10-Day Art Experience Will Be Focused on Race in the Creative Community
Lovers of African art have a new event to look forward to in Johannesburg. Beginning Aug. 25, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art will host NMAFA+ Joburg, a 10-day series of art experiences at Constitution Hill.
Titled “The Demonstration,” and curated by Johannesburg-based artist Siwa Mgoboza, the experiences will focus on the theme of Our Shared Future: Reckoning with Our Racial Past, which aligns with the Smithsonian-wide initiative to address systemic racism and racial inequity in the U.S. and globally. The experiences include:
· An “AtWork” workshop for young people on creative leadership and personal development, in partnership with Moleskine Foundation and led by renowned curator Simon Njami
· Johannesburg Through the Eyes of Artists—City Tours in partnership with Johannesburg Art Fair’s Open City
· African Artists Host Public Conversations on Race and Migration, Incarceration, Representation, Migration and Resistance
· Curator-led student tours
“The Demonstration” is anchored by a participatory exhibition designed to support and amplify South African artists whose work pushes boundaries and provokes important conversations. Featured artists include Nobukho Nqaba, Sihile Masongo, Patrick Bongoy, Nelisiwe Xaba and Ayana V. Jackson.
“We believe in art as an important catalyst for conversation and to reimagine change,” said Ngaire Blankenberg, director of the National Museum of African Art and herself a South African. “Siwa Mgoboza has brought together some remarkable artists to challenge us to confront issues of racism that are so persistent and pervasive in both American and South African societies. At NMAfA, we are reimagining the museum to help create sustainable, regenerative art ecosystems throughout global Africa, and NMAFA+ experiences are just the first step in this experimentation.”
Moleskine Foundation’s intensive, hands-on, five-day workshop will engage youth in sessions of critical thinking, debate and creative doing to build skills for personal and social transformation.
“Our mission is to unlock the creative potential of young people all over the world to transform themselves and the communities around them,” said Adama Sanneh, CEO and co-founder of Moleskine Foundation. “We are excited to work with NMAfA and Constitution Hill, with whom we share the same vision of creativity for social change. Our signature educational format AtWork, hosted for the first time in Johannesburg, will help spark new critical debates and conversation with this vibrant, young creative scene.”
Students from selected schools will tour the exhibition with the curator and participate in programs designed by Constitution Hill’s education team. It is especially poignant that the experience will take place at Constitution Hill, an iconic site of heritage, creativity and justice.
“Constitution Hill is built on the key pillars of art and justice,” said Constitution Hill CEO Dawn Robertson. “This Smithsonian initiative for social change aligns completely with our efforts at Constitution Hill to inspire positive social change and build a more equitable future for all. It provides an opportunity for us to facilitate discussions around the complexities of racial and social justice while elevating and empowering the voices of young people through the public programs we will facilitate aligned to the exhibitions and workshops.”
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.
