We are working in partnership with Twaweza Communications to convene a symposium at the National Museums of Kenya from 27 - 28 February 2020.

The sympoisium is part of our Cultural Heritage and Inclusive Growth programme, which explores the use of cultural heritage for growth to benefit all levels of society.

The symposium will look at valuing, safeguarding, sharing and learning Kenya’s cultural heritage through a contemporary lens. The aim is to provide inspiration for established actors and key stakeholders, as well as young emerging cultural heritage professionals and practitioners, and to offer an opportunity for networking and the exchange of knowledge and ideas.

Cultural heritage in this context means many things, from the built environment through to cultural traditions such as music and language. Inclusive growth means working with and for all levels of society in order to reconcile the divide between economic growth, and rising poverty and inequality. 

Who is the symposium for?

We are working to ensure that the symposium is as inclusive and diverse as possible. We wish to facilitate an exchange between grass-root-level and governmental initiatives. Target groups include:

  • cultural heritage and creative technology professionals and practitioners, both organisations and individuals
  • researchers and students of cultural heritage related fields
  • community groups including youth groups and elders groups
  • policy makers and others active in the cultural heritage sector in Kenya and beyond. 

Themes and Objectives

Key theme

How does youth involvement, contemporary cultural practice and advances in information technology contribute to cultural heritage interventions becoming more inclusive and engaging with diverse and non-traditional heritage audiences?

The symposium will explore and present diverse aspects of cultural experiences including:

  • built heritage like buildings, world heritage sites, indigenous sites
  • intangible heritage such as performances, language, media, folk art, crafts, oral traditions
  • natural heritage like caves, eco-villages, landscape
  • museums and exhibitions of visual art, archives, libraries, and cultural objectives

and how technology, youth involvement and community participation can increase access to this heritage and its benefits. Gender and inclusivity will be cross-cutting themes across the various panels, workshops and presentations. 

Subthemes

  • audience development strategies for young people as well as diverse and non-traditional heritage audiences and consumers (both in urban and rural areas)
  • how to increase audience access and engagement and enhance community participation and inclusivity
  • contemporary practices for heritage programming (both in urban and rural areas)
  • cultural heritage and entrepreneurship
  • creative and strategic partnerships between cultural heritage and technology 
  • practical interventions to enhance and support the relationship between cultural heritage, contemporary culture and technology for increased access and inclusivity, developed through workshops.

The short-term outcome aim is to bring together representatives across a wide range of communities to encourage knowledge sharing and collective learning on cultural heritage, with the result of immediate action. 

The long-term outcome aim is to contribute to the visibility, accessibility, inclusivity and transmission of cultural heritage through contemporary practice, youth involvement, technology and participatory, citizen and community-centred approaches so they may lead to social and economic benefits for all levels of society and diverse communities.   

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