Independent Curators International supports the work of curators to help create stronger art communities through experimentation, collaboration, and international engagement.

Independent Curators International supports the work of curators to help create stronger art communities through experimentation, collaboration, and international engagement.

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Open Call: Mentorship Program for East African Curators

Photo: Njabala Foundation


APPLICATION DEADLINE: AUGUST 15, 2024

PROGRAM DATES: JANUARY-JUNE 2025

 

Apply now
 

Photo: Njabala Foundation

Program Overview

ICI, in partnership with Njabala Foundation and AWARE: Archives of Women Artists, Research and Exhibitions, is offering a 6-month mentorship program for emerging female-identifying curators based in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, themed “Curating as multiplying mediation and access to culture.” 

The mentorship aims to support emerging arts workers by creating a platform to develop their practice, gain resources, enhance research and discourse, and engage with established curators from East Africa and beyond. Offering opportunities to develop tools and actions to raise awareness about gender issues in the East African context, the program will support a new generation of cultural workers sensitive to the place of women artists and augment the agency of female-identifying artists, curators, and educators in the region and globally.

Over the course of the program, each participant will meet with their mentor monthly between January and June 2025 to workshop a proposal for an exhibition or similar project and to receive individual feedback on their curatorial practice. Mentorship sessions will take place virtually, though participants will be invited to Kampala, Uganda for a midpoint, in-person group meeting to connect with the other participants and mentors. 

Eligibility

This opportunity is available to female-identifying cultural workers based in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. Applicants should have 3+ years of experience curating, working in the arts, or working with artists.

Mentorship sessions will take place virtually. Participants will be invited for one in-person group meeting in Kampala, Uganda during the program (date TBD).

Application Guidelines

All applications should be submitted through ICI's application portal by August 15, 2024, 11:59pm EAT. Application materials include:

  • Description of project you would like to develop during the mentorship period, including the next three steps you’d like to take to move the project forward. Projects should in some way engage with female-identifying artists, creative producers, or publics (400 words max)
  • Letter of intent describing why you would like to take part in this program, including specific mentorship needs to support your project (300 words max)
  • Bio outlining relevant experience (250 words max)
  • Work sample/portfolio (uploaded as an attachment)
  • CV (uploaded as an attachment)

Apply now

Mentors (more to be announced)
Fadzai Veronica Muchemwa

Fadzai Veronica Muchemwa is a researcher, writer, and curator currently operating between Harare, Zimbabwe, and Makhanda, South Africa.

Rose Jepkorir Kiptum

Rose Jepkorir Kiptum is the co-curator of Wanakuboeka Feelharmonic, Naijographia, and 28 Words in Maputo.

Portia Malatjie

Portia Malatjie is a Senior Lecturer in Art History and Discourse of Art at the Michaelis School of Fine Art (University of Cape Town) and Adjunct Curator of Africa and African Diaspora at the Hyundai Tate Research Centre: Transnational at Tate Modern. 


About Njabala Foundation
The Njabala Foundation is a not-for-profit organization based in Uganda and founded in 2021 by Ugandan curator Martha Kazungu to facilitate visibility for women artists in Africa and its diaspora through exhibitions, research, mentorship, and community engagement. https://njabala.com/

About AWARE: Archives of Women Artists, Research & Exhibitions
AWARE: Archives of Women Artists, Research & Exhibitions is an NGO created in 2014 that works towards making women artists of the 18th to 21st centuries visible by producing and sharing free bilingual (French/English) content about their work on its website, organizing events and editing its own printed publications. 
https://awarewomenartists.com/en/