Paper short abstract:

Discourses and politics linking up culture and development in Africa have contributed to a transnationalisation of art worlds. The paper explores the dynamics of increasing inequalities and the diverging development visions of actors involved in the field of contemporary dance.

Paper long abstract:

Since the period of early nation building, discourses and politics linking up culture and development in Africa have considerably changed in terms of ideology as well as in terms of institutions, actors and resources involved. With austerity and the increasing predominance of neo-liberalism many states have refrained from engaging in cultural politics. Meanwhile, international organisations have discovered the 'expediency of culture' for development, with a particular focus on the domain of contemporary arts. The latter are not only conceived as job providers, but also as means to promote civic consciousness and democratic values, criticise bad governance, deal with social problems and mediate the cleavages of uneven economic growth. Funding schemes encourage transnational artistic networks and provide opportunities for artists who left the continent in 'search for greener pastures' in the global North to establish cooperative links with their countries of origin. However, the sustainability of project based transnational artistic collaborations remains a major challenge. Moreover, the transnationalisation of art worlds goes along with increasing inequalities and asymmetrical power relations on various scales. These relations are intersecting with gender- and age-based hierarchies established in local art fields, partly reinforcing, partly contradicting them. Based on empirical research in Burkina Faso and Senegal, the proposed paper explores the dynamics of inequalities in the field of contemporary dance and analyses the diverging development visions of various actors involved.