Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship

Hampshire College is pleased to announce an Andrew W. Mellon
Postdoctoral Fellowship with a focus on African Expressive and
Material Arts.

Field:
Scholars in any field of the arts or social sciences whose work
concerns popular expressive and/or material arts in East Africa, with
a particular interest in youth as cultural producers, are encouraged
to apply.

Overview:
Candidates for the position should demonstrate a proficiency in
Swahili and whose work is in expressive/material forms.

The successful candidate should be aware of cultural movements and
developments in East Africa, and how they have played a role in the
world’s cultural, artistic, and political landscapes. More and more
artists, scholars, scientists, health specialists and environmental
activists in the U.S. are recognizing in African cultural forms (in
the performing and studio arts, indigenous design, uses and production
of material culture) remarkable inventiveness, ebullience, and acute
responsiveness to change. African youth, in particular, are reshaping
language, and also frequently initiate and implement new expressive,
material, technological and artistic forms.

A scholar who is familiar with, and/or has a research focus on youth
as cultural producers. The scholarly literature on youth in Africa, in
a full spectrum of disciplines–including technology, design, and
environmental protection–is exploding in volume and sophistication.
In the popular arts, youth lament post-colonial promises not kept,
voice a growing agenda for political reform, and point to sometimes
spreading poverty and insecurity. With media and technology
innovations and multiple global references, youth have become major
culture commentators on African realities.

Candidates may explore new material and expressive forms in East
Africa by combining a deep practical understanding of the techniques
and concepts deployed in the production of a popular
expressive/material form, as well as clear consideration of the
socio-political contexts and discourses the form and its practitioners
invoke and reshape through performance and or/production. Candidates
work may include, but is not limited to, popular sign-painting,
comics, sculpture, music, poetry, theatre, film and dance;
and popular material culture includes fashion, locally made goods and
tools that respond to changing environmental conditions, home decor
and design, and the use of hybrid/international/global products in the
management and development of contemporary identities and social
movements.

Result:
Swahili is currently taught by a Five College Fellow in our mentored
language program. The fellow’s active presence will help to promote
the study Swahili, and lead to a greater number of students conducting
research in East Africa, the Indian Ocean, and in the increasingly
diasporic Swahili-speaking world.

For more information:
http://www.hampshire.edu/dof/fellowships.htm

The application material can be sent to postdoc@hampshire.edu

British Council International Curatorial Competition

THE FIFTH CURATOR:

BRITISH COUNCIL INTERNATIONAL CURATORIAL COMPETITION IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE WHITECHAPEL GALLERY

Application deadline: Friday 4 September at 14:00 hours (GMT)

The Fifth Curator competition is a unique new opportunity for an aspiring curator to select an exhibition of works from the British Council Collection. We are looking for someone who is based permanently outside the UK, who believes they have the passion and knowledge to be a leading curator. The winning curator will be given unlimited access to the Collection, which includes over 8500 key works of British art and the resulting exhibition will be shown at the prestigious Whitechapel in the vibrant East end of London in April 2010.

The Fifth Curator exhibition will be the fifth and final exhibition in a series of five exhibitions showcasing the British Council Collection in the Whitechapel Gallery. Artist Michael Craig-Martin selected the first exhibition Passports: Great Early Buys from the British Council Collection, focusing on some of the most prescient acquisitions in the Collection’s long history.

‘My selection of works for this exhibition barely scratches the surface of the Collection. For every work I felt able to include there were half a dozen I had to leave out… This is a collection that contains hidden treasures, many of which I know will be included in subsequent exhibitions of this series.’ (Michael Craig-Martin)

For The Fifth Curator exhibition, aspiring curators from outside the United Kingdom are invited to submit an exhibition proposal which features works drawn exclusively from the British Council Collection. We particularly encourage new views and fresh perspectives on the Collection, as these are vital to ongoing debates about British art within an international context. The deadline for applications is 4 September 2009.

In November 2009, six short-listed applicants will be invited to London to take part in a week of professional development with the Visual Arts Department of the British Council. During this week, applicants will be encouraged to refine their proposals with the advice, guidance and resources of the Visual Arts team and they will be given the opportunity to visit the Whitechapel Gallery to view the proposed exhibition space and meet with the Whitechapel curatorial team. At the end of the week, the winning proposal will be selected by a panel of senior art world figures at a special presentation dinner.

The Fifth Curator competition forms part of the British Council’s ongoing commitment to promote the Collection to new audiences, both in the UK and worldwide and to engage aspiring curatorial talent with one of Britain’s finest collections of British Art. It also coincides with the re-launch of the new British Council Collection website (www.britishcouncil.org/collection) which features details on each of the works in the Collection.

Full details of the competition, including details of how to apply, can be found on our website: http://collection.britishcouncil.org/about/news/2210/2212.

For further enquiries please contact Emma.Williams@britishcouncil.org

Poetry Open Mic – Tuesday 2nd June

Kwani Trust is inviting you to Kwani? Open Mic on Tuesday 2nd June 2009.

Time: 7pm
Venue: Club Soundd, Hamilton House, Kaunda Street.
Entry : Ksh 100/- only.

Featured Poet: Oballadan

A student at The University Of Nairobi. Studying nothing but seeking
shines the path to self awareness.But above all am an RBG(Reaching Bigger Goals)

Home: I am from Kajulu-kadero,on the shores of Nam Lolwe.That is where I was born.The only home that I know. But I have traversed the country and lived in almost every corner of it.

Inspiration: I draw my inspiration to write poetry from all the things that my six senses experience. But above all, I was inspired to write poetry by the likes of Amiri Baraka, Langston Hughes, Dead Prez, Channel Live,Talib Kweli,Killa Priest,Strange Fruit Project, to name but a few.

Aspirations: Earlier on in life I thought that I’d be a sportsman but due to lack of facilities in the place where I was growing up the dream was deffered.But I believe that when one door closes another opens.Now that am in this poetry thing I will persue it to the best of my ablility.

How I got into poetry: Well,I have always been a word smith( a trait which I owe to my mother) I have my own way of calling things that deviate from the mainstream way of naming things and word usage.Still,back in High school at Ambira boys I was very strong in drama.And anything that involved artistic expression would get the hair on my head standing on end.But it is sad that after high school I was left in the lurch, as it were. With no place to showcase my talent I wrote my poetry only to ‘ Opium’ myself.

Why Poetry? Okay I love the way poets use words to inspire and give hope. Spoken word is poetry that is written to be performed.It is meant to vent out,encourage and elevate.This is what I am always aspiring to do with my poetry. I did not have a place to show my poetry untill I joined CAMPUS in 2006.That is when I got to know about the ‘open mics’ that were mushrooming all over Nairobi.At first I had cold feet.Will they accept my type of poetry or will they reject it? Am I game enough to do this? And what is the reward for all the effort? Questions shot though my mind like lottery balls. But I decided to do my thing nonetheless.

First performance: My first performance was in Campo where GOMAD( an artistic outfit to which I belong) was having a show.It was a blast. And after that I targeted Wapi? My first performance at Wapi? came in Dec of 2007. I loved it. After performing poetry for some time I linked up with Imani Woomera who nurtured my talent and moulded it into a spoken word style. Mad mad love to Imani.

Achievements: Beside achieving self awareness through poetry I am also a SLAM champ, couldn’t get any better,could it? Yeah and thanks to Wapi? for promoting subterenean talent. Dreams: To take my spoken word to the next level.

Last word:Belief above all else.

KARIBUNI

NB: Registration for Open Mic is on from 6.00pm to 7pm.

Poetry Open Mic – Tuesday 5th May

Kwani Trust is inviting you to Kwani? Open Mic on Tuesday 5th May 2009 7pm at Club Soundd, Hamilton House Kaunda Street
Entry ksh 100/- only.

Featured Poet will be Eko Dydda/A.K.A.D.E.M.I.C.S. The DEMICS is simply Delivering Empowering Messages In Composed Songs. And, that is what he does! He is a performing poet & artist as well as a music writer. His prime inspiration to write & perform comes from God. He takes his real life experiences as an account of what God has done in his life in other words, “my testimony is expressed out poetically & musically”. He began writing poems & music in November 2004 as a result of seeking God’s wisdom and will for his life.

His poetry & music delivery is one of its kind-he likes to call it the ’stutter experience’. He stammers intentionally as he delivers. “As weird as that may sound, that is the style God has imposed in me and am using it to take poetry and music to greater heights”. One is likely to spot him at the WAPI events, MadLove lounge, KICC, KWANI, Kenya National Theater, Nairobi Cinema, Faith based concerts/conferences, e.t.c.

During his spare time, he coaches kids, poets, and upcoming artists at Mobody Academy. One of Mobody Academy’s projects is Mobody Christmas. This is a solely self-funded project whose mission is to provide basic needs e.g food & edutainment to young adults and the youth on a monthly basis. Their aspiration is to grow, expand and hopefully obtain external support from individuals & organizations

Open Mic slots are open from 6pm all are welcome to register.

Also get copies of Kwani? 05 part 1 at bookstores and get the best of Kenyan Writing.