The Ceiling Was Always a Dress
Karim Adduchi spent four months researching the Alhambra, then worked with master woodworkers in Amman to carry the Comares ceiling’s geometry onto a dress of inlaid wood.
In TELLUS, Dickson Mbi Turns to the Mami Wata to Confront Climate Change
When Dickson Mbi found himself fazed by the numerous climate crises gripping the globe in real time, he wondered how he would explain the state of the world to his son. The Olivier-winning choreographer and composer was certain he had to return to the stories from his Cameroonian parents that comforted him growing up in […]
At 1-54 London, African Modernism Gets a Dedicated Section
It is the 14th edition of 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair, which runs at Somerset House from 15 to 18 October, and this year its modernist spotlight features familiar names: Gerard Sekoto, Skunder Boghossian, Papa Ibra Tall and Ibrahim El-Salahi, among others. This is not the first time 1-54 has featured modernist African artists, but […]
The Art of African Braiding, Through the Eyes of Gen Z
In many African cultures, hair can carry stories from one generation to another. Through braiding and threading techniques, a simple change in appearance can become meaningful, representing different statuses and stages across an individual’s lifespan. Hair traditions were therefore fundamental to a community’s identity, often signifying the crown of its kinship and the core of […]
Filhas do Barro / Daughters of Clay
On Santiago, Cape Verde, seven women potters speak of the livelihoods they have built in clay and the knowledge they will leave to their daughters. “Clay has been my source of livelihood,” one of the women says early in Filhas do Barro. “Ever since I started working alongside my mother, clay has been my school.” […]
The Seedpod and the Skin
In a small room of white walls and warm wood at Singita Kruger National Park, a set of portraits hangs in quiet succession. The men in them appear faceless. Sculptural masks sit where their features should be, and the bodies beneath are still, set against open sky and water. In one, a figure in velvet […]
In Côte d’Ivoire, a New Generation Learns to Read the Waves
Along the Ivorian coastline, the ocean has never been a playground. It feeds families, holds spirits and commands a caution passed down through generations. For most of the country’s history, almost nobody looked at those waves and imagined riding them. The Rising Dawn, a feature documentary by Ivorian filmmakers Nadi Saddy and Nuits Balnéaires, is […]
Five Sudanese Women Artists Make Art From Memories of Home
These Sudanese artists are making art from the memories of home. The first is Stefania Indelicato, a jeweller born in Eritrea and raised in Sudan, whose earliest memories of the Souk of Omdurman were spent accompanying her mother in search of meaningful objects. There is Omeima Mudawi-Rowlings, a textile artist who has spent decades in […]
Before the Album, Rapsody Went to Ghana
Rapsody did not come to Ghana for a show. There was no tour routing to explain the visit, no announced album cycle. She came to walk the country, and she came with questions about where she was from. Amino’s 2025 film, “Rapsody in Ghana, A Conversation With Joseph Amino,” follows those questions through markets and […]
Can a Piece of Clothing Bring You Home?
For Kimanzi, a Kenyan living in Riverside, California, home fits inside a scarf. When she left Kenya for the United States at 17, she had only two suitcases and a carry-on. Every item she packed meant another had to be left behind. Among the things she refused to leave was a kitenge scarf that had […]