AtWork Douala Chapter 09: December 5-10th, MAM Gallery, Douala, Cameroon
Moleskine Foundation is very happy to announce our next AtWork Chapter: AtWork Douala Chapter 09 conducted by our advisor Simon Njami that will take place on December 5-10th, in partnership with MAM Gallery and its founder Maréme Malong and doual’art. AtWork workshop always tries to integrate into the artistic and creative texture of the country. This time it is part of the Off Program of SUD-Salon Urbaine de Douala, a triennial event that brings together the artists, thinkers, philosophers, educators from the African continent and beyond. The 2017 edition, curated by Cécile Bourne Farell, is titled “The human dimension” and its particular focus is on young generations. In this new AtWork Chapter, the 20 young creative talents selected to be part of the workshop will tackle the theme “Who are my people?”, a seemingly simple question which will be the starting point for an intense collective discussion and a deep individual self-reflection. As usual, at the end of the discussion, each participant will give their creative artistic answer to the question posed by personalizing a notebook, turning it into a unique art piece. The notebooks will be exhibited at MAM Gallery starting from December 12th. Here more informations about the AtWork format.
Why Africa? next issues
This month Moleskine Foundation’s column presents a new piece written by Sara Benaglia. Historically retracing the import route of the tomatoes, the writer tells the migrants-farmhands exploitation dynamics in the fields of the South Italy. Shacks rose around the fields creating actual ghettos for the laborers. In this dramatic situation “Radio Ghetto” was born to create a community and to connect these isolated camps with both Italy and Africa, broadcasting in different languages. Radio Ghetto tries to unify cultures creating awareness and fighting exploitation.
WikiAfrica Schools Program
WikiAfrica Schools program launched last May by the Foundation in partnership with Wiki in Africa is continuing its course. We are currently at the end of the pilot stage of the initiative. Our team is on the ground in Cape Town, South Africa, with our partner Wiki in Africa to conduct a debriefing session that involves various stakeholders from the educational sector of the region, including teachers, entrepreneurs, educational institutions, foundations, etc. This is a pivotal moment to gather key learnings and breach to the new phase of the initiative, trying to impact more children and schools with the program. All this with the vision of continuing to inspire a new generation of on-line content creators.
Lagos Photo Festival: November 24th to December 15th, Lagos, Nigeria
LagosPhoto is the first and only international festival of photography in Nigeria. The festival presents photography as it is embodied in the exploration of historical and contemporary issues, the promotion of social programmes, and the reclamation and engagement of public spaces in showcasing contemporary photography. The 8th edition of the Lagos Photo festival, themed “Regimes of Truth” explore the pursuit for and presentation of truth in contemporary society, contemporary photography serves as a gatekeeper of reality and truth as well as a conjurer of artistic imaginings for the viewer’s pleasure and introspection. Launched in 2010, LagosPhoto has established a community for contemporary photography, which unites local and international artists through images that encapsulate individual experiences and identities from across all of Africa.
THAT, AROUND WHICH THE UNIVERSE REVOLVES: From November 30th to January 28th 2018, Berlin, Germany
The fifth and final chapter of research, performance and exhibition project THAT, AROUND WHICH THE UNIVERSE REVOLVES realized by SAVVY Contemporary with HAU Hebbel am Ufer, Gintersdorfer/Klaßen, Q-Dance, Njelele Art Station, FFT Düsseldorf and Kampnagel Hamburg will be presented in an exhibition at SAVVY Contemporary and in a performance and discursive programme at Hebbel am Ufer. The project brings together visual artists, urbanists, photographers, performers and theorists to investigate the interrelations of space and time, memory, architecture and urban planning through and beyond Henri Lefebvre’s concept of Rhythmanalysis. The cities of Lagos, Düsseldorf, Harare, Hamburg and Berlin are engaged in a network that investigates their specific urban epistemologies and histories. The project invited African and Diasporic artists to also investigate the history of African presence and resistance in Germany to rethink temporal-historical and spatial-geographical urban concepts.
Rencontres de Bamako: From December 2nd to January 31st 2018, Bamako, Mali
Les Rencontres de Bamako is the leading international platform dedicated to contemporary photography and new images in Africa. This year’s Biennale, under the artistic direction of Marie-Ann Yemsi, is titled Afrotopia. Echoing the book by Senegalese intellectual Felwine Sarr, it reflects a commitment to ensuring that this historic and pioneering biennale for photography is integral to the new Pan-African forces for change, to embracing them and contributing to them. The Pan-African exhibition, at the National Museum of Mali, will be the beating heart of the Biennale. Among the participating artist we highlight Heba Amin, our partner in AtWork Cairo Chapter 04.
OEB - Shaping the future of learning: December 6-8, Conference: Learning Uncertainty, Berlin, Germany
For 23 years, OEB (ONLINE EDUCA BERLIN) has pushed boundaries, challenged preconceptions and catalysed new ideas on shaping the future of digital learning – through innovations in the exhibition, interventions from participants and new forms of dialogue. At OEB, always expect the unexpected. OEB 2017 is about acknowledging uncertainty and preparing for it. It is about how transformative education, training and learning can equip businesses, organisations and individuals with the skills to survive and prosper in our new era.
Abantu Book Festival: December 7-10, Soweto, South Africa
Abantu Book Festival has become an annual pilgrimage for black writers and readers held in SOWETO to celebrate the rich and diverse literary heritage emerging from the African continent. While the book remains the central medium of the festival, we have poetry and musical performances, writing and publishing workshops, panel discussions and in-conversations, as well as film-screening woven into the mix. The best poets, novelists, playwrights, biographers, literary scholars, activists and thinkers are integral to a program that includes Zakes Mda, Tsitsi Dangarembga, Zubeida Jaffer, Gcina Mhlope, Grace Musila, Kopano Matlwa, Ayobami Adebayo, Keorapetse Kgositsile, Mandla Langa, Shubnum Khan, Sisonke Msimang, Zethu Matebeni, Redi Tlhabi, Pumla Dineo Gqola and many others.
Chimurenga Library and Pan African Space Station; December 13-17, La colonie, Paris, France
From 13 – 17 December, in collaboration with Centre Pompidou, Chimurenga will install the Chimurenga Library and Pan African Space Station at La Colonie, Paris, as part of the inaugural Cosmopolis Biennale, a new biennial platform devoted to research-based artistic practices that also reflect a renewed engagement with theories of cosmopolitanism. The installation will be focused on the ongoing project titled Who Killed Kabila?, subject of a future issue of the Chimurenga Chronic. Additionally, they will install the Pan African Space Station to produce and disseminate new knowledge about the event and its implications. The programme will feature writers, artists, musicians, journalists and filmmakers proposing new research paths through DJ sessions, talks, screenings, readings and performances.
Una storia sulla pelle: December 14th 6.30 p.m., Acquario Civico, Milan, Italy
The surviving of the Maasai community that lives in the Arusha region is threatened by a massive drought which is decimating the livestock, the only source of income for the entire community. Reacting to these threats Istituto Oikos, in collaboration with local institutions and Italian partners, decided to boot an innovative and sustainable start up to produce leather accessories using vegetal techniques. From the close collaboration between the Maasai women and the ethical fashion designer Marina Spadafora a series of leather products were born that are going to be presented during the night. Marina Spadafora and Luca Poncellini , both authors of two notebooks for our artists’ collection, are going to attend the event. During the night there will also be the screening of “A Maasai Story – Ethical fashion makes the change”, a movie realized by the director Jordan Stone. The event is by invitation only.
Dak’Art 2018 Dakar Biennale: List of Artists
Titled ‘The Red Hour’, the 13th edition of the Biennale of Contemporary African Art, DAK’ART will be under the artistic direction of our advisor Simon Njami and will be held from May 3 to June 2, 2018 in Dakar.
Among the participating artists we are pleased to highlight Rana Ashraf – AtWork Cairo Chapter 04 participant, Emmanuel Tegene – AtWork Addis Ababa Chapter 06 participant, Andrew Tshabangu leader of AtWork Harare Chapter 07, Franck Fanny, Pélagie Gbaguidi, Mohssin Harraki, Jackie Karuti and James Webb authors of our artists’ notebooks collection.
