Now that the crowdfunding campaign to realize AtWork Addis Ababa is over we wanted to share our gratitude and some thoughts.
It’s been 60 days since the beginning of our crowdfunding campaign. After six years of activity we thought that it was time to try to engage our larger community and not only those directly involved in the format’s implementation. AtWork is an initiative built around the idea of sharing, of relationship and the will to contaminate. With this assumption in mind it was only natural for us to extend this “Ideal constitution” beyond our usual perimeters. We wanted to test our roots, our capacity to communicate and to reinvent ourselves. Even if the success of the campaign was key for us, the equally important thing was to witness the virtuous cycle that the campaign has triggered. The generosity demonstrated by the artists who have donated their works to the campaign has been quite extraordinary. But your support and commitment have been equally amazing. The fact that we have reached the goal before the campaign’s end has allowed us to dedicate the last hours before the gong to collect funds to implement AtWork Douala, a potential chapter in Cameroon with our established partner: Doual’Art.
We have chosen to put our stakes on the vision that goes beyond a single project, but that has an ambition of creating a movement. AtWork is an educational format., it’s immaterial and intangible to the spectator. Those who sustain education do it as an act of faith, a long-term investment in the future. They do not contribute to something immediate, present. They bet on the future, on “a new generation of thinkers in Africa” hoping that they will also be able to save the dear old Europe. And we are happy to see that this vision has touched all of you, recharging us with the new energy and enthusiasm.
Your support has made AtWork Addis Ababa possible and we feel that today we have all the elements to bring it to life. The notebooks have lived quite an adventure in these past 60 days between Africa and Europe. The artworks have travelled from Afropixel#5 festival as part of Dak’Art 2016, passing through Basel for the Art Basel fair, to end up in Lago apartment in the heart of Milan. These last two months have been a true journey, where we have encountered partners, friends, collaborators, new meeting spaces and new travel companions. At the end of this journey we wanted to say a sincere thank you to all of you who have contributed to the campaign and in particular to the artists and to those who have sustained us with their presence, their work and their commitment to our mission:
ARTISTS
Erminia De Luca
Pélagie Gbaguidi
Aida Muluneh
Maurice Pefura
Giorgio Vigna
Luca Vitone
Enzo Umbaca
PARTNER/BRICKER
Appartamento Lago
Art Basel
Raffaele Bellezza
Lionel Cuni
Fine-Mart
Fondazione Cariplo
Katrin Peters-Klaphake
Anna Kucma
Indiana Production
Ker Thiossane
Kickstarter
Youssef Limoud
Amira Parree
Zosia Swidlicka
Monica Tarabini
CONTRIBUTORS ON KICKSTARTER
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.
