The Goethe-Institut Nigeria in collaboration with the Ford Foundation and Nigerian museum partners invites artists/art researchers, archaeologists, architects, social researchers, writers, journalists, historians, and cultural producers to apply for its “Connecting the Dots” project.
The project involves a young scholars museum fellowship program, a museum conversation series, and a youth education program.
In a document seen by Nairametrics, the fellowship will provide monthly stipends, accommodation costs, workspace, travel allowance, and mentorship for participants.
Project details
Nairametrics learns that the project will involve three aspects which are a museum fellowship program, a conversation series, and a youth education program.
Museum Fellowship Program
The Museum Fellowship Program will focus on a critical engagement with Nigerian museum content and the creation of research results that engage contemporary topics such as democracy, gender, and others.
This will facilitate engagement, education, and appreciation of historical and contemporary art at various museum spaces across Nigeria.
It also seeks to address contemporary challenges facing Nigeria and contribute to advancing the role of museums in addressing key national development challenges.
Conversation Series
The fellowship will also involve a Conversation Series that will take place at six museums across Nigeria which are: Slave History Museum, Calabar; National Museum, Kaduna; Benin City National Museum; CRIMMD Photo History Museum, Lagos; Colonial History Museum, Aba and the Natural History Museum, OAU, Ile-Ife.
These dialogues will target artists seeking to work with the collections and ground their work in research as well as facilitate community engagement with public museums in Nigeria.
Youth Education Program
Also, the project will involve a Youth Education Program where participants will be invited to make visual representations of artefacts, heritage, culturally significant symbols or entities, and other parts of the communities’ histories and how these objects resonate with them.
Benefits of the fellowship
Some of the benefits that participants will receive are:
- Provision of a monthly fellowship stipend
- Accommodation allowance for the fellow in the museum’s location through the 6 months of the program
- Travel allowance from the fellow’s domiciled address within Nigeria to the museum
- A workspace provided by the museum
- Mentorship of the fellow facilitated by Goethe-Institut, the museum, and industry experts
Responsibilities of Fellows
As part of the responsibilities of fellows, they are to:
- Take part in a six-month fellowship at a Nigerian museum from October 2023 to October 2024.
- Collaborate with Nigerian museums and Goethe-Institut to generate fresh research, knowledge, and conversations aligned with the museum’s research focus and local community.
- Engage in the monthly fellows mentorship program led by Goethe-Institut and the Nigerian Museum.
- Join museum discussions with experts, attend relevant programs organized by Goethe-Institut, and actively participate in the fellowship.
- Stay connected through monthly virtual meetings with the project coordinator.
- Showcase your work through a presentation or publication at the culmination of your fellowship.
How to apply
To apply, applicants must send in a:
- Portfolio and CV
- Motivation letter as a pdf document to this email with the subject line “Connecting the Dots_Fellow” by 20 August 2023
The letter should indicate:
- In what ways does your practice permeate the contemporary themes/issues in Nigeria today? (500 words)
- Propose a project you would like to create with/in a Nigerian Museum over 6 months
- Concept (250 words)
- Research/Production Methodology (250 words)
- Publication/Presentation/Exhibition/Community Engagement (250 words)
- Indicate which of the participating museum and their research interest can host your project and select your first three preferred museums.
Am interested in the programs including the online course.