‍ ‍Image: Asiko School

This two-day symposium explores the architectural and intellectual legacies of African Women curators and cultural producers. The symposium gathers generations of institutional builders from across Africa—Uganda, Ghana, Cameroon, Zambia, Ethiopia and Egypt—who are not merely holding space but creating radical blueprints for cultural sustainability and economic resilience. Dedicated to the vital connections between the African continent and its global diasporas, this gathering focuses specifically on the formidable wave of institutional building led by women across Africa—leaders who have translated vision into brick, mortar, and sustainable community practice. 

By way of situating this symposium historically, it honours the foundational legacies of the late curators Koyo Kouoh and Bisi Silva, whose work shifted the centre of gravity in African contemporary art. It highlights a generation of successors who are not merely managing spaces but are actively navigating complex economic landscapes to ensure cultural longevity. 

To honour this Legacy, the symposium traces the genealogical link between the pioneering curatorial frameworks of Silva and Kouoh and contemporary institutional models. It documents the continuing impact of Silva and Kouoh on contemporary African curatorial practice. The workshop also offers strategic networking opportunities for these women institutional practitioners to connect with Nordic counterparts, a rare opportunity that is often constrained by funding and open networking. It is an opportunity to share strategies for maintaining cultural spaces amid volatile economic climates and fluctuating funding ecosystems, and to create a space for cross-continental exchange that bridges the geographical gaps among East, West, Central, and Southern African practitioners, fostering a unified "South-South" dialogue. It is an opportunity to share best practices in sustainability, resilience, and the economic blueprinting of "survivalist" institutional models that can be adapted across different African economic climates. 

Featured institutions: 

  • Doual'art (Cameroon) 

  • Nubuke Foundation (Ghana) 

  • Zoma Museum (Ethiopia) 

  • Centre for Contemporary Art Lagos (Nigeria) 

  • RAW Material (Senegal) 

  • Njabala Foundation (Uganda) 

  • Livingstone Office for Contemporary Art, LoCA (Zambia) 

  • ARD Art Institute (Egypt) 

Curatorial symposium: The House She Built: Legacy, Agency and the Sustainable African Institutions Built by Women 

Day 1: 17 March 2027

Time: 9:00-12:30
Venue:
Helsinki Central Library Oodi
Maijansali, 1st Floor
Töölönlahdenkatu 4
00100 Helsinki, Finland


Time: 14:30-19:00
Venue:
PUBLICS
Sturenkatu 37-41
00550 Helsinki, Finland

Day 2: 18 March 2027

Time: 10:00-12:30
Venue:
Helsinki Central Library Oodi
Maijansali, 1st Floor
Töölönlahdenkatu 4
00100 Helsinki, Finland


Time: 14:30-18:00
Venue:
PUBLICS
Sturenkatu 37-41
00550 Helsinki, Finland

  • Anawana Haloba is an artist based between Oslo and Livingstone, originally from Zambia. Her practice combines poetry, moving images, objects, and sound to create immersive installations and performances. Through her work, she examines how communities navigate complex political, social, economic, and cultural transformations shaped by ideology and post-independence histories. 

    Livingstone Office for Contemporary Art – LoCA (Livingstone, Zambia) is an artist-initiated non-profit library and research centre based in Livingstone, Zambia. 

  • Hana El Beblawy is the Founder and Managing Director of the Cairo-based contemporary art institution dedicated to artistic residencies, exhibitions, and workshops. Prior to establishing ARD in 2022, she worked as the Executive Director and Curator at Art D'Égypte 

    ARD International Residency Program (Cairo, Egypt) is a process-based, one-to-three-month artistic residency. Located in the historic Garden City district, it is designed for visual artists, curators, and writers to engage with the local Egyptian art scene 

  • Marie Hélène Periera is a cultural practitioner and curator interested in histories of migrations and the politics of identity. She is currently Senior Curator (Performative Practices) at Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, Germany. Previously, she was Director of Programmes at RAW Material Company where she organized many exhibitions and related discursive programs. A member of the RAW Material Company in Dakar since 2011, and its director of programmes during 2019–22, she continues to be one of its advisers. When Koyo Kouoh’ passed away in May 2025 it fell to Pereira and a team of co-curators to shepherd the late Koyo Kouoh’s vision for the 61st Venice BiennialIn Minor Keys into existence. 

    RAW Material Company (Dakar, Senegal) is a dynamic centre for art, knowledge, and society. Founded in 2008 by Koyo Kouoh and established as a physical space in 2011, RAW emerged from a pressing need to create a platform for critical reflection on artistic practice and its deep connection to contemporary life. Today, it stands as a vital space for exploring, discussing, and expanding art as a generator of knowledge and a catalyst for social transformation. 

  • Marilyn Douala Bell is a socio-economist and current president of the cultural organisation Doual'art based in Douala, Cameroon. 

    Doual'art (Douala, Cameroon) is a non-profit cultural organisation and art centre founded in 1991 in Douala, Cameroon and focused on new urban practices of African cities. 

  • Martha Kazungu is a Ugandan curator, writer, and cultural activist. She is the founding director of the Njabala Foundation, an organization dedicated to supporting women artists through exhibitions, mentorship, research, and community engagement. 

    Njabala Foundation (Uganda) Creating Safe Spaces for Women Artists the aim is to challenge gender inequality in the art world by drawing from the Njabala myth to create exhibitions and programs that center and celebrate the work of women artists.

  • Meskerem Assegued co-founded the Zoma Museum in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia with Elias Sime in 2002. She is a curator, anthropologist, and writer and a recipient of France’s Chevalier dans l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres.  

    Zoma Museum (Ethiopia) is a dream inspired 25 years ago by the timeless and structurally sound vernacular architecture of Ethiopia and other parts of the world. The Museum aims to bring traditional construction techniques into the present, demonstrating their ability to withstand time while maintaining their grace and beauty. Facilities include a gallery, a library, a children’s centre, a botanical garden, a school, an amphitheatre, and a gift shop. Future development plans also include an art and vernacular architecture school. 

  • Odile Tevie is a founding member and director of Nubuke Foundation, Odile is passionate about providing alternative opportunities for children wanting to learn about Ghanaian culture. 

    Nubuke Foundation (Accra, Ghana) is an art foundation in East Legon in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. It was established in April 2006.  The Foundation serves as a connection or a link for preserving, recording and promoting contemporary arts and culture.  

  • Oyindamola (Fakeye) Faithful is the former Executive & Artistic Director of the Centre for Contemporary Art in Lagos, Nigeria, now Director of Àsìkò Art School. She co-founded the Video Art Network Lagos in 2009 at the Centre for Contemporary Art. Oyindamola is a Company Director for Res Artis, the worldwide professional body for artists residencies. She also sits on the board of Arts in Medicine Projects and is a Director of Special Projects for the Global Arts in Medicine Fellowship, training art and healthcare practitioners on best practices within the field.  

    The Centre for Contemporary Art, Lagos (CCA,Lagos, Nigeria) including Àsìkò Art School is an independent non-profit making visual art organization founded in December 2007 by Bisi Silva (1962 – 2019) to provide a platform for the development, presentation, and discussion of contemporary visual art and culture.