NOW Gallery will be celebrating London’s diverse creative landscape in a new cross-cultural installation, Home Affairs.
The exhibition is a collaboration between furniture designer Yinka Ilori, fashion designer Christine Mhando of London-based CHiCHiA and creative consultant Arieta Mujay. It features four theatrical, visually compelling conceptual spaces, brought to life with curated film, archival footage and performance. Framed by the language of traditional Nigerian & Swahili parables, the spaces will be filled with thought-provoking furniture, indigenous plants, designed objects, garments and wallpapers inspired by bespoke Khanga textiles. There will also be artwork by The installation will also be artwork by Jason Barka and Berjo Mouanga; a mural by myself, Lulu Kitololo; hand-carved wooden stools and bowls by artist Gary March and; on opening night, spoken word performances by the Bazaar Bohemian, of Project Tribe.
Art director/brand consultant Ola Shobowale (aka @imustcreatenow) is also on-board, helping to bring it all together.
Dates: 20th August – 4th September 2015 Venue: NOW Gallery, The Gateway Pavilions, Peninsula Square, Greenwich Peninsula, London SE10 0SQ
Join us this Thursday evening for the NOW Lateropening night
The motivation behind the Afri-love interview series is to demonstrate the possibilities that come with pursuing your passion. The interviews acknowledge that the path is challenging and they show how its travellers have persisted through adversity with wonderful results. As with the blog in general, there is a strong creative thread – poets, painters, musicians, designers, artists, writers and people creating change through activism.
Here's a round-up of some popular interviews from a diverse group of inspiring people:
Interview with author and black film aficionado, Nadia Denton (left), and accessories designer Adele Dejak.
Interview with poet, sports writer and musician, Musa Okwonga.
As well as looking forward to exhibiting at the Didsbury Arts Festival, I'm really looking forward to a good lineup of events. The following ones are inked in my diary:
I hope you've all had a fantastic week. Mine's been hectic and it's great to exhale a little, take stock and get revved up for the week ahead. It was busy on the blog too with multi-media inspiration! The week ended on a high note with a taste of the continuing influence of Fela Kuti's spirit.
A huge thanks to you for taking the time to read and share comments, facebook appreciation and tweet love. Remember, you can also get updates via facebook, twitter and by subscribing to the Afri-love feed.
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An interview with an incredibly funky and Afri-fabulous London-based designer
Inspiration from a handful of my role models
TGIF! a look at African music's new classics
A celebration for Zambia's Independence Day
Have a fantastic week! Be proud and be inspired.
:)
Images above: 2nd from top – Fela-inspired art (see Fela post for details); 3rd from top – songstress Rafiya's CD, Amazing; graphic defiance from Chaz Maviyane-Davies (see post for details); bottom – jewelry from Rachel Stewart.
Following yesterday's theme* of activism through the arts, today we're celebrating the phenomenal Olufela Olusegun Oludotun Ransome-Kuti. Fela would have been 72 today and though he is no longer with us in body, his legacy is firmly with us forever. Musician, activist, rebel – the man has inspired music genres (Afrobeat), politics (through his music, through his persistent attacks on the shortcomings of the Nigerian government and through his own political party, Movement of the People) and a wealth of artistic expression in a multitude of media. Today, we celebrate Fela Anikulapo (the man who carries death in his pouch) Kuti through showcasing just a slice of his creative influence.
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Books
This week, Carlos Moore's book, Fela: This Bitch of a Life, is being reissued with cover art by Lemi Ghariokwu, Fela's faithful album artist.
"[A] political revolution [is] a change to the leadership of a society that does not impact the social structures, mores or power relations. A social revolution, on the other hand, is one where the political regime is not the focus of struggle because what is at stake is the very way of being, living and experiencing the world."
It seems that Fela was out to create a political revolution but, the wide reach of his music, its universal themes of social justice and the life of the man himself, may just have created a social one!
I leave you this Friday, with the video of one of my personal favourites, "Zombie":
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[*And to be fair, the theme of this blog and my life!]
Fusing contemporary music, audio-visuals and performing arts, the show explores conflicts past and present. Among them, the story of the world's child soldiers is told throught a combination of an orchestral score, video footage and the words of former soldiers performed by Ugandan actor Arthur Kisenyi.
