The Art of Working (Internationally): Saziso Phiri

Saziso Phiri looking at a mural created for The Anti Gallery. Image (film still): Underhill Creative.

Working in the arts has allowed me to travel to countries and cities that I probably never would have travelled to if it wasn’t for a job opportunity or a residency opportunity, and meet people that I would have never met that have enriched my life in so many other ways. I think it’s amazing, and I think art in general is a universal language. - Saziso Phiri

We are excited to share the second film in this series commissioned in partnership with Eurodesk UK as part of Eurodesk’s Time to Move 2020 campaign. The Art of Working (Internationally) is a series of short documentary films featuring interviews and work from three UK artists. The interviews focus on the influence and impact of having international experiences either through festivals, exhibitions, performances or residencies.

Here, we meet Producer and Curator Saziso Phiri. Saziso is the Curator for UKNA City Takeover: Leicester 2021; founder of The Anti Gallery; founding member of SHEAfriq Collective; part of the organising team for Nuart Festival, Norway; and has recently been announced as Curator in Residence at City Arts Nottingham.

Saziso entered the arts as a teenager through a programme to encourage young people to engage with contemporary art. She went on to pursue Photography, History of Art and Film Studies at college, whilst working as a filmmaker and photographer before studying Politics and International Studies at Loughborough University. Her diverse educational background has helped inform many of the themes explored in her curatorial practice.

In this film, hear about Saziso's experiences working and collaborating internationally, on projects such as Erasmus+ in Budapest, Nuart Festival in Norway, and with her collective SHEAfriq.

“In 2014 I had the opportunity to be part of a project in Budapest, Hungary. It was a project that was organised by Erasmus+, looking at graffiti and street art, and the impact it had on communities and people. A lot if the project was researching and exchanging ideas with participants from other countries, and looking at how we could bring those ideas to life within the city of Budapest. One of the takeaways of the project was my understanding of the importance of working and interacting with people on an international level, and just how enriching that is, for us as individuals but also as communities.” - Saziso.

Enabling artists to share their work internationally and immerse themselves in cross-cultural creative practice is a cornerstone of UKNA's work. Our international projects put artists’ voices on the global stage. We create opportunities to share art and performance with international audiences, and for artists to collaborate across borders and cultures. Often, these opportunities are artists’ first experience of working and showing internationally. As the UK creates a new identity and position on the world stage, the arts play an important role in shaping that identity. Find out more about our international projects here.

This project is kindly funded by Eurodesk UK. Find out how you could learn, work and volunteer across Europe with Eurodesk UK.

The Art of Working (Internationally) films have been created by Underhill Creative. All social distancing guidelines in place at the time have been adhered to.