Daniel Obasi’s latest offering Udara is a short film that explores the spirit of the ages delivered as a parable the piece is comprised of four acts; EKE, ORIE, AFOR and NKWO. EKE — two sisters travel back to their hometown in an attempt to reconnect with their past. ORIE —a meditation on hopes, loss,…
Eyeliner, hooker heels. Gimp suits. Leather. Latex. Body Harness. Have you ever felt your bones sweat? Shaven legs. Lips meet – boy, girl; girl, girl. Thighs. Breasts. Bloody embrace. Bloody kiss. The outcasts come to feast in the underground world. The Death of Glitter; where red strobe lights guide pulsating bodies through a rabbit hole…
”Style is constructed through a combination of clothing, language (jargon), music, dance, make-up and drugs.” – Subculture: The Meaning of Style, Dick Hebdige. The subversive meaning littered in your ensemble describes your personality. In subcultures, the curation of an individual’s outfit will be motivated by the overall group aesthetic with distinctive pieces and accessories to…
“I think the series serves to tell Africans that we’re fucked. But always fighting, always hopeful, because soon we’ll rise above.” – Gunch on how his upcoming trilogy series addresses issues of contemporary Africans. From starting on a whim of writing and selling comic books during lunch breaks in primary school, to picking up jazz…
The ’80s were a decade of flux, transition, uncertainty and attempts to bring visions of independence into formation. With social, political and economic change and unrest as reference points, artists from various African countries reflected on their country’s circumstances as well as those of continental and global politics in their work. Famine, dictatorships, remnants of…
A hand holds out a sprig of flowers. A firm grip, a sad expression, a floral offering… the story of heartbreak told through the prism of a drawing. Illustrated figures in conversation with melancholy. With drawing, Manikam runs towards heartbreak —a response to relationships and past experiences. His work is characterised by soft palettes, subtle…
Of Gods, Rainbows and Omissions marks artist Athi-Patra Ruga’s first major solo exhibition in the UK. The show that is taking place in the South Wing of Somerset House holds the promise to unveil a dreamlike utopia of myth and its astonishing avatars. An amalgamation of three recent series is shown for the first time indicating…
Manufactoriel is a research proposition in African and Black contemporary visual culture, art and style. The textual and visual allowances of the internet have contributed to the expansion of the project, and have also been sites of critical investigation. Beginning on Tumblr, the platform has transitioned to its own domain, demonstrating their desire to independently populate…
As noted in Wyatt MacGaffey’s discussion on African Traditional Religion, it can be said that a more radical challenge has been mounted recently by anthropologists and historians who argue that the concept of religion itself has been defined in implicitly Christian terms and that the collection of data that is treated as “religion” depends on…
The London situated photographer and filmmaker Akinola Davies Jr stresses identity by mapping elements of his Nigerian heritage. In 2017, he celebrated his roots with the film, Gidi Gidi Bu Ugwu Ze (“Unity is Strength”) for Kenzo. Made in Nigeria, the film was done in collaboration with photographer Ruth Ossai and stylist Ibrahim Kamara. His…
Launched in 2013, the first presence of Publik was felt in Cape Town in the crisp casing of a wine bar situated in city bowl. With the ambition to make known, wines produced by independent winemakers, Publik rose to exhibit and support artisans that had a minimalist approach to winemaking and worked with more unfamiliar…
In a moment where debates about land are at their peak in South Africa, Uriel Orlow‘s Theatrum Botanicum on show at Pool Space in Johannesburg fertilizes ideas around the botanical world as a stage for politics through film, photography, installation and sound. This ongoing project follows the trajectory of most of his work; research-based contemplations with collaborative methodologies,…
