Amaru Arts and Community Center (AACC)

The Amaru Arts & Community Center (AACC) is a community initiative in Mondesa, Swakopmund (Namibia), empowering young people to realise their potential and become active agents of change in their communities. With the motto “Dreaming, Daring, Doing”, the AACC fosters creativity, courage, and care through activities like games, arts, and critical discussions on global systems of power, such as racism, cishetpatriarchy, and imperialism.

Using radical popular education, the AACC encourages knowledge-sharing within communities to inspire collective growth. This year, it hosted the collaboration “Decolonising Together: Public Relations for a Post-Colonial Culture of Remembrance”, a project that united youth from Namibia and Germany to examine Germany’s colonial history in Namibia and its lingering neocolonial effects. This initiative sensitizes on how history shapes present realities, aiming for more equitable societies.

Tools of Transformation:

1. Education:
Focused on Black, Pan-Africanist teachings and Global South knowledge systems, the AACC challenges eurocentric narratives, uplifts authentic histories, and builds solidarity across Africa and the diaspora. Through teach-ins, workshops, film screenings, study groups, and a planned library and greenhouse, it fosters sustainable learning and growth.

2. Entertainment:
The AACC provides safer spaces for the youth to explore creativity and build confidence. Guided by Mondesa’s young people, it's going to host events like art festivals, drum circles, music shows, markets, chess clubs, and community meals, nurturing community bonds and cultural pride.

3. Empowerment:
The AACC celebrates Mondesa’s vibrant Black culture, challenging erasure and exploitation. It empowers the youth to reclaim narratives through storytelling, film, journalism, and creative media. Plans include a local radio/podcast, newsletters, and an archive of Black narratives from Mondesa, shared through its website and social media.

After basic renovations have been realised, urgent funding is needed to make the AACC fully functional for ongoing and future projects. 
To function as a space to gather, create and work from,  everyone who believes in the power of community are warmly invited to support!