Below are statements by candidates seeking nomination to positions at ACASA. Links are included that will take you to the candidate’s bio and CV.
The ACASA board election 2023 is open for members from 3 January 2023.
Janet Purdy
It is an honor to have been nominated to submit a candidate statement for the ACASA board member-at-large position. It would be my great pleasure to have the opportunity to contribute to the organization to support the work of the board in all relevant duties, including attending meetings and participating in board deliberations; serving on committees as needed; and fulfilling vacant board member roles (e.g. VP and CAA/ASA reps). In these ever evolving and transformative moments in museum and academic environments, I would take an active role in current efforts that capitalize upon the solid base of strengths built from the work accomplished by those who have come before us, while establishing new initiatives to move the organization forward in innovative ways. I am especially dedicated to: expanding the focus on arts and artists that have long been marginalized in the study of African art; strengthening understandings of cultural and intangible connections that reach across the physical boundaries of the continent to broaden the definition of African art; and work that will educate and illuminate in a responsible and respectful way the histories of makers, textiles, textile production, and cultural significance of all types of textiles and fashions used and created across the African continent and the Indian Ocean/Arab world. I would take an active role in efforts to build an inclusive and equitable organization, and focus on broadening the reach of fellowships, research travel grants, scholarships, and other educational efforts through increased awareness and new pathways to a diverse range of recipients.
See here for Janet Purdy’s Bio Janet Marion Purdy and CV-Janet-Marion-Purdy
Ashley Stewart
For as long as I can remember, I have been a devoted practitioner and student of the arts. This began as a young girl surrounded by atlases, maps and a library filled with encyclopedia. My father was a well-travelled geographer and scholar who was a self-taught artist. He encouraged me to study and practice art because in his words, “it holds the knowledge of the past and the direction for the future.” Everything else seems like a blur but my drive to know more about the people, places, processes and projects involved in the arts. My older self is curious about the ever evolving trends in the global art space, where are these changes taking place, who are the active participants and how I can contribute to shape the narrative out of such spaces.
For this reason, I am delighted to apply as a Member-at-Large at the Arts Council of the African Studies Association ACASA. For the past forty years, ACASA has been pivotal in promoting greater understanding of the African material and expressive culture in all its forms. This resonates strongly with me because as an artist and scholar of African descent and based in Africa, Nigeria to be precise, I am interested in how I can work collaboratively with creative practitioners at home and in Diaspora on the plethora of opportunities we have. Africa has a rich and diverse culture that cannot be exhausted or compressed and as such, requires a wider understanding of how to unroll this phenomenon. What I found fascinating about ACASA is her many scholarly and advocacy strides including receiving the prestigious Mellon Foundation Grant to support an array of projects one of which is the restitution project. The move was visionary and I am inspired by how this feat was accomplished by the immediate past president, a role model, Prof. Peju Layiwola and the entire team.
To speak a little about myself, I have Bachelor of Arts degree with specialization in Graphics from University of Port Harcourt, a Master of Science in International Management from Loughborough University and a Master of Arts in Graphics from University of Port Harcourt. My role as a lecturer of Design Management at the University of Port Harcourt is as a result of my multidisciplinary background which is an asset because I always bring a variety of perspectives to enrich projects. I have served as a Vice Chairman and member of Society of Nigerian Artists, Rivers State Chapter and member of Female Artists of Nigeria FEAAN. I am currently the West Africa Coordinator of the Global Arts in Medicine Fellowship Alumni. These active roles have developed my leadership and collaborative working skills. My greatest joy is found in volunteering and working with people of multinational backgrounds for a common goal.
I am conversant with the requirements of the Member-at-Large position and they align perfectly with my experience and skillset. I am motivated, goal-oriented and team-oriented and also great at planning, organizing and executing projects to completion.
See here for Ashley Stewart’s Bio Ashley Stewart and CV-Ashley-Stewart
Paul Basu
I am delighted to have been nominated for election to serve on the Board of Directors of ACASA. My research, teaching, community engagement and curatorial interests align closely with the goals of ACASA; namely to promote a greater understanding of African material and expressive culture in all its forms, and to encourage collaboration with African and Diaspora artists and scholars.
As an anthropologist, curator and filmmaker, I have worked in West Africa and with West African artists, scholars, communities and institutions for over 20 years; with particular foci in Sierra Leone, Nigeria and, more recently, Ghana. Much of my work has involved re-engaging with the material and epistemic legacies of colonialism, involving iterations back and forth between European and North American archives and museums, on the one hand, and communities and cultural institutions in Africa on the other. This has given me a strong sense of the contemporary relevance of historical collections, but also the disjunctures between ways of perceiving, understanding and engaging with them in different locations and by different actors. Having led and participated in numerous international museum collaborations, I am also very aware of the particular challenges that many such institutions face on the Continent.
I have been actively involved in contemporary debates around restitution, reparation and repatriation. Issues of historical accountability and addressing past (and continuing) injustices will continue to be a major concern in the field of African arts and heritage. This is an area in which ACASA has an important role to play, and I will be pleased to contribute to this important agenda. Many of these discussions are held between national institutions in North America, Europe and Africa, and I am particularly concerned about the voices of communities that are perhaps closest to the cultural heritage that is at stake.
Over the years, I have served as a trustee and board member of several organisations, including the African Studies Association UK, the Royal Anthropological Institute, and Pitt Rivers Museum. I have served on management committees at various universities, particularly relating to cultural property, museums and collections, galleries and African Studies. For most of my academic career, I have been based in UK universities (University College London, SOAS and the University of Sussex), but I was recently invited to set up an exciting new critical museology and heritage research centre – the Global Heritage Lab – at the University of Bonn in Germany.
See here for Paul Basu’s Bio Paul Basu and CV Paul Basu
Sandra Klopper
Apart from my research interests in African art, I have a long history as a university administrator. I was head of the Visual Arts Department at Stellenbosch University, where I also served for 2 years as acting head of the Music Department; I was appointed subsequently as Dean of Humanities at the University of Pretoria; and after that I took up a position as Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Cape Town where, amongst other things, I had executive oversight for Properties and Services. In the latter capacity, I played a pivotal role in arguing the case to Heritage Western Cape for the permanent removal from the university’s campus of a statue of Cecil John Rhodes, and I participated actively in negotiations during the Rhodes and Fees Must Fall student protests at UCT. In these often very public administrative roles, I honed skills in dealing with difficult situations and conflicting interests by listening carefully, seeking creative solutions to problems, and treating colleagues and students with the respect they deserve. I have no doubt that these multiple experiences would be of considerable value in serving on the board of ACASA, and in supporting the interests of the association.
As a long-term participant in ACASA conference – the first one, for me, was in New York in 1995 – I have very clear memories of events organised as part of these conferences over the years, and considerable insights into the enormous efforts that went into planning them. I have participated in every subsequent ACASA conference – in New Orleans, in 1998; in St Thomas, in 2001; at Harvard, in 2004; in Florida, in 2007; in Los Angeles, in 2011; at the Brooklyn Museum, in 2014; in Ghana, in 2017; and online, in 2021. Through these events, I have witnessed with fascination how the focus and interest of African art scholars have shifted over time; and how important conference dialogues have led to the forging of new relationships and ground-breaking publications. In my view, these conferences can and should continue to play a vital role in sustaining current and future scholarship, and in attracting the interest of younger scholars to African art studies, broadly-speaking. Face-to-face platforms for interaction in a (now hopefully) post-pandemic world are vital to the growth of ACASA and the scholarship it fosters.
If elected, I would also help to drive and support efforts not only to encourage greater participation in ACASA’s work by scholars from Africa and the Caribbean, but for more of its activities to be located in Africa. The conference at Lagon University was in my view a huge success. Many other African institutions could similarly become active in hosting future conferences and in broadening the reach of the association.
See here for Sandra Klopper’s Bio Sandra Klopper and CV Sandra Klopper
Carlee Forbes
Thank you for this nomination; it would be a great pleasure to serve this organization that plays such a central role in shaping our field. ACASA’s recently-awarded Mellon grant has opened the doors for many opportunities, including the creation of resources for provenance research on African arts. Since 2019, I have worked as a curatorial fellow at the Fowler Museum at UCLA researching provenance for material collected in the early 20th century. I have shared much of this research via public programs and digital resources available on the Fowler’s website. I am also an active member of a CCRBP sub-committee and organize the Fowler’s internal working group for repatriation. As a board member, I would look forward to collaborating to create resources that gather and disseminate our shared knowledge and experience. I would also be interested in expanding professional development activities for graduate student and emerging scholars. I served in several capacities to organize graduate students in my departments at UNC-CH and UF. I envision an expansion of ACASA’s web resources—such as a hub for funding opportunities or a more formalized mentoring system—and the creation of networking spaces beyond the Triennial that would welcome new members and voices into ACASA’s fold. It is an exciting time for ACASA and I look forward to serving the organization that has had such a foundational role in my career thus far. Thank you for your consideration.
See here for Carlee Forbes’ Bio Carlee S. Forbes and CV Carlee Forbes
Nichole Bridges
I am honored to be nominated for a Member-at-Large on the ACASA Board. As a longtime member, I am deeply appreciative of ACASA, its leadership past and present, and its role to promote and sustain our field. I am eager to serve ACASA during this period of important self-assessment and exciting potential for new approaches and relationships to advance our discipline and ACASA’s role in it. As new processes develop with the administrative support and professionalization made possible by the recent Mellon Foundation grant, I am suited to serve ACASA in an at-large capacity to provide operational perspectives and practical contributions as organizational priorities require. I am particularly interested in helping to enhance ACASA’s engagement with international colleagues and students in Africa, Europe, and the African diaspora — including attempting to renew ties with African American arts and cultural studies that were fundamental to ACASA’s founding in the late 1960s. As co-chair, with Shannen Hill, of the Interlocutor Identification Sub-Committee of the CCRBP and a curator of sub-Saharan collections in an American art museum, I look forward to supporting the ongoing efforts of the CCRBP and the professional standards and recommendations ACASA will endorse.
As an ACASA Member-at-Large, I would bring a cooperative spirit and administrative and operational perspectives gained from two decades working in American art museums. For nine years, I have worked at the Saint Louis Art Museum (SLAM), where I am a curator of African art and head of the arts of Africa, Oceania, and the indigenous Americas. At SLAM, I serve on the curatorial steering committee for diversity, equity and inclusion, and have served on strategic planning committees for collections care and audience development. I currently facilitate a community advisory group, comprised of members of St. Louis’s Black communities, in conjunction with a major exhibition I am organizing. Recently, I advised the Katherine Dunham Museum, in East St. Louis, on its African art collections formed by Dunham, an anthropologist and choreographer. These efforts inform my interests in ensuring that African American arts and cultural perspectives, as they intersect with African arts, retain consideration in concert with ACASA’s ongoing and future directions in engaging with Africa. In addition, with relatively easy access (a 40-minute flight) to Chicago from my home in St. Louis, I can also be of service in the planning and implementation of the 2024 Triennial conference.
See here for Nichole Bridges’ Bio Nichole N. Bridges and CV Nichole Bridges
Romuald Tchibozo
Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,
In 2017, precisely from the 7th to the 12th of August, I participated for the first time in the ACASA Triennial, the 17th, organised at the University of Legon in Accra, Ghana, and it allowed me to discover the greatness of the Arts Council of the African Studies Association. On this occasion, I co-organised the panel on the theme, Oral Art History and Film: Toward a New Digital Archive, in collaboration with colleagues from the Frei Universität in Berlin.
Since then, I have been an active member of our association and this has opened up contact with several fellow art historians, especially those based on the continent. I then committed myself to working to consolidate the practice of art history in Africa with them. This paved the way for the organisation of the first seminar for art historians living in Africa in Berlin from 04 to 09 February 2019 on the theme: Art History. Teaching and Doing Research in African Countries: Present and Future of a Discipline with the collaboration of Kunst Historische Institut of Florence, Art Histories and Aesthetic Practices program and Max Planck Institute of the Forum for Transregional Studies.
Currently, I am a member of the ACASA CCRBP Working Group Steering Committee” and work with all colleagues to develop best practices for the restitution of African art in North American museum institutions.
I am therefore very honored to be nominated to serve our common association as an ACASA Board Member for a few years, bringing this commitment, but also my expertise.
Thank you for your time and consideration. I remain at your disposal for any questions you may have.
See here for Romuald Tchibozo’s Bio Romuald Tchibozo and CV Romuald Tchibozo
Elaine Sullivan
It is an honor to be nominated to run for a member-at-large position on the ACASA board of directors. ACASA has been an important part of my scholarly journey from one of its earliest chapters: as a prospective PhD student, my campus visit to UCLA was scheduled to coincide with the 2011 triennial, introducing me not only to my soon-to-be graduate campus but also to the global intellectual community I would be a part of. Later, my first conference presentation was at the 2014 triennial, and I organized a panel for the recent 2021 triennial. At present, I am a member of the Interlocutor Identification Sub-committee for ACASA’s Collaboration, Collections, and Restitution Best Practices for North American Museums Holding African Objects Working Group.
I am eager to take a more active role in this organization that has been so important to the development of the study of African arts. While previous boards have done great work in expanding the organization, increasing its relevance to African colleagues, and developing its web presence, there is much room to grow. As a member-at-large of the board, I would devote my energy to attracting more Africa-based members and improving professional development resources for early career academics.
As an American scholar based in Johannesburg, I will be well-placed to connect ACASA with members on the African continent and brainstorm new ways for the organization to support African artists and researchers. Though I will be living in South Africa, my research focus continues to be francophone Central Africa, and as a French-speaker I would dedicate myself to outreach with colleagues in francophone countries.
I am about to begin my second postdoctoral appointment, and like many in our field, my time as an early-career researcher has been characterized by uncertainty about both job prospects and the broader relevance of our work to the global community of arts professionals. I believe ACASA can support emerging scholars through events and resources and by advocating for African arts more broadly. As a board member, I would aim to make the case for both the organization’s and the field’s relevance to younger generations of researchers, artists, and all those interested in the arts of Africa.
See here for Elaine Sullivan’s Bio Sullivan Elaine and CV Sullivan Elaine
Wandile Kasibe
I would like to apply to serve on the Board of Arts Council of the African Studies Association (ACASA). My motivation for applying to serve on the Board of ACASA comes from my strong research, academic, visual art, museological, community development backgrounds and as well as broader understanding and knowledge of the issues affecting Arts of Africa and the African Diaspora. I am passionate about the arts, museums and heritage.
As a scholar with relevant qualifications in Fine Art, Museums Studies, Heritage and Sociology I have managed Public Engagement projects, organized conferences, facilitated public discussions, presented online, curated exhibitions, edited documentary films and as well as published in various publications among which I can mention the following:
- In 2008 I published a chapter in Oreosness/Coconutness: “Not Quite Black, Not Quite White” (Dis-Location / Re-Location: Exploring Alienation and Identity: KURT Publishers (2008), White, A Colour For Special Occasions (Art South Africa 2006: p24-25): BELL-ROBERT Publishers (2006), “Freedom An Intergenerational Cause” (Chapter) in “Liberation Diaries: Celebrating 20 Years of Democracy” (ed) by Busani Ngcaweni, JACANA Publishers, 2014.
Furthermore, I have also published opinion pieces in local and national newspapers on topical issues such as repatriation, restitution, museums, decolonization among others. I have also served on various boards. In my 16 years of experience in the museum and heritage sector doing adult heritage education work, I have been responsible for the following tasks among other things:
- Implementation of Public Programmes: conceptualization, planning and implementation of commemorative day programmes, special events and Summer School, Manage the work of Adult Education, Audience Development and Commemorative day programmes, Planning and managing the budget of the public programmes section, Research on topical and relevant issues, Identify and manage research programmes, Co-ordinate materials and resource development projects among other things.
If I am successful in this nomination, I will be able to draw from my extensive experience in Art, Heritage, Museum Studies, Sociology, Community Engagement in my fiduciary responsibility as a board member.
It is an honor to be nominated to run for a member-at-large position on the ACASA board of directors. ACASA has been an important part of my scholarly journey from one of its earliest chapters: as a prospective PhD student, my campus visit to UCLA was scheduled to coincide with the 2011 triennial, introducing me not only to my soon-to-be graduate campus but also to the global intellectual community I would be a part of. Later, my first conference presentation was at the 2014 triennial, and I organized a panel for the recent 2021 triennial. At present, I am a member of the Interlocutor Identification Sub-committee for ACASA’s Collaboration, Collections, and Restitution Best Practices for North American Museums Holding African Objects Working Group.
See here for Wandile Kasibe’s Bio Wandile Kasibe and CV Wandile Kasibe.