By Josh Nyapimbi
Nhimbe Trust’s Executive Director based in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
The documentation of artistic freedom cases in the Africa Region and in selected countries has been through a policy lens, in complementarity to the work done by other partners who have a focus on other areas of artistic freedom such as the relocation of artists at risk and ensuring their protection. Nhimbe Trust’s priority in the next couple of years will continue to be that of creating an enabling policy environment for artists, through engaging policy makers (at the level of state parties to various regional / international blocs), civil society networks and intergovernmental entities.
As a matter of priority, this engagement will strive to provide a platform for artists and culture professionals to influence policy making, affording them an opportunity to share their lived experiences. It is our hope at Nhimbe Trust that this report will play its role in speaking on behalf of artists and culture professionals – highlighting their plight, points of frustration and the celebrations that punctuate their consistent inspiration. Most importantly, we hope this report will be a useful point of reference for policy makers in the mapping of the peculiarities of artistic freedom in the region, answering the question that is often posed about why the region always records the lowest number of violations in global reports on artistic freedom.
As a flagship report, focus is not necessarily on human rights analysis and legal analysis but providing a repository of information that can inform advocacy, global research and international discourse. We look forward to receiving feedback on all aspects of the report as well as hearing from you about opportunities for collaboration or gaps you may identity that our future work may need to address either in relation to your countries of operation or thematic areas of interest.
This report, which is a maiden one focusing specifically on artistic freedom, is a demonstration of work of the last couple of years, which has been supported by Africalia, Mimeta and the Swedish Arts Council.
Download the report here.
