Deconfining – talks with project co-creators

As part of the Deconfining Arts, Culture and Policies in Europe and Africa project, Art Transparent conducted a series of interviews with individuals involved in artistic residencies, the development of the exhibition, and the e-publication “Narratives of Closeness and Distance from Central-Eastern Europe and South-Eastern Africa – a Multicontextual Patchwork”.

These conversations form a polyphonic reflection on collaboration between Central-Eastern Europe and South-Eastern Africa—revealing diverse artistic, curatorial, institutional, and organizational perspectives. They address topics such as intercultural communication, equality in partnership-based projects, knowledge production, decolonial practices, and the role of art in building relationships and facilitating exchange.

The interviewees include artists, curators, cultural practitioners, as well as professionals responsible for production and communication within the project:

• Lillian Hipolyte – Director of Nafasi Art Space, offering insight into the mission, structure, and challenges of one of Tanzania’s leading contemporary art institutions, alongside reflections on international cultural exchange.
• Josephine Kiaga – artist and co-founder of Kiagraphy Media Limited, reflecting on the relationship between art, activism, and creative freedom, and on her project Breaking the Crimson Code.
• Naitiemu Nyanjom – visual and performance artist from Kenya, exploring connections between nature, culture, and humanity, with a focus on mental health and female consciousness.
  
• Moses Kizza – filmmaker from Uganda who understands dance as a universal language and a tool for expressing unity, humanity, and social awareness.
• Natasha Omokhodion-Kalulu Banda – author and founder of Copper Monster, reflecting on writing, publishing, and intercontinental collaboration.
  
• Samba Yonga – co-founder of the Women’s History Museum, addressing decolonial knowledge production, digital archiving, and the politics of cultural exchange.
• Taonga Tembo - artistic director and co-founder of Barefeet Theatre, played a leading role in both the creative and organisational dimensions of the project.
• Mercy Naulapwa - Zambian actress and facilitator with Barefeet Theatre, participated as a performer in a cross-continental theatre production.
• Emily Hakoola - Zambian artist, joined the project with a desire to connect, learn, and grow creatively.
• Fatime Songoro - Hungarian musician and interdisciplinary artist, contributed as a performer and co-creator within a collaborative theatre-making process.
• Kunda Zerah - participated in the project as an active contributor to workshops, discussions, and collaborative creation
• Piri Móga, - Hungarian actress and drama pedagogue, joined the project with a focus on socially engaged art and youth work.

The European perspective is represented by contributors working with Art Transparent:

• Michał Bieniek – artist and curator, President of the Art Transparent foundation and initiator of the SURVIVAL Art Review.
• Małgorzata Miśniakiewicz – art historian and curator focusing on socio-political contexts of contemporary art.
  
• Magdalena Basak – communications and PR specialist in the cultural sector.
  
• Paweł Rogowski – producer of artistic and cultural events.
  
• Aleksandra Jach – responsible for the day-to-day administration of the project.
  

Together, these interviews form a multidimensional record of experiences that not only documents the project’s development, but also highlights its long-term impact on artistic practices, institutional approaches, and ways of thinking about intercontinental collaboration.

Interviews

Lilian Hipolyte, Director of Nafasi Art Space, offers an in-depth look into the mission, structure, and challenges of one of Tanzania’s leading contemporary art institutions, alongside a personal reflection on international cultural exchange.

LINK → Lilian Hipolyte Interview

The video covers the origins and philosophy of Nafasi Art Space as both a space and an opportunity for artists, key programs including the Academy, residencies, galleries, performing arts, film club, and digital lab, support systems for emerging, youth, and underprivileged artists through education, incubation grants, and mentorship, the importance of international partnerships and artist exchanges for learning, collaboration, and sustainability, systemic barriers to artist mobility, particularly visa processes, bureaucracy, and lack of trust, the role of digital tools and new technologies in expanding access, preservation, and global art markets, reflections on working with unconventional, post-industrial exhibition spaces and embracing context over “white cube” aesthetics.
This is a candid and thoughtful reflection on building cultural infrastructure in a young art ecosystem, advocating for freer artistic mobility, and rethinking how and where contemporary art can exist and connect audiences across borders.

This interview was conducted during the 21st SURVIVAL Art Review, which took place in Wrocław (Poland) from June 23 to 27, 2023.

Josephine Kiaga—COO and co-founder of Kiagraphy Media Limited—shares a powerful and deeply personal reflection on art, activism, and creative freedom. As a filmmaker, poet, graphic artist, and designer, she discusses her work within the Deconfining residency and the ideas behind her project Breaking the Crimson Code.

LINK → Josephine Kiaga Interview

The conversation explores art as a provocative tool to address taboo subjects such as menstruation, period poverty, and women’s health, the concept of the Crimson Code—the historical and cultural secrecy surrounding menstruation and its links to shame, patriarchy, colonialism, and medical systems, the importance of decolonizing language and personal narratives around the body, femininity, and health, inspiration drawn from experimental video art, short films, metaphors, and unconventional installations, the role of intercultural exchange in shaping artistic practice and expanding creative perspectives, encounters with other artists, healers, activists, and communities that connect womanhood, herbs, folklore, and embodied knowledge, reflections on artistic freedom, public art, and expressive space within the European context, particularly in Poland, the significance of menstrual health activism, education, and grassroots initiatives such as free access to menstrual products,
advice for artists entering international residencies, emphasizing openness, cultural curiosity, and learning local languages.

The interview concludes with a clear message: do not be afraid to be different, to challenge norms, and to push boundaries—because transformation begins with those willing to take risks.

Naitiemu Nyanjom, a visual, material, and performance artist from Kenya.

LINK →  Naitiemu Nyanjom Interview

In this interview, Naitiemu Nyanjom, a visual, material, and performance artist from Kenya, reflects on her artistic practice and research developed within the Deconfining project. Her work explores the deep connections between nature, culture, and humanity, with a particular focus on mental health, female consciousness, and holistic ways of understanding the world.
The conversation touches on the intersection of nature and culture as a way to tell stories about mental health, spirituality, and shared humanity, herbs and indigenous trees as sources of healing, knowledge, and connection across past, present, and future, the historical role of women as healers and the gendered, political dimensions of medicine and health, decolonizing approaches to nature, healing, and indigenous knowledge systems, parallels between African and Polish traditions related to herbs, rituals, and spirituality,
inspiration drawn from encounters with herbalists, rituals, landscapes, and everyday practices, challenges of mobility and visa processes faced by artists, alongside reflections on hospitality, warmth, and belonging, the importance of diversity, interconnectedness, and celebrating both similarities and differences among people, plans to work with sound, landscape, stories, and historical spaces as living archives of human experience.
The interview is a poetic and thoughtful reflection on healing, ecology, femininity, and the idea that all life forms are deeply interconnected—inviting us to rethink division and embrace unity through nature and shared histories.

Moses Kizza, also known as Teflon, shares his journey as a filmmaker from Uganda whose work centers on dance as a universal language. For him, dance is not only movement or entertainment, but a powerful expressive tool to communicate messages of unity, humanity, and social awareness.

LINK → Moses Kizza Interview

The conversation explores how dance became the core of his film-making practice and a way to tell stories beyond words, using film as a medium to amplify expression, emotion, and social messages,
his first-ever journey to Europe and the emotional and logistical challenges of visa processes, reflections on warmth, hospitality, and everyday kindness encountered in Poland, first encounters with Polish contemporary art, installations, and festivals, participation in his first research residency, focused on learning, collaboration, and artistic growth, developing a new dance film in collaboration with a dancer with a disability, centered on dignity, consent, and respect, disability as a shared human condition rather than a limitation, the importance of mentorship, collaboration, and community in navigating the art world, a strong belief in unity, love, and togetherness across cultures.
This interview is a heartfelt reflection on creativity, vulnerability, and learning—highlighting how art, movement, and human connection can bridge differences and remind us that, despite appearances, we are one family.

Natasha Omokhodion-Kalulu Banda—author and founder of Copper Monster—reflects on writing, publishing, and the power of cross-continental collaboration within the Deconfining project.

LINK → Natasha Omokhodion-Kalulu Banda Interview

The conversation explores:
her journey as a writer navigating limited publishing pathways and the search for validation and visibility,
the crucial role of anthologies and Pan-African collaborations in empowering emerging writers,
how rejection, workshops, and mentorship can become formative tools for artistic growth,
the motivation behind founding Copper Monster to support writers facing similar barriers,
publishing as both a creative and professional process that builds confidence and sustainability,
collaboration as a space of shared intention, learning, and productive challenge,
the realities of working across regions with different cultural contexts, expectations, and knowledge gaps,
the importance of in-person exchange, workshops, and aligned values in international projects,
questions of mobility, equality, and freedom of movement in global cultural collaboration,
reflections on history, place, and unexpected connections between Africa and Central Europe.
This interview offers a thoughtful perspective on literary ecosystems, institutional knowledge, and the long-term impact of collaboration—showing how shared work across borders can expand voices, bridge gaps, and shape future cultural narratives.

Samba Yonga, co-founder of the Women’s History Museum, reflects on decolonial knowledge production, digital archiving, and the politics of international cultural exchange within the Deconfining project.

LINK → Samba Yonga Interview

The conversation explores:
the founding of the Women’s History Museum as a fully digital institution dedicated to restoring and centering indigenous knowledge systems created by women,
how colonialism erased women’s histories and delegitimized oral traditions, storytelling, and artistic practices as valid forms of knowledge,
the role of digital technologies in democratizing, archiving, and legitimizing non-Western knowledge systems,
a critical challenge to Eurocentric ideas of museums, institutions, and “four-wall” knowledge production,
parallels between the museum’s mission and Deconfining’s interrogation of collaboration, power, and cultural structures,
systemic inequalities in global mobility, particularly visa regimes that position artists and cultural workers from the Global South as “lesser partners,”
the emotional, financial, and logistical toll of visa processes and border bureaucracy,
reflections on equality, trust, and reciprocity as essential foundations for genuine cultural exchange,
cautious optimism about international collaborations as spaces of necessary tension, debate, and transformation.
This interview offers a sharp and thoughtful critique of global knowledge hierarchies while advocating for courageous, equitable, and sometimes uncomfortable conversations as a vital part of meaningful collaboration.

Michał Bieniek – artist and curator, President of the Board of the Art Transparent contemporary art foundation, initiator and general curator of the SURVIVAL Art Review, head of the Mieszkanie Gepperta contemporary art gallery.

LINK → Michał Bieniek Interview

Michał Bieniek talks about the experiences he gained through the artistic project connecting Central and Eastern Europe with East Africa – Deconfining Arts, Culture and Policies in Europe and Africa. It is a story about breaking established patterns and uncovering less obvious histories. The starting point is a reflection on how many narratives—especially those related to former relationships between socialist countries and Africa—have been forgotten and are now resurfacing through artistic practices.
In his statement, Michał Bieniek also addresses differences in how cultural institutions operate: greater freedom, openness, and the blending of artistic disciplines in Africa, contrasted with a more formalized approach in Europe. At the same time, he emphasizes that despite existing systemic inequalities (for example in artists’ mobility), artistic practices themselves remain equal and create a space for mutual learning.
Above all, it is a reflection on the need to look beyond dominant Western narratives and to build relationships from a “periphery-to-periphery” perspective—as a source of new meanings, experiences, and future directions in art.

Małgorzata Miśniakiewicz, PhD is an art historian and curator who focuses on inter-local perspectives in her research of socio-political contexts of contemporary art and the legacies of the east-central European post-war avant-gardes.

LINK → Małgorzata Miśniakiewicz Interview

Małgorzata Miśniakiewicz reflects on the challenges and satisfaction of curatorial work within a large-scale intercontinental project – Deconfining Arts, Culture and Policies in Europe and Africa. She shows how encountering different artistic practices and ways of working can challenge established habits and open up new approaches to collaboration, exhibition-making, and production.
One of the key themes is the importance of relationships. Through repeated visits to Dar es Salaam and collaboration with Nafasi Art Space, the project evolved from an initial attempt at mutual understanding into a lasting partnership based on trust, exchange, and shared experience.
In her account, Miśniakiewicz also addresses the complexities of building equal collaboration across different geopolitical contexts. Although equality was one of the project’s main goals, structural inequalities—especially in terms of mobility and infrastructure—required greater attentiveness, flexibility, and commitment.
Above all, it is a reflection on the value of working beyond dominant Western frameworks, embracing a more fluid and relational approach (“pole pole”), and recognizing that the most lasting outcomes of such projects are not only exhibitions, but the relationships and knowledge that continue to grow beyond them.

Magdalena Basak – Communications and PR Specialist in the Cultural Sector.

LINK → Magdalena Basak Interview

Magdalena Basak reflects on the challenges and growth that come with working on a large-scale, long-term intercontinental project. From a communication perspective, she shows how difficult it can be to talk about a process whose results are not immediately visible, and how this experience can reshape the way institutions think and operate.
In her statement, Magdalena Basak also highlights the importance of direct encounters. Her visit to Dar es Salaam and the opening of the exhibition at Nafasi Art Space became a turning point—allowing her to witness the project’s social impact firsthand and to transform anonymous partners into real, human relationships.
At the same time, Basak draws attention to existing systemic inequalities—particularly in terms of mobility—as well as to the possibility of building more equal, partnership-based relationships through trust, attentiveness, and shared responsibility. The project also becomes a lesson in patience (“pole pole”), reminding us that meaningful outcomes often take time to emerge.
Above all, it is a reflection on how intercontinental collaboration can shift perspectives, challenge dominant narratives, and open up space for new ways of thinking, working, and building relationships across cultures.

Paweł Rogowski is a professional producer of artistic and cultural events for companies, non-governmental organisations and cultural institutions.

LINK → Paweł Rogowski Interview

Based on his experience working on the project Deconfining Arts, Culture and Policies in Europe and Africa, Paweł Rogowski reflects on the challenges of producing a large-scale intercontinental project from a practical and organizational perspective. He highlights the tension between vision and logistics, as well as the need to navigate cultural differences in communication, approaches to time, and ways of working.
From a producer’s point of view, the conversation reveals that collaboration across continents requires flexibility, trust, and the ability to adapt to different expectations and working methods. Despite the challenges, cooperation with partners from Tanzania and Zambia proved not only possible, but highly rewarding—demonstrating that strong results can be achieved through commitment and mutual understanding.
Rogowski also addresses the complexity of equality in international projects, where structural conditions and project hierarchies shape relationships. At the same time, he emphasizes the importance of maintaining balance, respect, and a partnership-based approach.
Above all, it is a reflection on how intercontinental production expands perspectives, builds lasting professional relationships, and shows that ambitious cross-cultural collaborations are both demanding and achievable.

Aleksandra Jach is responsible for day-to-day project administration at the Art Transparent Foundation.

LINK → Aleksandra Jach Interview

Ola Jach reflects on the often unseen side of intercontinental collaboration—the administrative and organizational work that makes artistic projects possible. She highlights the challenge of balancing vision with logistics, as well as the need to respond to unexpected situations that arise throughout a long-term project.
Ola Jach also speaks about how working across different systems, legal frameworks, and cultural approaches, from an administrative perspective, requires patience, flexibility, and constant communication. She emphasizes the importance of building truly equal partnerships, in which decisions are developed collectively rather than imposed by one side.
A turning point was the visit to Dar es Salaam and the opening of the exhibition at Nafasi Art Space, when the project became tangible and long-term online collaboration transformed into real, human relationships.
Above all, it is a reflection on how intercontinental cooperation not only leads to the creation of artistic outcomes, but also builds lasting relationships, mutual understanding, and experience that continues to shape future projects.

 Taonga Tembo shares insights on leading cross-cultural collaboration and shaping theatre that speaks across borders.

LINK →  Taonga Tembo Interview

Taonga Tembo, artistic director and co-founder of Barefeet Theatre, played a leading role in both the creative and organisational dimensions of the project. From coordinating participants to contributing to a climate-focused theatre production, his involvement was central to its success. He highlights the value of cross-cultural collaboration in shaping new perspectives and approaches to storytelling, particularly in engaging diverse audiences. Despite logistical challenges such as visa delays, the experience fostered strong partnerships and lasting professional connections. His work demonstrates how collaborative artistic practice can bridge cultures while addressing global issues.

Mercy Naulapwa  shares how international collaboration translated into real impact across communities – From performance to community action.

LINK →  Mercy Naulapwa Interview

Mercy Naulapwa, a Zambian actress and facilitator with Barefeet Theatre, participated as a performer in a cross-continental theatre production. She highlights the value of collaboration across cultures, where non-verbal expression and visual storytelling played a key role in overcoming language barriers. Despite challenges related to travel, visas, and intensive rehearsals, the experience proved highly impactful. She has since extended the project’s outcomes into her own work, delivering workshops across multiple communities in Zambia focused on climate awareness. Her work demonstrates how artistic collaboration can translate into tangible social impact.

Emily reflects on learning, cultural exchange, and bringing artistic tools back to her community – A first international journey that opened new creative paths.

LINK →  Emily Hakoola Interview

Emily Hakoola, a Zambian artist, joined the project with a desire to connect, learn, and grow creatively. As a first-time international traveller, the experience was both exciting and transformative — exposing her to new cultures, artistic practices, and ways of collaboration. Despite challenges with visa processes and cultural differences, she found the project to be deeply supportive and enriching. She has since applied what she had learned from this experience within her community, using creative methods such as puppetry and film to engage children and raise awareness on social issues. Her journey reflects the power of artistic exchange to inspire personal growth, expand perspectives, and create meaningful local impact.

Fatime explores intercultural creation, artistic freedom, and the power of non-verbal expression – A collaborative process without boundaries.

LINK →  Fatime Songoro Interview

Fatime Songoro, a Hungarian musician and interdisciplinary artist, contributed as a performer and co-creator within a collaborative theatre-making process. Working without a director, the team navigated creative differences to produce a dynamic performance addressing climate change. She reflects on the project as both professionally enriching and personally transformative, highlighting the importance of intercultural dialogue, non-verbal expression, and adaptability in artistic collaboration. The experience continues to influence her artistic practice and perspective, reinforcing the value of international exchange in shaping meaningful creative work.

Kunda Zerah reflects on learning, collaboration, and transforming creative practice into social impact and using art as a tool for change.

LINK → Kunda Zerah Interview

Kunda Zerah participated in the project as an active contributor to workshops, discussions, and collaborative creation. She emphasises the project’s strong learning dimension, particularly in using art as a tool for social engagement and awareness. The interdisciplinary and inclusive environment fostered knowledge exchange and creative experimentation, which she has since applied in her own work, including music projects addressing social issues. Her experience highlights the importance of community, collaboration, and creativity in driving both personal and professional development.

Piri Móga reflects on collaboration, adaptability, and engaging diverse audiences across contexts and the art of navigating cultures through theatre.

LINK →  Piri Móga Interview

Piri Móga, a Hungarian actress and drama pedagogue, joined the project with a focus on socially engaged art and youth work. As both performer and co-creator, she contributed to a collaborative theatre process that required adaptability, shared responsibility, and creative problem-solving. She reflects on the experience as an opportunity to engage deeply with different cultural contexts, working styles, and audience dynamics across countries. The project offered valuable insights into how theatre can address complex social themes through participatory and visual approaches. Her experience underscores the importance of flexibility, collaboration, and direct community engagement in meaningful artistic practice.