The 2022 Award winner: Kathrin Schmidt
Doctoral Thesis: “Performing Salone: The impact of local and global flows on the aesthetics and ecology of contemporary Krio theatre in Sierra Leone“, Goldsmiths, University of London, UK
Kathrin Schmidt is an experienced cultural and creative industries consultant, researcher and project manager, with a particular focus on cultural cooperation and culture and development programmes, cultural policy and strategies, programme design, sector development, evaluations as well as in-depth mapping and impact studies. She is based in Nairobi, Kenya, and her work in recent years has focused mainly on Sub-Saharan Africa.
Kathrin completed her PhD on the political economy of cultural and creative industries in Sierra Leone at Goldsmiths, University of London, in 2021. Her research focused on the impact of cultural, political, economic, social and historical factors on both the aesthetics of Sierra Leonean theatre and its policy, structural and institutional context, and analysed in particular the interconnectedness and relationships between aesthetics, policy, politics, governance structures and history.