Hello there! First and foremost, thank you for visiting my GoFundMe! My name is Saziso and I am a freelance producer and independent curator based in Nottingham, UK. I have been selected as one of 20 emerging curators from across the globe to participate in the inaugural Curatorial Intensive Programme as part of the 2019 Lagos Biennial and I am raising funds to cover my travel, accommodation, visa and other necessary expenses.


Here's the story 
I have been very fortunate to have been accepted onto the Curatorial Intensive Programme as part of the 2019 Lagos Biennial. Whilst the programme itself is funded, participants are required to cover their own travel and accommodation costs. There are pockets of funding available to support people like myself for these kinds of opportunities, however, there is usually an application process, and with such short notice, having only found out about the opportunity at the end of August 2019, there wasn't much time from the date of acceptance to apply for most types of funding. I am also not eligible for some of the funding that is available. When applying for this programme, I was aware that there would be a short space of time to raise funds, and that crowdfunding would be the best option. Seeing this as an invaluable opportunity for my career growth and development, I decided to take a leap of faith and apply at the beginning of September. I received my letter of acceptance on 12th September. 

This programme will provide me with a great opportunity for receiving mentorship and guidance from seasoned curators, and within an environment that informs my current curatorial interests.  I have no formal curatorial training and mainly work on my own, so I rarely receive critical feedback on my work and feel as though my ability to progress creatively and with confidence is limited. I believe that the lectures, mentoring, and workshops provided through this intensive programme will give me the opportunity to learn more about the fundamentals of curating and from a different cultural perspective than I am used to.

The programme will run from 28th October - 2nd November. I plan on being in Lagos form 25th October - 4th November. As well as attending the Curatorial Intensive Programme and Lagos Biennial, I plan to attend the  ART X Lagos, West Africa's 1st International Art Fair, LagosPhoto, and other events and galleries around the city to establish new networks and relationships with artists, curators and galleries.


How much?
I have set my target amount to £1500 which will include a contingency pot in the case of any unexpected costs. This is quite a bit to raise in the short time that I have, however, I do believe this is possible. Below is a list of expenses for the trip


 - Single entry visa for Nigeria: Approx £300 (this includes a visa processing fee of 160 USD, submission fee of £72 and express processing fee of £70, travel costs for round trip travel to London for visa submission appointment and visa collection, visa photos, printing of documents for visa).

 - Travel Insurance: up to £30

 - Travel to and from London Airports (Heathrow/London City Airport) from Nottingham: Approx £70

 - Return economy flights from London to Lagos: up to £600

 - 10 nights hotel or AirBnB accommodation in Lagos: up to £400

 - Food and drink: Approx £200

There will be a GoFundMe processing fee of around 3% that will be deducted from the overall amount raised through online donations.

The remaining amount will cover miscellaneous costs such as airport transfers and any transport that I may be required to take during my time in Lagos and entry fees for other art events if required/necessary. As mentioned above, this will also include a contingency for any unexpected costs. 

Anything leftover from these funds at the end of the trip will be donated to a local charity in Lagos supporting the arts. 

I would like to thank you in advance for your support.