Shirika Programme | Cape Town, Bulawayo And Kampala - Arterial Network

Arterial Network’s SHIRIKA programme kicked off this month across three countries in Southern and East Africa: Cape Town (South Africa), Bulawayo (Zimbabwe) and Kampala (Uganda). The workshops included attendees from hand-selected local arts organisations in order to assist them to improve their organisational health.

Created in partnership between Arterial Network and Cultural Development Trust and with seed funding from Africalia, SHIRIKA’s vision is an African creative sector that is healthy, thriving economically and socially thanks to the sustainability, performance and governance of its organisations. The methodology and content of the programme is designed as a continuous and growing process from the input of both experts and beneficiaries. Over three days, the attendees were given in depth training covering two modules: Understanding of Governance, and Financial Management. The main trainer for the workshops has been Maria Kint, founder and director of the Cultural Development Trust, who has been assisted by the participation of key local arts practitioners in each country.

Cape Town
The first Arterial Network #SHIRIKA workshop took place in Cape Town at Guga S'thebe Centre in Langa from the 29th to the 31st of August. The organisations represented ranged over a number of disciplines such as theatre, music, the visual arts and dance. Experts who were invited to contribute to the training workshop included Russel Hlongwane (Vice President of KZNSA Gallery, and Executive Committee member of Arterial Network South Africa) and Marie Sachet (Project Manager - Capacity Building and Market Access, Arterial Network).

Lulama Sihlabeni, who represented eKhaya eKasi Art & Education Centre in Khayelitsha, described her experience as follows:

“Arterial Network has given me such an amazing opportunity and I would like to send heartfelt thanks to everyone who was part of the workshop. You all gave me so much strength, hope, courage and love in order to go back and improve my organisation that has so many governance challenges, as I mentioned during the workshop. I feel that there’s a mountain in front of me that I still need to climb and only when I have passed that mountain, I will be proud of myself and my community at large. The workshop has opened my eyes to so many things that I did not understand before and I feel so grateful for that.”







For more images from the Cape Town workshop, click here.

Bulawayo
The workshop in Zimbabwe was held at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe in Bulawayo from the 7th to the 9th of September. The organisations represented the disciplines of music, dance, heritage, theatre and film. The specialists present included, Simon Mambazo Phiri (arts entrepreneur and choreographer), Butholezwe Nyathi (Programmes Officer at Bulawayo Agenda), Patience Phiri (artivist and creative entrepreneur) and Sandra Ndebele (musician, director, actress, choreographer and dancer).

Kampala
The workshop in Uganda took place at the Goethe Zentrum Kampala from the 19th to the 21st of September. Maria Kint once again took the role of main trainer with Samuel Lutaaya Tebandeke assisting as a trainee as part of the Arterial Network Train-the-Trainer programme.

The arts organisations present included, Batalo East (urban dance and traditional dance fusion), FEMRITE (literature focusing mainly on female writers), Autumn Ventures (dance education), HEDCO (health communication using performing arts), Brand 360 (design and personal branding), Aphra Arts (artist management focusing on women), Uganda National Cultural Centre (preserves, promotes and popularises Uganda's cultural heritage locally and internationally) and Ghetto Natives (youth empowerment using performing arts). According to Samuel Lutaaya Tebandeke, the workshop was well received: “The attendees felt that they benefitted greatly from the training and commented on how timely it is for their organisations.”

In October 2016, the SHIRIKA programme continues its trajectory across Southern and East Africa with workshops scheduled to take place in Mbabane (Swaziland) and Dar es Salaam (Tanzania).