The first World Art Day was marked last week on April 15, 2020. In her message during the inauguration, Audrey Azoulay, head of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), spoke of how art has the power to unite and connect in times of crisis. Other than surprise art never had its international day when “everything” under the sun seems to have one, it somewhat got me wondering how EAC cities might be faring under the UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN), which I’ll come to. First, I was taken by Azoulay’s message. “Bringing people together, inspiring, soothing and sharing: these are the powers of art, the importance of which has been made emphatically obvious during the COVID-19 pandemic,” She said. All these attributes she accords to art about the pandemic we have witnessed — from the African parodies of old, happy songs on YouTube to the heartwarming apartment block sing-a-longs in Italy and elsewhere that many have been in solidarity watching them on TV. Music was perhaps the first human art form and is the most consumed form of culture. It has the ability to increase social cohesion and direct human attention. It may therefore not be surprising there have been countless coronavirus-themed songs in countries around the world, including Rwanda, talking to audiences in their different tongues and cultural settings in support of efforts against Covid-19. This has meant that social distancing and geographical isolation do not have to result in social isolation. Except for one thing: That, the music and other creative expressions of art and culture are being created in isolation, ironically highlighting one of the challenges threatening the cultural sector. UNESCO acknowledges that the mobility restriction or containment measures taken by many countries to stem the pandemic have also drastically curbed access to culture and weakened the cultural ecosystem as a whole. The closure of heritage sites and related cultural infrastructure (for instance, museums), the cancellation or postponement of events and the interruption of cultural production will have significant economic and social repercussions for the cultural and creative industries. The impact of the crisis, says UNESCO, will further weaken the professional, social and economic conditions of artists and cultural professionals, in particular individual entrepreneurs and small and medium-sized enterprises who often do not have the economic base necessary to respond to a crisis situation of this magnitude. This is particularly the case in the fields of crafts, music, film, performing arts, and even gastronomy – the art of choosing, cooking, and eating good food. While countries are not equal in addressing the challenges – many countries in Africa can’t afford economic stimulus packages, for instance – there have been various international efforts to assist under the aegis of the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and the various United Nations agencies. Beyond acknowledging these gestures of international support for the economy and art there ought to be some local initiatives, which is what got me going about how East African cities might be represented in the Creative Cities Network. The Network, composed of 246 cities from over 80 UNESCO Member States, was created in 2004 to promote cooperation with and among cities that have identified creativity as a strategic factor for sustainable urban development. It dwells on 7 creative fields, namely, Crafts and Folk Art, Design, Film, Gastronomy, Literature, Media Arts, and Music. Note that these creative fields are highly practised in our major cities in the EAC. The Creative Cities under the UCCN mobilised against Covid-19. More than ever, noted UNESCO, in such a challenging time, the power of culture and creativity should be leveraged to strengthen cooperation among cities and reinforce ties between people and communities. The Cities were mobilised “to further enhance solidarity and collaboration among cities by sharing valuable information, including their innovative measures and good practices, particularly through culture and creativity, being implemented to cope with the global challenge that we are all currently facing.” Surely, our cities are part of the Creative Cities Network given the encompassing East African Community Arts and Culture Festival under the proud Swahili acronym, JAMAFEST, drawn from Jumuiya ya Afrika Mashariki Utamaduni Festival? I checked. African cities in the Creative Cities Network include our neighbours Kinshasa and Lubumbashi in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Others are Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso), Durban (South Africa), Sokodé (Togo), Cairo (Egypt) among a number in Central, Western and Northern Africa. I could find none of the EAC cities under the Network, despite the major cities having some reputation as crucibles of literature, craft and folk art and dance. The views expressed in this article are of the author.
