In 2011 Art Moves Africa (AMA) commissioned a research study on the topic of Mobility & Touring in East Africa, with the objective of identifying the main actors in the performing arts field in East Africa and analysing the relevance and frequency of artistic mobility from that geographical area towards the whole African continent.
After the success of its first research experience, AMA decided to recruit a researcher in order to launch a new study on the visual arts sector in the same region.
In June 2012, Ms. Danda Jaroljmek was selected to undertake the research.
We are happy to announce that Ms. Jaroljmek will be starting the study in July 2012. She will be travelling across the East African region, which includes the countries of Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.
DANDA JAROLJMEK:
She was the Director of the Kuona Trust Centre for Visual Arts for seven years, from 2004-2012, leading it from its state as a failing arts organization without a location to a well-funded, thriving art space in central Nairobi with 40 artist studios and a full schedule of workshops, exhibitions, presentations, international exchanges, and an international reputation.
Since 2000, Ms. Jaroljmek has been the coordinator for the Triangle Network’s African partners, assisting artists and arts organizations in 13 countries across Africa to organize international exchange programmes, to raise funds and to create websites and newsletters.
She was a speaker at the recent Triangle Network Conference in London (2011) and at the Sharjah Art Foundation’s March Meeting 2012.
She is on the Advisory Committee for Robert Devereux’s African Arts Trust and was the African judge for the Commonwealth Foundation’s Commonwealth Connections Award in 2009 and 2010.
She created a series of thematic exhibitions at Kuona and is an authority on East African art, providing connections, information and opportunities to link artists across Africa and beyond.
Later this year, she and her partners will be launching the Circle Art Agency, an agency which will aim to support and to develop the art scene in Kenya by stimulating the market, by raising the profile of Kenyan artists and their activities, and by supporting art investment.
Ms. Jaroljmek has a BA Hons in Public Art from Chelsea College of Art, London.