Welcome to the Africa Consortium UK
A network of UK venues, companies and individual artists with a commitment to increasing the relevance and impact of presenting work from Africa and the diaspora.
What is the Africa Consortium UK?
The Africa Consortium UK is a network of individuals, venues and organisations from across the UK, who are committed to engaging with the performing arts from Africa and the African diaspora (including African America and the Caribbean) with a view to increasing intercultural knowledge and understanding, and developing collaborations which are meaningful, sustainable and contribute to an ongoing intercultural dialogue.
Our objectives
- to increase opportunities for intercultural engagement through presentations, collaboration and information sharing
- to act as a resource for the industry in increasing access to and awareness of the performing arts from Africa and the diaspora
- to provide an environment in which UK-based artists of African heritage can engage with African-based artists in order to develop exchanges and collaborative projects and forge meaningful links with artists from Africa and the diaspora
- to increase capacity in producing and presenting work from Africa
How will the Africa Consortium UK carry out these objectives?
- By hosting and promoting performing arts productions in the UK - both from established, and from new and emerging companies in Africa and the Diaspora
- By hosting a series of workshops and seminars which will build knowledge and develop understanding of African work within the industry as a whole
- By building a database of relevant international touring opportunities for British based artists and companies of African heritage
- By encouraging visiting artists and companies to engage in collaborations and workshops with their peers in the UK.
- By developing links with organisations worldwide that present and develop African work
- By hosting a website with current information on initiatives and opportunities which engage with Africa, with a link to other relevant sites
- By facilitating visits to arts events and festivals both in Africa and those with an African focus elsewhere in the world
- By developing a cohesive marketing strategy for African events and productions presented in the UK
- By developing outreach and education packages which will counter the popularly held misconceptions about Africa
- By acting in an advisory capacity to companies and artists wishing to tour in Africa
- By collaborating with organisations which have an interest in nurturing exchange between Africa and the UK
- By researching and documenting the various activities in order that this information can be available to others
- By producing a bi-annual news-letter with information about productions and other opportunities for engaging with Africa
- By pro-actively connecting its members with like-minded organisations in Africa
- By facilitating exchange programmes in order to build capacity amongst both UK and Africa based producers
Although the Africa Consortium is managed by UK Arts International and works in partnership with Visiting Arts, Wimbledon College of Art and ITC in order to develop the projects and workshops and to exchange ideas and collaborate with colleagues in Africa, it is led by you, the membership, who bring projects to the table and determine the content of the workshops and seminars.
Working in partnership with the British Council and Arts Council England is obviously fundamental to the success of this venture and the Africa Consortium will continue to build on these relationships in order that the scope and remit of the network can grow.
We will also collaborate with our colleagues in the UK and overseas, such as The Africa Contemporary Arts Consortium in the US and IETM. This will enable us to both build better tours for African companies and to ensure that the Consortium is kept informed about interesting African productions available for touring.