2017_EAST-AFRICAN MEDIA LAB COLLABORATION

The legacy of EAMLAB 2017 – Stories, Steps and Services

The East-African Media Lab Collaboration was a short-term in-residence program, allowing young professionals and innovators of the East-African media sector to network and collaborate with colleagues from media centres in neighbouring countries. The program was a collaboration between icebauhaus (Germany) and iceaddis (Ethiopia) and was made possible with funding from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

«Everyone added something valuable. I think more WestEastSouth collaborations are needed to explore potential partnerships and lessons from each area within the intersections of media, technology and storytelling.» (Omnia Shawkat , Sudan)

The EAMLab is a story in itself

The idea behind the East African Media Lab Collaboration (EAMLab 2017) was to create a space for networking and collaboration between East African media, culture and innovation centers and East African media professionals, innovators and storytellers through a short-term residency program.

From the very beginning of the project, we have been on an educational journey into the East African media and storytelling landscape. We were extremely lucky to find and partner with organisations doing phenomenal work in advocacy, digital media storytelling, feminist engagement, cultural activism, technological innovations, and entrepreneurship.

We were equally fortunate to find photographers, filmmakers, researchers, digital innovators, and writers to join the fellowship cohort. So we ended up with ten fellows and nine host organisations from all over East Africa (and a couple outside of the region), including Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Somaliland, Sudan, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.

From the images of the quotidian in an immigrant community, to the exploration of young entrepreneurs focused on social impact, the promotion of literacy and creative writing, and the interrogation of the impact of the arms trade on daily life, the stories that were created as part of this program reveal the diversity and complexity of our lived realities. They give us a glimpse into people’s lives and reveal the power and potential of the media landscape in East Africa.

We at iceaddis and icebauhaus would like to thank the fellows and host organisations for their generosity of spirit, their commitment to collaboration and partnership, and their dedication to telling stories that create social impact. We are grateful to have been a part of this program and look forward to future collaborations and to following the work of this inspiring collective.

DOWNLOAD: EAMLab 2017 flyer

DOWNLOAD: EAMLab 2017 brochure

CHECK: EAMLab 2017 website

The East-African Medialab Collaboration (EAMLab) 2017 was a pilot residency program focused on networking and collaboration amongst young professionals and innovators in the East African media sector.

The collaboration was initiated through a Step Up Event in Addis Ababa, including all fellows and invited experts.

The initiative was aimed at introducing spaces of collaboration between East African media centers and East African media professionals and activists in order to promote engaged, creative and peaceful media work.

The inaugural EAMLab cohort worked on projects ranging from a multimedia exploration of the arms trade in Uganda to a feminist based creative writing workshop in Tanzania, a research project on the ICT4Ag community in Ethiopia to a photography exhibit exploring the lives of South Sudanese in Sudan.

The EAMLab fellows were matched with host organisations in other East-African countries. Together they developed collaborative projects that they realised during month-long residencies at each host location.

The EAMLab focused on peer-learning and open and free media technologies. Participants were encouraged to approach political and social challenges in creative and interdisciplinary ways through digital means.

Fellows and hosts presenting and discussing their achievements and experiences in Kigali after completing their residency collaborations.