Prof. Stephen Muoki from Pwani University and Dr. Wanyenda Chilimo from Technical University took up a joint month-long winter secondment to the Academy of Arts and the National Museum in Szczecin in December 2022. The researchers participated in a range of individual and collective activities organized in collaboration with their Polish host institutions in the cities of Szczecin, Kraków, and Berlin, Germany.Cheilimo’s explored European and Kenyan art forms focusing on digital art libraries, museums, galleries and exhibitions with the purpose of comparing whether and how libraries as cultural and heritage institutions contribute in supporting and promoting art and art education.
Accompanied by TPAAE researcher Ewa Pradzynska, Dr. Chilimo visited the Pomeranian provincial library, a public library for the West Pomerania region that holds over one million items, including historical collections dating back to 15th century. The library houses several art galleries with various exhibitions by local artists. It also features an elaborate music collections containing scores, audiotapes, antique analogue records, CDs, manuscripts, lithographic prints and rare and first editions from the 18th- and 19th-century Szczecin composers.
Cheilimo’s explored European and Kenyan art forms focusing on digital art libraries, museums, galleries and exhibitions with the purpose of comparing whether and how libraries as cultural and heritage institutions contribute in supporting and promoting art and art education
Accompanied by TPAAE researcher Ewa Pradzynska, Dr. Chilimo visited the Pomeranian provincial library, a public library for the West Pomerania region that holds over one million items, including historical collections dating back to 15th century. The library houses several art galleries with various exhibitions by local artists. It also features an elaborate music collections containing scores, audiotapes, antique analogue records, CDs, manuscripts, lithographic prints and rare and first editions from the 18th- and 19th-century Szczecin composers.
At the University of Szczecin (US) main library, TPAAE researchers had the opportunity to exchange experiences related to library work with their US counterparts, including Dorota Gill-Tarnowska, Łukasz Maciąg and Marta Sztark-Zurek. TPAAE researchers were impressed by the presentation delivered by Dr. Robert Woziński from the US Geological Museum, which is housed in the university library.
Prof. Muoki’s research interest examined interface of art, religious history and social welfare in Central Europe and Eastern Africa. Exhibitions in Anthropological Museum of Krakow, as well as at Berlin’s Holocaust Memorial and Futuristic Center proved immensely productive for this research. In December, he addressed class session with post-graduate students of Anthropology at US. And his lecture in early January entitled When the Bible Becomes Harmful to Women’ proved a climax. Offered at the Academy of Art’s main building, the lecture examined whether there is a correlation between growing incidences of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) and misuse by abusers, and society in general, of biblical texts to suppress the rights women in Kilifi County, Kenya.
Together, the Kenyan researchers visited the National Museum in Szczecin its library, where manager Marta Kurzyńska explained the work done to preserve the heritage of the post-war museum of the Pomerain region via collections that date to the 16th century. The team also visited the West Pomeranian University of Technology in Szczecin (ZUT), where they discussed with Vice-Rector Jacek Przepiórski the possibility to establishing collaborations between ZUT and Kenyan Universities.
In Krakow, Prof. Aleksandra Lukasiewicz, TPAAE’s main coordinator, accompanied the team on a tour of the city’s Ethnographic Museum, which features well curated collections of items representing the ethnic life and arts works of the ancient Polish people.
Prof. Lukasiewicz also made the trip to Berlin, where the team viewed the “Broken Music” and “I Build My Skin with Rocks” exhibitions at the Hamburger Bahnhof, a museum dedicated to the private Frick Collection of Contemporary Art that is housed in the repurposed train station. The team also visited the East Side Gallery, which presents the remains of the Berlin’s wall with graffiti and street art for peace. The visit to the Futurium Museum highlighted of the trip to the German capital. Its engaging combinations of art and technology explore different perspectives and possibilities in technology, sustainability and environment.
At the Academy of Arts, the team also participated in meetings with the curators and artists to discuss preparations for the upcoming Third Edition of the DUOS festival in Kilifi and Mombasa, which is set for the first week in March 2023. Prof. Muoki and Prof. Aleksandra Lukaszewicz also met with Prof. Lukasz Skapski, to discuss progress of the Bachelor of Art and Design programme in Pwani University, which is scheduled to receive first cohort of students in September 2023. Prof. Muoki also had a class session with post graduate students of Anthropology of the University of Szczecin on 22nd December 2022.
