Hakeem Adam is a Ghanaian technical artist exploring the power of narrative. He is the founder and creative director of DANDANO, a Pan-African cultural platform for African film and music criticism and documentation. Hakeem has exhibited internationally at Many Studios in Glasgow, Scotland (2018); Okay Space in New York, USA (2018); SPACE10 in Copenhagen, Denmark (2019); Abandon Normal Device (2021); York Mediale (2021), IDFA (2021/22) and the Monheim Triennale (2023). He has participated in the British Council’s ColabNowNow Residency, Maputo (2018), the Cryptic International Artist Residency, Scotland (2019) and the Open Lab Residency at Google Arts and Culture (2023). He has completed a master's in Digital Media from the University of the Arts, Bremen. He is also a recipient of the 2023 ACT Award (Award for Creative Technology), STRP Festival 2023. (Eindhoven, Holland)

CV

Awards

  • 2022

    • ACT Award (Award for Creative Technology) , STRP Festival 2023. (Eindhoven, Holland)
    • Fak’ugesi Awards for Digital Creativity - 1st Place-Digital Cross-Sector Music & Composition-Composers linked Digital arts (Johannesburg, South Africa)

  • 2018

    • The Netherlands Embassy Ghana and Nuku Studio, 1st Place - Ghana Portraits Photo Prize (Accra, Ghana)

Exhibitions

  • 2024

    • Threshold - Kunstenfestivaldesarts (Brussels, Belgium)

  • 2023

    • The Sound - Monheim Triennale (Monheim Am Rhein, Germany)
    • HERE US OUT - STRP Festival - (Eindhoven, Holland)
    • Cult of the Blacksmith - Sun Thinking - Solar Protocol (New York, USA/Online)

  • 2022

    • Pan-African Market Selection - Mutek Forum (Montreal, Canada/Online)
    • Counter Consideration - STRP Scenario #19 (Eindhoven, Holland)
    • Ghana Airways - Fak’ugesi Digital Festival (Johannesburg, South Africa)
    • Ghana Airways - International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (Amsterdam,Holland)
    • Je suis moi-même le soleil - 31 PROJECT (Paris, France)

  • 2021

    • One-Fifth of the Earth's Surface - International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (Amsterdam, Holland)
    • Urban Miscellanea - UCL (London, England)

  • 2020

    • Fak’ugesi Digital Festival. (Johannesburg, South Africa)
    • One-Fifth of the Earth's Surface - Abandon Normal Devices Festival (Liverpool, UK)
    • An African Poet Cries At The Wind - Savvy Contemporary (Berlin, Germany)
    • Urban Futures, Gold Host. Nubuke Foundation (Accra, Ghana)

  • 2019

    • Super Deep Media II - Hochschule für Künste (Bremen, Germany)
    • Structures That Initiate Change - Circa106, Hochschule für Künste (Bremen, Germany)
    • Concrete Skeletons - "Selected Photographs." - Space 10 (Copenhagen, Denmark)
    • Digital Africa (Casablanca, Morocco)
    • Alt Lounge - Carbon (Accra, Ghana)

  • 2018

    • Wax Print Festival - (Accra, Ghana)
    • Limbo Accra - "Selected Photographs." (Accra, Ghana)
    • ColabNowNow: The Future of the Future - Maputo Fast Forward (Maputo, Mozambique)
    • Mujahid - CHALE WOTE Street Art Festival (Accra, Ghana)
    • Ground Games - Okay Space (New York, USA)
    • Made in Africa - The Grassi Museum (Leipzig, Germany)
    • Portraits Ghana Photo Prize - The Netherlands Embassy Ghana (Accra, Ghana)

  • 2017

    • Kobi Onyame Versus The Artist - Many Studios (Glasgow, Scotland)
    • The Rest Is Noise - Accra Theatre Workshop - An African Walks Into An Echo Chamber (Accra, Ghana)
    • In Memoriam: Portraits of the Middle Passage - In Situ/The Nkyinkyim Installation (Cape Coast Castle, Ghana)

Fellowships + Residencies

  • 2023

    • Open Lab Residency - Google Arts and Culture

  • 2021

    • Refuge World Wide (Berlin, Germany)

  • 2019

    • Electric South Immersive Media Lab (Cape Town, South Africa)

  • 2018

    • Cryptic Artist Residency Program (Glasgow and Cove Park, Scotland)
    • ColabNowNow: The Future of the Future, The British Council & Maputo Fast Forward (Maputo, Mozambique)

Panel Discussions + Public Speaking

  • 2022

    • “In Response to the Archive: Researching Post-Colonial Identity through Digital Media. Research Networking Day (RND), CTM Festival, (Berlin, Germany)
    • Black Mobilities in the Atlantic World, Institute for Black Atlantic Research (IBAR), School of Humanities, Language and Global Studies, University of Central Lancashire, UK

  • 2021

    • DocLab Live: Liminal Systems International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (Amsterdam,Holland)
    • SODA Amplified - School of Digital Arts - Manchester Metropolitan University (Manchester, England)
    • Deeper: Hakeem Adam & Maxwell Mutanda in conversation with Mariama Attah (Liverpool, England)

  • 2020

    • Pigment Synthesis: The Complicated Entanglement of Politics and Aesthetics, The University of the Underground (London, England)

  • 2018

    • Jet Lag, “Colab Now Now”, The British Council and Maputo Fast Forward (Maputo, Mozambique)

Publications + Media

  • 2022

    • CONVERGENCE no 190, Lien MULTIMÉDIA (Montreal, Canada)

  • 2021

    • Exploring the Atlantic Ocean through ‘One-Fifth of the Earth’s Surface’. Stir World (Delhi, India)

  • 2020

    • Reconfiguration of thought as a communal act, Circa106, Hochschule für Künste (Bremen, Germany)

  • 2019

    • "Investigating the Unexpected Connections in our Cultural Heritage through John Akomfrah’s Four Nocturnes, "Ghana Freedom, Ghana Pavilion at the 58th International Art Exhibition La Biennale di Venezia, Ano Ghana/ Cornerhouse Publications (Venice, Italy)

  • 2018

    • The young Ghanaian visual artist discusses the themes of mental health and anxiety in his Mujahid series, Nataal (Cape Town, South Africa)

Grants

  • 2021
    • Ghana Airways - Pro Helvetia Johannesburg, Breathing Space Grant