Bulelwa Kunene is one of our 2024 Curatorial Residency Fellowship Recipient

ARAK Collection is happy to announce Bulelwa as one of our recipient of the Arak Collection Curatorial Residency Fellowship for 2024.

Bulelwa Kunene is a Swazi artist who received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Ringling College of Art and Design in 2021. Upon completing her studies, she attended a 5 week artist residency at Chautauqua School of Visual Art, New York where she had the opportunity to meet emerging and professional artists, critics, writers and curators which spurred her interests in museum and curatorial practices. Looking to gain further experience in the arts, Kunene worked at MTN Bushfire as the Head of Department for the Bring Your Fire Zone, curating murals and activations from 9 partner organizations. She also worked at Yebo! Art Gallery, where she had the opportunity to co-facilitate design and screen-print training workshops for women handcraft artisans working in rural areas. In 2023, Bulelwa joined the Zeitz MOCAA UWC Museum Fellowship Program. As a 2023 Zeitz MOCAA UWC Museum Fellow, Kunene has had the opportunity to complete a research essay at Honours level in UWC’s Department of Historical Studies. Stationed in the museum’s curatorial department, Kunene co-curated Zeitz MOCAA’s permanent collection exhibition titled SALA with the other four museum fellows and Senior Curator and Head of Curatorial Affairs, Storm Janse van Rensburg. Kunene is keen on develop-ing wider conversations between institutions and contemporary African art through her curatorial practice.

We are looking forward to working with Bulelwa Kunene and through her gaze and curatorial practice discover/rediscover the collection, hoping to bring to our audience in 2024 her exhibition and publish the respective catalogue.

About ARAK Collection Curatorial Residency Program:

The ARAK Collection Annual Residency Fellowship Program aims to promote a better knowledge and understanding of Contemporary Art in the Middle East and Beyond through research of the extensive works part of their collection.

The resident guest curator is expected to research the collection with the intention of curating an exhibition and writing the exhibition catalogue at the end of the residency period, after in-depth research and the submission of a curatorial concept to be approved by the ARAK Collection Curatorial Advisory Committee.

The Residency Fellowship Program was created to support ARAK Collection’s Mission of developing and supporting young and mid-career artists and curators through promoting curatorial research, publications and exhibitions of their collection’s works. The exhibitions developed and produced by ARAK Collection aspire to be impactful and are all associated with relevant public programming.

About ARAK Collection:

ARAK Collection is an independent, Qatari-based initiative, that aims to promote through exhibitions, publications, research and educational programs, Contemporary  African Art and Artists.

The collection is a resource for Artists, Curators and Researchers, it hosts in-house and traveling exhibitions, it also lends artwork to regional and international organizations, institutions and museums, producing print and online publications, and impactful public programs associated with the exhibitions it produces and hosts. ARAK Collection is a public platform to foster critical dialogue around contemporary art practices with a focus on African Artists and educational programs that have an educational and developmental impact in the local community.

The collection consists of paintings, paper and prints of more than 170 young and mid-career artists of African countries.

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