Congratulations Va-Bene Elikem Fiatsi and Sana Na N’Hada, two of six winners of the 2024 Prince Claus Impact Award! Va-Bene is a multidisciplinary artivist and curator from Ghana. She is also a transwoman in a country where the LGBTQIA+ community faces significant challenges. Sana Na H’Hada, from Guinea-Bissau is a filmmaker.
Va-Bene Elikem Fiatsi, known as crazinisT artisT, is a multidisciplinary artivist, curator, mentor, and philanthropist from Ghana. Raised in a deeply religious community, she initially trained as a teacher and served in Ghana Education Service until 2010 and simultaneously as a pastor in several local churches. At 29, she embarked on a transformative journey, leaving her roles to study art at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, where she earned degrees in painting and sculpture. Despite her formal training in painting and sculpture, crazinisT artisT predominantly developed her practice in the realm of performance.
As a transwoman in a country where the LGBTQIA+ community faces significant challenges, crazinisT artisT uses her body in performances to confront issues like gender stereotypes, social justice, disenfranchisement, and violence. Her work often incorporates powerful symbolism, including chains, mud, and nudity. She has performed globally and participated in artist residencies, including PROGR in Switzerland (2022) and Camargo Foundation in France (2019). In 2018, she launched the perfocraZe International Artists Residency (pIAR) in Kumasi, Ghana, fostering collaboration and creating a safe, accessible space for the LGBTQIA+ community.
Sana Na N’Hada is a filmmaker from Guinea-Bissau. Sana’s filmography spans both documentary and fiction, with works that chronicle the historical and social struggles of his homeland. In 1967, he began studying filmmaking in Cuba, and upon returning in 1972, helped establish the National Film Institute (INCA) in Guinea-Bissau. In a cinematic career spanning more than four decades, Sana has bore witness to the best and the worst times in Guinea-Bissau. He joined Amìlcar Cabral’s revolutionary army in the heady days of the war for independence. In the restive years following self-rule, he set about making evocative films that captured and challenged the prevailing zeitgeist. In 2012, following a military coup in Guinea-Bissau, Sana and his long-term collaborator, Flora Gomes, swiftly collected archival footage and brought it to Berlin for digitization. In 2014, they returned to their homeland to present digitized films.
Call to Action
ZAM believes that knowledge should be shared globally. Only by bringing multiple perspectives on a story is it possible to make accurate and informed decisions.
And that’s why we don’t have a paywall in place on our site. But we can’t do this without your valuable financial support. Donate to ZAM today and keep our platform free for all. Donate here.
