The French Embassy has launched the Creative Arts Spaces in Kenya (CASiK) project to support five different arts and cultural spaces in the Kisumu, Nakuru, Nairobi, Mombasa and Lamu counties.
The project will be implemented jointly by the French Embassy and the Alliance Française in Nairobi and Mombasa.
The project will be executed over two years, with infrastructure and equipment upgrades and technical trainings in the first 12 to 15 months.
CASiK aims to create a network of accredited and functional performance venues in Kenya, across selected counties, that will support artists’ hubs and communities by upgrading equipment and infrastructure, building technical capacities and developing cultural programmes.
CASiK project coordinator Beth Achitsa said the project will facilitate the creation and promotion of Kenya’s artistic diversity and cultural expressions in line with the objectives of the Kenyan government.
"The ability of an artist to showcase their work at five unique venues with adequate technical and artistic infrastructure will now be a reality," she said.
"Our goal is both to allow our partners access high-level programming and introduce audiences at the grassroots level to this programming, while enabling artists to tour the country."
A series of inaugural national tours of artists will initiate cooperation on artistic programming across the venues, facilitating artists’ mobility and pooling of resources.
