A Vibrant Space for Arts to Thrive in Tanzania

Nafasi Art Space as a community space has continued to promote art and cultural programs for wide populations across Tanzania. During the pandemic, Nafasi has been an important creative hub for people from diverse regions to exchange, inspire and open constructive conversations on different socio-economic issues across the continent and the world at large.

The contributions you have provided over the past months has allowed us to build up our community and get more people involved. We have developed successful activities which we hope to continue in the future, including:

During this period the Nafasi Academy Space was opened up to ten local photographers, who were offered two weeks of intensive training by industry professionals John Fleetwood (South Africa) and Nicholas Calvin (Tanzania). In doing this, the photographer's were given a chance to reflect on the art of photography and uncover their individual artistic expression. As commonly seen in our spaces, DemocraSEE combined professional development and creative work, bordered by engaging conversations and networking opportunities. More highlight on Facebook. 

During the period, we also launched Lete stori or "Bring a story", a new performing arts event at Nafasi under Tukutane Nafasi. This innovative approach was conceived by our performing arts manager Kwame Mchauru, who has mentored and supported dozens of young artists over his long career in the music industry. Through his active mentorship, he has found that Tanzania's young musicians are truly inspiring, with many beating the odds to pursue their passion for music and succeed in a tough industry for underground acts.

Nafasi Art Space has proven to be a haven for artists such as these, many of whom are eager to incorporate traditional sounds, rhythms and instruments into live performances, "lete stori" brings these artists into the spotlight, not only to play their songs, but also to share the personal stories of their journeys in music. These were just a couple of a series of events we have organized over the past three months that bring together different artistic elements such as art exhibitions, performances, film screening to promote participation in culture, strengthen community and build a shared sense of cultural pride.

Nafasi Art Space, as a creative partner, had the privilege to host a hybrid physical-virtual artistic experience from the “Lost + Found “ a 5-week interdisciplinary residency facilitated by the East African Soul Train (EAST) invited 13-artists from around the globe to co-create a process virtually that inspires them to play, share perspectives, challenge their peers, take risks and create new collaborative work, for on and offline audiences. The residency explored the theme ‘lost + found’ bringing together artists from wide range of disciplinary including: Theatre, technology, visual art, music, fashion and poetry. Two of the artists were Tanzanian, Zuhura the African Lioness (Poet/Voice over artist) & Valerie Amani (Curator & mixed-media artist) where art pieces made during the residency were projected in three different spaces, each one carefully prepared under the direction of Nafasi visual arts team members Fifi Mbogho and Rhoda Kambenga.

Our major project this year was the Nafasi Academy programme on curatorial practice and arts management with 13 participants who receivd training in theory, management, and the practice of organising and creating cultural experiences. On July 10, 2021 we were able to host final event where they had the opportunity to showcase the ideas and projects that have been developed during the program.

Our plan is to increase the number of art and culture activities we run at the community, so that we attract a wider range of people, and to focus especially on activities that are inspiring and impact changes to the community, we would like request your continuation support us through contributions to be able to be sustainable during the crisis.

 Find us on social media platoforms and  continue to engage with our activities through: Facebook, Instagram @nafasiartspace. Website: https://www.nafasiartspace.org. We hope you will continue to follow and support our work.

Nafasi is a space for critical learning that stimulates the discovery and production of contemporary art in Tanzania, through education and exchange between Tanzanian artists and the local, regional, and international art world. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all our community around the GlobalGiving for always showing support through difficult times as the donations you have provided has been very important for our art and culture community.

Unfortunately we did not receive all the funding we had hoped to get, so we had to think about how to run the project on a smaller budget. We have been able to run a series of capacity building programs that foster creativity, build audiences and create platforms for artists where they can always feel safe to express their thoughts and exchange with others.

The contributions you have provided over the past year has allowed us to build up our community and get more people involved. Here are some of the ways your support has helped keep the creative sector in Tanzania going during the COVID crisis:

Tukutane Nafasi: A series of events bringing together different artistic elements such as art exhibitions, performances, and film screenings to promote participation in culture, strengthen community and build a shared sense of cultural pride and identity from different individuals across the globe. We have shown films inspired by the Utopian Imagination, hosted exhibitions opening including Imagined Encounters, a collaborative exhibition between Tanzanian and South Korean artists Bang & Lee funded by the Korea Foundation, "A Mindful Spirit", a fundraising exhibition to support a Tanzanian female textile artist to attend a residency at Modzi Arts in Lusaka Zambia

We have continued to host Art talks, workshops and trainings for professional and aspiring artists, to allow participants to hone their craft and develop their practice. Workshops are offered in theory, technique, as well as arts entrepreneurship and management. Recent trainings include: the Nafasi Academy - Curatorial and Arts Management training, a six-month, longform training offered to 14 emerging cultural leaders, Imagined Encounters: Patterns of Exchange, a monthly long virtual workshop with artists from Korea Bang & Lee, Sauti Mpya, a three month film development program for young film makers & actors in Tanzania in collaboration with the Tanzania Film Board, Azam TV, and Zanzibar International Film Festival, as well as Africalab, a week-long short film training program which was facilitated by the Off-Court team from France.

We have also continued to run outreach program with different organizations and institutions thus has helped to increase diversity within our audience engagement such includes hosting University of Dodoma students, an art outreach program with another school nursery with the age of 2.5 - years old workshops tend to be more inspiring and fun creative activities to young people.

We have also been able to increase our social media outreach, reaching 10,000k followers on Instagram. We had planned to continue hold a digital workshop but we weren’t able due to the lack of some of the tools and equipment needed such as laptops ,camera, mics, etc. We have also created a new Instagram page specifically to highlight visual art produced and exhibited at Nafasi. You can follow it at www.instagram.com/nafasigallery.

Our plan is to increase the number of art and culture activities we run at the community, so that we attract a wider range of people, and to focus especially on activities that are inspiring and impact changes to the community, we continue to supporting us through contributions to be able to be sustainable during the ongoing pandemic, which has drastically impacted our funding sources and operations.

Thank you again for your support and we look forward to continuing to bring great Tanzanian art to the world.

Links:

• Sauti Mpya film training & Production
• 28 05 2021 Lady Chesham nursery school outreach
• 16.05.2021 "MATIBABU"