By Ghana News Agency
Legendary Ghanaian musician Samini will headline the maiden edition of the Adonko Ghana Festival Ohio, United States of America (USA).
The five-day festival themed “Upholding Ghanaian Culture, the Columbus Way” is scheduled for August 3–7, 2023, and is expected to attract over 1000 people around the world.
Continue reading “Samini headlines maiden edition of Adonko Ghana Festival Ohio”
By The Independent
Nigerian artist, Oluseyi Soyege, has won another top laurel at the San Antonio Art League & Museum’s 93rd Annual Juried Art exhibition held in Texas, United States of America.
Soyege’s fabric collage artwork titled “A Peek Into the Future” won one of the six awards given to artists selected out of the 552 works submitted by over 200 artists from San Antonio, Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, San Marcos, Corpus Christi and other cities in Texas.
Continue reading “Nigerian Artist, Oluseyi Soyege, Wins Another Top U.S. Laurel”
By Kirstyn Brendlen | Brooklyn Paper
A new cultural and historical exhibition, “Brooklyn is Africa,” opened to the public at Brooklyn Borough Hall last week, and is on display through next Monday to honor the African diaspora in Brooklyn.
“As home to the largest population of Africans in the United States, it is Brooklyn’s pride and obligation to celebrate this rich and diverse history that’s still omnipresent in our communities,” said Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso in a release.
Continue reading “‘BROOKLYN IS AFRICA’ EXHIBIT DISPLAYED AT BROOKLYN BOROUGH HALL THROUGH MARCH 21”
By Maxwell Evans | Black Club Chicago
Nigerian-born painter Dayo Laoye always has relied on the generosity of South Siders to support his work. After twelve years tirelessly working to establish himself within the South Side’s Black arts scene, South Side Community Art Center co-founder Margaret Burroughs gave him several canvasses to use. They were musty and needed priming before he could use them, but they were a meaningful vote of confidence from one of the community’s most influential supporters of the arts.
Continue reading “In ‘A Place In Time,’ A Painter And A Photographer Explore Africa’s Give And Take With Black American Culture”
By artforum
In a decision that could mark a turning point in the growing restitution movement, the Smithsonian Institution announced on March 8 that it will repatriate to Nigeria nearly all of the thirty-nine Benin bronzes held in its collection. Many of the objects are believed to be part of the trove of some 90,000 brass, bronze, and ivory items looted from the Republic of Benin, as Nigeria was then known, in 1897 by British troops and dispersed across the Continent and then to parts west.
Continue reading “SMITHSONIAN TO RETURN COLLECTION OF BENIN BRONZES TO NIGERIA”
By HELEN STOILAS | The Art Newspaper
Continue reading “The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York will return two Benin Bronzes to Nigeria”
ARTBEAT |Thisday
As one of Houston’s most iconic silo buildings, The Silos at Sawyer houses 97 workspaces for over 100 artists. Here, in good company among others, a visitor would find Eko Art Gallery, which was officially opened on Saturday, March 6.
Continue reading “In Houston, Eko Art Gallery Evokes Nostalgic Feelings of Lagos”
By Terence Trouillot | Artsy
On a hot summer day this year, I was relieved to speak to the Ghanaian artist Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe over the phone and not through a screen. Sure, it would have been nice to see him face-to-face, but there was something quite familiar and soothing to just hear (and focus on) the timbre and natural joy in his voice—his friendly disposition signaled by the cadence in his speech.
Continue reading “Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe | The Ascent of Young Ghanaian Artist”
Nate Freeman | artnet News
One of the hottest invitations at Art Basel Miami Beach in December was to a star-studded dinner at the chic Faena Hotel honoring artist Amoako Boafo. A few years earlier, Boafo was in Accra, Ghana, struggling to sell works for $100 apiece to support his mother and grandmother. Now, he was the headliner of the art world’s buzziest week of the year, with a suite of gigantic paintings at the Rubell Museum and a sold-out booth at the fair.
Continue reading “Amoako Boafo: How Feverish Selling and Infighting Built the Buzziest Artist of 2020”
BY PEI-RU KEH | | Wallpaper*
In a new show at Mariane Ibrahim Gallery, Ghanaian artist Amoako Boafo explores self-reflection, self-celebration and seeks to challenge existing beliefs about Black identity
Continue reading “Amoako Boafo | Ghanaian artist’s gestural portraits exude strength in times of crisis”
Patrick Quarm earned his MFA in Texas before returning to his native country, where he lives and works. Some of his recent works would be in an exhibition which will be his first New York solo.
By Caroline Goldstein | artnet
Continue reading “Patrick Quarm | Ghanaian Artist Weaves Together Vibrant Tapestries That Reflect His Personal Experiences”
By TERRY GROSS | NPR
Author Yaa Gyasi’s family emigrated from Ghana to the United States when she was 2, but it wasn’t until she was 9 and her family moved to Huntsville, Ala., that she began to feel like she didn’t fit in.
Continue reading “Yaa Gyasi | Ghanaian-American author draws on her upbringing in new book ‘Transcendent Kingdom’”
Dr. Peter Ntepheis a man of many parts. With six degrees from some of the world’s leading universities, including Oxford, and a PhD from the University of London, he undoubtedly qualifies to be described as “well-read.” The one-time practicing lawyer, London academic, and football commentator is also quite well-traveled, including in Africa, and has built up a remarkable collection of African art. In this interview with Ibene Magazine, Dr. Ntephe, who lives in Houston, Texas, shares his views on African Arts and its place in contemporary society.
by IBIENE MAGAZINE
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Kunle Adewale, has received a rare international recognition in the United States when the Mayor of Cincinnati declared August 2 as “Kunle Adewale Day” in recognition of his contribution to the United States in both fields of Arts and Medicine. The Mayor, John Cranley, made the declaration with a seal.
Continue reading “Kunle Adewale | Nigerian artist, gets special day in Cincinnati”
byValerie Steele | CNN
Ever since Nigerian-born British fashion designer Duro Olowu launched his eponymous label in 2004, his aesthetic has remained remarkably consistent. Known for his use of color and pattern, Olowu also favors the sharply tailored silhouettes of his multicultural 1970s upbringing, including fitted jackets, precision-cut wide-leg trousers, billowing capes and kimonos, and intricately cut yet liberating dresses with hemlines below the knee — all rendered in vivid and unusually juxtaposed fabrics, patterns, and textures.
Continue reading “Duro Olowu | Michelle Obama-approved designer pursuit of the ‘culture of style’”
By DENISE M. WATSON | THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Even when he isn’t thinking as a photographer, Dawit N.M. knows how important it is to be seen.
Not looked at. Seen.
His photo of two girls playing in a street in Ethiopia, shyly hiding their faces in matching pink hoodies, is a portrait of innocence and youth. It isn’t one of starvation, death and calamity, which are often associated with the country in which Dawit was born.
Continue reading “Dawit N.M | Photographer, director draws on Ethiopian, Virginian roots in Chrysler exhibition”
By Claire Voon | Artsy
Somali-American Mariane Ibrahim is always thinking ahead. As a young dealer, she is enjoying a precocious, meteoric rise on the international art scene. She’s built her reputation with a roster of trailblazing contemporary artists, predominantly from the African diaspora.
Continue reading “The Meteoric Rise of Somali Gallerist, Mariane Ibrahim, Champion of African Diasporic Art”
Harley Wong | Artsy
Ghanaian artist Amoako Boafo has experienced a meteoric rise in the art world over the past year. Known for large-scale portraits of Black subjects rendered in bold, gestural strokes, Boafo has only gained momentum in 2020. Recently, in April 2020, he donated a painting, Aurore Iradukunda (2020), to an online benefit auction supporting the Museum of the African Diaspora during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The painting sold in early May for $190,000, nearly six times its $35,000 estimate.
Continue reading “Ghanaian artist, Amoako Boafo, Is Navigating Art-World Success While Lifting up the African Diaspora”
By Rudolf Ogoo Okonkwo | The Quartz
On the first day of class, as a way of introduction, I asked the 15 diverse students in my class at the School of Visual Arts in New York City why they chose to take Afrodiasporic literature. One after another, these young men and women from America, India, Haiti and China stated what motivated them to register for the course. Most of them felt it would be a good addition to their knowledge of the world. Only three of them had been to Africa. One went to Egypt, one to South Africa and the other visited her parents’ country of Nigeria.
Continue reading “Modern African literature is taking a journey through the diaspora back to the continent”
By Mazuba Kapambwe | Culture Trips
The African continent offers extraordinary cultural richness and diversity manifested in its visual art. It employs a variety of mediums, from textile to painting, masks, jewelry, figurines, and more. We profile the top 10 places to see African art in New York City.
Continue reading “Best Places to See African Art in New York City”
By Nick Ogutu | African Education in Focus
As one of the proprietors of Harlem Artisan Market, I know this is a difficult to answer because African art and culture is so rich, diverse and deep that it could occupy the entire city itself. As part of an initiative for Safari Yangu and a few street vendors, Harlem Artisan Market opened its doors in December 2018 as a pop-up indoor market on 105 west 125th street in Harlem. Safari Yangu is an organization that was founded in 2017 by a group of volunteer students at Columbia University. Its purpose is to empower immigrants through advocacy and create different platforms to tell their unique stories.
Continue reading “Has African art finally found a place in New York?”
How will the impact of COVID-19 translate to Black arts communities and organizations which showcase artists from the African Diaspora? Many of these organizations and artists were already struggling due to low patronage and lack of public arts funding support. How will institutions like the Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD) weather the COVID-19 storm?
By Tyra Fennell | The RegistryBayArea.com
Continue reading “COVID-19 and Its Effect on Black Arts in San Francisco”
By Sam Lefebvre | KQED
An auction benefiting Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD), one of the many Bay Area cultural organizations experiencing dramatic revenue shortfalls during mandatory closure, opens April 21 via the online marketplace Artsy and features works donated by a growing number of noted artists.
Continue reading “Online Art Auction Aims to Keep Museum of the African Diaspora Afloat”
By Brenna Holland | For NJ Advance Media
When Muyambo Marcel Chishimba was referred to the Refugee Assistance Partners of New Jersey (RAP), he expected to be helped in his effort to navigate the government, housing and school systems in his new home of Elizabeth. What Chishimba did not expect was that RAP would be the organization to help jump start his career as an artist in the United States.
Continue reading “Congolese refugee launches American art career with help from Refugee Assistance Partners of N.J.”
By Kirsten Kanja |SDC.co.ke
Wakenya Clewis, a Kenyan-born art enthusiast has appealed for support in her bid to become the next cover girl for Ink Magazine, a lifestyle magazine covering tattoo culture. According to the ‘Kenyan Hippie’, getting on the magazine’s cover would achieve more than just showcasing her art.
Continue reading “Kenyan-born artist appeals for support in tattoo magazine competition”
By CARL HOOVER choover@wacotrib.com
Los Angeles artist Njideka Akunyili Crosby explores the cultural collage of memory, particularly for those who straddle two or more cultures, on her canvases for good reason: It’s her story.
Akunyili Crosby, born in Enugu, Nigeria in 1983, came to America to study medicine only to find a different calling in art — a calling that has led to a host of international prizes, a MacArthur Fellowship and pieces that have sold for more than a million dollars.
Continue reading “Artist Njideka Akunyili Crosby explores memory, Nigerian culture in work, visits Baylor”
The Botswana-born painter, whose depictions of daily life in Southern Africa are underpinned by political history and critical theory, has exploded on the U.S. museum scene. He’s had recent solo shows at the Baltimore Museum of Art, the Fowler Museum in Los Angeles, the Smart Museum in Chicago, and has another, beginning next February, at the Pérez Art Museum in Miami.
Continue reading “Bostwana-Born artist, Meleko Mokgosi, makes it big in America”
By Oladeinde Olawoyin
An award-winning Nigerian poet, essayist, translator and author of short stories, Tade Ipadeola, has been selected to participate in the International Writing Program (IWP) Fall Residency at the University of Iowa, courtesy of the United States Department of State.
From September 1 to November 16, Mr Ipadeola will join 28 other accomplished writers from across the globe in the world’s oldest and largest multinational writing residency.
Continue reading “Nigerian poet selected for International Writing Program at the University of Iowa”
By Angel Idowu
“Africa is here and it’s a good thing,” says Patrick Saingbey-Woodtor, founder of Chicago’s African Festival of the Arts, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this weekend in Washington Park.
The festival was initially created to bring attention to Saingbey-Woodtor’s Window to Africa shop and Hyde Park’s Harper Court. It has since grown into an annual weekend celebration that draws crowds from across the country with live music, fine art, food and more.
Continue reading “African Festival of the Arts Celebrates 30th Anniversary This Labor Day Weekend”
Laolu Senbanjo is a brooklyn-based Nigerian body artist who has done so many works that speak for themselves. He painted fBeyoncé for her album, Lemonade. His latest work is with the American tennis super star, Serena Williams, on the cover of the September issue of Essence.
In the magazine’s cover, the tennis player rocks the daring body art of the Nigerian visual artist in a way that gives her a daring look.
Continue reading “Laolu Senbanjo: Broklyn based- Nigerian visual artist paints Serena Williams for the cover of Essence Magazine”
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