About KAN
THE KAN FESTIVAL
The Knowledge, Arts, and Networking (KAN) Festival aspires to be the platform where Africans and friends of Africa from all over the world convene to deliberate on the issues of the continent. This gathering includes MS TCDC stakeholders, alumni, friends, collaborating partners, thought leaders, artists, development practitioners, and committed friends of Africa and is held at MS TCDC in Arusha. The festival provides a space where practitioners collectively explore practical ways of understanding and appreciating their roles in confronting everyday challenges while deepening their contribution to effectual development on the African continent. During the festival, development practitioners from different persuasions set aside some time, as the year begins, to reflect on ‘Pan African Affairs’ that have the potential to transform the growth and development of our immediate communities, nations and by extension the African continent.
The greatest value addition of KAN to the ongoing development prospects will be the platform it creates for the networking of practitioners from all ages, walks of life, and sectors of societies. At KAN, development practitioners get an opportunity to inspire and be inspired, challenge one another and, in particular, take stock of what has transpired over a past significant period in their work, with the intent of ‘connecting the proverbial dots’ to suggest what path may be best, going forward. The Festival aims to stimulate the community of development practitioners that attend to play an active role in identifying and advocating for clear, tangible movement in terms of development gains, for future generations. Each festival attempts to identify a suitable and relevant theme for the annual convening.
The theme adopted for KAN 2020 is “Development and Developmentalism” and with this theme comes a byline that is taken from an insight of the founding father of Tanzania, Mwalimu Julius Nyerere who said ’maendeleo ni watu … si vitu’ - This loosely means that "Development is in people, not things".
The overall aims of the festival will be threefold:
- To provide space for development practitioners to reflect on the past while imagining the future, drawing on available sources of knowledge and inspiration.
- To create opportunities for mutual stimulation and collaborative analysis of the challenges at hand and surfacing collective action steps.
- To create and strengthen networks of development and leadership practitioners committed to building a socially conscious, just and equitable community that mirrors the ultimate aspirations of the African society.
The Main Features of KAN Festival
Framing conversation sessions, storytelling sessions, Symposia/workshops, film screenings, exhibitions, debates, artistic performances, the wellness clinic, (including health food exploration), inter-generational dialogue, the power of the written and spoken word (Swahili and English).
Program Design
The program design will on this occasion be informed by the lessons of the first convening and insights that have emerged from that experience. A working draft will be developed and will remain open for adjustment/review on an ongoing basis going forward.
FESTIVAL LINEUP WILL BE ANNOUNCED SOON!
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