International Arts Conference Biographies
HON. ABLA DZIFA GOMASHIE
Minister for Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts
Member of Parliament for Ketu South Constituency, Volta Region, Republic of Ghana.
A strong community advocate, in 2012, she was honoured as a Queen Mother in charge of protocol of the Aflao Traditional Area, bearing the stool name Mama Dzramedo 1.
Honourable Abla Dzifa Gomashie (MP) is a distinguished Ghanaian politician, creative arts veteran, and cultural advocate with over four decades of experience in the Creative Industry. She currently serves as Ghana’s Minister for Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts and is in her second term as Member of Parliament for the Ketu South Constituency in the Volta Region.
An accomplished actress, producer, and scriptwriter, Honourable Gomashie has devoted most of her adult life to the promotion and projection of Ghanaian and African culture.
She has produced and directed notable television productions, including the popular storytelling programme By The Fireside, and has served as a consultant to civil society organisations and state agencies locally and internationally, contributing to policy direction and sector development in arts, culture, and tourism.
She holds a Master of Philosophy in African Studies, a Bachelor of Fine Arts (First Class Honours) and a Diploma in Theatre Arts from the University of Ghana and completed her secondary education at St. Louis Senior High School, Kumasi.
She is the Founder and former Chief Executive Officer of Values for Life, a non-governmental organisation promoting creative arts, traditional heritage, tourism, and digital innovation among the youth. Her creative career began in 1985 with Talents Theatre Company where her stage and film credits include, The Blinkards, The Blackstar, Mambo, Chaka, Zulu, Jogolo, The Third Woman, Ghost Tears, House of Pain, and Heart of Gold among others. She has received several awards and citations in recognition of her contribution to Ghana’s Creative Industry.
Politically, Honourable Gomashie is widely regarded as articulate, objective, and well-respected across party lines. She served as Deputy Minister for Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts from 2013 to 2017 and was appointed Minister for Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts in January 2025 by H.E. President John Dramani Mahama.
She made history in 2020 as the first female Member of Parliament for Ketu South and was re-elected in December 2024 with 92.9% of the votes. She has served on Parliamentary Committees, including Poverty Reduction, Trade, Industry and Tourism, and the Public Accounts Committee, Gender Committee among others.
Known for her excellent human relations and leadership skills, Hon. Abla Dzifa Gomashie remains committed to working with stakeholders to advance tourism, culture, and the creative arts as key drivers of Ghana’s economic growth and national development.
She is the Chairman of the Regional Specialized Technical Committee of Youth, Sports and Culture of the African Union and the Vice Chairman of the ECOWAS Committee on Reparation.
1. Angela P. Meleca
Angela Meleca is a nationally recognized expert at the intersection of arts, public policy, and measurable public value. She is the founder of Meleca Creative Advisors and the creator of the Return on Art™ (ROA) Framework, an outcomes-based model that equips arts organizations with validated tools to measure human and social transformation, including confidence, belonging, empathy, creativity, and growth mindset. Developed through a multi-state pilot with 20 organizations, the ROA Framework is helping reshape how the arts communicate impact to funders, policymakers, and cross-sector partners. Previously, Angela served as Executive Director of CreativeOhio, where she led a statewide coalition that secured $160.7 million in public funding for nonprofit arts organizations. Her background also includes service as Press Secretary to the Ohio Senate President and fifteen years as a journalist covering government and public policy. Angela is an Adjunct Faculty member at Miami University, where she teaches arts policy and advocacy, and she hosts the ARTS Redefined podcast.
2. Chad Curtis
Chad D. Curtis is an artist, educator, and researcher whose work explores the intersection of digital systems, material intelligence, and emergent form. He is Associate Professor and Chair of the Foundations Department at the Tyler School of Art and Architecture at Temple University, where he also teaches creative coding in design and first-year courses in the architecture. His creative practice and research focus on clay 3D printing, generative systems, and digital fabrication as collaborative processes between computational intent and material behavior. Curtis has exhibited nationally and internationally and frequently presents his work at conferences and institutions focused on technology, craft, and interdisciplinary creative research.
3. Colleen Barnes
Colleen Barnes (she/her) is an Assistant Professor of Dance-Ballet and the Area Chair of the University of Akron’s Dance Program, where she specializes in ballet and anatomy for dance. Colleen has worked for the Joffrey Ballet School of New York City since 2009 and currently serves as the artistic director of the Joffrey South, Joffrey Colorado, and Joffrey Akron summer intensives. She danced professionally with the Dayton Ballet, Ballet Pensacola, and Dance Now! Miami, in addition to freelancing domestically and abroad. She holds a BFA in Ballet from the University of Cincinnati, an MFA in Ballet from the University of Utah, and a graduate certificate in Women’s Studies from the University of Akron.
4. Catie Perez-Strohmeyer
Catie Perez-Strohmeyer is an M.Ed. student in Ohio University’s graduate art education program. She earned her BFA in studio art with a concentration in painting and drawing from Ohio University in 2025. During her undergraduate career, she also earned a certificate in museum studies and spent her senior year working for the registrar at the Kennedy Museum of Art. The following summer, she worked as an intern at Corridoio Fiorentino, an art gallery associated with the Florence University of the Arts in the heart of Florence, Italy. There, she helped to curate, design, and install exhibitions for local artists and writers. She has taught numerous multimedia art courses to students ranging in age from five years old to sixty-five years old. Catie’s artwork investigates lesbian intimacy through a feminist lens. Her belief in the liberatory power of art drives her to continue educating.
5. Courtney Koestler, Ph.D.
Courtney Koestler, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Teacher Education and Faculty Director of the Stevens Center for Literacy and STEM Education at Ohio University. A former elementary and middle school teacher and instructional coach, their work centers on equity, justice, and critical literacies in teaching and learning. Koestler’s teaching, research, and outreach are designed to support teachers in broadening their critical consciousness and in creating humanizing, justice-oriented learning experiences for students. They are a recognized scholar of justice-oriented mathematics teaching and have served as lead researcher or collaborator on externally funded projects totaling more than $10 million. Their current National Science Foundation project examines how teachers and children can “connect mathematics to the real world” to investigate and understand their local communities, as well as broader social and political issues. Koestler serves as an elected board member of the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators and has received multiple university and statewide awards for research, teaching, and outreach.
6. Dylan Haynes
Dylan Haynes is a doctoral candidate in the Interdisciplinary Arts department at Ohio University, where she studies Comparative Literature and Art History, focusing on Appalachian and global literature. Her work seeks to draw comparisons between the Appalachian experience and events/ideas expressed in global literature, to further legitimize the region within the global cultural/literary conversation. She has a Master's in Humanities with a concentration in Literary Studies from Marshall University, as well as a Bachelor's in English from Shawnee State University. She has previously presented at the College English Association Annual Conference and is a Growing Home Fellow with the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio. Prior to beginning her doctoral studies, she taught 12th grade English at Meigs High School. She lives in Meigs County, Ohio with her husband, daughter, and pets.
7. Edy R. Panjaitan
R. Panjaitan is a pianist, composer, and scholar who is rapidly emerging as a compelling voice in today’s global classical music scene. Mr. Panjaitan, is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Interdisciplinary Arts, major in Musicology/Ethnomusicology-Piano Performance (Artist-Scholar Track) at Ohio University, where he studies piano under Professor Christopher Fisher and conducts research with Professor Garret Field. Mr. Panjaitan received a Student Enhancement Award from Ohio University to conduct ethnographic research in Samosir Island, North Sumatera, Indonesia. He is working on dissertation research in Southeast Asian studies, with a focus on the music and life cycle rituals of the Toba Batak people of North Sumatra, Indonesia. This study examines the funerary tradition known as mangokal holi—the ritual exhumation and reburial of ancestral remains—focusing on the performance of gondang sabangunan, a traditional Toba Batak musical ensemble, and its essential role in accompanying both the ritual process and the tortor dance. Additionally, the project incorporates an analysis of ritual knowledge embedded in the 18th–19th century, a bark manuscript book called Pustaha (archived at the MET museum and Yale Art Gallery), a ritual compendium used by the datu (ritual specialist or shaman), which offers insight into the cosmological and symbolic dimensions of Toba Batak ritual life. By adopting an interdisciplinary approach, this research situates life cycle rituals within a broader cultural-historical and religious framework. In addition, his academic interests include the philosophy of the arts and aesthetics, performative studies, and Freudian psychoanalysis.
8. Fotima Taylor
Fotima Taylor is a PhD scholar in Interdisciplinary Arts at Ohio University, with primary fields in Art History and Philosophy, and a visual artist with a background in painting and drawing. Born and raised in Tashkent City, Uzbekistan, her transnational background informs her scholarly and artistic engagement with questions of landscape, power, silence, and historical memory. Her research examines landscape as a site of philosophical and political inquiry, focusing on violence, absence, and visual sovereignty in European art. Working across art history, visual culture, and aesthetics, her scholarship explores how images negotiate empire, subjectivity, and modernity, with particular attention to nineteenth-century Romantic painting.
9. Graci Kelley
Graci Kelley is a student at Ohio University pursuing a degree (BM) in Music Therapy and a minor in Jazz Studies. She has performed with the Ohio University Wind Symphony, Ohio University Jazz Ensemble I, Cedarville University Wind Symphony, Cedarville University Jazz Band, and Blue Lake Staff Band. In addition, she has served as a collaborator in over 20 student recitals on euphonium, trombone, and double bass. Graci remains active within the community by serving as a member of the Cambridge City Band–Ohio’s oldest community band–for seven years and is entering her third year as a substitute teacher. She is a 14-time recipient of various awards and scholarships for musical ability, leadership, and integrity.
10. Ishmael Konney
Ishmael is an interdisciplinary Ghanaian artist hailing from La, a prominent town in Accra, the capital city of Ghana. Ishmael has an undergraduate degree in Theatre Arts from the University of Education, Winneba. He was recruited to the United States, where he earned an M.A. in International Studies from Ohio University, as well as an MFA in Dance with an Interdisciplinary Specialization in Fine Arts from The Ohio State University. Currently, Ishmael holds the position of Assistant Professor of Dance at University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. Additionally, he contributes his expertise as a Dance Faculty member for the prestigious Kentucky Governor’s School for the Arts. Before moving to the United States, Ishmael honed his craft with the National Dance Company of Ghana at the National Theatre of Ghana. His research interests center on the promotion of Ghanaian cultural values, with a keen focus on exploring the intricate relationship and intersectionality between performance and traditional Ghanaian cultural practices.
11. Johanna Andrea Amaya Conejo
Johanna Amaya Conejo is a percussionist, experimental composer, and interdisciplinary arts researcher from Bogotá, Colombia. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Arts at Ohio University (expected 2027), where she also completed her Master of Music in Percussion Performance. Her research focuses on art from a decolonial perspective, emphasizing the importance of South American art not as a mere commodity but as a practice deeply rooted in community life. This approach allows her to reflect on the foundations of Latin American culture, the dialogues established with perspectives from the Global North, and the ways art interacts with its social contexts. Furthermore, it highlights art's potential to transform socio-political circumstances. Johanna is a Fulbright Scholar and recipient of prestigious residencies including the Silk Road Ensemble's Global Musician Workshop (2022, 2024), OneBeat (2017, 2022), and Art Omi Music Fellowship (2019), her work bridges performance practice, composition, and community-engaged pedagogy. As both a performer and composer, Johanna explores the timbral possibilities of percussion to develop a unique sonic identity enriched by layers and textures. Her artistic practice integrates traditional Colombian rhythms with contemporary experimental approaches. Johanna's research and creative work demonstrate a consistent commitment to understanding how artistic practice generates knowledge, builds community, and serves as a form of civic engagement. She translates the complex language of artistic expression into accessible opportunities for diverse audiences while maintaining creative integrity and prioritizing community voices. Currently, she is active as a performer with Solar Duo, focusing on Latin American repertoire from Colombia and Brazil. Johanna continues to develop her artistic practice alongside her scholarly investigations into the intersections of performance, pedagogy, and social transformation.
12. Joseph Lucket
Joseph Luckett is a creative strategist, arts marketing executive, and interdisciplinary cultural producer based in Georgia. He currently serves as the Marketing Director for Art Farm at Serenbe, where he leads digital transformation initiatives, builds campaigns across film, music, dance, and theater, and develops infrastructure to connect rural performance spaces with global communities. With over a decade of experience across nonprofit arts, food culture, and digital innovation, Joseph specializes in leveraging technology and storytelling to build inclusive, values-driven engagement strategies. He is also the founder of Affluent Solution Group LLC, a digital agency focused on automating outreach for creative organizations and wellness brands. Joseph is passionate about creating platforms where artists of all disciplines — especially those underrepresented in traditional institutions — can thrive. His recent work includes producing a multidisciplinary showcase film weekend featuring global filmmakers, building AI-driven CRM and reputation flows for cultural institutions, and launching council-led curation models that center equity and collaboration.
13. Joy L. Davis
Joy L. Davis is Visual Arts Director at Creative Alliance in Baltimore's Highlandtown neighborhood, where she develops strategic vision for gallery programming featuring up to 15 exhibitions annually. She oversees an artist residency program that supports emerging and established regional practitioners while building audiences for contemporary art in Baltimore's creative corridor. In this role, she cultivates meaningful platforms for artists to explore complex themes of identity, heritage, and social justice. Davis is also founder and director of Waller Gallery, established in 2017 and named for her grandmother, Helen Waller. The gallery operates as an independent platform centering artists and scholars of color through carefully curated exhibitions, public programming, and mentorship initiatives that challenge dominant narratives about American artistic production. Her curatorial work emphasizes diasporic art, material culture studies, and transnational cultural exchange. Her exhibition projects include "Walk On By," a one year Baltimore-Rotterdam artist exchange exploring African diaspora experiences and exemplifying her commitment to equitable international collaboration. Additional curatorial work includes "Transit," Julia Kim Smith's first solo exhibition addressing racism, representation, and Asian American identity through fifteen years of multidisciplinary practice, and "Untethered Familiars," a resident artist exhibition celebrating creative community and individual artistic sovereignty. Davis's approach prioritizes creating spaces where difficult conversations can unfold through artistic practice while maintaining accountability to community. Davis's curatorial practice is informed by over ten years of experience in museum programming, including her previous role as Manager of Adult and Community Programs at the Walters Art Museum, where she developed some of the most diverse digital and public programming in the institution's history. She holds an M.A. in Museum and Fashion Studies from the Fashion Institute of Technology, where her interdisciplinary training combined art history, material culture studies, and critical museum practice.
14. Dr. Kofi Anthonio
Kofi Anthonio is a practitioner with over two decades of international experience and high artistic acclaim to his roles as an artist-scholar born and raised in Ghana, West Africa. He is a choreographer, educator, administrator, curator and performer. He holds an MFA degree in Dance Education from the University of Ghana and currently a PhD holder at the Institute of African Studies, Legon. He is a recipient of Andrew Mellon Foundation Research Grant. This grant aided him to complete his PhD successfully at the Institute of African Studies, Legon. Anthonio’s art practice is deeply rooted in contemporary, popular, and traditional African dance forms. He attended the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in 2011 with a scholarship from the United States Embassy (Accra) to study their programme structure, workshops to help strengthen the School of Performing Arts Department of Dance Studies University of Ghana Curriculum. In addition to his teaching, Anthonio serve as a choreographer in one of the renowned theatre production houses in Ghana called Roverman Production and maintains a lifelong affiliation with the Noyam Dance Institute and National Dance Company of Ghana where he has had his professional training. One notable instance where I performed and served as Associate Artistic Director for the National Dance Company of Ghana at the recent BAM festival in 2023.His research examines dance from an ethnographic perspective and looks at indigenous knowledge embedded in music and dance practices of the Anlo-Ewe in Ghana. He delves deeper into sub-Saharan traditional African dance and Diasporic forms. Choreographically, he explores indigenous performance traditions, staged folkloric spectacles, and emergent contemporary forms rooted in sub-Saharan African, resulting in original works that challenge the notion of identity, humanism, and coloniality.
15. Patience Nana Akua Anthonio
Patience Nana Akua Anthonio holds a BFA degree in Dance and MA in Business administration at the University of Ghana. She is a researcher, performer and a Banker at the same time. She performed at the BAM festival 2023 for the National Dance Company of Ghana.
16. Kwame Takyi Danquah
Kwame Takyi Danquah is a Ghanaian creative arts practitioner, journalist, and researcher whose work focuses on children’s creativity, arts education, and community-based talent development. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Industrial Arts from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and an MPhil in Theatre Arts from the University of Education, Winneba (UEW). He is an Erasmus+ scholar with academic experience at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland. Kwame is also an Erasmus+ Students and Alumni Alliance (ESAA) Impact Forum awardee, where he was recognized by the European Union for his innovative community-based projects aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). He is currently enrolled in a PhD in Arts and Culture at the University of Education, Winneba. His research and practice explore how creative platforms and community-driven initiatives can nurture children’s talents while creating sustainable pathways to employability and cultural development, drawing on projects such as the Efutu Talent Show in Winneba, Ghana.
17. Kwasi Gyebi-Tweneboah
My name is Kwasi Gyebi-Tweneboah and I am currently the music teacher for Mason Clark Middle School. I went to Kumasi Academy Secondary School and proceeded to University of Education Winneba, Where I was awarded a degree in music Education. Although I have a good teaching background, my real interest has been in live sound practices and its influences on live performance. I have been working as a live sound engineer in different event both as Front of House Engineer (FOH) and as sometimes as a monitor engineer. For my love for sound, I have published in different journals with ‘influence of Kwame Nkrumah’s Pan-Africanism on Ghana’s Live Sound Reinforcement Scene (1950s – 1970s): Ralf Quist in Perspective being my latest work. I love to listen to African Jazz music and my favourite musician is Fella Kuti of Nigeria.
18. Mitko Toshev
Mitko Toshev is a Macedonian visual artist, painter, sculptor, and researcher, internationally recognized for his interdisciplinary artistic practice and theoretical engagement. He is the recipient of the prestigious humanitarian award “Mother Teresa Statuette”, and his artworks are represented in public spaces, international institutions, and private and diplomatic collections worldwide. His artistic practice focuses on contemporary portraiture, painting, and sculpture, exploring identity, memory, and materiality. Alongside his studio work, Toshev is a PhD candidate at the Department for Gifted and Talented Studies, University “St. Kliment Ohridski” – Bitola (UKLO), where his research examines creativity, talent, and cognitive development. By integrating artistic production with academic research, his work positions visual art as both a creative and critical form of inquiry within contemporary global contexts.
19. Najmeh Pirahmadian
Najmeh Pirahmadian (goes by “Sara”) (b. 1986, Shiraz, Iran) is an artist, designer, and educator based in Athens, Ohio. She is currently pursuing her MFA in Graphic Design at Ohio University, where she teaches as Instructor of Record and serves as an online studio facilitator for foundation-level design courses. Working across interactive media, projection mapping, and creative coding, she creates participatory installations that merge art, design, and technology to explore communication, cross-cultural understanding, and the complexities of language. Her ongoing research series, Mis/Understanding, focuses on the emotional and physical effort behind communication and reframes moments of miscommunication as shared human experiences rather than failures. Pirahmadian’s practice examines the sensory, emotional, and experiential dimensions of communication through interactive and technologically driven work. Her projects invite audiences to engage with sound, motion, and text, reflecting her interest in communication, miscommunication, and the emotional and cross-cultural dynamics of understanding. Recent installations in the Mis/Understanding series use motion tracking, projection, and real-time text manipulation to reveal how meaning changes, disappears, or becomes fragmented depending on the participant’s presence and movement. Alongside her studio practice, she has contributed to community-based design projects in Southeast Ohio, developing brand identities, websites, and visual materials for regional businesses, social enterprises, and cultural initiatives. She has also mentored undergraduate design students on collaborative projects for local organizations, reinforcing her commitment to connecting creative practice with community needs. Pirahmadian has exhibited at Ohio University Art Galleries, the Majestic Gallery in Nelsonville, and biennial exhibitions in Tehran including the Basteha Packaging Design Biennial and the Silver Cypress Biennial. Her work has received several honors, including the 1st Place Creative Arts and Design Award at the Ohio University Student Expo (2025), the Creative Arts and Design Original Work Award from the Graduate College and Graduate Student Senate at Ohio University (2025), her research presentation at Design Incubation Colloquium 12.1 (Virtual, 2025), the People’s Choice Award at the Appalachian Literary Arts and Storytelling Festival (2024), and a Silver Award at the 4th Basteha Biennial (2021). Building on her professional design career in Iran, Pirahmadian continues to contribute to the field as an artist, designer, and educator through her creative and academic work in the United States.
20. Nana Amowee Dawson
Nana Amowee Dawson is a Ghanaian composer, researcher, and interdisciplinary artist whose work explores the intersections of African oral traditions, intercultural composition, and visual storytelling. He holds a PhD in Music Theory and Composition (Artistic Research). Drawing inspiration from Ghanaian childhood memories, local performance traditions, and Western classical forms, Dr. Dawson’s compositions forge new sonic languages that honor indigenous knowledge while engaging global artistic vocabularies. His practice integrates chamber orchestration, storytelling, and visual music—often grounded in folklore, communal memory, and the everyday musicalities of Ghanaian life. His current portfolio, Sankɔfa Symphony, reimagines moments from his formative years into a four-movement visual-musical cycle exploring memory, identity, and cultural continuity. He is the founder of Ekow Amowee Studios, a multimedia creative house devoted to African knowledge systems, sonic experimentation, and environmental storytelling.
21. Napoleon Mensah
Napoleon Mensah is a scholar/artist pursuing his PhD candidate in Interdisciplinary Arts at Ohio University. He honed his skills in acting, theater history and scenic design from the School of Performing Arts, University of Ghana where he earned both his BFA and MFA degrees. He is currently serving as a Teaching Associate in Theatre History and Performance Studies at Ohio University while actively engaged in researching art, technologies, forms, and histories that shape the development of Ghanaian and/ or African theatre performances.
22. Noble Jesse Glikpoe
A versatile creative professional with a strong background in theatre directing, drama, dance, African studies, and performance analysis. I seek to pursue advanced study that will allow me to explore the intersections of culture, performance, and identity, and to contribute to the academic community through research, culturally grounded storytelling, and critical engagement with theatre practices. My goal is to deepen my understanding of performance as a tool for cultural preservation, education, and social transformation, and to develop scholarship that informs and enriches theatre studies in global and cross-cultural contexts. A versatile creative professional with a strong background in theatre directing, drama, dance, African studies, and performance analysis. I seek to pursue advanced study that will allow me to explore the intersections of culture, performance, and identity, and to contribute to the academic community through research, culturally grounded storytelling, and critical engagement with theatre practices. My goal is to deepen my understanding of performance as a tool for cultural preservation, education, and social transformation, and to develop scholarship that informs and enriches theatre studies in global and cross-cultural contexts.
23. Papa Kojo Essuman Yamoah
Papa Kojo Essuman Yamoah is a Ghanaian doctoral student in Musicology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His research encompasses African musicology, Ghanaian wind band traditions, popular music, and Black diasporic and postcolonial music studies, with current work tracing brass band and masquerade celebrations across the Black Atlantic. He has taught world music, film music, and choral performance at Ohio University, and the University of Cape Coast. As a performer with ensembles including the Ghana Armed Forces Central Band and Cape Coast Diocesan Band, and as director of choirs and brass band festivals in Ghana's Central region, he combines scholarly inquiry with practical engagement in Ghanaian musical traditions.
24. Qais Assali
Qais Assali (they/them/theirs) is an interdisciplinary artist/designer born in Palestine in 1987 and raised in the UAE before returning to Palestine in 2000. Assali taught in Visual Communication at Al-Ummah University College, Jerusalem, Michigan State University, MI, and Vanderbilt University, TN. Recently, Assali joined the School of the Museum of Fine Arts' faculty at Tufts University, Boston, MA. Assali was a 2019-21 Core Fellow at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX. Assali’s work has been exhibited at Hauser & Wirth, NY; Middle East Institute, DC; Station Museumof Contemporary Art, TX; Stamps Gallery, University of Michigan, MI; Toronto Queer Film Festival, Canada; SculptureCenter, NY; Chicago Cultural Center, IL, Glassell School of Arts, Museum of Fine Arts Houston, TX; Temporary Art Center (TAC), Netherlands; and Qalandiya International,Palestine. Assali is the recipient of Art Matters Foundation grant; Chicago Artists Coalition Spark Grant; Houston Arts Alliance Digital Grant; Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts - IdeaFund; SAIC New Artists’ Society Award; and Palest’In & Out Festival - Plastic Art Prize. Assali holds four degrees in visual arts from Palestine and the U.S, a BFA in Graphic Design from An-Najah National University 2009, and a BA in Contemporary Visual Art from the International Academy of Art Palestine 2017. Assali simultaneously completed an MFA from Bard College, NY 2019, and an MA in Art Education from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, IL 2018.
25. Radmila Esina
Radmila Esina is a PhD student in Interdisciplinary Arts at Ohio University, with a concentration in Art History and Philosophy. Her research focuses on Eastern European art, particularly Soviet visual culture. She examines representations of the female body in Soviet art and their entanglement with political, gendered, and social ideologies. Her current project investigates how images of Soviet working women developed from French and Russian Realist traditions into Socialist Realism, challenging the view of Soviet art as an isolated system of propaganda.
26. Richardson Commey Fio
Richardson Commey Fio is a cultural policy expert, ethnomusicologist, performing artist, and culture administrator. As former Deputy Executive Director of the National Commission on Culture of Ghana and currently Special Aide to the Minister for Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, Fio possesses over two decades of experience and knowledge in theatre directing, theatre for development, public arts and culture policy management and governance. He is a UNESCO technical expert in Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) and National Expert for UNESCO Culture│2030 Indicators implementation in Ghana. He was a major contributor to the processes that led to the successful listing of Ghana’s Kente and Highlife Music & Dance on the UNESCO Representative List of Intangible Heritage of Humanity. He is a scholar in cultural sustainability and developments. His recent research works have discussed Ghana’s cultural policy and performing arts promotion; the role of music in politics, governance and democracy in Ghana; and artists and their roles in cultural tourism promotion.
27. Roshni Ramanan
Roshni Ramanan is a doctoral scholar at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, working under the supervision of Dr. Deepak Paramashivan. Her research explores the intersection of dance and semiotics, with a particular focus on the South Indian classical dance form,Bharatanatyam. By exploring the discursive potential of this art form through a semiotic lens, she uncovers new perspectives on meaning-making in performance. A former practitioner of Bharatanatyam herself, she seeks to bridge the divide between scholarship and the stage—integrating theory, practice, and audience reception in her work.
28. Ruchi Pathak
Ruchi Pathak is an Indian-origin doctoral student of Teaching and Learning at the College of Education and Human Ecology, the Ohio State University specializing in Dramatics and Arts-based Research. Pathak’s practice is centred at the nexus of art, design, and education, with special focus on multimodal arts education, creative inquiry, and transformative pedagogy. Her doctoral research explores critical mediations through arts-based modalities, with particular emphasis on dialoguing and bridging connections using personal narratives and lived experiences. Drawing on both scholarly and creative practices, Pathak examines how multiple modes of artistic expression—such as visual, auditory, kinaesthetic, linguistic, and embodied forms—support-learning, agency, and knowledge production in educational settings. Alongside her doctoral studies, Pathak has engaged in professional work across diverse educational and community contexts—including, early childhood education, higher education, museum education, and community arts organizations. These experiences have shaped her commitment to learner-centered, inclusive, and critically reflective pedagogy, and continue to inform her research interests and methodological choices. She approaches research as a practitioner-scholar, intentionally bridging theory and practice through participatory and creative methods. As an emerging scholar, Pathak has presented her work at regional, and national research forums focused on arts education, multimodal learning, qualitative inquiry, and interdisciplinary research. Her presentations often take an interactive and practice-based approach, inviting participants to engage with materials, movement, sound, image, or reflective dialogue. She values conference spaces as opportunities for experimentation, collaboration, and shared inquiry. At Ohio University Global Arts Festival 2026 International Conference, Pathak will present “Seeing Through the Arts: A Multimodal Transmediation Practice with Poetics”, drawing from her research to explore the potential of artistic modalities in developing personal and shared meanings. The session offers insights, and provocations for educators, researchers, and artists interested in multimodal and arts-based approaches to learning. Her work seeks to contribute to broader conversations about the role of the arts and multimodality in contemporary education. Through this work, Pathak aims to foreground diverse ways of knowing, creating, and meaning making.Academically, Pathak holds MA in Teaching and Learning: Art + Design from Rhode Island School of Design, and bachelor's in Industrial Design from India. She has also extensively worked with the Department of Theatre Arts and Performance Studies at Brown University during her master's program. Additionally, Pathak is a certified Kathak (Indian classical) dancer having trained in the art form for over nine years. She has also learned Indian folk dances, West African Mande, Forró, among other dance forms over the past years. Pathak deeply engages in multiple creative forms including dance, yoga, therapeutic movement, visual arts, and poetry as an embodied personal practice. Beyond her doctoral work, Pathak is engaged in community-based arts practice, mentorship, and arts advocacy. She collaborates with organizations, artists, and educators, to support creative expression, access to the arts, and socially engaged learning. She is presently engaged in a mentorship program for senior students at her alma mater, RISD. Pathak is also working on a cross-disciplinary collaboration between her department and Wexner Centre for the Arts through the Arts and Resilience Grant. During summers, she invests time in research and collaborations in India with local schools and colleges. This commitment reflects her belief that multimodal arts education plays a vital role in fostering connection, criticality, and transformative learning across transnational contexts.
29. Sepideh Zafari Naeini
Sepideh Zafari Naeini is a Ph.D. student in Interdisciplinary Arts at Ohio University, with a background in Islamic Art (MA, Art University of Isfahan) and Design and Printing (BA). She's an experienced educator, having taught at Payame Noor University of Isfahan, Ragheb Esfshani Institute, and various vocational schools. Her research interests include visualization techniques, imagination development, and interdisciplinary education. Sepideh is skilled in academic painting, design, and digital tools like Photoshop and Corel.
30. Tika Simone
TIKA is an Academy Award–winning composer, interdisciplinary artist, cultural strategist, and founder of Iverna Island, a creative ecosystem dedicated to diasporic healing, creative sovereignty, and cultural futures. Her work spans film, sound installation, public scholarship, and community based dialogue, with a focus on rest, memory, and embodied resistance as technologies of survival. Tika’s practice bridges academic inquiry and lived experience, centering Black feminist thought, emotional technology, and ancestral wisdom. She is currently completing an MBA in Arts Innovation at the Global Leaders Institute and regularly presents her work at international conferences, universities, and cultural institutions.
31. Ufuoma Onobrakpeya
Ufuoma Onobrakpeya graduated from University of Benin, Edo –State, Nigeria with a degree in Fine Art specializing in Painting in 1995. He also obtained a Master of Arts degree specializing in Printmaking from Camberwell College of Arts, University of the Arts London in 2002. He has participated in several group exhibition and presented several papers. Ufuoma currently lectures Fine Art, Painting and Printmaking at the Department of Fine Art, School of Art, Design and Printing, Yaba College of Technology, Yaba, Lagos.He was awarded funds to participate in a one year post graduate programmer at Camberwell College of Art, London by agreement with the Ford Foundation and the Institute of International Education in the United States of America. His prints depicting a diary of events where exhibited during his Masters of Arts degree exhibition at Camberwell College of Art, London.
32. Vladimir Marchenkov
Vladimir Marchenkov, PhD, Professor of Philosophy of Art at the Ohio University School of Interdisciplinary Arts, author of The Orpheus Myth and the Powers of Music (Pendragon 2009), translator of Aleksei Losev’s Dialectics of Myth (Routledge 2003), and author as well as consulting editor on Russian philosophy for the award-winning Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Second Edition (Thomson Gale 2006). Marchenkov edited two volumes of essays: Between Histories: Art’s Dilemmas and Trajectories (Hampton Press 2013), and Arts and Terror (Cambridge Scholars Publishing 2014), and co-edited with Stefan Bird-Pollan a collection of essays on Hegel’s Political Aesthetics: Art in Modern Society (Bloomsbury, 2020). He has published essays, articles, and chapters in a wide range of academic venues in the U.S., Russia, UK, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Sri Lanka, and Kazakhstan. Associate Editor of Studies in East European Thought (Springer), 2018-2022. He teaches courses on philosophy of art, history of aesthetics, world aesthetic ideas, and art and morality and is currently writing a book on Three Borises: Poetic Truth against the Will to Power.
33. Divine Kwasi Gbagbo
Divine Kwasi Gbagbo is an Assistant Professor of Ethnomusicology in the College of Communication and Fine Arts at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California. He earned his PhD in Interdisciplinary Arts from Ohio University, where his research examined the interrelationship between Christianity and the musical practices of the Ewe of Ghana. His research interests include postcolonial influences on Ewe musical traditions in Ghana and Togo, as well as African music’s role in narratives of continuity and change in the diaspora. With over two decades of experience in scholarship, research, teaching, and performance, Gbagbo has taught world music cultures, African and African American music, music history, and interdisciplinary arts in various cultural contexts. As a composer, he blends indigenous Ghanaian-Ewe compositional styles with Western classical techniques.
34. Ernest Elikplim Kwabla Adonoo
Ernest Elikplim Kwabla Adonoo, known as Eli, is an educator, musician, and cultural enthusiast whose life and career reflect a deep commitment to learning, teaching, and community service. Currently a second-year graduate student in Ethnomusicology at the University of Mississippi, Eli combines his academic pursuits with his professional background as a teacher, choral director, and accomplished performer on both drums and trombone. His versatility as a musician extends to his role as a master drummer with the Ole Miss African Drum and Dance Ensemble (OMADDE), where he shares and preserves African musical traditions. Beyond the classroom and performance space, Eli has served in diverse leadership and administrative roles. He worked as a disaster prevention officer, bringing organizational and problem-solving skills to community resilience initiatives. His involvement as a secretary to social clubs and as a coordinator of a diaspora club demonstrates his ability to build connections and foster collaboration across groups. These roles reflect his passion for service, leadership, and cultural exchange. He is currently the Vice President of the African Caribbean Student Association at the University of Mississippi, Ole Miss. Eli’s academic research interests focus on the transmission of indigenous drumming skills across generations within particular families, exploring how musical knowledge is preserved and passed down as cultural heritage. Outside his scholarly work, he finds joy in nature, gardening, adventurous movies, documentaries, and the rodeo. He is also an avid motorbike rider, enjoying the freedom and exploration it brings. At the heart of all his endeavors, Eli is a devoted father of two boys and two girls, whose love for music, the arts, and culture shapes both his personal and professional journey. Ernest Elikplim Kwabla Adonoo, known as Eli, is an educator, musician, and cultural enthusiast whose work reflects a strong commitment to learning and community. A second-year Ethnomusicology graduate student at the University of Mississippi. He brings experiences such as teaching, choral directoring, and a versatile performer on Ghanaian drums and on trombone. As a master drummer with the Ole Miss African Drum and Dance Ensemble, he actively preserves and shares African musical traditions. Eli has also held leadership roles, including disaster prevention officer and coordinator of social and diaspora clubs, and currently serves as Vice President of the African Caribbean Student Association. His research centers on the intergenerational transmission of indigenous drumming thus drawing on ethnographic research methods and documentary skills. Outside academia, he enjoys nature, gardening, documentaries, rodeo, and motorbike riding, and is a devoted father of four.
35. Zhazirakhan Akhymbekova
Art Teacher, Project Author, and ResearcherNazarbayev Intellectual School of Chemical and Biological Directions, Turkestan city. Zhazirakhan Akhymbekova is an art educator and researcher passionate about fostering creativity and originality in students. With a background in Academic Painting from Khoja Akhmet Yassawi International Kazakh-Turkish University (2008-2012), she has developed student-centered art programs and led extracurricular clubs in Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools. Her interests include sensory-based learning, emotional expression through art, and visualization techniques. Zhazirakhan aims to empower students to discover their creative voice through innovative teaching methods.
36. Samuel Elikem Nyamuame (PHD)
Dr. Samuel Elikem Nyamuame is an Associate Professor of Ethnomusicology and Dance with joint appointments in Africana Studies, Theater/Dance, and Music at Binghamton University. He earned his PhD from the University of Florida, Gainesville, and his master’s degree from Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. He holds a B.F.A. in Music and Dance Studies as well as a Diploma in Music from the School of Performing Arts, University of Ghana. Dr. Nyamuame is an exceptionally talented musician, master drummer, dancer-choreographer, multi-instrumentalist, educator, and scholar. He has taught courses, facilitated workshops, performed, and presented scholarly research at numerous universities in Ghana, the United States, and China. His scholarship includes published articles and book chapters in major academic journals and edited volumes. He is a recipient of the prestigious Carnegie Fellowship Award to Ghana and a two-time recipient of the Harpur College Teaching Award for Excellence in Teaching. He was also recognized as a Career Champion by the Fleishman Center for Career and Professional Development for his outstanding student advising and mentorship at Binghamton University. Currently, he serves as the undergraduate advisor for Africana Studies. In addition to his academic work, Dr. Nyamuame is the Artistic Director of the Nukporfe African Drum and Dance Ensemble and the Director of the Ewe Chorale of New York, based in New York City.
37. Nii-Tete Yartey
Nii-Tete Yartey is a choreographer, performer, and educator whose work spans traditional African dance, contemporary performance, and cross-cultural collaboration. He holds a Master of Fine Arts, a Bachelor of Fine Art, and a Diploma in Dance Studies from the University of Ghana, and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. on migration, culture, and dance. Since 2015, he has served as Director of the Noyam African Dance Institute and, since 2018, Creative Director of NTY-Studios, where he develops new work and mentors emerging artists. In 2025 he was appointed to the Board of the National Theatre of Ghana, and in 2024 he joined Ashesi University as adjunct faculty. Earlier, from 2013 to 2018, he was Artistic Director of the National Dance Company of Ghana, where he led productions that toured internationally and celebrated Ghana’s national milestones. His choreography has been commissioned for major cultural and corporate events including Ghana’s 60th Independence Day, the Annual Osagyefo Awards, EMY Africa Awards, the GUBA Awards, and international collaborations such as Niyati, Agoro, Chain Stories, Flying Solo, and most recently Unfinished Tales and Warm Bodies. Recent works include Fawohodie (2025), Fire of Hope (2025), The Second Coming of Nkrumah (2023), and Mansa Musa (2023). Alongside his creative practice, Nii-Tete has taught and lectured widely, from the Design and Technology Institute in Accra to institutions in the US and Europe including the University of California, Ohio University, and the University of Dubuque. His workshops and residencies focus on African dance as both a living tradition and a platform for innovation. He continues to appear as a performer, most recently in the 2024 theatre production In the Chest of a Woman, and has been a regular judge on Ghana’s popular television show Talented Kids since 2021.Through choreography, teaching, and research, Nii-Tete Yartey is shaping how African dance is experienced and understood in Ghana and across the world, using movement to explore culture, history, and migration.
38. Alidu Alhassan
Alidu Alhassan is a veteran dancer, choreographer, and cultural educator from Tamale, Ghana. Since joining the National Dance Company of Ghana in 1997, he has risen through the ranks to become one of its principal performers, known for his mastery of traditional and contemporary African dance, flute, drumming, and choreography. His artistic journey began in the cultural groups of Tamale, where he honed skills in dance, music, and performance that continue to shape his artistry today. Over the past three decades, he has performed and taught across Africa, Europe, Asia, and North America, representing Ghana at global stages including Expo 2000 in Hanover, Expo 2010 in Shanghai, the FIFA World Cup in South Africa (2010), Dance Africa Festival at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (2023), and workshops in Switzerland and the University of Oregon (2024). At the National Theatre of Ghana, Alhassan has contributed to landmark productions such as Musu: Saga of the Slaves, Bukom, Solma, Azã, Agoro, and Alkebulan’s Awakening. His collaborations with choreographers and directors from Ghana, the Caribbean, the US, Europe, and Israel reflect his ability to bridge cultural traditions with contemporary performance. In addition to performing, he supervises and trains younger dancers, researches Ghanaian dance traditions, and leads workshops and master classes locally and abroad. His vision is to inspire young people by combining rigorous training with creativity, equipping them with the tools to thrive as artists. Alidu Alhassan remains a central figure in Ghana’s dance landscape—a performer, teacher, and cultural ambassador whose work continues to celebrate and expand the possibilities of Ghanaian and African dance.