"What Comes First?" in Johannesburg
The latest chapter of AtWork took place in Johannesburg from August 26th to the 30th. The workshop was part of The Demonstration, a 10-day experience presented by the National Museum of African Art, curated by Siwa Mgoboza. The experiences focused on the theme of ‘Our Shared Future: Reckoning with Our Racial Past’ as part of a Smithsonian coordinated, institutional effort to explicitly address systemic racism and racial inequity and take the issue to a global community through the lens of art and creativity.
Within this context, AtWork became the starting point of the bigger conversation sparked by this event.
“Simon Njami came with the toolbox of possibilities with shifts in perspectives, and through this process we were able to gaze, give and take, then execute with intention. As we looked into the impossible void, he prompted, “What comes first?”. Urgency on acting and getting a move on finding new voices that challenge our thinking.”
Editorial Statement by AtWork participants Lungile Hlatshwayo, Kwanele Godfrey Ngwenya, Mthabisi Sithole
This workshop was the third under the 2022 theme “What Comes First?” and the creative outputs sparked from the workshop onto Moleskine notebooks were exhibited in the Old Fort of Constitution Hill and will remain on display until October 30th.
Claude Bunny Massassa is a contemporary artist from Gabon. She created Bunny Studio in 2016, a start-up dedicated to photography production, which became DWABI Studio in 2021. As an artist, she has represented Gabon in many international exhibitions in Senegal, Uganda, France, the United States, and Italy. In her art, she denounces social stigmas around issues of identity and mental health, and explores themes of traditions and myths.
Executive Director Kimberly Aceves- Iñiguez has been passionately committed for over 20 years to social justice organizing and advocacy efforts that bring voice and power to youth, LGBTQ people, people of color, and working-class communities in the Bay Area. Before coming on as the Executive Director for RYSE, Kimberly served as the Executive Director for Youth Together, the founding organization of the RYSE Center.
Kanwarpal Dhaliwal is one of the co-founders of RYSE and currently acts as the Associate Director. She supports and guides the implementation and integration of healing-centered practices, grounded in racial justice and liberation, and also develops, promotes, and advocates for policies, investments, practices, and research that enliven healing, justice, and liberation. Kanwarpal believes that the purpose of her work and life is to contribute to movements, communities, and legacies of liberation that honor the ancestors who fought for her existence and survival, and to forge a world that is just and gentle for future generations.
Sagal Ali is the founder and executive director of SAF. After a few years in her career in heritage protection in the cultural sector, she decided to develop the initiative to directly support young creatives in Somalia by launching her own foundation. She hopes to bridge the social gaps and inequalities women face in Somalia, both in society and in the arts scene.
Co-founders Catherine Dunga and Marleen Palmaers created Kitambo to bridge the gap between the African diaspora in Colombia and the narratives from the continent. From Kinshasa and Antwerp respectively, they work to connect African artists from the continent and their peers from the Colombian diaspora.
Martha Kazungu is a curator, art Historian and Founder of Njabala Foundation, an organization that curates periodic exhibitions and organizes a public program of activities to create a safe space for female artists to thrive and blossom.
Alicia Hansen is a photographer and teacher from New York. She founded NYC SALT in 2008 and, beyond teaching valuable creative skills to her students, has developed a long-term support system to uplift them through school and into their early artistic careers.
