AfricaIs aCountry

'America as … point of reference'

Africa Is a Country Podcast
African Five-a-Side Podcast

'America as … point of reference'

By
Sean Jacobs

The artist Dawn Okoro (take the link to her blog) on her most recent work:

I’ve just completed a set of drawings [colored pencil, ink, and watercolor on paper; the one above is ‘Woman in Igbo Print Dress’] … This drawing is called “Woman in Igbo Print Dress.” The pattern on the dress is inspired by Ukara cloth. This kind of cloth incorporates symbols that are designed to give it meaning and power … Although I have roots in Nigeria, I have never been there and I want to explore that side of my ancestry. However, I feel that I am learning about Nigeria while naturally using America as my point of reference.

Further Reading

No one should be surprised we exist

The documentary film, ‘Rolé—Histórias dos Rolezinhos’ by Afro-Brazilian filmmaker Vladimir Seixas uses sharp commentary to expose social, political, and cultural inequalities within Brazilian society.

Reading List: Barbara Boswell

While editing a collection of the writings of South African feminist Lauretta Ngcobo, Barbara Boswell found inspiration in texts that reflected Ngcobo’s sense that writing is an exercise of freedom.

Kenya’s stalemate

A fundamental contest between two orders is taking place in Kenya. Will its progressives seize the moment to catalyze a vision for social, economic, and political change?

An annual awakening

In the 1980s, the South African arts collective Vakalisa Art Associates reclaimed time as a tool of social control through their subversive calendars.

More than a building

The film ‘No Place But Here’ uses VR or 360 media to immerse a viewer inside a housing occupation in Cape Town. In the process, it wants to challenge gentrification and the capitalist logic of home ownership.