Culture Exchange Programme: Building Community Through Arts

The Cultural Exchange Programme by Sub-Saharan Africa Arts aims to foster cultural connections and collaboration between regions, expanding knowledge bases and generating new markets.

Supported by the British Council, the programme facilitates cultural exchange between SSA countries and the UK, fostering artistic creation, networking, collaboration, and market development, while sharing artists’ work with audiences.

Art possesses the ability to convene, teach, and make social statements. It provides opportunities for interaction, interpretation, and understanding through knowledge sharing and collaboration. Art has long been a significant medium for cultural exchange, enabling conversations and productive outlets for expression.

One example of a collaborative project is “Kipya Ki?” initiated by curators FOTEA and FOEMAT, along with 10 emerging artists from Uganda and the UK. This project explores East African and British photographic mediums, creating a platform for emerging forms of media.

In Uganda, there are several other projects and grantees supported by the Cultural Exchange Programme. One of them is “Koffee KaraVan” founded by Patricia, which is a digital multimedia project aiming to rebrand the creative economy as a model for sustainable development. Koffee KaraVan travels both online and offline, seeking out creatives in the creative industries who are making a positive impact in their community. The project highlights writers, publishers, editors, book cover designers, and others in the industry who are using their creativity to challenge stereotypes.

Another project is the “KQ Hub Africa” founded by Wabwire, the project is stimulating intercultural dialogue by KQ Hub in Uganda and the people speak. They have a new form of dialogue called “Talkaoke” where they seat in round tables they call it a “talkaoke table” and people from different cultures discuss different topics.