Shaping Crossroads: building cultural networks across continents

The first phase of Shaping Crossroads, the exchange programme organised by ITI Germany, in collaboration with Nafasi Art Space Tanzania, began in July with two digital workshops, marking the start of a series of collaborative exchanges between cultural professionals from Africa and Europe. The workshops, held as part of the Deconfining project, continued throughout the summer and autumn, both online and on-site – first in Berlin and online, and will later follow in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Designed to strengthen intercontinental mobility and cultural cooperation, the programme brought together fellows selected through an open call – Thobile Maphanga (African Festivals Network), Emma Beverley (Helsinki International Artist Programme), Beatrice Waruinge (Connect for Culture Africa) and Wabwire Joseph Ian (KQ Hub Africa). The programme team included Lilian Hipolyte (Nafasi Art Space) and Milena Gehrt (ITI Germany) and Felix Sodemann (ITI Germany).

The online sessions in July and September were moderated by Onike Shorunkeh-Sawyerr and enriched by artistic interventions from Ukhona Ntsali Mlandu and Joel Haikali, offering participants creative and reflective entry points into discussions on cultural mobility and exchange.

New Networks Now? Empowering Artistic Connections Across Continents

In addition to these internal workshops, a public panel discussion titled New Networks Now? Empowering Artistic Connections Across Continents took place on 16 September 2025 at tak Theater Aufbau Kreuzberg in Berlin and via live stream. Moderated by Onike Shorunkeh-Sawyerr, the panel brought together Naima Hassan, Thobile Maphanga, and Poutiaire Lionel Somé to explore the guests’ perspectives on colonial continuities in cooperation, persistent inequalities in mobility, and questions about the nature and future of independent networks in the African-European context in general.

About the participants and programme team

Thobile Maphanga (African Festivals Network)

Thobile Maphanga is a South African dance practitioner, writer/scholar, and creative collaborator passionate about finding holistic solutions to well-being and community through the arts. She currently serves as Project Manager, Assistant Curator, and Editorial Steering Committee member for JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience and as Co-Facilitator and Mentor for The Festival Academy. Thobile is also Co-Convener of the newly re-established African Festivals Network (2024).

Emma Beverley (Helsinki International Artist Programme)

Emma Beverley is a multi-artform Producer and Curator, currently Director of the Helsinki International Artist Programme in Finland. Her career includes leadership roles at LEEDS 2023 and East Street Arts, and she is an advocate for climate action and social justice in the arts.

Beatrice Waruinge (Connect for Culture Africa)

Beatrice Waruinge is a humanitarian and human rights advocate committed to Pan-African ideals and refugee welfare. As Programme Officer at Selam / Connect for Culture Africa, she promotes sustainable public funding for Africa’s Cultural and Creative Industries (CCIs), seeing them as drivers of social transformation and community resilience.

Wabwire Joseph Ian (KQ Hub Africa)

Based in Kampala, Uganda, Wabwire Joseph Ian is a cultural innovator and creative producer who leverages the arts for civic engagement and intercultural dialogue. Through KQ Hub Africa and CACIFA, he fosters collaboration, peacebuilding, and narrative change across Africa’s creative ecosystem.

Lilian Hipolyte (Nafasi Art Space)

With over 15 years of experience in design, culture, and product innovation across East Africa and the UK, Lilian Hipolyte is a Creative Director and Brand Strategist currently serving as Director of Nafasi Art Space in Tanzania. Her practice bridges art, design, and sustainability, empowering creative industries through digital transformation and institutional development.

Milena Gehrt (ITI Germany)

Based in Berlin and Beirut, Milena Gehrt works as a curator and project manager with ITI. Her research and curatorial work explore public art interventions and alternative models of artistic exchange. She co-curates the Mouth Archives performance series and coordinates the DECONFINING project Shaping Crossroads.

Felix Sodemann (ITI Germany)

Felix Sodemann is a Berlin-based theatre and film maker, translator, and project manager at ITI, where he oversees touring artists and Shaping Crossroads. His background in literature informs his interdisciplinary approach to cultural cooperation.

Naima Hassan

Naima Hassan is a researcher, curator, and archivist based in Berlin, whose work centers on postcolonial memory cultures and archival ethics. She leads Re:assemblages with Guest Artists Space Foundation and Yinka Shonibare Foundation, and founded SITAAD, a platform supporting archival research on Somalia and its diaspora.

Poutiaire Lionel Somé

A Cologne-based Burkinabe artist, Poutiaire Lionel Somé creates films and stage productions that explore intercultural narratives. His work has earned international recognition, including the Student Academy Award (2016) and the Kurt Hackenberg Prize for Political Theatre (2022).

Onike Shorunkeh-Sawyerr

With over a decade of experience in international cooperation, Onike’s work critically engages with global justice, migration, and post-/decolonial perspectives on Europe–Africa relations, focusing on structural power dynamics and mobility.

Ukhona Ntsali Mlandu

Founder and head curator of makwande.republic, Ukhona Ntsali Mlandu is a South African artist, curator, and activist whose work centers on spatial justice, heritage, and care. Her practice embraces healing justice and decolonial feminist frameworks across art, public space, and cultural policy.

Joel Haikali

Filmmaker and theatre practitioner Joel Haikali contributes to cross-cultural dialogue through his creative work in Namibia and internationally, with a focus on mobility, storytelling, and African cinema.