The East African Community Secretariat has announced that Uganda has been selected to chair the first East African Arts and Culture festival, otherwise known as JAMAFEST.
This six-day event is taking place in Rwanda this year, and will see member-states showcase their art and culture in the Rwandan capital Kigali in line with the festival theme of ‘Fostering East African Community Integration through Cultural Industries.’
Apart from Uganda and Rwanda, Kenya, Burundi and Tanzania have also confirmed their intention to participate in the upcoming event, which will feature a wide range of arts and culture including arts and crafts, cultural wears, music and dance, literary works and foods and beverages.The upcoming event will also feature a carnival, art exhibitions and sales, workshops and symposiums, live performances, fashion shows, and a JAMAFEST Village of Countries at which the EAC Partner States will showcase their different cultures.
Tanzanian official Joas Kahembe revealed that over 100 Tanzanians are expected to take part in the event, despite initial reports that each member state was only going to send 50 participants.
‘This is an important opportunity for Tanzanian exhibitors to market cultural products in the region taking into account that the country has more than 120 large tribes and many more small clans,’ he told Pesa Times. ‘We have a number of cultural-related products which haven’t yet tapped. Tanzanian troop will involve authentic African tribal arts and crafts, especially Makonde carvings in ebony sculptures, artists of different calibers.’
Some artists have expressed annoyance at the lateness of the request for them to take part in the festival, noting that the late notice makes it hard for them to gather the funds to pay for traveling expenses. The President of the Performing Arts Federation, Agnes Lukanga, pointed to the short time period and suggested that the recent call-out for artists would have made more sense if it was for next year’s event.
Senior Cultural Officer Habibu Msammy noted that some local artists would be able to have some of the cost of their participation paid for but was not able to say how many artists would be catered for, as it is not yet known how much money the Ministry is willing to put into this venture.
‘There was a process going on, which included preparations of the arts and culture regulations and rules, as to how best to undergo this kind of festival. This will be the first edition, of an event that grew out of an idea, which came from the EAC council. Presently, the hope is that after two years, by which time the festival will be held in another member country, it will have become a much better representative of the arts and culture within all member countries,’ Msammy explained to Kenya Daily.
Rwandan president Paul Kagame will officially open the festival along with other regional leaders. So far, at least 500 artists have been confirmed to take part in the event.
JAMAFEST runs from 11 to 17 February. A full program of events can be viewed at the official website.
