Symposium On "Funding For The Arts In An African Setting"

The National Arts Council of South Africa, host of next year’s IFACCA World Summit on Arts and Culture will convene a special symposium during ICACD 2008 on the theme:  "Funding for the arts in an African setting".

 Funding for arts and culture in Africa usually follow the western funding models which are not always workable. This symposium reexamines funding for the arts in Africa, legislation for the development of the arts, challenges, cultural development in relation to NEPAD etc.

"Symposium On The Role Of Community And Regional Festivals In Economic Development"

As part of ICACD 2008, a special symposium on the theme:  "Developing Festivals, Developing our Communities: Symposium on The Role Community and Regional Festivals in Economic Development" will be convened.

The symposium seeks to  bring into better perspective, the recognition, and appreciation of the vital socio-cultural and developmental role that  community and regional festivals play  in societies, as people come together to share and celebrate community.

For many, there is this deep-rooted prejudice that, community or regional festivals are just exciting cultural performances and fireworks that arouse sensations only to immediately disappear after the event. However, beyond these memorable scenes lie a huge untapped resource generated by these festivals which when carefully developed can have long-term and far-reaching economic and developmental effects on host communities.

The symposium will address the following concerns. What distinctive role do Community and Regional festivals play in developing communities?  How can we capitalize on community and regional festivals' distinctive ability to attract global  audience  to make significant impact on lives of the people in the host community? etc.