It was officially opened by the Principal Secretary, State Department for Culture and Heritage, Ms. Josephta Mukobe, with the assistance of Mr. Michael Pundo, CEO of Kenya Cultural Centre incorporating Kenya National Theatre, and Prof. Emily Akuno, the chairperson of the conference.

Representing Amb. (Dr) Amina Mohamed, EGH, CAV, Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Sports, Culture and Heritage, Ms. Josephta showed appreciation to the Kenya Cultural Centre for organizing the conference stating that it will aid in passing knowledge from generation to generation that which would be helpful for the industry and the society at large. Further, she highlighted that she is proud and happy to see KCC fulfilling its mandate through the conference.

In his speech the CEO informed the audience that KCC is turning 70 years, and that the conference will enhance KCC’s aim of inspiring cultural connections.  He highlighted that over the years KCC has emerged strongly from the social disruptions it has faced. Moreover, he mentioned that being the first performing arts conference, a journey has just begun and as such he invites partners, institutions of higher learning, embassies, and government agencies for a more successful subsequent conference.

Conversely, Prof Akuno provided a background of the conference and highlighted the major stakeholders as; academia who would provide the knowledge, practitioners who would apply the knowledge, and governance who would use the knowledge to develop policies to support art in the country.

With the conference theme being on decolonization, intercultural collaboration, and social disruption; Paper presentations, keynote addresses, panel discussions, and performances focused on the theme. Key issues that came up from the conference included; the need to embrace technology, expansion of national theatre spaces, reviewing guidelines in the art to include different voices, the development of performing art components in the Competency Based Curriculum (CBC), and intention to have the conference annually.

During the closing ceremony, Prof. John Mugubi, the chairperson of the conference’s scientific committee, highlighted that it was time to take action and spread the word wisely. Equally, in his final remarks, the CEO, Mr. Pundo encouraged participants to partner and collaborate with KCC for implementation of the valuable input obtained from the conference to address the issues raised and enhance art.