What would happen if artistes and content creators from across the African continent and the world communicated and collaborated on different projects and initiatives? Synergy, wider markets, one voice and a unified world, could be possible outcomes.

Such is the dream that Hope Azeda, founder and director of Mashirika Performing Arts and Ubumuntu Arts Organisation, harbours and believes that the Pan-African Network for Artistic Freedom (PANAF) initiative to be launched in Kigali later this month, will change that. Established in November 2021, PANAF was created in response to the need of an active and inclusive regional voice in the creative sector that could raise awareness on the different challenges facing artists, as well as foster collaborations with artists to champion regional and national efforts on subjects that deal with artistic expression and authenticity of thought.

In Rwanda, Selam, a cultural organisation, has joined forces with Ubumuntu Arts Organization in a partnership that will allow the two organisations to work together to develop a unified voice for artists, and cultural producers advocating for the authenticity of artistic expression in the music and film industries.

Azeda is optimistic that the initiative will go a long way in driving the agenda of positioning art and content creation as key sectors which can harness and leverage existing opportunities such as the African Continental Free Trade Area (ACFTA), to the benefit of players and stakeholders.

Art as a global language, united front

Azeda believes that art is a language of humans and it can be a major uniting factor transcending borders, regions and continents.

"We live in a world where our differences have divided us. More than ever more now, we need art that uplifts and unifies. It’s not about any of us but about us.

"Ubumuntu Arts Organization is constantly seeking partners that speak the same language of humanity ‘I am because we are’. Our vision for PANAF in Rwanda is to recreate pathways of artistic expression,” Azeda says.

Azeda, who over the years has used art to send across a message of peace and unity, says that the idea of ‘fight for/towards’ rather than ‘fight against’ should be the drive for social transformation.

"Time constantly moves on. We can’t change the past, but we can shape the future, and art is the key factor in bringing this about. But this calls for an individual’s state of mind to be in the right place…a healthy place of wellbeing.

"Without inner change, there can be no outer change; without collective change, no change matters. We should be able to be the change so we can communicate and organise the change we want,” Azeda tells Weekender.

The project will include capacity building, policy support, research, workshops, and report publication as well as monitoring, and documentation of the challenges experienced by artists in these fields, all with the goal of forming partnership for knowledge exchange and cooperative advocacy campaigns.

"This partnership is extremely important as the space for creative thinkers on the continent continues to dwindle; artists are finding it increasingly difficult to practise creative arts that require conscious use of skill and creative imagination,” Selam’s regional programme director Lucy Ilado says.

"We want to celebrate African creators’ achievements across disciplines by helping them overcome the challenges that hold them back—or the many more works that can’t be envisioned or made because of these challenges,” Ilado says.

She points out that part of the initiative involves engaging with policy makers on the significance of recognising and supporting the rights of all artists to create and distribute their work.

Selam has been active in cultural development with offices in Stockholm (Sweden), Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), Kampala (Uganda), and Nairobi (Kenya). 

The Nigerian and Gambian chapters will also launch this month. The PANAF chapters in Mozambique, Kenya, Zambia, Uganda, and Ethiopia were launched in May.

At a time when the world is going through tough times, Azeda adds that humanity begs people to use art as a compass to guide them out of darkness.

"Art should not be considered a luxury. It is the blood, sweat, tears and soul of our humanity. We hope that this partnership will allow the arts to place us in the context of our world with a deep sense of belonging to our shared humanity,” Azeda notes.