The Power of Culture

Africa's first Video-on-Demand Internet Store, AfricaFilm.tv, will soon go online. The objective is to open the world for African film producers. Another important objective is to combat piracy, a phenomenon that costs the African film industry millions of euros every year.

In March of 2010 a raging fire destroyed the graves of four Bugandan kings just outside the Ugandan capital of Kampala. The incident is all the more regrettable because Africa still leads the Unesco World Heritage List

The  Spanish development organisation AECID published an extensive report Cultural Policies in Africa, in collaboration with OCPA.

Peter Rorvik, director of the Centre for Creative Arts in Durban, South Africa: "The time is ripe for a more rapid flow of information on the continent and for South-South exchanges".

In Mpfunya’s opinion, the ARTerial Network strengthens the voice of Zimbabweans in the arts sector in Zimbabwe. "We can use the examples and experience gained elsewhere for our own lobby activities."

His business card quotes Haile Selassie: "If we do not unite, history will certainly not forgive us, for it will not give us another chance." To Abiy Demilew Tefera, that message was an important motive behind joining the ARTerial Network.

Korkor has noticed a cautious glimmer of change in mentality among Ghana's political leaders. "The government is showing a bit more interest in cultural affairs," she says.