New Co-Chair of Visual Arts South West: Rocca Holly-Nambi
Rocca Holly-Nambi, Director of b‑side, has been appointed as Co-Chair of the VASW network.
Visual Arts South West is delighted to announce that Rocca Holly-Nambi is taking on the role of Co-Chair of VASW, working alongside Woodrow Kernohan, Director of John Hansard Gallery.
On their appointment, Rocca commented:
"I’m honoured to take on the role of Co-Chair for Visual Arts South West at such a vital moment. It’s an important time for VASW to support both itself and the exceptional artists and artistic communities who live and work across the South West of England. I’m delighted to be working alongside Hannah Rose, Lucy Badrocke and Jazz Thompson to support the deep, sensitive work VASW is doing to listen and actively respond to the needs of the visual arts sector. Together, the team is shaping a strategic programme that we know is both timely and necessary — one that has the potential to bring more resources and more joy into the visual arts ecology of the South West, encouraging more artists to see the region not only as a place to work, but as somewhere they can stay, grow, and truly thrive. This work is closely connected to the wider efforts of CVAN (Contemporary Visual Arts Network England), who are leading a collective agenda for policy change — ensuring the visual arts are heard, valued, and recognised, so that the sector can thrive now and into the future."
Rocca Holly-Nambi (they/them) is the Director of b-side, a socially engaged arts organisation and festival based on the Isle of Portland. Prior to this, Holly-Nambi was the British Council’s Head of Arts East Africa, and subsequently Director of Arts Sub-Saharan Africa. Holly-Nambi co-founded 32° East | Ugandan Arts Trust, a centre for contemporary art in Kampala, Uganda; and KLA ART, Kampala’s biennial public art festival. They have delivered artistic and curatorial projects for the Edinburgh International Art Festival, Glasgow International Festival, and the Mela Festival of World Music and Dance.
Holly-Nambi received an MA in Contemporary Art Theory at Edinburgh College of Art and is completing a practice-based PhD in Visual Cultures at Goldsmiths, University of London, on Queer Abstraction in Kenya and Uganda.
