Next week, from 20th to 24th February, AtWork tour is landing in N’Djamena, Chad.
The workshop, organized in partnership with Institut Francois du Tchad, was originally planned for November 2022. However, the time coincided with the violent protests and clashes that swarmed the streets of the capital and many other cities of the nation following Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno’s unilateral decision to extend his presidential mandate. In order to ensure the safety of our staff and anyone involved in AtWork, we chose to postpone the event by promising N’Djamena creative community to come back as soon as the situation had stabilized.
We’re happy to announce that we are now able to keep that promise. AtWork N’Djamena is finally taking place, and we look forward to meeting and interacting with Chad’s creative scene five years since the last time. The group of young creative thinkers selected will be encouraged by creative director and screenwriter Moïse Touré to stimulate and develop their critical thinking skills and self-awareness by investigating the theme “What comes first?”.
This will be the fourth and closing chapter of the “What comes first?” era, leaving space for “Who is the stranger in me?” starting next month.
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.
