In pursuance of its commitment to strengthening the cultural industries in Africa, Arterial Network, in partnership with the Committee for Relevant Art (CORA), has launched its Cultural Management Programme in Nigeria.

Arterial Network is a pan-African network of artists, arts organisations and activists engaged in capacity building, advocacy, research, cultural policy, information dissemination, workshops, conferences, publication of reports and best practice toolkits, all geared towards growing and strengthening the cultural and creative sectors in Africa, and making a contribution to democracy, human rights and development on the African continent. With its continental secretariat in Cape Town, South Africa, Arterial Network has official national chapters in 20 countries and wide representation in other parts of Africa. The Network is represented in Nigeria by the Committee for Relevant Art (CORA), formally registered as CORA Arts & Cultural Foundation.

The vision of the Cultural Management Programme is to contribute to capacity building in the African arts sector with an approach that is practical, efficient, fast, and focused on specific skills of cultural management. It aims at continuing to professionalize the sector and limit the dependence on foreign expertise through local workshops and courses.

Supported by Africalia, Goethe Institut, British Council and the Department of Theatre and Film Studies of the University of Port Harcourt, with facilitation by Mr. Ayo Ganiyu, the programme targets arts administrators, managers, cultural officers, cultural planners and practitioners in Africa who feel the need to improve specific skills such as ability to write successful funding proposals, marketing their cultural products and strategic management of their projects and events.

In June 2016, 12 participants were selected for the first phase of the programme in Lagos. Additional 12 participants will be selected in Port Harcourt in August for the second phase. The Lagos programme kicked off on July 2, 2016 with Arts Fundraising Workshop.

The first day of the Fundraising Workshop event included icebreakers, rotational sessions, practical steps and guidelines in strategic fundraising for arts and culture, with breaks in the form of team building activities. The workshop began with ‘’Introduction to Fundraising in the Arts’’. This session outlined the nature of fundraising and related it to selling. It introduced participants to the importance of knowledge of what they sell in relation to the arts continuum. There was a group exercise where participants were divided into three groups to match the Arts Continuum with types of funders in Nigeria.

This was followed by ‘’Understanding the Arts Fundraising Context’. The session took participants through an overview of the current fundraising context internationally and highlighted some of the key challenges and opportunities in the African context.

After the lunch break, the workshop proceeded to ‘’The Ideas and the Arts Organisation’’. This session took participants through the process of identifying fundraising idea and turning such ideas into viable projects. It also assessed participants’ readiness for funding through a game called ‘’The Ready-to-go Game’’

On Monday, July 4, 2016, the second day of the workshop, the first session was on ‘’The Funding Proposal’’. This session explored the process of assembling all the elements of a funding proposal and how the proposal should be structured to showcase all the project’s information, the organisational information and the resources required. A group exercise was carried out using Changamoto Funding Application Template.

After the lunch break, it was time for ‘’The Arts Fundraising Strategy’’. This session addressed the approach, alignment of organisational objectives to funders’ interests and tools for reviewing organisation’s current funding position, strengths and weaknesses. There was a role-play where the class, with the guide of the facilitator, rated the fundraising skills in the course of presentations by group leaders.

The Arts Fundraising Workshop ended with ‘’Choosing Funders’’. This last session explored the guides and steps needed to choose the appropriate funder and how to ensure the beneficiaries gain from the funding.