Arts and culture are at Namibia’s heart: Steenkamp

WINDHOEK, 20 AUG – Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture Permanent Secretary, Sanet Steenkamp has hailed Namibia for hosting the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region’s first ever Arts Summit.
Sanet was speaking at a media briefing on the Arts Summit of Southern Africa (ASSA), which kicked off in the capital today, and will conclude on 23 August, under the auspices of the ministry through the National Arts Council of Namibia (NACN), the initiator of the summit.

The NACN will also be collaborating with the International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies (IFACCA), a federation whose vision is a world in which arts and culture thrive and are recognised by governments and peoples for their contribution to society.

Africa will host this meeting with IFACCA for the third time, since the inception of the latter in 2010 – which currently consists of 70 countries that includes 12 from Africa.

“We believe in embracing the arts sector and this incorporates development alongside promotion. The ministry’s mandate extends far beyond providing education through training and development,” the PS added.
According to Steenkamp, the summit serves as more than just a gathering of delegates committed to the creative economy.

The summit will discuss, amongst others, the role of cultural leadership in strengthening the creative, strengthening arts for the growth of the creative economy and the fundamentals for health ecology of creative professionals.

“Bringing the meeting to Namibia is another critical step forward in demonstrating that our country is open to business of the creative economy and that we are eager to work with regional partners to develop policies in line with this summit,” Steenkamp noted.

At the same event, NACN Chairperson, Patrick Sam noted that the summit aims to establish a platform for engagement and enable sharing of ideas on challenges, good practice and possible interventions pertaining the creative industries in the SADC region.

The summit will host more than 300 delegates from SADC countries, Europe and Australia.
Representatives from the Ministry of Industrialisation, Trade and SME Development, Ministry of Environment and Tourism and tertiary educational institutions are also expected to attend.
NAMPA