The 1.5-day-long seminars aim to encourage debate and theoretical output that interrogates the theme "culture and development" or "the cultural dimension of development" from within varying African conditions.
As 2015 draws near, and the Millennium Development Goals require both an imaginative and critical re-inspection, this theme reappears as the starting point or overarching theme for cultural policies and strategies in contemporary Africa. We would like to engage policy experts, arts and culture practitioners, researchers, government officials, development workers and other interested parties who seek both to test their ideas and research, broaden their understanding of the African cultural context and contribute to the development of theory and policies in this space.
The following themes will be covered over the course of the next eight months:
In preparation for the first seminar on the UNESCO 2005 Convention, abstracts of roughly 300 words, as well as expressions of interest in other seminars that form part of this series, are invited and should be sent to AFAI's research manager, Sophia Sanan, at az.gro.iafa@aihpos by Friday, 25 April 2014.
AFAI intends to publish some of the best papers presented in this Culture and Development Seminar series in a publication that will be released in early 2015.
The series also aims to engage a cohort of emerging thinkers and leaders in this sphere, thereby building capacity and expertise within the cultural policy sector and providing a platform for thinking about culture and development from a global south perspective.
For more information about AFAI, contact az.gro.iafa@aihpos or call +27 (0)21 465 9027.
