French embassy in Kenya launches project to support art spaces

The project will be implemented jointly by the French embassy and Alliance Française in Nairobi and Mombasa over two years, with technical training and infrastructure and equipment upgrades in the first 12 to 15 months.

Supported by the French government’s Solidarity Fund for Innovative Projects, CASiK aims to create a network of accredited and functional performance venues that will support artist hubs and communities by upgrading infrastructure, building technical capacities, and developing cultural programmes.

The five art spaces include Dunga Hill Camp in Kisumu, the Nakuru Players Society, Sarakasi Trust in Nairobi, the Swahili Pot Hub Foundation in Mombasa and the Lamu Youth Alliance.

CASiK has planned a series of national tours for artists that will initiate cooperation on artistic programming across the art spaces, facilitating artist mobility and the pooling of resources.

CASiK project coordinator Beth Achitsa said the project would facilitate the creation and promotion of Keny’s artistic diversity and cultural expressions in line with the objectives of the Kenyan government.

“CASiK will be a landmark project that fosters how artists within Kenya can collaborate and reach new audiences,” she said. “The ability of an artist to showcase their work at five unique venues with adequate technical and artistic infrastructure will now be a reality.

“Our goal is both to allow our partners access high-level programming and introduce audience at the grassroots level to this programming while enabling artists to tour throughout the country.”

One of the project’s outcomes will be drafting a CASiK charter. The five art spaces will adopt this document as a point of reference for best practices related to governance, human and material resources as well as hosting and managing artists and audiences.