Cultural Equity

CAN (Community Arts Network) commissioned their member/partner organization Somali Arts Foundation to do a first-ever mapping of the socially engaged arts and cultural practitioners across North Africa, East Africa, West Africa, and South Africa in an effort to reposition the arts as central to public life and to build stronger connections between artists, institutions, and communities

When we first designed the Dream Orchestra in 2010, we saw “isolation” as one of the most urgent conditions in children’s lives. At the time, the intensity of college entrance competition had already reached elementary school, and many children were being pushed into highly competitive, lonely environments.

Fifteen years later, children’s lives have not become easier. They remain caught in the competitive trap of the education system while social and economic inequality continues to deepen their vulnerability. Declining physical and mental wellbeing, weakened community ties, and the replacement of direct relationships with media-based activities have also left them increasingly disconnected.

Late last year, the Flying Carpet Festival was honored with an Aga Khan Music Award, given to organizations that display “exceptional creativity, promise, and enterprise in music performance, creation, education, preservation and revitalisation in societies across the world in which Muslims have a significant presence.” Founded in 2018, the Flying Carpet Festival is a traveling artist residency, or mobile festival, based in Southeast Turkey but operating in many of that region’s conflict areas. Having first covered their work last year, The Ensemble recently spoke with Founder Sahba Aminikia about receiving the award, working in areas of conflict and displacement, and how he is learning and growing alongside the program.

While our daily lives are rattled by increasing global instability, polarization, and apathy, culture workers working toward youth empowerment and social change share many of the same questions. How do we empower young people without transferring unreasonable responsibility? How do we equip and motivate while acknowledging legitimate, sometimes harsh realities? How do we facilitate interconnectedness, in times of global dehumanization?