Le réseau ARTerial, ou « ARTerial Network », comprend un ensemble informel et dynamique d’individus, d’institutions et de partenaires financiers oeuvrant dans le secteur culturel africain. Ce réseau vise à soutenir la croissance et l’efficacité des arts et de la culture africains ainsi qu’à améliorer la pérennité des industries créatrices en Afrique.

What is The Arterial Network?

Arterial Network is a dynamic network of individuals, organizations, donors, companies and institutions engaged in the African creative and cultural sector.

The Arterial Network started as a dynamic, continent-wide network of non-government organisations, creative industry companies, festivals and individual artists engaged in the African creative sector at a conference – Revitalising Africa’s Cultural Assets – on Goree Island, March 2007.

At its second biennial meeting in Johannesburg, September 2009 attended by 132 delegates from 28 African countries, a decision was taken to build a more formal network which led to the adoption of a constitutional framework, the election of a ten-person Steering Committee (two per African region), the appointment or election of 28 country representatives and the adoption of strategic priorities for the next 3-5 years.

Arterial Network is administered by a Secretariat based in Cape Town, South Africa. The network has also decentralised its operations by establishing regional secretariats in West and East Africa, Mali and Kenya, respectively. Central, South and North African Secretariats will soon be established.

Vision

It is in this context that the vision of Arterial Network is of a vibrant, dynamic and sustainable African creative civil society sector engaged in qualitative practice in the arts in their own right, as well as in a manner that contributes to development, to human rights and democracy, and to the eradication of poverty on the African continent.

Aims

In the context of the conditions on the African continent, our vision and our understanding of development and the cultural dimension of development, our aims are as follows:

1. To build and/or further develop effective, sustainable national, regional and continental networks within and across arts disciplines to play advocacy and lobbying roles within countries, regions, on the continent and internationally as appropriate, and in support of the African creative sector;

2. To collect and distribute relevant information, data and documents to empower civil society arts and culture organisations in African countries and regions to plan and take informed action in their interests;

3. To provoke debate, discussions and theorising around arts, culture, creative industries and contemporary arts and culture discourses and to develop African positions and leadership on such issues;

4. To help to build national, regional, continental and international circuits (festivals, outlets, etc) to distribute African cultural goods and services and enable African artists to tour their works and to generate income through their creative output;

5. To facilitate the training and development of human resources required to practice, distribute and market the arts and creative goods and services of the African continent;

6. To mobilise local, regional, continental and international resources in support of the development, promotion and distribution of African creative goods and services;

7. To improve the working and living conditions, and defend the rights of artists and creative practitioners on the African continent;