Artscape welcomed international cultural exchange students from Zambia and France, as part of the “Cultural construction of youth and culture programme” this week. Three cultural organisations leaning on creative innovation of young people were selected, owing to build and strengthen strategies for inclusion and diversity within the arts.
The programme, forms part of a 4 phase international mobility exchange exploring good practices which lead young people to live new educational and fulfilling experiences. In this way, the programme allows them to build themselves as adults and help strengthen their social, cultural and professional skills. The programme comprises of participants from 3 core organisations who share in the goals of inclusivity and diversity, bridging the gap between cross cultural barriers and building international relations. Samba Résille (France), in partnership with Barefeet Theatre (Zambia) and Artscape (South Africa) forms the group participating in the exchange.
The second mobility, 3-10 September 2018, was hosted in Cape Town, South Africa at Artscape Theatre Centre, consisted of a ten day cultural exchange, where the participants from each respective country, shared common ground and explored the challenges and successes within the art sector. This follows the first mobility hosted in July 2018, where contingents from France and South Africa visited Barefeet Theatre in Lusaka, Zambia.
In 2019, the participants will be jetting off to Toulouse, France and once again in Cape Town, South Africa completing the third and fourth mobilities of the programme.
The programme aims to contribute to building an inclusive and sustainable society, thanks to its approach based on creative activities, and to the objectives of each partner organisation, aiming to make creative, youthful and innovative generations bloom.
It encourages all partners to commit to a value-adding process, allowing them to measure the quality of their works, facilitating socio-professional inclusion and measuring the value created at all levels thanks to a longitudinal, appreciative and participative evaluation approach.
Artscape is committed to be a pioneer of growth and transformation for the performing arts, using tools which contribute to build the country, and establishes partnerships in fostering these ideals. Today, Artscape is one of the biggest spaces in Africa dedicated to the development of performing arts. The organisation uses an innovative programme of education and training, offering opportunities of careers for young artists and art technicians in all communities of South Africa. Artscape promotes inclusive programmes of artistic education and development, which lead to positive changes in the creation of a rich cultural and artistic community for generations to come. Artscape is proud to be a partner on this international programme, advocating diversity, inclusivity and accessibility to the arts.