African Leadership Academy, Joburg – Virtual Seminar Mentorship 2020-2021

Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, virtually collaborated with Year 2 student Towela “Kams” Tembo ‘19 from Botswana for a 10-week programme about the history of curatoring, new and progressive forms of international art collaborations, and the importance of new curatorial models on the continent.

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Towela and I had been talking about how we feel art is a tool for change on the African continent and beyond, and how curating can function as a call to action through storytelling. We aspired for the programme to be accessible and transferrable – open to all types of future leaders, whether they be artists, scientists, entrepreneurs, or all of the above – to encourage multi-disciplinary thinking and producing. In Towela’s current class, she contextualises curating as a practice grounded in understanding not only artists but also audiences, thinking about context, communication, criticality, and care – how to create with impact. I think this approach powerfully establishes tools that are key for an entrepreneurial ambition. One of my favourite questions from Towela’s second lesson is: ‘How can curatorial agency be integrated into different fields, everyday thinking, and beyond to address / highlight Africa’s seven grand challenges?’ For me, curating is about inter-disciplinary thinking and collaborative problem-solving, ultimately empowering us to transform these challenges into opportunities.

African Leadership Academy, Joburg – Art Seminar 2019

With a collaborative, culturally-conscious, and entrepreneurial spirit, this 7 day seminar introduced participating ALA students to contemporary international and African art in Johannesburg and beyond. Alongside the mission of ALA to recognise and foster emerging African leaders, this unique hands-on programme aimed to provide the Academy and its students a chance participate in, and redefine, this vital field in the continent today.

Programme Included:

• Introductory Workshop

• Greenside Galleries: Stevenson, Everard Read, CIRCA, and Goodman (with tour / talk by Robin Scher, Head of Comms)

• Johannesburg Art Gallery (JAG) Visit: Permanent Collection and 25 Years of Democracy exhibition tour with Director Khwezi Gule

• Victoria Yards: Intro by Director Brian Green and tour of artist studios / galleries

• Market Photo Workshop: Workshop tour and Kewpie: Daughter of District Six exhibition tour with GALA Director Keval Harie and Curators

• Individual Art Projects Workshop

• Collective Project Workshop

• Curatorial Plan for Africa Day Presentation

• Africa Day Install & Exhibition Presentation

City of London School, Art Seminar 2019

This programme, co-led with artist Larry Amponsah, introduced participating students to contemporary international art in London focusing on art as a tool for cultural representation, social change, and self-empowerment. We strove to address complicated notions vital in the field of contemporary international art today, such as how do we expand the western art historical canon to prioritise diverse global voices?

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Programme Included:

• Introduction Activity

• Exhibition Tour of Get Up Stand Up Now at Somerset House

• Studio Visit with dancer Zinzi Minott at Somerset House Studios

• Exhibition Tour of Deborah Roberts: If They Come at Stephen Friedman Gallery with Associate Director Harry Laughland

• Exhibition Tour of Show 2019 at Royal College of Art Battersea with talks by artists Andrew Pierre Hart and Osaretin Ugiagbe (MA Painting, 2019)

• Artist Workshop led by Larry Amponsah (RCA MA Painting 2018)

• Artwork Presentations

CLS Week 2018

This programme introduced students London's thriving contemporary international art scene with the themes of art as a tool for change, beautiful resistance, and global mythologies. It focused on how contemporary artists expressing from a diasporic point of view reflect on the global conditions of our time and create modes of representation in order to imagine and visualise a better future.

Programme Included:

• Introduction Activity

• Collection Tour of Tate Modern

• Exhibition Tour of Isabelle

  Grobler: The Meatgrinder

  Madrigal and Soly Cissé Sulger- Buel Lovell Gallery with Director Christian Sulger-Buel and artist Larry Amponsah

• Studio Visit with Abe Odedina at his home in Brixton with Gallerist Ed Cross

• Exhibition Tour of Talisman In The Age Of Difference at Stephen Friedman with artists Zak Ové and Kehinde Wiley

• Artist Workshop led by Larry Amponsah (RCA MA Painting 2018)

• Artwork Presentations