Curator and Unpublished Africa founder Anesu Chikumba reflects on curatorial responsibility, photographic infrastructure and the urgent need to move beyond visibility as a temporary gesture toward long-term systems of access and support.
2 June 2026
Through ‘I’d Be Empowered If…’, Unpublished Africa continues its evolving investigation into the realities shaping the lives and careers of African women photographers across the continent. Bringing together practitioners from multiple African contexts, the exhibition foregrounds empowerment not as an abstract ideal, but as a process shaped by visibility, continuity, professional development and access to sustainable creative ecosystems. This exhibition was brought together by curator Anesu Chikumba, assisted by Creative Business Studio alumni Namukolo Siyumbwa and Jorge Dachala, both of whom are leading their own communities in Zambia and Kenya, respectively. In Conversation with ART AFRICA, Chikumba reflects on how the project emerged from broader research into gendered inequalities in African photography and on how curatorial practice can function as infrastructure, creating pathways that extend beyond the exhibition itself. Addressing questions of narrative responsibility, representation, labour, and institutional access, she considers how exhibitions can become sites not only of display but also of long-term transformation within the continent’s photographic landscape.
ART AFRICA: The exhibition positions empowerment as something shaped by access, repetition, and long-term support. How did this framework influence your curatorial decisions in selecting and presenting the works?
Anesu Chikumba: At Unpublished Africa, we work with a clear mandate to create entry-level opportunities for African creatives, so our curatorial decisions always sit across two considerations. We look at the story being told and the responsibility that comes with sharing it, but we are also thinking about the photographer and what being part of a pan-African exhibition does for their development, credibility, and their ability to move forward in the creative industries.
We are quite intentional about the application process because it is part of that development. We outline clearly what we are looking for, and we expect applicants to engage with that. In many cases, the difference between being selected or not is not the work itself, but how it is presented and how well the photographer communicates their thinking. When someone is not selected, we share feedback to help them improve how they position their work and approach future opportunities.
We also have a strong focus on narrative, as we do not treat photography as neutral. Every image can shape how people understand a place or community, so we are deliberate about the kinds of stories we include. We prioritise work that reflects everyday life, lived experience, and forms of resilience, rather than work that can easily be taken out of context or misread. We are careful about how work can be interpreted beyond its original context, and we prioritise images that maintain dignity and clarity when they circulate.
We also engage photographers around the responsibility that comes with publication and the risks of recontextualisation; questions I explored further in a workshop at this year’s Africa Media Festival. Creatives need to think about how their work will be received beyond the immediate context in which it was created, and what it contributes to broader perceptions of their country and the continent.
So the exhibition is not only about presenting strong images, but also about building a structure where creatives develop how they think, how they present their work, and how they understand the role they play in shaping narratives, while also gaining the kind of visibility that supports their progression.
This is the first physical iteration after three virtual editions. In what ways does the shift into a shared, in-person space transform the meaning or impact of “I’d Be Empowered If…” for both artists and audiences?
We are grateful to Baraza Media Lab for hosting the exhibition, as the shift to a physical space transformed it from something viewed into something that could be experienced and discussed in real time. The curatorial framework already positions empowerment as shaped over time through access, repetition, and support. In a virtual format, that conversation exists, but it is more contained. In a physical space, it becomes active. People are able to respond to the work, question it, and place their own experiences alongside it.
During the Nairobi iteration, the exhibition became a point of dialogue. We hosted a panel with women photographers (Clara Koimett and Neemo Mungai, both from Kenya), focusing on how empowerment is experienced in practice and how that can differ from how it is often framed by institutions. “What would make you feel empowered?” is a question that sits at the centre of the project, as there is often a gap between what organisations consider empowering and what creatives actually need to sustain their work over time.
The in-person format allowed the gap to be openly explored with both the artists and the audience. It created a space where people could respond to the work, ask questions, and reflect on their own experiences within the same environment.
For the photographers, the physical space also created a different kind of engagement. Some were able to be present with their work and interact with audiences, which adds another layer to how the work is received. For many of them, this was their first time exhibiting in person or in a new regional context, which directly connects to the idea of visibility as a form of access.
So the shift did not change the exhibition’s core question, but it expanded how that question is held, creating a space where empowerment could be discussed, not only represented. It was also quite interesting to see how this built on the first iteration and 2025 research, “I’d Be Empowered If…”: Unlocking True Empowerment for African Women in Photography.
The exhibition builds on research that identifies inconsistent access to platforms as a key barrier. How can curatorial practice actively function as infrastructure rather than simply a moment of visibility?
Curatorial practice begins to function as infrastructure when it is designed to extend beyond the moment of exhibition into what follows.
A challenge we face in our creative industries is not the absence of talent, but what happens after the work is made. Who sees it, where it circulates, and whether it leads to further opportunities, and we structured the exhibition with that in mind.
At Unpublished Africa, the exhibition acts as a first point of visibility, but it is also a point of entry into the industry. For many of the photographers, it marks their first exhibition, which shifts how they can position themselves professionally as they move from working independently to having a recognised body of work and an affiliation they can reference. This iteration saw 3 photographers exhibit for the first time, including Sue Omollo (Kenya), who mentioned her first point of contact with us was a photo walk, after which she heard about the open call for the exhibition and applied.
That shift is important because it allows them to approach other opportunities with more credibility. It supports how they build their portfolios, write about their work, and position themselves professionally.
We then extend that through other programmes such as Creative Business Studio, which focuses on professional development, portfolio reviews, and publishing. From there, we have seen photographers such as Sosina Mengetsu (Ethiopia) who participated in other women’s month exhibitions move into other spaces, including festivals, awards, publications, and commercial opportunities. Some have transitioned from hobbyists into full-time practitioners or taken on roles within the industry. This approach is grounded in our 2026 paper, ‘I’d Be Empowered If…’: Building Infrastructure for Women’s Participation in Africa’s Creative Economy, which highlights that visibility only becomes meaningful when it leads to continued opportunities such as commissions, publications, and professional growth.
So the curatorial process is not only about selecting and presenting work. It is about creating a pathway for photographers to build on, and this also connects to our earlier work, Navigating the Path: Art Education in Africa, where we examine the gap between early practice and sustainable careers and the need for structures that support that transition. When that pathway is repeated and supported over time, it begins to function as infrastructure rather than a single moment of visibility.
The participating photographers come from multiple African contexts with distinct economies and visual cultures. How did you navigate the tension between presenting a collective narrative and preserving the specificity of each artist’s position?
The exhibition brings together multiple contexts, but it does not attempt to flatten them into a single narrative. We’ve now showcased narratives of photographers from 30 African countries through our exhibitions and recognise that while there may be shared conditions across the continent, particularly around access and visibility, those conditions are often experienced differently depending on where a photographer is based. This tends to be reflected in the work itself.
We are careful in how we select and present the work so that each photographer’s position remains clear. This includes paying attention to how images might be interpreted outside of their original context and ensuring that they are not easily reduced or misread. At the same time, the collective space allows connections to emerge as viewers see both the differences and the similarities across the work, reflecting the broader idea that empowerment is not a fixed experience.
Our community-led initiatives, such as our Unpublished Africa Photo Walks, which we have hosted in 16 cities across 9 countries to date, also play a role here. They allow us to engage with photographers in their own contexts and understand what influences their work, which helps us support them more effectively and informs how we build the exhibition.
So rather than resolving the tension, we treat it as part of the process. It allows us to learn from different contexts while still building a shared space where those differences can sit alongside each other with clarity and respect.
The sentence prompt “I’d Be Empowered If…” invites both vulnerability and projection. What kinds of responses or patterns emerged this year, and how did they shape the final exhibition narrative?
The responses we received consistently pointed to empowerment as tied to access and continuity rather than recognition alone. A clear pattern emerged across responses: empowerment is not experienced as a single moment but as something tied to access, continuity, and the ability to sustain work over time.
Many of the photographers spoke about the need for platforms, but not only as a place to showcase work. They were looking for visibility that would lead to further opportunities, whether through collaboration, funding, or the ability to continue documenting their subjects.
There was also a strong focus on dignity and representation. A number of responses centred on telling stories in ways that honour communities, preserve knowledge, and challenge how certain forms of work are perceived. This included documentation of craft, architecture, everyday life, and relationships between people and place.
Another thread we saw was one of connection, as some spoke about the importance of working with other women, building networks, and moving across borders to learn from different contexts.
These responses shaped the exhibition by grounding it in lived experience, as the narrative that emerged was not about empowerment as a concept but about empowerment as something built through access, recognition, and the ability to keep working.
Unpublished Africa’s model emphasises continuity rather than one-off opportunities. How does this exhibition sit within a longer curatorial or institutional arc, and what happens to these artists after the show closes?
The exhibition sits within a broader system of progression rather than existing on its own.
Once selected, photographers become part of the Unpublished Africa network. This allows them to reference their participation as part of their professional profile, which supports how they approach future opportunities. The exhibition is not the destination but the credential that makes the next conversation possible.
Beyond the exhibition, there are pathways into professional development and publishing. Programmes like Creative Business Studio focus on how photographers present their work, build their portfolios, and understand the industry. There are also publishing opportunities through projects like Africa Published and From the African Streets, which extend their visibility beyond the exhibition space.
We also maintain community engagement through initiatives like our Unpublished Africa Photo Walks, which allow photographers to continue building relationships locally while being connected to a wider network. We also view these photo walks as a space for them to build a portfolio and body of work to submit when we have open calls. We’ve seen examples of this across our photo walks, where someone will join a photo walk in their city and use the images to apply for jobs.
Over time, we have seen photographers move into exhibitions, publications, awards, and professional roles within the creative industries. The expectation is that they continue building beyond the Unpublished Africa ecosystem, using it as a point of entry into a longer career trajectory.
The exhibition foregrounds economic independence, intellectual property, and professional sustainability. How do you translate these often abstract or systemic concerns into a visual and spatial language that resonates with viewers?
These ideas are often embedded within the work itself, particularly in how photographers document everyday life and forms of labour within their communities. This is reflected in how many photographers document forms of labour, entrepreneurship, and community-based practices within their environments. Through these images, viewers can see how people sustain themselves, how knowledge is shared, and how value is created in everyday contexts.
The role of curation is to make those layers visible as we support this by paying attention to how the work is presented. How the work is selected, sequenced, and contextualised, as well as the captions, artist statements, and accompanying text, help extend what is seen in the image and connect it to broader ideas around value, labour, and sustainability.
For example, a photo story documenting a group of women weaving, presented by Nellie Kereera (Uganda), showed the process, collaboration, and the systems that support the weavers’ work, allowing viewers to engage with the image in a more informed way. This means the translation occurs through both the image and its surrounding context. It is about making sure the meaning and underlying concerns are not lost once the work is presented.
Given the persistent disparities in commissioning and representation, what responsibilities do curators carry in reconfiguring visibility and value within the African photographic ecosystem today?
Curators need to consider access at every stage of the process, not only at the point of selection.
This includes understanding who can engage with open calls, who has access to networks and resources, and who may be excluded before the process even begins, remembering that language, geography, and access to community all shape participation. It is not enough to ask who has submitted work.
At Unpublished Africa, this has meant extending engagement beyond digital platforms through community-based initiatives such as photo walks, which allow for participation in different contexts. It also means working more closely with photographers where needed, including providing feedback and guidance on how they present their work, as there is a responsibility for shaping narratives. Curators influence how work is seen and understood, so there needs to be a clear awareness of how images may be interpreted and what they contribute to broader perceptions.
For example, our Unpublished Africa Photo Week (2025) white paper on Distributed Cultural Infrastructure in Africa: Lessons from Unpublished Africa Photo Week showed that participation often concentrates in capital cities because that is where infrastructure and networks are strongest. When we create opportunities in other spaces through initiatives like photo walks, we begin to see different forms of participation and new voices entering the ecosystem.
There is also a need to support photographers through the process, which can look like guiding how they present their work, engaging across language differences, and allowing space for improvement rather than limiting the process to selection alone.
At the same time, curators are responsible for shaping narratives, including being aware of how work can be interpreted and ensuring that representation is handled with care and dignity.
So the role extends beyond showcasing work. It involves creating conditions where more people can participate, and where that participation leads to sustained growth rather than isolated moments.
I’d Be Empowered If… was presented at Baraza Media Lab, Riverside, Nairobi, Kenya, marking the third women’s month exhibition, the first physical iteration following two virtual editions. The Nairobi exhibition took place in March 2026 as part of Women’s Month programming and expanded on the 2025 research project I’d Be Empowered If…: Unlocking True Empowerment for African Women in Photography.
