To commemorate the 15th anniversary of CCA Lagos, the pan-African travelling workshop, Asiko Art School, returned to Lagos. The workshop brought together Asiko alumni, as well as old and new partners from around the world for a week-long residency-based workshop, focused on exploring the theme On Shyness. This group, in residence in Lagos, included partners from Nordic Studios, Daniel Peltz, David Lasso, Meri Linna, and Alison Naturale, as well as independent curator and bookmaker, Rosie Olang’ Odhiambo. The latter three were hosted at G.A.S. Lagos. You can learn more about them as you read on
Other participants in the workshops included Mary Osaretin Omoregie, Bernard Akoi-Jackson, Luamba Muinga, and Odun Orimolade, Curator at the Yaba Art Museum. This event built upon CCA's institutional residency and month-long space takeover at G.A.S. The takeover included the National Arts in Health Week Conference, Rosie Olang's letter-writing workshop, and week-long workshops centred around the theme of shyness.
CCA residents group photo. L-R Daniel Peltz, Ama Ofeibea Amponsah, Rosie Olang’ Odhiambo, Oyindamola Fakeye, Daniel, Meri Linna, Alison Naturale.
RESIDENCY ARCHIVE
EVENT: I Hope Your Rambles have been Sweet, and your Reveries Spacious
Event Date: 20th May 2023
In conclusion of the second week of CCA Lagos' institutional residency at G.A.S., CCA Hosted I Hope Your Rambles Have Been Sweet, and Your Reveries Spacious, a 3-hour workshop facilitated by Rosie Olang’ (⅓ of the I Continue to Continue collective). The three-hour letter-writing session reflects on themes of growth, grounding and transit as CCA Lagos continues to mark 15 years since its founding by the Late Bisi Silva in 2007.
Workshop participants taking part in an origami exercise.
ABOUT ROSIE OLANG' ODHIAMBO
Nairobi-based Rosie Olang’ Odhiambo is an independent curator, artist and bookmaker. Her current artistic and curatorial interests explore zines, artist’s books and other unconventional book structures as formats to play across various disciplines,(primarily visual arts, literature, and poetry) engaging with decolonial, queer, feminist, and black radical traditions. More recently she is also experimenting with sound installations and performance as a way to explore the art of listening.
Rosie has worked in research, communications, writing, and project management roles with arts and culture organizations in East Africa and the United States. She is the co-founder of MagicDoor, an experimental imprint in Nairobi, and has previously served as the Head of Programs at the Nairobi Contemporary Art Institute.
Rosie at G.A.S. Lagos
ABOUT MERI LINNA
A visual artist working with collaborative practices, Meri Linna's most prominent work is made together with Saija Kassinen under the duo name of Harrie Liveart. Since 2010 their artistic work utilises several aspects from multiple areas of the visual arts such as video, sound, installations, sculpture and performance art. Their current project (2017-) is an artistic research project named Collective Perversion - a proposal for revaluation. This project investigates the usage of freshwater and attitudes towards bodily processes through the perspective of the toilet bowl.
Linna graduated MFA from the sculpture department of the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts in 2014. Besides her artistic practice Linna has been teaching art to people of all ages. She was the artistic director of the former Nordic Art School in 2018 and has been teaching as a freelance teacher at the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts since 2016.
Photo: Meri Linna and with Saija Kassinen via Pro Artibus
ABOUT ALISON NATURALE
An artist based in Montreal, Quebec, Alison works with a variety of media including print design, video installation and interactive documentary. She has collaborated on place-based art projects in Denver, Colorado; Cambridge, Massachusetts; Long Beach Island, New Jersey; Banff, Alberta; and Rejmyre, Sweden. She is Managing Editor at Drawn & Quarterly, a graphic novel and art book publisher.
Alison Naturale at G.A.S. Lagos