April 27th, invited by Art Basel for Non-Profit Visual Arts Organizations, lettera27 Foundation launches its first crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter to implement the sixth chapter of AtWork. AtWork Addis Ababa conducted by the internationally acclaimed curator Simon Njami will take place in Addis Ababa in December 2016 in partnership with Addis Foto Fest and Aida Muluneh, a renowned Ethiopian artist.
To join the campaign click here.
Addis Ababa is the sixth leg of an extraordinary four-year journey across Africa, with plans to systematically increase the interconnectivity between education, the arts and culture over the next few years on the horizon. An unshakable belief fuels the journey: that change can be available to everyone, as long as everyone is given free access to the necessary tools for exercising their creativity.
Over the course of these last few years, AtWork has become the vehicle for providing young creative talents in Africa with the practical and analytical tools for learning how to transform reality. The main driver behind this has been sharing: of viewpoints, stories, doubts, dreams, tools, spaces; sharing perspectives you never thought possible, but are suddenly on hand. And that is why today, standing on the edge of this great new adventure, we take an important step, inviting a wider audience to contribute to the realisation of this process. In such hard times as these, characterised as they are by the exponential growth of inequality and extremism, we believe that art and creativity can be the levers for real change.
We are delighted that first to support our project are our friends at ArtBasel, hosting us on their Kickstarter profile, one of the largest and most important crowdfunding platforms for art and culture. The funds we raise by June 25 will allow us to realise a 5-day workshop conducted by Simon Njami in Addis Ababa. A group of Ethiopian photographers will be steered down a creative path, armed with the necessary tools for developing a critical approach with which to read their reality. This will lead each participant, or “AtWorker”, to the realisation of a work of art in a Moleskine notebook. The results will be exhibited in shows at Addis Foto Festival. Rounding off the entire process, the AtWorkers will also co-curate the exhibition.
In order for our world to survive and regenerate we need beauty, and we want you to construct this beauty with us. It is for this reason that we invite you to be a part of our campaign to realise AtWork Addis Abeba by supporting it on Kickstarter from April 27. Among the many rewards of the campaign, of particular note are a number of exclusive artworks eagerly and generously donated by prestigious artists including Maurice Pefura, Luca Vitone, Giorgio Vigna and Enzo Umbaca.
With open heart we thank all those who have contributed pro bono so far: Marta Giori and Fine-mart for printing the artworks; Indiana Production for working wonders with the video; Raffaele Bellezza, for taking care of the graphics and not surrendering to our fastidiousness; Raffaella Carillo, producer and all-round handyman. And this is just the beginning. The thank yous will be numerous along the way and we will always voice them willingly and deeply, since the gift is one of our key themes and AtWork is its main arsenal.
Now get at work, contribute, and spread the word!
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.
