Haja Fanta is a cultural researcher and strategist. Her work rests on a single conviction: that culture, examined through its connections and frictions, gives us a way to make sense of the world and intervene in it. She is attentive to the actors, institutions and conditions through which cultural life takes shape.
She is based in London and works globally across research, curation, programming and writing. Grounded in cultural studies, she is interested in how people gather, how audiences form relationships with institutions and places, and how cultural meaning is produced, circulated and sustained. A longstanding focus of her research is West Africa and its diasporas, and their place within contemporary cultural life.
Her work has been commissioned by World of Interiors, Contemporary& and BYREDO. She has shaped cultural programmes with the Southbank Centre, The Africa Centre (London) and RALLY Festival. She has held curatorial and research roles at RAW Material Company and University of the Arts London.
She is the founder of Marrah, an independent studio for cultural research, strategy and programming. Through Marrah, she works with organisations to understand the cultural contexts, audiences and relationships around them, translating that understanding into considered, sustained forms of engagement.
Available for research and writing commissions, as well as curatorial partnerships and consulting, through Marrah.
Curation
Writing
Projects
Talks
Are.na