Founded in Arusha, Tanzania
Within a ghetto located in Kijunge Juu, is a music studio, Watengwa Records. It is here that AMN was created with a mission to bring African music to the world, and bring the world to African music. Our goal is to contribute to a culture which values art and the role of artists in building better, more innovative societies. It is here that we have a center open to the community.
Our Community Center
Overview
AMN Community Center for Arts and Music CCAM, a cross-cultural music and arts center that engages, inspires and entertains.
CCAM provides support and encourage masters, rising talents, those who are working hard on their dreams, and even those who have no idea what their future holds. Our Center is an incubator for community members to discover and develop their own ideas, perspectives, emotions and unique forms of creative expressions. Music and art pieces are showcased in our gallery and performance hall, in street multimedia music events, and recorded/broadcast globally using latest technology.
Our aim is to foster and develop opportunities; to support and encourage them throughout the various stages of their career, but the key is depending on their own ability and work.
Activities
Our Community Center performs the various functions/roles:
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1. Classrooms for private and group art/music lessons.
2. Gallery/event space for showcasing works to community.
3. Recording studio for recording and teaching music production.
4. Dedicated Visitor Center and mini-museum featuring notable Tanzanian artists and musicians.
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The following is a list of specific activities held at the Center:
Compose and arranging music/art classes
Organize talent-supporting workshops
Develop and demonstrate performance skills and art pieces
Explore the construction of indigenous music instruments
Organize street multimedia performances and talent shows to increase awareness of music talents
Motivate young talents the opportunities in music/art
Host international music and art professionals to volunteer/teach and lead music/art classes
Promote talents to the media
Connect local and international cultures
Utilize web and video technology to further its impact and outreach
Objectives
- To bring music and art to the broadest possible demographic, allowing people the chance to experience, make and do art themselves.
- To bond and impact the creators and spectators of our music, arts and culture by enabling participants to become agents of change in their own lives through the act of collective art making, music and projects.
- To advocate for and promote the value of the music, arts and culture by illustrating their broad-reaching benefits through our projects and performances.
-To create a sustainable organization, using sustainable diversified funding strategies and by developing various community partnerships and collaborations.
- To promote and engage the youth in environmental conservation activities and protection of nature.
- To create an environment for people to employ themselves and encourage them to participate in a wide range of activities and stages of development.
-To enhance socioeconomic status of people through appropriate empowerment program that facilitates the realization of their potential and opportunities.
- To connect our community with positive role models of self-expression.
- To teach how to write, produce and perform original creative works and how to register and protect creative property rights
- To increase interest in technology and connective to global network of artists and musicians.
- To educate, entertain, and inspire our community.
Relevancy to Community
Life Skills and Coping with Change
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At our community center we develop and enhance basic life skills such as: Communication, cross cultural exchange, decision-making, leadership, and citizenship. Coping with change and learning how to learn can help lead to a fulfilling life. These skills are proactive and they can be practiced within these community center. Productive citizens are people who are adaptive, flexible and open-minded about their understanding and participation in the world. People can learn how to create and deal with change for example, abandoning bad harmful traditional practices, preaching peace and harmony in the streets, advocating for human rights through art and music.
Citizenship and Music
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Citizenship includes all the ways people think and act with informed concern for the good of themselves and others. Life skills and citizenship begin with people understanding themselves and expand to relationship with family, peer groups, community, state, national, world concerns.
The following are examples of activities that encourage life skills, coping with change, and citizenship through music:
- Take a talent group on tour to community center, hospital or school
- Perform in community fundraising for cause of choice, or art a civic celebration
- Workshops and QAs with professional musician/artists/managers to find out how the person decides which kind of products or music to produce or provide. In what ways have peoples interest tastes change over the years? Have instruments changed? How have they adapted to these changes?
- Talk to parents, grandparent and other elder about music/art they enjoy, share with each other their likes and dislikes.
Partners
This project is carried out in partnership with other musical and cultural organizations to provide support according to their capacities. AMN endeavors to call upon other stakeholders and partners in a way of fulfilling the project goals.
Volunteer
Volunteering is a critical component to development in Arusha. Encouraging cultural exchange and broadening horizons, we welcome volunteers at our community center with a background in arts, music, and/or education. For more information please contact us.
Past Partners
