AMA is pleased to announce the grantees of Session 28 (August 2015) of its mobility grants programme.
This session was one of AMA’s most competitive, with 165 eligible applications received. A total of 17 artists and cultural practitioners (including 3 groups) were awarded grants:
1. Maison Hussein Abo El Naga, Dalia Basiouny Hassan and Helal Mostafa Ibrahim (theatre practitioners, Egypt): Playwright and director Dalia Basiouny and actors Maison Abo El Naga and Helal Ibrahim will travel from Cairo to Addis Abeba to perform Ms. Basiouny’s play « Solitaire » at the Crossing Boundaries Festival (September 24-27, 2015).
2. Koudoussou Adéchina Laourou (storyteller, Benin): Mr. Laourou will travel from Cotonou to Dondoutchi, Niger to participate in the biennial Gatan-Gatan storytelling Festival (Festival International du conte et des arts de l’oralité), taking place between December 2 and 5, 2015.
3. Justine Akouir Mireille Akaba and Yvonne Gladys Tchuimo (dancers, Cameroon): Ms. Akaba and Ms. Tchuimo will be travelling to Brazzaville in order to participate in the Festival International de Théâtre, danse et cirque au Congo (FITHEDAC) (September 30 – October 11, 2015), where they will perform a contemporary dance piece titled « Plus femme que femme ».
4. Gbenonde Serpollet Avogbe (dancer and choreographer, Benin): Mr. Avogbe will travel from Cotonou to Dakar to complete a residency at the Institut français, where he will work on a recreation of his 2014 street performance “La parité”. The residency will take place over 4 days in November 2015.
5. Nicolau Napure Feliciano Cauaneque, Americo da Conceição Dinis and Terencio Alberto Tovele (Musicians and music teachers, Mozambique): Mr. Cauaneque, Mr. Dinis and Mr. Tovele will travel from Maputo to Harare, Zimbabwe to participate in the music education workshops of the Teacher Training Campus organized by the Global Music Academy (December 1-14, 2015).
6. Tsitsi Dangarembga (writer, filmmaker, activist, Zimbabwe): Ms. Dangarembga will travel from Harare to Nairobi to participate in the Storymoja literature festival, taking place from September 16-20, 2015.
7. Wanjeri Gakuru (Writer, journalist and festival consultant, Kenya): Ms. Gakuru will travel from Nairobi to Abeokuta, Nigeria to participate in the Ake Arts & Book Festival (November 17-21, 2015), where she will work with the media team.
8. Mohamed Kourouma (rap artist, Mauritania): Mr. Kourouma will travel from Nouakchott to Casablanca to participate in the urban music festival L’Boulevard (September 11-20, 2015).
9. Aude Christel Mgba (curator, Cameroon): Ms. Mgba will be travelling from Yaoundé to Casablanca to take part in the curatorial training program « Madrassa » organized by NGO L’Atelier de l’Observatoire from October 5-9, 2015.
10. Amarachi Kelechi Odimba (Visual artist and art teacher, Nigeria): Ms. Odimba will travel from Abuja, Nigeria to Arusha, Tanzania to complete a residency at Warm Heart Art Tanzania from December 12 to 30, 2015. She intends to work on a project titled “Edufunction,” which examines the history and present functionality of education in Africa.
11. Jean-Luc Okou (Dancer, Côte d’Ivoire): Mr. Okou will be travelling from Abidjan to Kinshasa and Kisangani to perform choreographer Patrick Haradjabu’s dance piece « Qui n’a jamais désiré » at the Institut Français in Kinshasa and the Studios Kabako in Kisangani (October 4-21, 2015).
12. Essohounam Somdebe Takara (Actress and theatre director, Togo): Ms. Takara will travel from Lomé to Abdijan to participate in the Festival Femmes en scène (November 11 – December 12), where she will work on a new project based on Aimé Césaire’s « Une saison au Congo ». Distribution of the grants: AMA received grants from practitioners and cultural operators hailing from all five geographical regions of Africa and working across disciplines.
Here is some further information regarding the distribution of the 165 eligible applications received:
– Provenance: 57 from Southern Africa; 44 from West Africa; 26 from East Africa; 23 from Central Africa and 4 from North Africa.
– Destination: 44 for Southern Africa; 42 for West Africa; 36 for East Africa; 30 for Central Africa; 13 for North Africa.
– Discipline: 36 in music; 35 in theatre and storytelling; 34 in dance; 25 in visual arts; 16 multidisciplinary projects; 12 in literature; 5 in film and 3 in arts management.
– Type of project: 101 for festivals; 16 for residencies; 15 for workshops / trainings ; 10 for meetings / conferences / symposia ; 14 for work on new creations ; 5 for performances and tours ; 2 for exhibitions and 2 for research projects.
Here is some further information regarding the distribution of the 17 successful applications:
– Provenance: 5 from West Africa; 4 from North Africa; 4 from Southern Africa; 3 from Central Africa and 1 from East Africa.
– Destination: 5 for East Africa; 4 for West Africa; 3 for Southern Africa; 3 for Central Africa and 2 for North Africa.
– Discipline: 5 in theatre and storytelling ; 4 in dance; 4 in music; 2 in visual art and 2 in literature.
– Type of project: 10 for festivals; 4 for workshops; 2 for residencies and 1 for a performance tour.
Congratulations to the grantees! AMA would like to take this opportunity to thank the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Stichting Doen for their support for the relaunch of the AMA grants program.
