African Crossroads December gathering program highlights

Arts, Culture and Sport

African Crossroads December gathering program highlights

As we are approaching the end of the year, the African Crossroads network is getting ready to host its final online gathering for 2020.

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Since the beginning of the year, African Crossroads activities have shifted online and adapted to the new sanitary situation from country to country. A series of Online Gatherings has been set up to respond to the wish of Crossroaders to continue meeting and networking despite the cancellation of the annual event planned for October this year in Harare, Zimbabwe. We are now excited to finish the year with a bigger Online Gathering reflecting on the 2020 theme: Re-imagining the Pan-African Dream — connecting with the past, experiencing the present and imagining the future.

The first Online Gathering held in July 2020 was about connecting and reconnecting with members of the AC network, getting to know members from past editions and creating a stronger sense of belonging to the network. In September, we started to prototype how knowledge sharing could happen online by organizing workshops on gaming and on African sounds. The October Gathering offered space to start anticipating the coming gathering in December by focusing on our lived realities, past experiences as well as desired content for the hybrid event. In November, we invited speakers from the AC network to reflect on and discuss the situation happening in Nigeria, focusing on their own experience as creatives, entrepreneurs and academics, as well as on the role of youth and women. To close the 2020 series of Online Gathering, the African Crossroads community will meet one more time on Thursday, December 10th and Friday, December 11th.

2020 Hybrid Edition and the African Crossroads Values

The December Online Gathering will take on the shape of a hybrid event, strengthening the link between Crossroaders and partner Hubs around the African continent. Seven Hubs in total in Zimbabwe, Kenya, Zambia, Tunisia, Malawi, and Nigeria, are opening their doors to the African Crossroads event and to their local communities. National and local Covid-19 restrictions will be closely followed and measures have been taken to ensure the safety of all participants.

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To “re-imagine the pan-African dream”, a rich and diverse program has been crowdsourced from the AC network and carefully curated by an extended Organising Team including active members of the community. As for the past two year, the program will be composed of a variety of sessions including workshops, discussions, installations, augmented reality experiences, live performances, and virtual exhibitions. As always, diversity is a core characteristic of African Crossroads. Session hosts are coming from over 10 African countries, and the focus of the sessions is as diverse as the network itself. You can expect discussions and workshops on policy, entrepreneurship, tech-related issues, health and wellness, arts and culture, and much more.

Program Highlight

Here are a few tips about what you definitely shouldn’t miss during the December Online Gathering:

  1. The Avatar party ft. Bengatronics, Kenya-based independent record label — on Thursday afternoon, December 10th. Funky grooves and smooth moves. This is where the party starts.
  2. The past, present and future of the Mombasa Declaration — on Friday, December 11th. A follow-up on the Declaration of Mombasa that came to life during the last edition of African Crossroads in Mombasa, Kenya and which promotes the role and benefits of festivals and events for African cities.
  3. The Hub Manager Meetup — on Friday, December 11th. A special session for the Hub Managers among us who had to face many challenges this year.
  4. Thomas “Mukanya aka The Lion of Zimbabwe” Mapfumo Performance — on Friday afternoon, December 11th. Enjoy the journey of musical visionary, fearless social critic, and certainly one of the greatest African bandleaders of the past century in a revolutionary spiritual performance.

And so much more!

The African Crossroads December Online Gathering is taking place on Thursday, December 10th and Friday, December 11th, from 12:00–16:00 WAT / 13:00–17:00 CAT / 14:00–18:00 EAT.

For more information about the program of the December Online Gathering, visit our website http://www.africancrossroads.org/ and follow us on social media to know the latest news.

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The program is subject to last minute changes so make sure to refresh the page to stay updated!

African Crossroads is a community of future-oriented African thinkers and doers. They meet every year to reflect critically on the most cutting-edge development

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