Author and elected official Haki Ammi will be speaking at the fourth annual International Conference on Art for Social Transformation: ARTIZEN 2020 – Connecting Sustainable Development to ARTIZEN and Art Culture,” in Bagamoyo, Tanzania November 13-18, 2020. The theme of this year’s conference is, “Art for Social Transformation,” and Ammi’s workshop will be, “The Diaspora As Resource: The Art of Pan Africanism.” A 10-member US delegation will attend as part of Teaching Artists Institute Tours and International Sheroes.
Ammi is with the Baltimore City Democratic State Central Committee. He also holds the titles of Treasurer and Secretary Board Member for the Maryland Legislative Black Caucus Foundation.
“This conference centers on leadership principles for the 21st century for Black leaders across the diaspora,” Ammi says, “And the primary activities will be to educate attendees on wealth building, as well as on the importance of cultivating global professional networks.”
The event is designed to engage all sectors in society into artist-led exploration and inquiry. Organizers say arts culture has the ability to reactivate the “art possibility” needed for practitioners of every sector to stimulate innovation and growth. The artist class is best positioned to lead civic engagement, cross-sector/cultural communication, and imagineering.
Ultimately, the conference provides an opportunity for the artist class to stretch beyond the limitation of art as only the aesthetic, to facilitate learning and community development, and join the decision makers in their community as the “Artizen.”
Ammi adds it’s important for continental Africans to connect with African-Americans at this moment in time, particularly since the US is viewed around the world as a model for democracy. “African-Americans also need to reach beyond US borders and think on a global scale about how to identify allies who will work to ensure all of humanity is treated with respect,” he says.
At the same time as the Artizen Conference, on November 14, the Maryland Legislative Black Caucus Foundation will host its 25th anniversary weekend event. This year’s keynote address and workshop moderators will include Roland Martin, Dr. Michael Eric Dyson, and Tamika Mallory. Ammi is inviting the Tanzanian conference participants to view and participate in the 25th anniversary event by way of livestream. Both events will be online and are open to the public.
The lead sponsor of the ARTIZEN Conference, The Teaching Artist Institute, is a socially-engaged arts/cultural advocacy and training organization that instrumentally contributes to promoting art for social transformation. TAI also works to develop platforms focused on cross-sector/cultural community engagement and sustainable development.
TAI specializes in training artists to develop outlets for socially-engaged art and mutual understanding. The organization is creating the world’s first model in Art for Social Transformation Master Planning. Currently, TIA is headquartered in Washington DC, with satellite locations nationally and internationally in Ghana, Uganda, Jamaica, Liberia, and The Gambia.
Register for ARTIZEN 2020 https://BIT.LY//ARTIZEN2020 and the Black Caucus Foundation’s 25th Anniversary at https://www.mdblackcaucusfoundation.org/.
