Grants:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/Rapid Fund/Ndoli Jowei - A celebration of African women artists (ID: 21852977)

statusCompleted
Ndoli Jowei - A celebration of African women artists
proposed start date2022-06-06
proposed end date2022-08-26
grant start date2022-06-06T00:00:00Z
grant end date2022-09-20T00:00:00Z
budget (local currency)71500 ZAR
budget (USD)4800 USD
amount recommended (USD)4800
grant typeIndividual
funding regionSSA
decision fiscal year2021-22
applicant• KgomotsoRamushu
organization (if applicable)• N/A
Review Final Report

This is an automatically generated Meta-Wiki page. The page was copied from Fluxx, the grantmaking web service of Wikimedia Foundation where the user has submitted their application. Please do not make any changes to this page because all changes will be removed after the next update. Use the discussion page for your feedback. The page was created by CR-FluxxBot.

Applicant Details edit

Please provide your main Wikimedia Username.

KgomotsoRamushu

Please provide the Usernames of people related to this proposal.

N/A

Organization

N/A

Are you a member of any Wikimedia affiliate or group, including informal groups like Wiki Fan Clubs, emerging language communities, not recognized Wikimedia groups etc.? Please list them all.

No

Grant Proposal edit

M. Please state the title of your proposal. This will also be the Meta-Wiki page title.

Ndoli Jowei - A celebration of African women artists

Q. Indicate if it is a local, international, or regional proposal and if it involves several countries? (optional)

Local

Q2. If you have answered regional or international, please write the country names and any other information that is useful for understanding your proposal.


R. If you would like, please share any websites or social media accounts that your group or organization has.


1. What is the change that you are trying to bring about and why is this important.

African women artists are under-represented in scholarship on the continent’s visual culture. African women have a long record as creators, collectors, and curators of art. There is need for preservation of traditions and the dissemination of this knowledge. Less than 15 of South African women artist biographies on Wikipedia are of Black women. There are significantly more pages devoted to African – American and white South African women artists. Whilst these are valuable contributions, they are not representative of the demography of the continent. This misrepresentation has broader implications. There are gaps in the geographic, thematic and temporal representation of African women artists. They do not adequately capture the styles, influences and legacies of work by African women artists. There is need to address the paucity of information on the works, collections, exhibitions, and praxis of African women artists in the 20th & even 19th century. Making these contributions widely available will contribute to shifting the persistently Eurocentric historiography of Africa’s visual arts.The continued absence curtails academics, students, and others from understanding the genealogy & depth of African women’s artistry. This project will attend to online coverage gaps and improve the quality of pages on African women artists in all 53 countries. This will be done by increasing sources, formatting citations, and finding open-source images for new articles among other tasks. Currently, a lot of information on African women artists can be found behind the paywalls of journals and curated collections housed by museums. Ndoli Jowei will empower communities to be creators of knowledge about artists who represent them, even those they disagree with. This will be done in a measured, objective and thoroughly researched fashion. The project relies on the library and repository of academia, underscored by the experiences and tacit knowledge of artists, curators and scholars

2. Describe your main approaches or strategies to achieve these changes and why you think they will be effective.

The project will increase the profile of African women’s’ art by (1) Documenting biographies and artistic collections (2) Creating a record of seminal exhibitions featuring the works of African women artists (3) Documenting the journeys and curatorial praxis of African women collectors of the arts (4) Conserving and disseminating knowledge on African women’s artistic practices by academics at home and in the diaspora (5) Developing a publicly accessible weblog hosting open access educational material and a shared repository. Community members will be invited to contribute to a list of pages as well as social media . They will also be invited to recommend the names of artists, curators and collectors whose efforts should be documented as part of this project. This list will indicate the time period in which the artist has worked, their chosen media, exhibitions they have participated in and reviews of their work. Participants will also be invited to make recommendations during the Edit-a-thon process. Social media pages will be created and updated weekly. Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook are proven tools for garnering public participation. Here, participants will build relationships and share networks. Through the development and improvement of Wikipedia biographies, the volume and quality of African women artists’ pages will be improved. A triangulated approach will be used including searching academic databases, interviewing key respondents, and workshopping the biographies. Workshops, social media, and a web-based platform will be used as sites for collective knowledge production, critique and reaching consensus on events, places and key actors. Workshops will be held in – person and virtually as participants will be dialled into workshops from different parts of the continent and diaspora. This project will also contribute to the skills development and transfer of archivists, researchers, and future beneficiaries.

3. What are the activities you will be developing and delivering as part of these approaches or strategies?

This project will be delivered through four interventions. First, a survey of artists who biographies are absent or in need of reinforcement will be identified and publicized. This database of artists will be hosted on a weblog accessible to the public and project participants. Secondly, a series of virtual and in person Wikipedia edit – a – thons will be hosted in Johannesburg and Cape Town. These will be advertised through two universities and an arts NGO database which the applicant has developed and regularly updated. These workshops will be hosted in spaces easily accessible using public transport and with network coverage. Worksheets and guides will be provided for potential participants. Templates will be developed for basic biography writing and components which make up an artist’s page including exhibitions, media utilized, subject matter and existing scholarship on each artist. Participants will also be invited to search for open-source images with a specific workshop focused on the image or visual presentation of African women artists. The third activity will be creation and activation of a hashtag and digital campaign centred around #Wikiloveswomen #WikiAfricanwomenartists The ‘Edit – a – thons’ which will encourage collaborative research and knowledge exchange. The project will provide training in ICT for social change. This is because participating in the project will improve digital literacy of participants. Finally, the workshops will also be spaces of physical archiving of knowledge. Participants will be invited to delve into the repository of books, artworks, recordings and other references which will empower them to write well – researched biographies which inform and entertain their readers. Pop – up exhibitions will be created as an extension of each workshop / edit – a- thon. The public will be invited to view an exhibition and participate in the project. This will be used as a marketing tool for future workshops and the role of Wikipedia

4. Are your activities part of a Wikimedia movement campaign or event? If so, please select the relevant campaign below. If so, please select all the relevant campaigns from the list below. If "other", please state which.

Not applicable, Other (please specify)

I notice that my project values are aligned reading up on Art+Feminism and would be amenable to working with that esteemed project.
5. Do you have the team that is needed to implement this proposal?

All team members are volunteers. Researchers Kgomotso Ramushu & Tebogo Mphahlele will also serve as Workshop conveners.

6. Please state if your proposal aims to work to bridge any of the identified CONTENT knowledge gaps (Knowledge Inequity)? Select up to THREE that most apply to your work.

Content Gender gap, Geography, Language, Cultural background, ethnicity, religion, racial

6.1 In a few sentences, explain how your work is specifically addressing this content gap (or Knowledge inequity) to ensure a greater representation of knowledge.

There has been critique of the field of art history as racially and geographically exclusionary. This project aims to tell a more inclusive and representative story. This project seeks to preserve, promote, and disseminate art history. It will document pre, ante and post- colonial art throughout Africa. Relevant journals and publications will be highlighted and we will foster inter – generational dialogue. Contributions will be made in different Southern African languages.

7. Please state if your proposal includes any of these areas or THEMATIC focus. Select up to THREE that most apply to your work and explain the rationale for identifying these themes.

Education, Culture, heritage or GLAM , Diversity

8. Will your work focus on involving participants from any underrepresented communities?

Gender Identity, Sexual Orientation, Geographic , Ethnic/racial/religious or cultural background, Linguistic / Language, Socioeconomic status, Digital Access

9. Who are the target participants and from which community? How will you engage participants before and during the activities? How will you follow up with participants after the activities?

The main target group includes Artists based in Johannesburg and Tshwane as well as Cape Town. A call will be made on an NPO database. I am Creative Director of an arts collective and have coordinated exhibitions and events through which I have developed a database of artists, gallery patrons and fellow academics. The workshops will be hosted in establishments which have existing public arts programmes and their patrons will be invited to participate.

10. In what ways are you actively seeking to contribute towards creating a safer, supportive, more equitable environment for participants?

A charter will be provided to all participants. This will be made accessible on the weblog, social media pages and at Edit-a-thons. Participants will complete forms indicating preferred languages, pronouns & accessibility needs. The sessions will be multi – lingual and localized to widen participation. An electronic and printed program will list contact details and provide a map of artists, galleries and countries covered.

11. Please tell us about how you have let your Wikimedia communities know about the planned activities and this proposal. Use this space to describe the processes you carried out to make the community more involved in planning this proposal. Please link the on-wiki community discussion(s) around the proposals.

I have sent a sample proposal to potential host institutions and my network. I have convened previous evens empowering communities to tell their story of African artists through skills sharing and knowledge transfer. Existing social media pages and two WhatsApp groups of active participants have been informed of the project and expressed interest in participating. Participants will be invited to establish relationships and collaborative partnerships in existing projects. The individual contributions of participants will be affirmed and highlighted on social media.

12. Are you aware of other Rapid Fund proposals in your local group, community, or region that are being submitted and that align with your proposed project?

No

If yes:

12.1 Did you explore the possibility of doing a joint proposal with other leaders in your group?
N/A
12.2 How will this joint proposal allow you to have better results?
N/A
13. Will you be working with other external, non-Wikimedia partners to implement this proposal? Required.

No

13.1 Please describe these partnerships and what motivates the potential partner to be part of the proposal and how they add value to your work.


14. In what ways do you think your proposal most contributes to the Movement Strategy 2030 recommendations. Select a maximum of THREE options that most apply.

Improve User Experience, Provide for Safety and Inclusion, Coordinate Across Stakeholders, Innovate in Free Knowledge

Learning, Sharing, and Evaluation edit

15. What do you hope to learn from your work in this fund proposal?

I hope to deepen my knowledge of art history and to share this knowledge. I would like to know more about different artists, their backgrounds, styles and influences. I am also keen to understand the global impact of African art, with a specific focus on African women artists. I aim to increase my knowledge of Wikipedia platforms and to contribute to the body of knowledge on the internet. I would like also to improve my Wikipedia and digital skills. This will also be an opportunity to improve my project management skills.

16. Based on these learning questions, what is the information or data you need to collect to answer these questions? Please register this information (as metric description) in the following spaces provided.
Main Open Metrics Data
Main Open Metrics Description Target
Articles Biographies of African women artists 20
Pages Exhibitions; Curator; Artists 10
Files Open source images; programmes; posters 20
Page edits Exhibitions; Curator; Artists 10
N/A N/A N/A
17. Core quantitative metrics.
Core Metrics Summary
Core metrics Description Target
Number of participants 10 participants in 3 workshops. Practicing artists, independent curators and arts non profit organization members 30
Number of editors 2 2
Number of organizers 2 convenors will oversee project 2
Number of new content contributions per Wikimedia project
Wikimedia Project Description Target
Wikipedia Session duration (hours) 10
Wikipedia Sign ups 10
Wikipedia Newbie Editors (at least 2 pages edited or created) 2
Wikipedia Content - Edits 10
Wikipedia Content - new pages

This includes creation of one (1) page in Sepedi on visual art in Africa.

3
17.1 If for some reason your proposal will not measure these core metrics please provide an explanation.

I would greatly appreciate guidance and am undergoing informal training from an experienced contributor.

Bobby Shabangu will advise on the Metrics and ensure that the Dashboard is an accurate reflection of the project participants, editors, organizers and content. Due to the largely voluntary nature of the project there is need for conservative estimates of participants though interest will be generated through word of mouth, existing networks, social media and the Africa Open Institute network.

18. What tools would you use to measure each metric selected? Please refer to the guide for a list of tools. You can also write that you are not sure and need support.

I require support in this regard.

  • Attendance registers for each event. Personal Protection of Information Act will be adhered to.
  • Dashboard analytics and narrative report analyzing metrics
  • Surviving pages created will be evaluated 48 hours periodically after each Edit - a - Thon and project reporting period
  • Surviving uploads will also be subject to the scrutiny which Surviving pages go through
  • The pages edited and / or created will be logged in a shared Google Doc linking references, existing information, links to existing pages and person assigned to page. These will be evaluated against the surviving pages and uploads to assess the turnover.

Financial Proposal edit

19. & 19.1 What is the amount you are requesting from Wikimedia Foundation? Please provide this amount in your local currency.

71500 ZAR

19.2 What is this amount in US Currency (to the best of your knowledge)?

4800 USD

20. Please upload your budget for this proposal or indicate the link to it.


We/I have read the Application Privacy Statement, WMF Friendly Space Policy and Universal Code of Conduct.

Yes

Endorsements and Feedback edit

Please add endorsements and feedback to the grant discussion page only. Endorsements added here will be removed automatically.

Community members are invited to share meaningful feedback on the proposal and include reasons why they endorse the proposal. Consider the following:

  • Stating why the proposal is important for the communities involved and why they think the strategies chosen will achieve the results that are expected.
  • Highlighting any aspects they think are particularly well developed: for instance, the strategies and activities proposed, the levels of community engagement, outreach to underrepresented groups, addressing knowledge gaps, partnerships, the overall budget and learning and evaluation section of the proposal, etc.
  • Highlighting if the proposal focuses on any interesting research, learning or innovation, etc. Also if it builds on learning from past proposals developed by the individual or organization, or other Wikimedia communities.
  • Analyzing if the proposal is going to contribute in any way to important developments around specific Wikimedia projects or Movement Strategy.
  • Analysing if the proposal is coherent in terms of the objectives, strategies, budget, and expected results (metrics).

Endorse