Wednesday, 4 March 2015

Preparations of 2nd Edition of the EAC Arts and Culture Festival (JAMAFEST) Kick Off.

East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 3 March 2015: The Director of Administration of the Kenyan Ministry of Sports, Culture and Arts; Amb. Anne Nyikuli, on 2 March 2015, graced the opening of the first meeting of the regional steering committee at Hilton Hotel in preparation of the 2nd edition of the EAC Arts and Culture Festival (JAMAFEST) scheduled for August this year.

Amb. Nyikuli recognized and appreciated the Republic of Rwanda for the high standard they set during the first edition of the JAMAFEST festival in 2013, urging the Republic of Rwanda to support and guide Kenya in the process of hosting the second edition of the festival this year. In her opening remarks, she also emphasized the festival is an identity of the EAC integration process pointing out that "...the significance of the Arts and Culture in the integration process is clearly underscored in the EAC Treaty provided in article 119 which stipulates that Partner States shall promote close co-operation amongst themselves in culture with respect to the promotion of cultural activities, including the fine arts, literature, music, the performing arts and other artistic creations, and the conservation, safeguarding and development of the cultural heritage of the Partner States including, historical materials and antiquities."

It is in fulfilment of the above provision of the Treaty that the 23rd Council of Ministers held in 2011 in Arusha, Tanzania decided that the EAC shall hold a regular Arts and Culture Festival after every two years on rotational basis. The 1st edition of JAMAFEST was successfully held in February 2013 in Kigali, Rwanda, under the theme; "Fostering the East African Community Integration through Cultural Industries."

The cultural extravaganza offers East Africans a great platform for cultural interaction and dialogue as well as contributing to the visibility of the EAC to the International Community. In addition it  provides an exciting opportunity to East African Cultural practitioners to show case the extent to which they have tried to exploit the economic potential of the rich and diverse cultural heritage through culture and creative industries.

The five day preparatory meeting is expected to agree on the modus operandi of the festival events, financing strategy and detailed road map leading to the holding of the festival in August 2015. 

Source: www.eac.int

No comments:

Post a Comment