Best of Art 2025
For decades, African art occupied a provisional space in global institutions—collected but rarely centered, exhibited but seldom historicized on its own
Detty December’s Economic Power and Growing Divide
Detty December has returned, and across West Africa, cities like Lagos and Accra are preparing
Not Every Lot Sells: What Bonhams’ African Art Auction Really Reveals
When Bonhams launched the auction for Modern & Contemporary African Art in London, it added yet another chapter to the evolving story of how African and diaspora art is being valued and revalued on the global stage. Now scheduled for 8 October 2025, it will arrive with all the usual signals of a market-watching moment: […]
Fashion as Faith at Harlem’s Annual Senegalese Bamba Day Parade
Every year on July 28th, Harlem becomes the stage for the Senegalese, and more importantly, the Murid diaspora in New York City for Bamba Day, a march honoring Cheikh Ahmadu Bamba’s teachings and excellence. The streets of 116th and 7th Avenue resonate with chants of Allah (swt) and Bamba, creating a communal presence that publicly […]
How African Music Conquered the World (and Why It’s Just Getting Started)
African music has always transcended mere sound. It is memory incarnate, ritual transformed into rhythm, protest given voice, and joy made manifest—a living pulse that carries history from one generation to the next. Over centuries, that pulse has traveled across oceans, first carried by force through slavery, later shared by choice through cultural exchange. […]
Everyday Couture: Why Africa’s True Fashion Houses Sit on the Streets
Growing up in Africa, you feel the streets’ pulse long before you ever hear of Paris runways. On crowded roads where roasted plantain and petrol fumes mingle, a tailor’s shop hums with life. It’s a tiny space, bursting with wax prints, bogolan, kente, and lace — colors popping like a festival. A sewing machine […]
Little Lagos in London: Adisa Olashile Captures Nigeria’s Spirit in Peckham
On a Saturday afternoon in Peckham, South London, Rye Lane feels like Lagos stretched across the Atlantic. Yoruba greetings ripple through the air, suya smoke drifts past the scent of jollof rice, and Ankara fabrics streak the crowd in bursts of color. This is “Little Lagos” in London, where the Nigerian community has made its […]
Continental Swagger: African Fashion Design in the 21st Century – Post-Panel Reflections
Yesterday’s Continental Swagger panel, presented by The Met’s Costume Institute, brought together three uncompromising voices — Adeju Thompson (Lagos Space Programme, Nigeria), Wanda Lephoto (South Africa), and Imane Ayissi (Cameroon/France) for an unflinching, deeply personal conversation on heritage, innovation, and the politics of where a designer chooses to stand. Moderated by Monica L. Miller, Guest […]
Modou Gueye: The Mats of My Childhood as Diasporic Ritual and Visual Reclamation
Some artists paint what they see. Modou Gueye paints what stays with him. Born in 1990 in Pikine, Senegal, and now living between Dakar and Barcelona, Gueye creates from a place where memory meets ritual, and where the ordinary is reborn as sacred. His work doesn’t seek to explain, it seeks to remember. Not with […]
Luxury Dreams, Local Struggles: The Price of African Fashion Today
African fashion has been experiencing a delightful renaissance. From Lagos to Abidjan, Dakar to Nairobi, designers are capturing global attention with their creativity, craftsmanship, and cultural storytelling. But beneath the glamour, many African consumers are voicing a growing concern: the escalating cost of homegrown fashion is driving them out of the market. As inflation and […]