Thread is a site for artists from around the world to live and work in Sinthian, a rural village in Tambacounda, the southeastern region of Senegal.
This new initiative of the Connecticut-based Josef and Anni Albers Foundation is an artists’ residency program and cultural center in rural Senegal. THREAD, according to the founders, is a sensitive work, designed pro bono by New York architect Toshiko Mori, that aims to weave together art, education, and cultural exchange under one roof.
Additionally, Thread presents its space as an agricultural hub for Sinthian and the surrounding villages, providing training, fertile land, and a meeting place for the local and regional community to increase their economic stability. Furthermore, Thread is described as center that exists at a crossroads between art space, community farm, water source, studio-gallery-performance space, community center, platform for culture sharing, local hangout, (inter)national residency, kid’s play gym, and village cell phone charger.
According to a recent Al Jazeera story, Thread’s aim goes beyond bringing inspiration to local villagers; its ambition is to attract designers from across the world and widen the appeal of modern art, away from its usual hubs of London, New York and Berlin.
