Comoros leads a national awareness-raising caravan on intangible and tangible cultural heritage
An Intangible Cultural Heritage Awareness-Raising Caravan was organized in Comoros on the islands of Grande Comore, Anjouan and Moheli in mid-January 2020 in order to share Comoros first inventory of intangible cultural heritage with school children and local communities through photos, videos and demonstrations, and raise their awareness of the importance of its safeguarding.
The national awareness caravan on intangible and tangible cultural heritage was organized as part of a UNESCO project to strengthen national capacities in the Union of the Comoros for the safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage, funded by the Abu Dhabi Authority for Tourism and Culture, and carried out by the Directorate General of Arts and Culture, the CNDRS, the University of the Comoros and heritage NGOs such as the Collective of Comoros Heritage.
“This direct interaction with local communities, and especially youth, was effective as a safeguarding measure to raise awareness about the importance of intangible cultural heritage in Comoros,” said Mr. Tabibou AI TABIBOU, a representative of the CNDRS and curator from the National Museum who participated in the Caravan.
https://en.unesco.org/news/comoros-celebrates-successful-out...
Nomadic Equations: Encouraging encounter and artistic engagement of youth in Mali
Initiated in 2017 in Bamako, Mali, the Nomadic Equations are multidisciplinary meetings, which are part of an overall framework of the national socio-economic development, and are based on the training of young people and children from all over Mali in the fields of music, theatre, dance, photography, audiovisual, media arts and painting. Trainings in cultural project management for young students and art professionals are also provided, as well as conferences and debates. In three editions, it has benefitted some 300 children and young people to be trained in the arts and to contribute to the promotion of the culture of peace, living together and social cohesion through the promotion of youth employment and intercultural dialogue. The activities of the 2020 edition of these encounters will experience some major innovations due to the COVID-19 pandemic in order to respect the barrier measures for prevention and fight against the virus.
http://www.equationsnomades.org/
Cesária Évora Art Academy (CEAA) in Cabo Verde to ensure access to arts education for all
Cesária Évora Art Academy (CEAA) is a systematic, continuous and organized Arts Education School, implemented by the Ministry of Culture, aiming to have in the country a space totally dedicated to the teaching of arts (theory and practice) and development of arts documentation actions. To date, free piano courses have been offered (levels 1 to 4); initiation to violin and cello (children and adults); guitar and Cape Verdean culture; guitar initiation (adult and child); singing initiation; traditional Cape Verdean dances; children's music (singing and flute); traditional drums and artistic initiation / theater. During the summer period, during which the demand is in its highest level, CEAA offers various artistic activities for children, adolescents and young people. For two years it developed a choral singing project for adults and young people and formed a partnerships with primary and secondary schools and institutions that welcome vulnerable children, for making its educational community embrace children, youth and adults from all neighborhoods in the city of Praia. At present, it has 143 permanent attendees of male and female students in a wide range of ages (from 5 to 78 years old). Financed by the Ministry of Culture, the project guarantees access to all social classes.
https://web.facebook.com/academia.cesaria/videos/16471809353...
“BA-Cultura” in Cabo Verde
The general goals of “BA-Cultura” are to provide sustainability to arts schools, to promote the massification of education by encouraging the consumption of culture, to promote socio-cultural inclusion and to awaken interest in culture in its various artistic and creative aspects. It is part of an active policy in financing multiple activities, which includes workshops and artistic initiation classes, with participation from private schools, associations or non-governmental organizations of an artistic-cultural nature. This project aims to grant access to scholarships for children and young people from vulnerable families, thus stimulating artistic initiation activities for children and young people who do not have access to arts education, and thereby contributing to the direct and indirect creation of jobs. It ensures as well the sustainability of schools, by contributing to raising the level of skills and making available various social tools to children and young people.
https://www.facebook.com/cultura.caboverde/
Saturday Art Classes and The Holiday Art Camp – National Gallery of Zimbabwe
As a national institution, the National Gallery of Zimbabwe plays a leading role for arts education in Zimbabwe offering a set of various programmes for all ages. One of the most promising programmes, “The Saturday Art Classes” are a way of encouraging young artists to express themselves in a new way and for them to unearth hidden abilities and talents through experimenting with different media of art. Students are given instruction in fundamental composition building skills. Subject matter includes portraiture, still-life, observation, drawing, painting, mixed media, 3D work and print making. Students also draw inspiration from running exhibitions in the Gallery. National Gallery of Zimbabwe also provides “The Holiday Art Camp” programme, in April and August school holidays. This is a fun and fantastic way to build up skills and knowledge on a five day Art Camp experience. The programmes for the Art Camp are age-specific and aim to build on knowledge and skill by extending the children's opportunity to discover new concepts. The Holiday Art Camp is designed to adopt a formal approach with regards to the instruction of students as it takes into account the needs of the student’s full-time commitments to mainstream academic pursuits in the School Curriculum whilst offering a practical bypass to help relieve the pressures of learning.
Saturday Art Classes: http://www.nationalgallery.co.zw/index.php/learn/for-childre...
The Holiday Art Camp: http://www.nationalgallery.co.zw/index.php/learn/for-childre...
Civic-Care Project: Voice-Out, Step-Up & Take-Action in Ghana
Civic-Care is Youth-led organization currently implementing the Civic-Care project for young people aged 15-35 years in Ghana under the UNESCO Youth Civic Engagement Initiative. Civic-Care is an opportunity for young people to connect using arts education to enable them to become civically conscious and participate actively in the development of communities. It was implemented through various activities, such as Civic-Skills related to arts, Young-People’s Expo (paintings, creative writings, drama, music), Civic-Chats, Youthpreneurs (young arts entrepreneurs) among others. This initiative enabled the youth to voice-out, step-up and take actions on pertinent issues through the creativity of visual arts, paintings, drama (stage-plays) creative writings and the use of culture to promote development, based on themes: using culture to promote 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); UN Resolution 2250 on Youth, Peace and Security (including upcoming 2020 General Elections in Ghana); sanitation, pollution and climate change; inequalities related to persons with disabilities, to breaking silence and secrecy to prevent/end and report on violence and abuse against women, girls and boys; and promoting women’s rights in communities and to migrants and refugees in Ghana. Through these activities on art education, it led to increased civic-skills on arts among youth and youth organizations, designated friendly and safer space for youth in communities and online platforms and tailored knowledge – products developed through Young People’s Expo dubbed ‘Civic-Knowledge Products’.
https://unescoghana.org/call-for-submissions-young-peoples-e...
New Teacher’s Guide for Culture and Arts brings culture into the classrooms of Somalia
UNESCO contributed to the development of a Teacher’s Guide for Culture and Arts, which brought culture into the classrooms of Somalia. Over 700 school children in Somalia have already benefitted from the new Teacher’s Guide for Culture and Arts activities in schools manual, which presents different art methods such as storytelling, theatre and visual art, to facilitate self-exploration and sharing of personal experiences among children. As part of the EU/UNESCO project “Promoting a culture of inclusion in Somalia” carried-out in 2018 and 2019 in Somalia and implemented by the NGO International Committee for the Development of Peoples (CISP), a 5-day training workshop was carried-out for 48 teachers and mentors at 24 schools in Mogadishu and Galkayo on how to utilize the new Teacher’s Guide for Culture and Arts to effectively facilitate culture and art-based activities for children. Inspired by the UNESCO World Heritage in Young Hands Education Programme, CISP collaborated with teachers, experts in the education sector and in arts methodologies to develop the manual as a tool for teachers and mentors for the facilitation of extracurricular sessions using culture and arts to promote cultural heritage, peace and social inclusion in primary and secondary schools in Somalia. The manual is available online in both English and Somali and can be used by teachers in other countries interested in strengthening arts education in their classrooms.
English version of teachers guide: https://www.cisp-som.org/assets/usermedia/resources/EG_TeachersGuide_Book_Online.pdf
CISP: www.cisp-som.org