INTERVIEW Michelle Michewicz
PUBLISHED 9 AUG 26
Junior Safari’s approach centers on storytelling through imagery, photography, and video mapping, crafting experiences that forge emotional connections by blending visual aesthetics with human narratives. Whether working behind a camera or on architectural projections, he creates work that explores people, identity, memory, and shared experiences.
// What kind of relationship do you have with art?
For me, art is a way of understanding the world and communicating with others. It allows me to translate ideas and emotions into visual experiences that words alone cannot express. It is both a personal language and a way of connecting with different communities.
// What motivates you to create?
I am motivated by the desire to tell meaningful stories and to create moments that people remember. Growing up across different countries and cultures in areas marked by history has made me curious about human connections and the sense of belonging, and creating allows me to explore these relationships while sharing them with others.
// How do you usually work? Can you describe your creative process?
My process usually starts with research. I spend time understanding the context, the people, or the place I am working with. Then I develop ideas through sketches, mood boards, references, and storyboards before moving into production.
// Which moment of the creative process do you enjoy the most?
The sharing (exhibition or projection) stage is the part I enjoy the most. After exploring ideas and finding the strongest visual language to express them, I like to hear from others how the visuals made them feel at first glance according to their story, their identity, and their origins.
// How do you know when a work is finished?
A work is finished when every element contributes to the idea without needing further explanation. There is always something that could be improved, but I stop when the work communicates what I intended and feels balanced.
// What is your contribution to SEE DJERBA 2026, and how does it connect to this year’s theme, AKROS?
My contribution explores the invisible connections that exist between people, cultures, histories, and landscapes of East Africa. Through video mapping, I am interested in showing movement, transformation, and shared experiences that cross geographical and cultural boundaries.
// Did the festival’s theme influence or transform your artistic approach?
Yes. The theme encouraged me to think less about isolated stories and more about the networks that connect them. It pushed me to develop visual transitions and narratives that emphasize relationships instead of individual moments.
// What does entanglement mean to you?
To me, entanglement means that nothing exists completely on its own. Our identities, memories, cultures, and environments constantly influence one another. We are shaped by encounters, movement, and shared histories, even when we are not always aware of them.
// Can you describe a personal experience that made you reflect on the idea of entanglement?
I was born in Tanzania, grew up in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, and have been living in Burundi since 2018. I have origins from DRC, Rwanda and Burundi. Living in different places has shown me how cultures overlap and influence each other. Rather than belonging to only one place, I have learned that identity is built through multiple experiences and connections.
// What do you hope visitors experience when they encounter your work?
I hope they take time to observe, to feel curious, and to reflect on the connections between themselves and others. Even if every viewer has a different interpretation, I hope the work creates a genuine emotional response.
// What would you like people to take away after seeing your work?
I would like people to leave with the feeling that every story is connected to another, and that even small encounters can shape the way we understand ourselves and the world around us.
// Do you think art should ask questions, provide answers, or both?
I believe art should primarily ask questions. Sometimes it can suggest possible answers, but its greatest strength is opening spaces for reflection and conversation rather than offering fixed conclusions.
// What inspires you outside the art world?
Travel, everyday conversations, music, landscapes, and observing people inspire me. I am especially interested in how people interact with one another and how different cultures express themselves through daily life.
// Is there an artist, writer, or thinker who has significantly influenced your practice?
Experiences have shaped my perspective more than any individual reference and continue to influence the way I approach storytelling and visual creation, which is focused more on how I see and feel things.