate Researcher)

Mercy Nabirye (Kauma Arts)

Heather Benson

Jess Choi

Collaborators

Marie Polodeanu (Reel Master Production)

Duration of Project

January 2022 - March 2022

Project Overview

Last year Kauma Aarts (KA) organised the Kauma Brief Encounters (KBEs) that brought together creatives and key leaders to engage and connect in a closed, safe and neutral space to discuss, share and exchange ideas, cultivate collaborations, and deepen the artistic value for artforms within the African Diaspora and Africa. The primary aim of the KBEs is to provide a platform that spotlights the work of creatives to intentionally facilitate their connection with other artists nationally and internationally.  KA curated 5 KBEs in-house featuring national and international leaders with the creatives exploring the themes and related provocations. A key provocation was How do we create a level playing field for creative exchange across diasporas and the continent?  

Key outcomes  from the 5 KBEs were: 

• Cultivate collaborations between artists across 2-3 continents per season
• Deepen artistic value for art forms across the African Diasporas and The Continent
• Bring artists together from across many art forms
• Profile work of active Tribe member(s) in the Kauma Arts digital hub
• Promote Kauma Arts  projects
• Provide a ‘home-away-from-home’ for like-minded people, crossing borders in cities around the world
• Influence the work environment and policies supporting creative exchange on a global scale

Kauma Arts has done a number of activities this year but for this proposal we would specifically focus on the KBEs as one of the platforms we carefully curate with intention, to continue to provide a platform that CONNECTS COMMUNITIES towards an ACTION PLAN.

Project Objectives

Specifically we see the following emerging from this project:

1. Create a guide/manifesto critically analysing the KBEs to move the findings and outcomes to impact and to inform policy-makers; share this manifesto with key players in the Dance Sector (e.g One Dance UK, Birmingham DanceXchange), Academic institutions (e.g C-DaRE), and charities (e/g Society for Dance Research, Birmingham Royal Ballet)
2. Organise 2 KBEs (February and March)
3. Create films on the previous KBEs, interview key people and create films on the 2 new KBEs organised during the project
4. Produce visuals/creative content from outcomes of KBEs that can be shared with policy makers
5. Converse with selected institutions and related policy makers to support a campaign for a specific change for the sector based on findings/analysis from existing KBE. Continue the structured discussions and outcomes towards an action plan.