In early March 2020, The Gambia Government declared a State of Health Emergency in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has hit the Gambia just as the rest of the world.
The culture and creative industries in enormous ways have been negatively affected by this state of affairs. The closing of performances, venues, galleries, studios, museums, including our UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and bookshops meant a loss of revenue to the sector. The NCAC has therefore decided to join UNESCO in its Resiliart project.
Resiliart is a UNESCO online effort to foster dialogue among Gambian artists, arts administrators and policy makers, and also UNESCO itself to assess and chart the way forward during and after Covid-19. The Gambia is the first country in Africa to do this online discussion.
On Wednesday 6 May and Thursday 7 May, NCAC will use UNESCO RESILIART platform to continue to create hope and resilience among artists through online discussion in the safety of their homes.
On Wednesday, Jaliba Kuyateh, musician and king of kora; Sheikh Tijan Secka, film maker; Rohey Camara actress, Dr Cherno Omar Barry, writer, Hassoum Ceesay, Director General, NCAC and the Honourable Minister of Tourism and Culture, Hamat N.K Bah are fronting the online discussion.
On Thursday, Ndey Fatou Jabang, dancer; Baaba Silah, writer; Oko Drammeh, music promoter; Baboucarr Cham, cultural promoter and radio personality and manager; Lamin Jarju, UNESCO NATCOM will be on the platform. Both editions last from 12PM to 14:30 PM.
The head of the UNESCO Office for West and Central Africa based in Dakar, will also join in the discussions online. The online discussion is fully supported by UNESCO BREDA, Dakar.
Both online meetings will enable Gambian artists’ voice to be heard on the impact of the pandemic on the arts, and will clear the way for a roadmap for an intervention to support the arts and culture sector by government and UNESCO and other partners as part of Covid-19 social response.
The public is invited to follow up the discussion via Facebook and participate.
