|
The
Pan-African Circle of Artists was
established as a forum for the promotion of art and culture on the
African continent.
It
champions the cause of art through diverse means, including
exhibitions, seminars, workshops, folklore sessions, slide talks,
lectures, publications, etc.
Pan-African
Circle of Artists is fast earning an international reputation and
has remained so far one of the very few truly professional art
associations operating inside Africa today.
Within
the bounds of the principles of new internationalism, Pan-African
Circle of Artist's main concern has been the creation of a
home-grown voice for the continued dissemination of the arts of
African on Africa's own terms.
Over the years, PACA has initiated and organised some
note-worthy activities as part of its effort at re-imaging the arts
in Africa. Besides its numerous enriching workshops, lectures, and
roundtables, PACA has organised major conferences and biennial
exhibitions focussing on very thought-provoking themes and issues.
For instance in 2002, it organised, with the support
of Prince Claus Fund (The Netherlands), “the Pan-African Conference
on the Status, Role, and Working Condition of the Artist in Africa”
and thus provided an opportunity for artists and allied
professionals to gather and discuss in Enugu issues in the making
and dissemination of art as they affect the African artist.
Also in 2002, the 4th edition of Afrika Heritage,
the PACA Biennale, took place at four art centres in Lagos, bringing
together about 80 artists, art critics, and historians from
fourteen African countries, Britain, USA, and Japan.
PACA’s strong belief in the power of the printed word
has also encouraged it to pay much attention to documentation. In
Africa’s art terrain where there has been dearth of publications
(especially publications by Africans themselves), local initiatives
in this area such as PACA’s remain a very significant watershed in
the development of modern art in Africa.
Besides its erudite and rich exhibition catalogues,
PACA publishes a biannual review, Letter from Africa, which normally
critically documents the association’s activities alongside other
issues in art and criticism. Proceedings of some of PACA’s
conferences are also recorded in book form.
In its eleven years of existence, PACA has
striven to establish itself as a possible tool for “returning the
Euro-American gaze” in the art scene. This
it has done by demonstrating to its members and other artists that
one of the best ways of claiming a space in the international art
market may not be the besieging of Western art centres, but the
engineering of a home-grown art dissemination machinery through more
responsive networking and professionalised activities inside Africa.
Part of PACA’s main concern is the creation of a more
integrated art scene in the African continent through meaningful
networking among Africa’s creative people. To help in facilitating
this situation, PACA initiated a study tour of Africa in 2001
and some members from Nigeria visited Ghana and Ivory Coast by road,
meeting with artists and critics in those countries.
During the tour, a roundtable was held in Abobo,
Abidjan, and a statement has been issued from the conference by the
International Advisory Council of The Pan-African Circle of Artists
under the title The Abidjan Declaration.
The 2002 Study Tour had its focus on Mali and
Burkina Faso and was commemorated with roundtables in Ouagadougou
and Bamako and a major art exhibit at the Centre Soleil d’Afrique in
Bamako featuring artists from different parts of Africa.
The
International Secretariat, temporarily situated at #16, Nnewi
Lane, off Ogui Road, Ogui, Enugu, Nigeria, is run by an
Administrative Secretary in consultation with the International
Secretary, President, and Treasurer. The Administrative
Secretaryship is an appointable position, tenable for two years and
is renewable, depending on the performance of the incumbent.
Appointment to the position is at the discretion of the Advisory
Council. Both members and non-members of PACA can be appointed to
this position. The Administrative Secretary is assisted by three
other staff.
So far,
PACA has national councils in Nigeria and South Africa. While the
Nigeria Council was created in 1993, the South Africa Council just
took off in 2003.
PACA’s ultimate goal is to help in creating an
art-friendly situation (which is largely absent at the moment) in
Africa so that the full potentials of art and aesthetics will be
more meaningfully exploited by African peoples for a wholesome
social development and for the enrichment and sustenance of Africa’s
identity in an increasingly globalised world.
|
