The Economy of Creativity Workshop

The Economy of Creativity Conference of 2010 was the second creative economy convening organized by The GoDown Arts Centre, in collaboration with Mimeta Norway, and The Swedish Institute. 

The three-day regional event brought together 100 delegates representing Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Ethiopia.  

The objectives of the conference were, firstly, to share understanding and experiences of the arts, viewed under the lens of entrepreneurship and business. Secondly, in an economically integrating Eastern African bloc, to discuss the implications and ramifications for building a sustainable creative sector. Third, to recommend practical actions and to make practicable resolutions and plans that would serve to cohere and advance the economy of creativity. 

Through stimulating keynote addresses, panel presentations and roundtable discussions, delegates examined the question of markets and distribution networks, these being key components of any value chain forming the link between the tangible ideas of creative people and the consumer public.

The delegates considered the cross-impact between regional creative output and national and regional demographics and attempted to trace the interplay between the futures and characteristics of different demographics and creative content.  

On the third day of the conference, an informal talk-show format discussion was held, with the aim of presenting the perspectives of actors in different disciplines of the creative economy on the substance and content of their creativity in relation to the communities they live and work in.