Sascia Bailer joins “Travel Somewhere Nice” programme [Kumasi, etc.]

“Travel Somewhere Nice” is an education and research programme that lays grounds for collaborations amongst artists and art institutions in Africa and beyond. The research programme addresses the crucial need for art educators to rethink art education and pedagogies, and partners with institutions that are committed to teaching methodologies rooted in their local contexts and fostering collective practices that consciously effect paradigm shift and social change.

For the 2022 programme art practitioners from East Africa will travel to exemplary art schools, art hubs and artists-led projects in three Ghanaian cities: Accra, Kumasi and Tamale. “Travel Somewhere Nice”, which takes place from 8-16 August 2022, is jointly organised by Nantume Violet of UNDER GROUND Kampala and Adjo Daiki Apodey Kisser of blaxTARLINES Kumasi, in collaboration with Vodo Arts Society and hosted by the Fine Arts Department at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and SCCA Tamale. During the professional exchange trip the delegation of artists and arts practitioners from Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya will engage in various exchange formats with their Ghanaian peers, including studio visits, portfolio presentations and reviews as well as group and individual critique sessions.

Researcher and curator Sascia Bailer has been invited to join the “Travel Somewhere Nice” programme in Ghana in the context of her work in the Swiss cultural sector at the intersection of care, contemporary art and social transformation. Sascia has vast experience and sensibilities in intercultural exchange and communal practices, and has been involved in public programmes in art pedagogy, teaching and curatorial work. She will present her practice-based PhD in a panel discussion alongside professors from Ghana and Uganda. Sascia will also participate informally in portfolio reviews and studio crit sessions with masters and PhD fellows at KNUST.

In addition to Sascia, we are supporting the participation of Vodo Art Society director Zitoni Tristan Kayonga and artist Kalange Jacqueline from Uganda.

BIOGRAPHIES

Sascia Bailer [Switzerland] is a researcher, writer and curator working at the intersection of care, contemporary art and social transformation. Since 2018 she has been a practice-based PhD candidate at the Zurich University of the Arts in collaboration with the University of Reading (UK). She teaches regularly in the Post-Graduate Program in Curating at Zurich University of the Arts and is engaged in public programming of the curatorial platform OnCurating (Zurich). Sascia is a member of the Swiss rural arts network Dalvazza Group (part of the Swiss Artistic Research Network SARN) through which she joined the residency and public symposium Dis da Lavur at Somalgors74 in Tschlin (CH) in 2021. In 2019-20 she was the Artistic Director of the art space M.1 Arthur Boskamp-Stiftung, where she curated a participatory public programming on Care within a rural context. She has furthermore worked internationally within the arts, including MoMA PS1, Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW), and Vera List Center for Art and Politics, and M.1 by Arthur Boskamp-Stiftung. With her workshops, lectures, and her artistic research she has contributed to programming of HAU Hebbel am Ufer, Goethe Institut Indonesia, HKW Berlin, and a range of art schools and Kunstvereine across Germany and Switzerland. Sascia’s writings and editorial work has been published through Routledge, Onomatopee, HKW Berlin, and Arthur Boskamp Press. Sascia holds a BA from Zeppelin University (DE) and an MA from Parsons School of Design (USA).

Zitoni Tristan Kayonga Tani (Uganda) is an art producer and film production designer, who has for the past three years run Vodo Art Lab and Society. Zitoni is keen on audience development through staging art in public places beyond cities. His work as an art manager and director focuses on emancipated places of learning, research-based work and communal art spaces in Uganda’s culturally remote places. Zitoni has co-curated “Saints and Sinners” (2022) a solo exhibition by Wamala Joseph Kyeyune in Kaberamaido. He has worked with numerous film projects such as, “27 Guns” (2018), “This is Not Deene” (2018), and “Dear Enemy” (2018). Zitoni holds a Bachelor of Arts and Mass Communication from Christian University Mukono. He lives and works in Kampala, Uganda.

Katesi Jacqueline Kalange (Uganda) is a painter and sculptor whose monumental sculptural installation derive inspirations from social injustices and aim to spark public discourse over pressing issues. Within her activism-oriented works, Katesi seeks to foster new perspectives on how we inhabit and interact with space. Katesi holds a Bachelor of Art and Industrial Design from Kyambogo University. She is a Mentorship Award recipient 2022 and won Goethe small project grant in 2021. Her work has been exhibited during Kampala Contemporary Festival 2021. She is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Art and Industrial Design at Kyambogo University, Uganda.