MADARAJA / PONT

Sub-Sahara Advisory Panel

 

Sub-Sahara Advisory Panel was formed in 2009 when a number of African diaspora groups in Wales met to consider how they might collectively advance their common interest in local issues affecting African communities in Wales as well as those in Africa. We are not an organisation representing African Diaspora communities in Wales but one that seeks to utilise skills, capacity and knowledge found within Welsh African diaspora communities for the benefit of all. We want to bring our lived experiences and provide reality check to the charity sector as well as advocating for diaspora for development. We do this by implementing development initiatives in Wales and across Sub-Saharan Africa.

 

Madaraja Introduction

 

Madaraja asks “how can we imagine equal and decolonised arts when dominant cultural narratives continue to shape our experiences and collective imagination?”. Sub-Sahara Advisory Panel has worked with racially minoritized communities and creatives, to establish de-colonised vehicles for culture, combining digital and traditional tools and drawing on African and diasporic cultures. Madaraja aims to act locally but think globally, whilst building bridges that link Wales and the African continent. Sub-Sahara Advisory Panel has directly connected with creatives, cultures and languages; exploring hierarchies and the potential of visual, poetic and creative tools, gesture to convey narratives, emotions and memories. 

 

Funded by the Arts Council of Wales, Madaraja has commissioned 14 artists from across Wales (including Cardiff, Swansea, Bangor and Wrexham) and the African continent (including Kenya, Cameroon and Tanzania). Madaraja artists come from a diverse range of backgrounds, experiences and disciplines (such as painting, poetry, film sound and mixed media).

 

Madaraja has:

• Formed and actively grown community of creatives, leaders and change makers 

• Engaged communities in workshops, creative activities, co-creation and debate.

• Fostered and empowered art and creativity from the community. 

• Fostered collective action and the creation of new work in diverse media.

• Connected to white-run institutions to collaborate, challenge, run takeovers and events.

• Brought showcases to the community.

• Exploited digital technology to connect and foster knowledge-exchange with creatives and change makers from the continent 

• Grown sustainable and long-term networks 

• Organised events in real life, within existing restrictions and health guidelines 

• Imagined a decolonised Wales from the perspective of minoritized communities and that of African collaborators, moving our identity from a ‘tolerant nation’ to a nation that celebrates its diversity and global cultural allies. 

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Panel Cynghori Is-Sahara

 

Ffurfiwyd y Panel Cynghori Is-Sahara yn 2009 pan gyfarfu nifer o grwpiau Affricanaidd alltud yng Nghymru i ystyried sut gallent ddatblygu eu diddordeb ar y cyd mewn materion lleol sy’n effeithio ar gymunedau Affricanaidd yng Nghymru yn ogystal â’r rheiny yn Affrica. Nid ydym yn sefydliad sydd yn cynrychioli cymunedau Affricanaidd alltud yng Nghymru ond yn un sydd yn ceisio defnyddio sgiliau, gallu a gwybodaeth a geir mewn cymunedau Affricanaidd Cymreig alltud er budd pawb. Rydym eisiau cyflwyno ein profiadau bywyd a rhoi cipolwg ar realaeth i’r sector elusennau yn ogystal ag eirioli dros ddatblygiad alltudion. Rydym yn gwneud hyn trwy weithredu mentrau datblygu yng Nghymru ac ar draws Affrica Is-Sahara.

 

Cyflwyniad Madaraja

 

Mae Madaraja yn gofyn “sut gallwn ddychmygu celfyddydau cyfartal ac wedi eu dadwladychu pan mae naratif diwylliannol goruchafol yn parhau i ffurfio ein profiadau a’n cyd-ddychymyg?”. Mae Panel Cynghori Is-Sahara wedi gweithio gyda chymunedau a grwpiau creadigol lleiafrifol o ran hil, i sefydlu cyfryngau wedi eu dadwladychu ar gyfer diwylliant, gan gyfuno offer digidol a thraddodiadol a defnyddio diwylliannau Affricanaidd ac alltud. Nod Madaraja yw gweithredu’n lleol ond meddwl yn fyd-eang, tra’n creu pontydd sydd yn cysylltu Cymru a chyfandir Affrica. Mae Panel Cynghori Is-Sahara wedi cysylltu’n uniongyrchol â grwpiau creadigol, diwylliannau ac ieithoedd; archwilio hierarchaethau a photensial offer gweledol, barddonol a chreadigol, arwyddion i gyfleu naratif, emosiynau ac atgofion. 

 

Mae Madaraja, a ariennir gan Gyngor Celfyddydau Cymru, wedi comisiynu 14 o artistiaid ar draws Cymru (yn cynnwys Caerdydd, Abertawe, Bangor a Wrecsam) a chyfandir Affrica (yn cynnwys Kenya, Camerŵn a Tanzania). Daw artistiaid Madaraja o amrywiaeth eang o gefndiroedd, profiadau a disgyblaethau (fel arlunio, barddoniaeth, ffilm, sain a chyfryngau cymysg).

 

Mae Madaraja wedi:

• Ffurfio a datblygu cymuned o grwpiau creadigol, arweinwyr a gwneuthurwyr newid 

• Ymgysylltu cymunedau mewn gweithdai, gweithgareddau creadigol, cyd-greu a thrafodaeth.

• Meithrin a grymuso celf a chreadigrwydd o’r gymuned. 

• Meithrin gweithredu ar y cyd a chreu gwaith newydd mewn cyfryngau amrywiol.

• Cysylltu â sefydliadau sydd yn cael eu rhedeg gan bobl wyn i gydweithredu, herio, cynnal ymgyrchoedd meddiannu a digwyddiadau.

• Cyflwyno arddangosiadau i’r gymuned.

• Defnyddio technoleg ddigidol i gysylltu a meithrin cyfnewid gwybodaeth gyda grwpiau creadigol a gwneuthurwyr newid o’r cyfandir 

• Datblygu rhwydweithiau cynaliadwy a hirdymor

• Trefnu digwyddiadau mewn bywyd go iawn, o fewn cyfyngiadau a chanllawiau iechyd presennol

• Dychmygu Cymru wedi ei dadwladychu o safbwynt cymunedau lleiafrifol a chydweithredwyr Affricanaidd, gan symud ein hunaniaeth o ‘genedl oddefgar’ i genedl sydd yn dathlu ei hamrywiaeth a chynghreiriaid diwylliannol byd-eang. 

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