Klaudia Ofwona Draber

As Polish/Kenyan arts professionals (curator & musician) based in New York City, and Artist Residency Co-Artistic Directors, we will work on a research project at Paradise AIR to study Japanese approach to artist residency design. Our goal is to learn from Japanese philosophy and lifestyle while developing a framework for our upcoming artist residency that we are opening in southern Poland. Our property in Poland will host multidisciplinary artist studios, workshop spaces, recording room, bungalows, and natural landscapes featuring gardens, apple trees, a pond, and beehives. At Paradise AIR, through research, workshops, and musical performances, we will explore how Japanese concepts of space, community, and harmony can enhance our understanding of what artists need to live harmoniously and create. Our work combines Klaudia’s expertise in curating and residency-making with Jakub’s musical perspective on environmental listening and meditation.

Klaudia Ofwona Draber is a curator, a strategy consultant, and the founder of KODA—a social practice residency for mid-career artists. She has lived and led arts, technology and strategy projects in Europe, Africa, and the United States. Her professional experience includes serving as Faculty at Sotheby’s Institute of Art, working as the Head of Public Relations at the Polish Cultural Institute New York, and as a consultant to the British Council Arts. She also worked at UBS, managing global change and local arts CSR projects. Klaudia was the 2021-2022 Helena Rubinstein Fellow at the Whitney Museum ISP Curatorial Studies Program. She is a board member at ArtTable and a mentor at NEW INC. Klaudia holds an MA in Art Business from Sotheby‘s Institute of Art New York. She also holds an MA in Economics from the Warsaw School of Economics. Klaudia is a PhD candidate in Practice in Curating at the University of Reading and OnCurating Academy.

https://www.kodalab.org/