Nigeria’s frontline educational and recreational organisation, Terra Kulture, has received a financial donation from the global streaming platform, Netflix.
A statement over the weekend by the Lagos-based firm said the support followed the recent announcement by Netflix to extend the Creative Equity Scholarship Fund (CESF) for film and television students to select West and Central African countries to study at partner universities in Nigeria, Ghana, Benin and Gabon.
The donation received will further the organisation’s effort to promote the richness and diversity of the Nigerian arts and culture sector.
“The support fund will be directed to industry and community-focused areas of engagement which include academic training, theatre, gallery, and bookstore. It is also intended to ensure cultural programming in Nigeria while promoting the various artistic and cultural projects led by Terra Kulture,” the statement said.
Commenting further on the philanthropic gesture, Bolanle Austen-Peters, Chief Executive Officer of Terra Kulture, said: “We’re delighted to receive this donation from Netflix. It would be helpful to take our ongoing projects to the next step.”
According to her, since 2003 Terra Kulture has been at the forefront of promoting Nigeria’s art and culture through exhibitions; indigenous restaurant; and storytelling through its award-winning plays and movies.
“Over these years, we have developed an in-depth understanding of arts, culture, and languages to impact the next generation most effectively. With the financial support received, Terra Kulture Academy for the Arts aims to fulfil its mission to support, upskill and inspire Nigeria’s creative youths through educational and recreational programs that will yield multiplicative benefits to themselves, their families, communities, and the overall Nigerian creative economy.”
Terra Kulture has trained more than 2,000 youth in theatre lighting design, sound design, costume design, batik, tie and dye, makeup, hairstyling, production, acting, directing, production management, props management, and set design, animation, choreography, and motion graphics for stage plays.
In a bid to formalize the training initiative, the organization launched Terra Academy for the Arts (TAFTA), which is a free-to-attend training created to formally empower young creatives with relevant skills across key sub-sectors in theatre. The programme is designed to provide training on key technical production skills for the creative industry as well as an entrepreneurial module for students to learn about the industry’s business side.
Quoting a new report on Nigeria’s creative industry, the statement said the creative industry is now positioned as Nigeria’s second-largest employer of labour and has the potential to produce 2.7 million additional jobs by 2025. Also, it is projected to contribute about 5 trillion Naira to the country’s GDP, thereby making the sector a significant contributor to the economy of Nigeria, which is Africa’s largest.
According to the statement, the intervention aligns with Netflix’s commitment to supporting artistic and cultural projects, and a part of their creative industry support fund in Nigeria.
Recently, the global streaming giant extended its Creative Equity Scholarship Fund to include academic institutions in Central and West Africa. The CESF will be distributed to various initiatives over the next five years to build a strong, diverse pipeline of creatives around the world.
