African Art and Creativity: What Inspires Artists Across the Continent

In a small Lagos studio, a painter dips her brush in red paint. Her canvas bursts with market colors: yellow mangoes, blue headscarves, green leaves. She grew up in a noisy neighborhood where money was scarce, but the buzz of traders and kids playing gave her ideas. In a London apartment, a musician strums […]
Beauty in Hard Times: Africa’s Lipstick Effect

What do women hold onto when everything else feels uncertain? Across Africa, one answer rises again and again: beauty rituals. In times of economic pressure, when inflation climbs and currencies wobble, many women continue to invest in small but powerful acts of adornment—braids, gele, fragrance oils, or a few yards of fabric. Economists call it […]
Where the Fathers Are

Carlos Idun-Tawiah’s portraits reimagine absence, softness, and legacy in Black fatherhood. Timed for Father’s Day, his series Hero, Father, Friend invites us into a world where care is quiet, presence is sacred, and the everyday becomes monumental. Carlos is a Ghanaian artist, photographer, and filmmaker based in Accra. Drawing inspiration from African archival treasures, he explores […]