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Cultural Incentive Laws for Africa: Brazil’s connections, possibilities as second discourse holds January 18

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  • January 17, 2025
  • 4 min read
Cultural Incentive Laws for Africa: Brazil’s connections, possibilities as second discourse holds January 18

By Editor

THE first one was eye-opening, as it exposed participants from across the African continent to government-backed opportunities and possibilities in the form of culture financing available to Brazilian artists and culture workers that seem novel to a majority of African creatives. A second edition was promised for 2025 and will be delivered at 11.00am on Saturday, January 18, 2025 via virtual platform to a wider audience across the continent, “a groundbreaking online event that bridges cultural policies between Brazil and Africa,” organisers have said.

Continuing, they said, “This unique dialogue will explore how Brazil’s successful cultural incentive laws, such as the Rouanet Law, can inspire transformative change in African nations. Experts will share insights into fiscal policies, racial equity, historical reparations, and the power of cultural initiatives to drive systemic change. Let’s create connections and possibilities for a more inclusive cultural future.”

The second edition will feature Artist, cultural producer, with a PhD in feminist clowning, Fernanda Pimenta, who will bring a creative perspective to regional and international cultural projects, Researcher from GESF-UFG, Flávio Batista who will focus on fiscal policies, racial inequalities, and historical reparations and chief organiser, event creator and cultural researcher, Gustavo Brito who will share expertise on Brazilian cultural policies and their transformative potential. Organisers believe the seminar presents a unique “opportunity to connect with artists, cultural managers, and visionaries from both continents. The event will include interactive discussions, fostering collaboration and innovative solutions.

“This online seminar aims to address the absence of cultural incentive laws in many African countries. Inspired by the vibrant artistic community in Africa, the event seeks to foster dialogue and collaboration between Brazil and African nations, strengthening ties and sharing successful initiatives in arts and culture. Featuring two Brazilian specialists, the seminar will explore the structure, implementation, and impact of Brazil’s cultural incentive laws, offering insights into their adaptability. This initiative represents a collective effort to inspire sustainable cultural policies that empower artistic communities across borders.

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In the first edition held last year, one of Brazil’s experts in cultural laws, Iury Ercolani stressed how these laws impact the lives of Brazilian artists, “Government provides resources for the artists to produce art. In Brazil, it’s very difficult. These laws allow the artist to work and live on his art. I think the best one is the improvement on economic numbers, and I think this is very important. This money injected in projects go back to the government. We have music concerts with public resources (funding) and we have someone selling soda or food. That’s a structure, and that’s the most important thing, in my opinion, in these laws, because they provide an environment for small businesses and people who need job can work with these events, and it impacts the lives of these people.”

While Brazilians who already have these laws enshrined in their constitution still struggle to have them enforced, what happens to artists in African jurisdictions that don’t even have these laws? How can African creatives tackle this lack and be empowered to produce art without stress? The Brazilians could not imagine how Africans produce art without the help of government’s funding entrenched in their constitution, but they also encouraged artists to have good bookkeeping system that show just how much money is coming from their art and cultural products as a way of showing faith in the funding they get.

For Ercolani a big fight is needed, “The artists need to organize (for) this fight and pick some good things from it,” he said. “I think we need to show those in power that this makes value and create jobs that make money. I think that’s the way they will be convinced that it’s a good law. We need to produce economic statistics to prove to them that culture and arts have value and produce money and jobs.”

Time is 8h (Brazil time) and 11h (Accra time). Online via Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84063464029?pwd=kloBKXhaTBLaSz1e4wrJro8X7Rqk8s.1 with Meeting ID: 840 6346 4029.

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