Rwanda Creative Sector
National Action Plan for Arts and Culture
Mimeta has again entered into partnership with Ishyo Arts Centre in Kigali, Rwanda. The main mission of Ishyo is to support cultural diversity through access to culture for everyone through arts education programs and activities, professional training, production and circulation of art products in areas of dance, drama, music and literature; to enhance regional and international cultural exchanges and cooperation to support peace-building, tolerance and respect, to deepen mutual understanding, to widen creativity and cooperation among various artists from Africa and abroad.
Ishyo has now taken the coordination role of the Rwanda Creative Sector National Action Plan for Arts and Culture. This project aims to establish a diagnosis of the arts and culture sector in order to develop the Rwanda Creative sector's National Action Plan for Arts and Culture, engage arts and culture practitioners, stakeholders, institutions in charge of culture, decision makers, experts, and communities in a national reflection on the current state of the sector and its potentials, in order to articulate concrete recommendations and take actions for the development of the arts and culture sector in Rwanda.
The project is built on the work conducted by the East African Community and the Government of Rwanda (i.e Mapping of the creative industries started in 2012), on recommendations of a series of workshops on arts advocacy and networking, strategic development led by Ishyo Arts Centre, Arterial Network and other local partners as well as on the work of the task force set up to work out means and ways to develop physical facilities for arts and culture. This task force is composed of representatives of the Office of the President, Rwanda Development Board, the Ministry of Sports and Culture and Ishyo. Also the Foundation Racines from Morocco is involved as a resource in developing the project, based on their experience with a similar endeavor (supported by Mimeta, see summary report 2nd edition of Etats Généraux de la Culture).
The main activities of Ishyo Arts Centre are:
Advocacy for the arts and culture, capacity building (managerial and artistic skills development program);
Supporting access to cultural activities and creativity for the youth (Bibliobus, Kina festival, Artej);
Cultural policy development (EAC mapping of creative industries, Arts & Public spaces),
Support human rights and freedom of expression projects (Breaking BarriersBuilding-Bridges, Comedy Knights);
Strengthen democratization of culture and contribution to the preservation and promotion of memory through arts (Project "Arts and Memory", www.artsandmemory.com)
Promote African and Caribbean literature (Espace Madiba, littafcar.org, Creative writing workshops, Book Café).
A milestone in the process of shaping Rwanda Creative Sector National Action Plan for Arts and Culture was rounded in October 2017 by launching I Rwanda Art Map.
