In this month's edition of Artist of the Month, Meet Yaseen Shams, a visual artist, fashion designer and Sudan's representative in African Creative Minds organization, Ethiopia. He is also the art director and story board writer at darkroom production, textile/pattern creator at Merden which is an Ethiopian manufacturing company.
Yaseen is the founder of AZÚL brand, an art platform that uses all forms of art to help raise awareness of mental health. The Blue Matter was his first independent exhibition; it shed light on all forms and types of mental illness, prevention, and treatment.
He applied to join the British Council’s Creative Enterprise Programme and was successfully chosen to participate in the programme held in Uganda.
In partnership with Nesta, the British Council offers the Creative Enterprise Programme (CEP) giving creative entrepreneurs the invaluable support they need to develop their business. CEP is a three-day capacity building workshop developed from our Creative Enterprise toolkit that helps entrepreneurs to visualize the future, identify their audience and build the perfect business model.
‘I've participated in many British council programmes, creative Hustle with Justin Nakomia and then the big highlight and the huge leap for me was the creative enterprise program in Uganda. The programme was a really big and massive help for me and gave me the opportunity to collaborate with artists from East Africa ’. Yaseen Shams
Over the past year, more than 30 Sudanese artists from various art forms have successfully participated in the Creative Enterprise Programme in Uganda, developing their business skills and applying the knowledge gained to enhance their business within the creative economy.