Africa Beyond Visual Arts Residencies

The Africa Beyond Visual Arts Residencies have been developed through a partnership between Africa Beyond and Gasworks International Residency Programme, and in association with the Southbank Centre, The Photographers’ Gallery and Iniva. The Residencies are funded by Arts Council England, London.

Africa Beyond aims to keep African culture in a central position within the modern UK landscape, through its website and other media, lively public events, and by developing projects across different art forms. www.bbc.co.uk/africabeyond/

Gasworks International Residency Programme will play host to three
visiting artists from Africa who will each be supported in developing a project with a major London visual arts organisation: Iniva, The Photographers’ Gallery and the Southbank Centre (14th April – 29th June 2008). The non-prescriptive and process-based nature of the residencies will allow the visiting artists to research and experiment with new work in an international context. www.gasworks.org.uk

In addition, as part of Gasworks’ International Fellowships Programme, three artists from the UK will travel to Africa to undertake residencies with artist-run organisations in South Africa and Kenya.

The Artists:

Andrew Esiebo
(Nigeria)
Through documentary photography, Andrew Esiebo creates portraits of urban life in Nigeria and reveals many facets of his country's culture and heritage. In an ongoing project entitled Holy Ghost Nights, Esiebo explores how the new wave of Nigerian churches inspire both trance-like worship and large scale monetary pledges, while his Soccer World series focuses on the passion and drama associated with the game in a country where many dream of becoming football stars.

Esiebo lives and works in Ibadan, Nigeria. His images have featured in international publications including Photoblogs Magazine (USA), Voiceworks (Australia), and the United Nations Global Report on Human Settlements, and in shows including Meeting in the Middle East (Syria, 2006) and the Noorderlicht Photography Festival 2007. Esiebo is a member of the Black Box photographers’ collective, Nigeria and was recently artist-in-residence with Visa Pour La Creation, a programme run by the artistic association of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Andrew Esiebo will undertake his residency in association with The
Photographers’ Gallery.
www.photonet.org.uk

Mahmoud Khaled
(Egypt)
Adopting a process-oriented and multidisciplinary approach, Mahmoud Khaled works with video, photography, text and site-specific installation, to create projects which examine the powerful, and often coded, socio-political trajectories that run through our daily lives. Many of his projects have at their core a thorough exploration of the document, in its many variations of official, social, historical or personal. Khaled’s most recent work considers the politics of identity formation in virtual environments and networking systems.

Khaled lives and works in Alexandria, Egypt. He has participated in a number of international exhibitions and projects including All Clear (Salzburg, 2007), Out of Place (Beirut, 2007), and the 1st Biennial of the Canaries (2006). Khaled has been awarded residencies including the Sally and Lucas Artists Residency Program at the Montalvo Arts Center, California (2006) and Artist in Residence at the F+F School for Media Art and Design, Zurich, Switzerland (2006).

Mahmoud Khaled will undertake his residency in association with Iniva.
www.mahmoudkhaled.com
www.iniva.org

Goddy Leye
(Cameroon)
Encompassing video, installation and performance, Goddy Leye’s practice revolves around notions of memory, both individual and collective, and explorations beneath the surface of dominant and supposedly authoritative histories and representations. Informed by a critical understanding of Negritude philosophy, Leye seeks to unravel historical and contemporary representations of Africa, and his internationalist outlook has led to projects aimed at cross-cultural exchange. An ongoing project entitled United Chiefdom of Africa centres around a fictitious state created by the artist in 2001, whose flag he carries all over the world.

Leye lives and works in Douala, Cameroon. He spent two years at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam (2001-2002), and has participated in several major international exhibitions including Dak’Art 2000, South Meets West (Accra, 1999 and Berne, 2000), the Sao Paulo Biennial (2002) and Africa Remix (London, 2005).

Goddy Leye will undertake his residency in association with the Southbank Centre.
http://goddyleye.lecktronix.net/
www.southbankcentre.co.uk

(Culled from Press Release)