L|A|L.3 - Local Development in Music

28 October 2026 at ACCES
Horizon Educational Trust
Johannesburg, South Africa

Live|Arts|Lab is a series of workshops that gather artists and global culture industry and policy leaders, and leverage their wisdom and experience to imagine initiatives that encourage fairness across the global cultural ecosystem.

Tamizdat and Marie Fol are producing the third edition of Live|Arts|Lab (“L|A|L.3”) in cooperation with Music in Africa Foundation’s ACCES Conference, IKS Cultural Consulting, and the German Commission for UNESCO. Like each L|A|L, the third edition focuses on one of the live performing arts, in this case live music. And like each L|A|L, the third edition contemplates fairness through the frame of one of the principles outlined in the “Fair Culture Charter,” in this case Principle #4: “local development.” 

L|A|L.3 brings together 32 thought leaders from across the global cultural ecosystem to design initiatives that enrich the diversity of cultural expressions and enhance human creativity. Specifically, we will be exploring methods for promoting local and long-term cultural development needs in cultural engagements between artists, creatives, cultural workers, and public and private organisations, in ways that…

  • Promote capacity-building, skills transfer, infrastructure development, support for young creatives, and the flourishing of sustainable local markets,

  • Encourage large and multinational business to actively pursue innovative, respectful and non-extractive exchanges and long-term collaborations, and

  • Encourage the public sector to establish public cultural policy that prioritises local cultural development, and ensure that large-scale private enterprises responsibly promote local development.

L|A|L.3 builds on the results of the first two labs, at Music Week Poland in Warsaw which worked on fair market access in music, and Under the Radar in New York City which worked on diversity of cultural expressions in theater—to synthesize knowledge, ideas, and plans across disparate disciplines and across the global cultural industry.

  • Click on the name to read each fellow’s bio, or go to the Fellows page to find them all at once.

  • There is a wealth of background information, source material, and fascinating ideas to be found in our Bibliography (multilingual!). For L|A|L.3, two documents are particularly relevant:

    • 2016: It starts with a heart beat - Crafting a model for live music in southern Africa, Concerts SA

    • 2022: Democracy in the Context of Culture, Sibikwa Arts Centre & South African Department of Cooperative Governance

    Additionally, the Agenda21 Good Practices Research Tool (EN - ES - FR) is an infinitely fascinating menagerie of inspiring projects focused on culture and local development.

  • During L|A|L.3, we look into Principle #4 of the Fair Culture Charter: “Local Development” Here is the text reproduced from the Charter itself:

    Addressing local and long-term cultural development needs is crucial in any cultural engagement between public and private organisations on the one hand and artists, creatives and other cultural workers on the other. Such development needs to encompass various aspects, including but not limited to capacity-building, skills transfer, infrastructure development, support for young creatives and flourishing of sustainable local markets.

    Multinational corporations and large businesses, due to their substantial capacity, have a particular responsibility for such engagement. They should actively pursue innovative, respectful and non-extractive exchanges and long-term collaborations; they should reinvest part of their profits in the national and local cultural and creative ecosystem, including to the benefit of local communities and with a view to strengthening the ability of cooperatives and collectives to also express their art and culture. In the context of Fair Trade in certain other sectors, for instance, a ‘premium’ is used for that purpose.

    It is incumbent upon the public sector to both establish public cultural policy that prioritises local cultural development as well as to ensure that large-scale enterprises fulfil the aforementioned responsibilities. This may require putting in place democratic and inclusive governance processes, while respecting the autonomy and self-determination of artists, creatives and other cultural workers in decisions related to the use of this ‘premium’ for the development of local arts and culture.

    Click here for the full text of the Fair Culture Charter.

  • The third edition of Live|Arts|Lab is a collaboration between Marie Fol and Tamizdat with IKS Cultural Consulting, Music in Africa Foundation and the German Commission for UNESCO, with the particular support of André Le Roux (South Africa) and Christine Msibi (South Africa) from IKS Cultural Consulting.

Partners

IKS Cultural Consulting Logo

IKS CULTURAL CONSULTING

IKS is the go-to consultancy for organizations seeking to authentically engage with African creative ecosystems while building sustainable business models. We are trusted cultural strategists who don't just implement and advise on projects but shape how entire industries think about cultural value creation. Most notably, IKS Cultural Consulting are the administrators of the award winning Concerts SA project, which received recognition at the 2026 Music Cities Awards presented by Sound Diplomacy, for "Music-led Placemaking".

iksafrica.com

Music In Africa Foundation logo

MUSIC IN AFRICA FOUNDATION

The Music In Africa Foundation (MIAF) is a pan-African non-profit organization dedicated to supporting the African music sector through information exchange, networking, and professional development. Headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, it provides extensive resources, funding, and advocacy for music creators and industry professionals across the continent.

In 2017 Music In Africa Foundation created ACCES, one of the largest music trade events in Africa, as a platform to foster the development of the African music industry. The event travels to different locations, offering a diverse programme of activities, including a two-day conference, a two-day showcase festival, exhibitions, policy seminars, industry awards, masterclasses, songwriting camps, and workshops.

https://www.musicinafrica.net/

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