Arts and Education in Mali and Africa

Maaya-Culture and Citizenship Program

The Maaya and Citizenship program is built around the concept Arts & Maaya for Social Change – AMCS, and is linked to the “Art and Education” component of the Kôrè Cultural Center (CCK) which implements citizen construction actions through citizenship education, artistic-pedagogical workshops on storytelling, theater, bogolan and painting. This program contributes to the distribution and access for all to a diversity of cultural expressions. It emphasizes the correlation between the two concepts (Maaya and Citizenship) which place the individual at the heart of socio-economic and cultural development through civic, moral and cultural education in connection with the values of Maaya and in coherence with the local context in order to promote sustainable behavioral change, through the different artistic disciplines.

AMCS & Citizenship Concept

The Maaya & Citizenship program works with the concept of Art & Maaya for Social Change – AMCS. This AMCS approach uses different forms of art to educate on citizenship issues, socio-cultural issues, while drawing inspiration from the societal values of Mali. It consists of using different forms of art to educate children and young people in school , unschooled and out of school on the challenges and issues of citizenship. This approach takes place within the framework of a participatory process with an educational, entertaining, creative and aesthetic character, with a view to lasting behavioral change.

The Maaya and Citizenship program is implemented in collaboration with the Institut Kôrè des Arts et Métiers de Ségou (IKAM) and the Festival sur le Niger Foundation as part of the Kôrè Art and Culture Group (GKAC) and constitutes the first program of CCK social art. It is carried out with the financial support of the Hôtel Savane of Ségou and the DOEN Foundation of the Netherlands.

The Youth Environment and Creativity Project (JEC)

The JEC project consists of activating the awakening of consciousness and initiating a change in the behavior of children and young people with a view to considerably reducing the negative impact of man on the environment in connection with local realities and in coherence with our values of Maaya. This through artistic and creative education on environmental issues and the adoption of good practices for safeguarding the Niger River, but also the creation of a label of green festivals in Mali. This project, linked to the ”Art and Education” component of the Kôrè Cultural Center (CCK), is based on strategies adapted to our local realities with an adaptation to the 3xR principle (Recycling, Reuse and Waste Reduction) . It tackles environmental challenges and issues through raising awareness, mobilizing and engaging children and youth via social art tools for awareness and lasting behavior change.

The JEC project will positively influence and engage 20,000 children and adolescents to raise awareness of the adoption of good environmental management and protection practices in the Ségou region. It will also raise awareness and mobilize 200,000 people on environmental protection, including the degradation of the banks of the Niger River, and label 30 green festivals in Mali.