2017_EAST-AFRICAN MEDIA LAB COLLABORATION

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