The European Union (EU) is developing new projects and funding opportunities to support cultural events and artistes across Nigeria and Africa.
The EU Ambassador to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Gautier Mignot, said at the maiden Lagos Contemporary Circus Festival on Saturday in Lagos, that the world was experiencing troubled times, making increased support for culture and artists necessary.
“We need more cultural action, not less. We need more funding for culture, for the arts, for the creative economy,” he said.
He said that the festival demonstrated the value of cultural partnerships, describing performances by Nigerian, Ethiopian, Ivorian and Swiss artists as international, colourful and energetic.
“It’s really very international, colourful, full of energy and very modern, very contemporary,” Mignot said.
The envoy said that the EU had supported the recent Kano Creative Summit organised by the National Theatre.
He added that the EU was also partnering with film festivals across the country and would support the Lagos Biennial of Contemporary Art in November.
Mignot said that the EU was developing projects aimed at empowering artists across Africa and promoting greater collaboration between European and African creatives.
According to him, the EU will be funding more co-creations through training, workshops and other forms of artistic exchange.
Mignot expressed hope that the circus festival would continue in subsequent years, attract more sponsors and become a regular platform for international artistes.
In her speech, the General Manager and Chief Executive Officer of the National Theatre, Tola Akerele, said that contemporary circus combined dance, movement, acrobatics, sport and physical performance.
Akerele stated that the art form provided Nigerian artistes with opportunities to develop and tell their own stories.
She said that a successful outcome of the festival would be helping Nigerians understand contemporary circus and recognise its potential.
“Nigeria is a young contemporary circus festival, but there’s so much potential. Contemporary circus is dance, its movement, its acrobatics, its sport,” Akerele said.
She said that the festival demonstrated Nigeria’s capacity to develop its own contemporary circus stories through collaborations with international artistes.
She said that the festival attracted people from different age groups, including families, children, young adults and older people.
The festival, organised by the National Theatre with EU sponsorship, was held at the National Theatre with the theme, ‘Circus in Motion’.
GIK/APA