The Ankata laboratory and the Gambidi Cultural Space signed on Friday July 7, 2023 in Bobo-Dioulasso, a partnership agreement on the sidelines of the “Route des Arts” tour.

The partnership agreement was signed by the director of Espace Culturel Gambidi Claude Kira Guingané and the artistic director of Laboratoire Ankata Serge Aimé Coulibaly.

“It is the collaboration that already exists between the two structures, in an informal way, which has gradually led to the signing of this agreement. We have already worked together many times in the context of festivals, professional shows, etc. but we lacked this formal framework to define in which direction we want to continue to work” explained the director of the Espace Culturel Gambidi Claude Kira Guingané.

According to him, the formalization of this agreement allows them to have a clear framework in which each one knows what he brings to the other and it allows them to decide in their respective programming, the activities that they will carry out together.

“This agreement obliges us to be united in the programming of the works that one and the other will have tomorrow. Me, if I want to go and play in Bobo-Dioulasso, it will be easier for me now to go to Ankata, since I can precisely rely on the convention that we have, ”said Mr. Guingané.

According to the artistic director of the Laboratory Ankata Serge Aimé Coulibaly, “the partnership covers many areas: administrative, technical, sharing of ideas and experiences”. He explained that thanks to this partnership, Ankata now has a space in Ouaga to play its shows and Gambidi has a space in Bobo to play its shows.

“This partnership allows us to shake up the cultural and artistic milieu of Burkina Faso. It allows us to lean against each other to see further. The advantage is that for an activity in Ouaga, we are no longer obliged to renegotiate, we can just call to stall and vice versa for Gambidi which has an activity in Bobo”, underlined Serge Aimé Coulibaly.

The agreement also provides for the two parties to meet in working sessions to jointly imagine joint programs and find solutions for the broadcasting of their respective shows, underlined Mr. Guigané.

He explained that the convention was made public because the two structures want to prove that they can come together to serve the professionalization of the artist without waiting for some “pseudo subsidies”. “In fact, said Claude Kira Guingané, “the winners are the professionals in the dance and theater professions”.

According to Serge Aimé Coulibaly, this partnership agreement allows the structures to complement each other. He said that Gambidi has “a real field experience for years in the theatrical environment and that Ankata also has an African anchorage and an international influence” through him and Faso dance theater which is the parent company of Ankata.

The “Arts Route” tour is organized by the Espace Culturel Gambidi as part of the “Consolidation of Theater Industries in West Africa” (CITAO) project supported by the ACP-EU/AWA Programme.

The “Route des Arts” tour took place from June 30 to July 8, 2023 and traveled through cities such as Tenkodogo, Koudougou, Boromo and Bobo-Dioulasso.

Source: Burkina Information Agency