africanah.org

I think I wouldn’t encourage people to become full time artists. I never even encouraged my students to become full time artist because you don’t go to school and learn to become one. Being an artist is a calling, you are either called to be that out of a need inside you or you are driven by circumstances. But I encourage most of my students to be creative, always question and be productive. The only way we can show our worth is through what we say and do, in other words through action. The more you say and do good things, the more you are considered productive and the more you will be rewarded.

Matt Kayem in conversation with the Ugandan artist Henry ‘Mzili’ Mujunga

Dripping Earth, 2019. Courtesy Circle Art Gallery

Read more »

There are many aspects of Messouma Manlanbien’s work that attracted me and that I enjoyed when visiting the exhibition; probably the most obvious one is the focus on women as the central theme not only in the exhibition but in Marie-Claire’s work in general, and the prevailing stereotypes that many of us battle against on a daily basis, the acknowledgement and celebration of our foremothers teachings also moved me. I appreciated the artist’s attempt to contribute with her work to these striking debates.

Raquel Villar-Pérez on the work of Marie-Claire Messouma Manlanbien

Read more »

Bubbling under the surface of Africa’s urban landscape is a style of art historically viewed as provocative, empowering and intrinsically attached to black culture. The street art scene – in particular from South Africa – is responsible for the vivid murals and art work strewn across its metropolis and suburbs.

Christabel Johanson on Street Art in Africa

Faith47, 2017

Read more »

Africanah.org at 5: On September 5, 2016 we published an article on the iconic Kitchen Table Series of the American artist Carrie Mae Weems. The article was written by artist and activist Eve Sandler. For more than one reason the article was remarkable. Part of it was sung by her. That never happened before. And after.

Eve Sandler and the Kitchen Table Series of Carrie Mae Weems

Read more »

Made Visible: Contemporary South African Fashion and Identity is an exhibition presented at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. The exhibition surveyed seven contemporary South African artists working in fashion, photography, video, performance, and sculpture. Their prolific aims in self-fashioning historiographies that were once subject to erasure encapsulate the rich myriad of hybrid identities in contemporary South Africa.

Denis Mwaura on the relation between South African fashion and identity

Made Visible: Contemporary South African Fashion and Identity, installation view of  exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Read more »