Teaching Artist Institute To Host 2021 Magufuli and Mandela East and South African World Tour

The Teaching Artist Institute is hosting its 2021 Magufuli and Mandela East and South African World Tour. It launches in Tanzania with the Summer Learning Institute in Bagamoyo from June 7 to 21, with additional legs of the tour in October and November.

The mission of the Summer Learning Institute, whose tagline is, “Teaching The Art Of Possibility,” is to create opportunities for students, researchers, and professionals in the United States to travel to Africa for cross-cultural exchange and study. A delegation of 10 scholars will visit The TaSUBA Arts/Music University to participate in key talks regarding the numerous uses and expressions of art for social transformation. One course track will feature filmmakers creating a documentary on the topic of the African/Arab Slave Trade in Bagamoyo and Zanzibar. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-C2ZHAQBHA8&t=1668s

Summer Learning Institute Instructor Haki Ammi says, “This is a chance for film students in Tanzania to produce an educational product for both Tanzanians and African-Americans.”

Teaching Artist Institute (TAI Tours) is offering all Summer Learning Institute participants a unique artist-led travel experience that compliments instruction, by providing curated excursions that illuminate indigenous Tanzania knowledge and artistic culture. The two-week excursion kicking off the world tour is a learning experience that aims to unearth the symbolic landscape of the locations participants are visiting, in order to broaden and deepen their understanding of what it truly means to create, transform, and impact one’s own community.

The Summer Learning Institute’s work will be expanded upon in the next leg of the world tour, entitled the “Fertile Ground Tour” October 11-23. There, another delegation of ten business leaders will evaluate opportunities in Tanzania. “As we emerge into a post-COVID world, international educational exploration is going to become more and more valuable to both students and travelers,” Ammi says.

The world tour will end In Johannesburg, South Africa at the 5th International Conference on Art for Social Transformation-ARTIZEN 2021. The tour is ideal for college students, graduates, and professionals interested in deepening their knowledge in their current field, or in switching fields. Also invited are those who already understand the interdisciplinary nature of art, culture, and innovation, and are looking to adopt fresh, innovative approaches to their teaching, in partnership with universities around the world.

“Our hope is to spark a cultural resurrection of the role and value that Africa has contributed to the world,” Ammi says, “As we extend ourselves beyond the four walls of the classroom and discover art as a new perspective on professional life, family life, and our very existence.”