After completing a Masters degree in Art and Architectural History at the University of Groningen,she worked for several years in the cultural sector and the tourism industry. She then acquired a Masters degree in Education from the University of

Amsterdam and continued her career as a lecturer in Art and Cultural History at the Art Academy in Tilburg (Fontys) and Amsterdam (AHK), with a spe-

cialisation in African and Islamic art. She combines her teaching work in higher education with bogolan workshops as a tour manager in Africa and the

Middle East, and uses her extensive network to organise intercultural student exchanges to North Africa & Mali.