We achieve this mission through the following aims and objectives;

Present

To present and promote musical events and cultural activities through international tours, artist exchange programmes and the New Horizons festival

Develop

To train and develop a new generation of African musicians and artists through the NOK orchestra and the Living Legacies initiatives

Encourage

To create an annual award to be given to an extraordinarily talented and gifted young artist, and encourage and support them in the early stages of their career

Create

To host artistic residencies and retreats for international artists to create, present, perform and share their work and creativity

Preserve

To preserve traditional and classical music, culture and crafts by documenting and archiving these old traditions within the Living Legacies archive

The name NOK comes from the ancient NOK civilisation, one of the oldest in West Africa dating back to the 5th century BC. NOK Foundation is founded on the principle of drawing from the past in order to develop a rich convergence of music, culture and the arts for tomorrow. The learning processes and methodologies adopted within our programmes are intuitive, creative and based on the old system of mentoring and apprenticeship. We believe working together collaboratively alongside international visiting artists, in a forum for cultural exchange, enhances and complements each of their individual learning experience and symbolises our underlying ethos.