Who We Are
The digital home for collaboration between Mona Penn-Jousset + Coco Olakunle
MOCA is the resting place for the collaborations of the creative duo formed by photographer, filmmaker & educator Coco Olakunle and educator, writer, speaker, podcaster, & curator Mona Penn-Jousset. Together, we formed MOCA to actualize our shared belief in the possibility of a more positive and connected world. Through images, film, and written stories, MOCA offers a platform to educate and open minds.
Mona Penn-Jousset
Mona Penn-Jousset is an African-American educator, writer, speaker, podcaster, business consultant, and curator of contemporary photography of the African diaspora. Mona’s current work occurs at the intersection of creativity, innovation, and technology. She enjoys working with universities and other organizations to design and launch high-performing, impactful, inclusive teaching cultures and supporting tools.
Mona has a Theater & Film, Puerto Rican Studies, and Critical Thinking background. She attended Hunter College, New York, and obtained her BA in Humanities with emphasis on Creative Writing from New College California. Mona received her Master of Arts & Society at Utrecht University on January 17th, 2022. She offers her thesis entitled, “Beyond The Pale: Reforming Dutch Art Academies as Locations Where Narratives and Histories of People are Constructed and Maintained” as a culmination of her 30 years of international education experience.
On October 3rd, 2019, Mona became the first known instructor of African descent at the prestigious Royal Academy of the Art, The Hague (Koninklijke Academie van Beeldende Kunsten / KABK), where she lectured on art communication at both the bachelor’s and master’s level. In addition to her work with students, Mona also offered workshops on Diversity & Inclusivity for the photography department lecturers at the KABK. Mona also held a dual position at the Utrecht School of the Arts (Hogeschool voor de Kunsten Utrecht / HKU), where she taught courses emphasizing critical thinking & global perspectives within the framework of the Image, Media, and Technology department and acted as a Special Support Consultant guiding the management and board level.
Mona regularly hosts the True North World Podcast outside her work with art academies.
Coco Olakunle
Coco obtained her BA in Human Geography at the University of Amsterdam. An autodidact photographer, she began experimenting with a camera as a teenager. Preferring non-professional models, Coco uses her signature cinéma verité style photography to capture important stories. For Coco, the camera is a way to engage humanity and peacefully open the doors of inclusivity and full-spectrum representation.
She has worked commercially for an international advertising agency, W&K, and Dutch textile firm, Vlisco, Adidas, Ivy Park, Harper’s Bazaar, I-D, DAZED, and Airbnb. Her work has been exhibited at FOAM, Amsterdam, and The Tropical Museum, Amsterdam. Coco is engaged in an ongoing journey of self-discovery that explores ways of seeing and understanding the black experience in a visual universe. In September 2020, Coco shot the cover of Dutch ELLE.