January 31st, 2021 marked the start of Kuonyesha Art Fund's Journey to Mali to attend the Seguo Art Festival and the Forum Maaya Africa themed – Arts and Maaya.
The celebrations began on February 1st, 2022. We were taken on a cultural, artistic, and entrepreneurial tour. We witnessed the city come to life just because of the vitality of the arts and many cultural events. This year's festival was held in an innovative and creative format, with appealing activities, bringing together in Seguo several professionals, artists, and cultural entrepreneurs from over thirty countries around the theme Arts & Maaya, an evocative theme that will lead us to revisit our societal and humanistic values and see their relevance to Mali's artistic practices.
The relationship between the Maaya ideals allowed the new generation of artists to have reliable sources of inspiration based on their own reality and adaption to Mali's distinct content.
Day 1: This opened the beginning of the festival with performances from the Bwanzan drummers and music from the likes of Melita Matshine from Mozambique at Centre Culturel Kôrè. It was a soft opening attended mainly by the youth and the different community revellers.
Day 2: This showed the opening of the Maaya Africa Forum. The forum acted as a platform for sharing the stories of young entrepreneurs from all African regions called TED Maaya Africa. Space for exchange on innovations and best practices in cultural entrepreneurship in Africa and beyond. It gave an opportunity to young entrepreneurs to write and discuss new narratives for Africa. The forum was opened by Nabou Fall.
Lessons for the day:
"We cannot succeed alone! Success of an entrepreneur is to share and listen our stories and those of others."- Nabou Fall _Managing Director of Vizeo and President of the Women Investment Club in Ivory Coast.
"It is vital to think outside of the box. As artists, we are members of both the local and global communities. We have collaborators rather than rivals as entrepreneurs. We all learn by doing as entrepreneurs. Understanding where you are in the value chain is the first step. Africa requires art. As artists, we have a significant responsibility to provide possibilities for both art and entrepreneurship to grow." - Raul Rugamba is a Rwandan creative entrepreneur who is the founder of the Hobe Agency and the founder of Africa in Colors pan-African initiative.
"Young people are the vestibules for Arts and Cultures." _ Andres Le Roux from South Africa. Managing Director of the Southern African Music Rights Organization/ Foundation and most recently president of Business and Arts South Africa.
"Entrepreneurship entails fostering human potential." Your skill adds value. Pursuing one's gift entails following one's aspirations, planting trees, and seeing them blossom."- Coach Mariam Inna from Geneva.
"We must be disciplined and realistic as entrepreneurs and creatives. We must pursue pragmatic measures that result in change. If a person believes they know everything, they will lose everything." – Zégué dit Moussa DIARRA founder and CEO of Millénium Technologies.
"How can we, as entrepreneurs and creatives, look forward? How can we make a difference? How do we change the fact that we are consumers rather than producers?" - Raul Rugamba from Rwandan
Day 3: This included Maaya Africa Forum round table sessions. The primary goal of the Maaya Africa Forum round table talks was to provide a venue for exchanging ideas on novel entrepreneurial models and increasing the digitization of Africa's cultural and creative sectors. In addition, it entailed the exchange of best practices for telling real African stories and experiences.
The first-round table discussions were themed: Culture the pillar for sustainable development: The solution is culture. The round table discussions were opened by Mamou Daffé, founder and president of Festival sur le Niger, a project designed to promote cultural expressions while boosting Mali's economy through the arts.
"Culture is away from people to express themselves but also define themselves. Art is the future.”- Mamou Daffé
Lessons for the day:
Supporting the arts is a long game.
Artists must have management capabilities for their knowledge base.
If the arts are to thrive, they must diversify, particularly when it comes to collaborations.
Culture and the arts are the essential development pillars in Africa.
Increased support for artists is required for them to break into the worldwide market.
Day 4: Themed _ Digital Ecosystems in relation to the arts – Maaya Forum Africa.
Lessons for the day included: it is vital to understand the value chains that support the arts; how can the arts preserve their digital content? How do artists create their own online platforms? To name but a few.
Overall, Kuonyesha Art Fund learned a lot from the experience. We shall be eternally grateful to our partners at Stitching DOEN for this once-in-a-lifetime chance. For there is no more pressing job than to express gratitude. So, thank you, says the Kounyesha Art Fund, a local Arts support initiative run by CivSource Africa through the CivFund.