Creative Team
Discover the amazing talents involved in this cultural adventure
2023 Creatives
GRACIEUSE AMAH- Founder and Creative Director of Kwabo Events
With French, Beninese and Togolese (West Africa) heritage, Gracieuse also know as Grace is the Creative Director, Community leader and Choreographer of Kwabo Events. She founded this social enterprise to promote the benefits of African dance culture and practice for individuals’ holistic wellbeing. Specialised in performance, live and visual arts, Grace is a passionate dancer of African dances (Traditional and Modern) since the age of 8. Known for her infectious enthusiasm and energy, she has performed internationally in Australia and France and started to deliver weekly African dance workshops in 2002. Using arts as a medium, Grace advocates for social inclusion, gender and cultural equity, interculturalism, womens’ and youth empowerment. Her drive to give back to the community and make a positive impact in individuals’ lives nurtures all her programs. Her projects range from national music and dance festivals, international youth empowerment congress, civic volunteering programs, to community dance workshops.
VANESSA CRAMPEL- Founder of Artness & Co
Vanessa is of French Caribbean cultural background, born and raised in France, Paris. Her career started in the fashion industry as a hairstylist.
Early in her career at age 17, Vanessa had a passion for people, beauty and fun. She soon found herself in her element and strived for 19 years in diverse roles such as junior hairstylist, hairstylist educator, to manager to lead hair stylist creative of high ranking franchise . Which led her to be a key worker behind the scene and further sharpen her love for beauty and social connection from street hairstyle to catwalks (fashion shows & runways) to theaters.
During those years Vanessa traveled abroad in Montréal, Canada which led her to gather great communication skills development and capacity to Broaden her love of services to the communities. She also developed valuable skills such as management, networking, planning, coordinating, actively listening, budgeting, and connecting with diverse cultural communities.
Not only she loved beauty and aesthetic but she loved a show and found herself conveyed into modeling experiences herself. Showcasing diverse international and avant garde emerging artists. Her passion kept on going to Sydney Australia, where she yet again empowered herself throughout diverse arrays and connectedness.
Vanessa went through a significant phase of transformation and changed career about 6 years ago to become a social worker. From caterpillar to butterfly! She rised to share she lived experiences with community members most in needs, as she felt naturally compelled to her redirect purpose, community services.
Vanessa worked to strive for education and empowerment, prior the completion her Diploma of Community Services, she started by volunteering within the Aboriginal Peoples community to working in residential care worker to support young vulnerable women, to youth homelessness support services. Which led her to presently be working as a Youth Support Officer facilitating youth participation program that promotes connection for young people 12-25 years of age.
On her spare time Vanessa loves to spend it creating diverse art healing forms, primarily writing on her autobiography, poems and paintings, meditating, journaling, dancing and more. She finds herself embodied and ever evolving for balance, motion and looking forward to expand her arrays of services to the community.
2020 Creatives
GRACIEUSE AMAH – Dancer & Creative Director
For over 10 years, Grace has worked as Event Manager, Curator, Intellectual Property Lawyer and Community Leader Activist in the entertainment industry. Specialised in performance, live and visual arts forms, Grace is herself a passionate dancer of salsa and African dances since the young age of 8. She has performed internationally in Australia and France and started to deliver weekly African dance workshops since 2002.
TARIRO MAVONDO - Performing Artist & Writer
Tariro Mavondo is a multi-disciplinary artist and performer born in Zimbabwe raised in Frankston. As an actor she has worked with Red Stitch, Black Swan Theatre Company, Bell Shakespeare, Metanoia Theatre, The Street Theatre Canberra, RL Productions, Melbourne Theatre Company, Sydney Theatre Co, Belvoir and Riverside Theatre. Tariro also works across film and television (Other People’s Problems ABC, Winners and Losers, Shakespeare Republic, Sisters) and won best actress for her role in Arrivals at the NYC Picture Start Film Festival and best performance in Home at the Dungog Film Festival.
Tariro graduated with a Bachelor of Dramatic Arts from Victorian College of the Arts, where she was awarded the Irene Mitchell Award in 2011. Tariro is an awarding winning spoken word artist. Her piece ‘The Dangers of a Single Story’ will be part of an anthology ‘Growing Up African in Australia’ published by Black Inc Books (2019). Tariro received scholarships to attend Expressive Arts Therapy training (Tamalpa Institute, California 2015, 2016), Decoloniality Summer School (University SA, Pretoria South Africa, 2017), and Decolonising Knowledge and Power Summer School (Center of Study and Investigation for Decolonial Dialogues, Barcelona 2019). Tariro is the founder of Africa’s Got Talent Australia and a Co-Founder of Centre of Poetics and Justice. She is currently performing in Bell Shakespeare’s production of Titus Andronicus until September.
ATONG ATEM - Visual Artist & Writer
Atong Atem is an Ethiopian born, South Sudanese artist and writer living in Narrm/ Melbourne.
Atem works primarily with photography and video and drawings to explore migrant narratives, postcolonial practices in the African diaspora and the exploration of identity through portraiture.
Atem explores concepts of home and identity through a critical and sentimental lens and references the works of photographers Malick Sidibe and Seydou Keita and science fiction writers such as Octavia Butler as tools for navigating liminal spaces.
Atem has exhibited her work across Australia, including MUMA Monash, Gertrude Contemporary, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art and Internationally at Red Hook Labs in New York, Vogue Fashion Fair in Milan and Unseen Amsterdam art fair.
Atem was the recipient of the inaugural National Gallery of Victoria and MECCA M-Power scholarship in 2018 as well as the Brisbane Powerhouse Melt Portrait Prize in 2017
CHRIS NG - DJ
For over 12 years & counting Chris NG has been one of the leaders of the vibrant & ever-changing Melbourne House scene. With a dedication to great music & the art of DJing Chris has gained a reputation for continually pushing new music, creating dance friendly environments & reaching out to a diverse music-loving community.
CHRISTA MYRTHE - Artist
Christa Myrthe is originally from Mauritius Island and has been based in Melbourne for the past 3 years. Art such as paiting, drawing and crafts have been an integral part of her life. Art is also one of the reasons why she started a Instagram blog Afrocheets about natural hair. The blog is dedicated to embrace the beauty of curly and kinky hair. In addition to the blog, Christa has also helped her sister, Donna Myrthe, to create a project called Creole Craft where they used African flags as an inspiration to make earrings.
