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Illustration by Kate Copeland
Art historian and curator Alayo Akinkugbe on reframing Blackness
The curator and owner of the Instagram account “A Black Art History” is holding up a magnifying glass to figures typically pushed to the edge of the canvas.
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Greg du Toit
‘I’m amazed I lived to tell the tale’: Award-winning photographer on a life spent in the wild
Tara Shakti will be the first Malagasy artist among the Lunar Codex artists to have her work sent to the moon. Shakti hopes to empower other women through her vibrant paintings.
Tara Shakti
This Madagascan artist is sending her paintings to the moon
Jul 24, 2024
Irinkemi Asake” by Dotun Popoola.
Dotun Popoola Studios
A stunning metal sculpture shows ‘the beauty of Black women all over the world’
May 6, 2024
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Àsìkò
‘Westernization is not the answer’: Artist Àsìkò explores Yoruba culture through mythology
Apr 26, 2024
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Wrong Men
From ‘sorcerer’ and illegal immigrant to Cannes and the Oscars: this filmmaker’s remarkable path to success
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Photo by Thandiwe Muriu/2024 Lavazza Calendar
These three African photographers are celebrating the birthplace of coffee
Achimota School Boxing Club
J. K. Bruce Vanderpuije/Courtesy Deo Gratias Studio/Efie Gallery
The man who captured images of a long-forgotten Ghana
"Portrait of Nana Akufo-Addo, President of Ghana" (2023) by Kehinde Wiley. The painting is one of 11 portraits of African heads of state and former heads of state produced by Wiley as part of a secret, decade-long project titled "A Maze of Power," on display at the Musée du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac in Paris, France.
Tanguy Beurdeley/© Courtesy Kehinde Wiley and Galerie Templon
Presidential portraits: Inside Kehinde Wiley’s secret, decade-long project painting African leaders
Mirror Gate by Pilar Zeta
Courtesy CulturVator - Art D'E
Egypt’s pyramids host stunning works of art
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Luxolo Witvoet
Celebrating South Africa’s youth culture through photography
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Michael Oliver Love
The Afrobeats star on a mission to raise the profile of African art
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Abdulrahman Adesola Yusuf
Why this artist won’t quit on Lagos
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Greta De Lazzaris/01 Distribution
‘Io Capitano’: An African odyssey inspired by true events wins at Venice Film Festival
Supermodel Naomi Campbell holds time in her hand in a backstage image from the 2024 Pirelli calendar photoshoot.
Alessandro Scotti
Behind the scenes of the 2024 Pirelli calendar
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Bassie Maluleka
Advertising is missing Black women. This photographer is on a quest to change that, both in front of and behind the lens
South African singer Motswedi Modiba features in the latest season of "Sing! China." She made it through the audition stage and will be filming the next round in the coming weeks.
Sing! China
A South African singer just became a hit on Chinese reality TV
Chibuike Ifedilichukwu-Choke-2022-Aluminium-26x36inches(66.04x91.44cm) 1 - Grammy-nominated-Nigerian singer Davido
Chibuike Ifedilichukwu
Nigerian upcycling artist creates portraits from waste
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Ayobola Kekere-Ekun
Nigerian artist Ayobola Kekere-Ekun creates her colorful works from folded paper
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Air Afrique
Why the in-flight magazine for an African airline shuttered in 2002 is a must-read today
Kairos-Futura-and-Nairobi-Space-Station-team,-including-Stoneface-Bombaa's-'nomadic-forest'
Courtesy Kairos Futura
Spacesuit-clad artists come together to rewild Nairobi
<strong>"Banel & Adama" </strong>by French Senegalese director Ramata-Toulaye Sy will feature in competition for the Palme d'Or at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. Running from May 16-27, the world's most prestigious film festival will feature a bumper crop of titles by filmmakers associated with the African continent. <strong><em>Look through the gallery to learn more.</em></strong>
Best Friend Forever
Cannes 2023 is a showcase for African cinema
Ramata-Toulaye Sy attends the Brunch Celebrating The Shorts at The Red Sea International Film Festival on December 13, 2021 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Daniele Venturelli/Getty Images for The Red Sea International Film Festival)
Daniele Venturelli/Getty Images for The Red Sea International Film Festival
Meet Ramata-Toulaye Sy, the director competing for the Palme d’Or with her first film
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Courtesy the Artist and Goodman Gallery/William Kentridge Studio/Stella Olivier
William Kentridge is sharing the untold stories of Africans who served in World War I
Olusanya's dance portraits are an expression of how she feels at a point in time.
Morenike Olusanya
This Nigerian artist wants you to be inspired by Black women
Kenyan-Mexican actress Lupita Nyong'o speaks to the media before the African premiere of the film "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" in Lagos, on November 6, 2022. - The African premiere of the Marvel superhero film "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" is taking place in Lagos, a leading commercial hub for African entertainment ahead of the film's global release on November 11. (Photo by PIUS UTOMI EKPEI / AFP) (Photo by PIUS UTOMI EKPEI/AFP via Getty Images)
PIUS UTOMI EKPEI/AFP/AFP via Getty Images
‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ celebrates diverse culture and heritage
Nanisca (Viola Davis) in TriStar Pictures' THE WOMAN KING.
Ilze Kitshoff/Tristar Pictures
How ‘The Woman King’ created a warm and epic Dahomey Kingdom for the big screen
Ben Enwonwu and HM Elizabeth II looking at his sculpture of the queen
Courtesy Oliver Enwonwu/The Ben Enwonwu Foundation
‘She sat for him 12 times’: The Nigerian artist who made a bronze sculpture of Queen Elizabeth II
"Composure" (2022) was part of Osadebe's most recent exhibition MODERN MAGIC at König London. It's part of a series of self-portraits that Osadebe said he painted in response to a growth in demand for his work, and the expectations that came with it.
Dennis Osadebe
Dennis Osadebe: Meet the Nigerian artist visualizing Africa’s future by reaching into the past
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Marcellina Akpojotor
Through intimate family portraits, Marcellina Akpojotor advocates for girls’ education in Nigeria
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John Butler
Bisa Butler’s stunning quilted portraits celebrate Black identity and African roots
"Uprising", 2019.
David Uzochukwu, Galerie Number 8
Myth, magic and monsters: This photographer is creating Black fantasy water creatures
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Courtesy David Alabo
Meet the Moroccan-Ghanaian artist exploring Black identity through surrealism
Lubaina Himid - Ball on Shipboard (2018)
Rennie Collection, Vancouver, © Lubaina Himid
Black artists highlight how the trauma of empire still echoes in Britain
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Fred Ebami
Fred Ebami is illustrating modern Africa with his contemporary take on Pop Art
WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 16: The Hanifa "Dream" DC Fashion Show at National Portrait Gallery on November 16, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Shannon Finney/Getty Images for Hanifa)
Shannon Finney/Getty Images for Hanifa
This rising star designer is embracing her Congolese heritage on her own terms
"Lotus" (2021).
Courtesy Kojo Marfo/JD Malat Gallery
‘Misfit’ Ghanaian artist Kojo Marfo finds a home among London’s elite
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Mario Todeschini
How South African artist Penny Siopis is exploring ‘Shame’
Chloe Heydenrych, Paige Titus, Ashnique Paulse, Elizabeth Jordan and Chleo de Kock, on their practice session over a national public holiday. The team makes use of every availible chance to practise, meaning there are no days off.
Alice Mann
Photographer Alice Mann shows the energy and ambition of South Africa’s all-female drum majorettes
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Courtesy Mrin Shri/Eli Zaelo
Meet the South African singer taking on China’s pop scene
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Prince Gyasi
How synesthesia helps artist Prince Gyasi turn his work into ‘color therapy’
Liz Johnson Artur PORTRAIT
Liz Johnson Artur
Style spotlight on Photographer Liz Johnson Artur
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Kyle Kaplan/Amazon Studios
Thuso Mbedu went to a dark place in ‘The Underground Railroad’ and emerged a star
England rugby star Maro Itoje at Signature African Art gallery, London.
Soapbox London/Signature African Art
England rugby star Maro Itoje is showcasing ‘untold’ Black history through an art exhibition
Mami Wata, Bleu De Nuit, Lusanga, Democratic Republic of Congo, 2018. This photo is a still from the shoot for "PEAU DE CHAGRIN X BLEU DE NUIT," a nine-minute music video shot with Belgian-Congolese rapper Baloji
Courtesy Kristin-Lee Moolman
Fashion photographer Kristin-Lee Moolman wants to showcase the real South Africa
Dall 2020 by Diarrablu.
Diarrablu
Meet Diarra Bousso: One of Senegal’s most promising designers
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Carlos Idun-Tawiah
The Ghanaian musician who helped put West African music on the world map
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Courtesy Brian Chankin
The unexpected art of Ghana’s hand-painted movie posters
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courtesy wana udobang
My body went viral twice. This is how it felt
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Courtesy Zachcraft/Shingai
Noisettes singer Shingai debuts solo album ‘Too Bold’
Nkodia Aurelie, 48-year-old businesswoman and sapeuse for 36 years, in Brazzaville, 2019, captured by Tariq Zaidi
Tariq Zaidi
How a world-famous Congolese style tradition is changing with the times
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Jonathan Kope
LVMH Prize finalist Sindiso Khumalo debuts at Milan Fashion Week with Harriet Tubman-inspired collection
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Courtesy Yinka Ilori Studio
The British Nigerian designer making technicolor adult playgrounds
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© Mohamed Bourouissa, Kamel Mennour, Paris & Londonand Blum & Poe, Los Angeles
Mohamed Bourouissa wins prestigious $39k photography prize
Collection Title: Free The Youth Community 1 Collection. Models: In Red- Naa Anowah, In Black- Mecha Clarke
Oswald Adjei/Free the Youth
The young West Africans finding their voice through streetwear
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Eyerusalem Jiregna/Addis Fine Art
How Ethiopian art secured its spot on the world’s stage
US First Lady Michelle Obama speaks during a campaign event at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia, on September 13, 2012. AFP PHOTO / Saul LOEB (Photo credit should read SAUL LOEB/AFP/GettyImages)
Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images
Michelle Obama-approved designer Duro Olowu’s pursuit of the ‘culture of style’
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Courtesy Jackie Nickerson
Dior partners with Ghanaian artist Amoako Boafo for a stunning new collection
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Omar Victor Diop
The photographer using vivid symbolism to celebrate the history of Black resistance
Untitled #2, Two friends dress for church celebration, Accra, 1970s
James Barnor/courtesy October Gallery
From Accra to London, how photographer James Barnor captured decades of style
Oye Diran
Oye Diran
Vintage family pictures inspired this Nigerian photographer’s latest work
Creative director and founder of Vanleles
Vania Leles
The new wave of fine jewelers bringing African luxury to the world
"Untitled"
Mous Lamrabat
Provocative photographer Mous Lamrabat subverts North African stereotypes
Ugoma Adegoke
Why private repatriation is crucial to safeguarding Nigerian art
Artist Lemi Ghariokwu, known for the cover images he created for the recordings of Nigerian musician Fela Kuti, in his studio.
CNN
In the studio with Lemi, Fela Kuti’s Afrobeat imagemaker
'Untitled' (2018) by Joy Labinjo
Mark Pinder
The art I love: MACAAL president Othman Lazraq’s tour of his museum’s formidable African art collection
Black Shades Project
Courtesy Adama Kouyaté/Black Shades Project
The forgotten stars of Malian photography’s Golden Age
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Namsa Leuba
Vivid portraits shine light on Tahiti’s ‘third gender’
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Courtesy Sunny Kolat
Fusing history and industry, Sunny Dolat is ushering in a new age for Kenyan fashion
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Courtesy Maurice Ascani
How architect Mariam Kamara is masterminding a sustainable future for Niger
A model walks the runway during the Imane Ayissi Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2017-2018 in Paris
Francois Durand/WireImage
The pioneering Cameroonian designer taking on haute couture
Shadraq and Bennett. Accra. Ghana. From "The Sharpest Beak on the Block' for iD Magazine. Styled by Ibrahim Kamara. Hair and make up by Ammy Drammeh
Kyle Weeks
Photographer Kyle Weeks uses his medium to show that manhood in Africa is not a singular image
MMA Design Studio
How African ‘feng shui’ can shape the continent’s cities of the future
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The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation / Xaritufoto / Le Korsa
Long-lost picture archive celebrates glamour of 1950s Senegal
"I'm a Lady" (2009) by Mary Sibande
Mary Sibande
Mary Sibande re-imagines the story of South Africa’s domestic workers
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Sotheby's
Long-forgotten family portrait sells at auction for $1.4 million
The Leonardo in the Sandton district of Johannesburg, South Africa, on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2019.
Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Africa’s tallest building is set to open, and it’s designed mostly by women
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"Borderless Ocean" by Va-Benne E.K. Fiatsi and Gloria Godínez. / Photo: Abdul-Haqq Mahama
Chale Wote: From local festival to boundary-pushing global platform
Designer Thebe Magugu accepts the 2019 LVMH Prize.
Bertrand Rindoff Petroff/French Select/Getty Images
Designer Thebe Magugu wins the 2019 LVMH Prize
Yinka Shonibare CBE Scramble for Africa 2003 Fourteen life-size mannequins, fourteen chairs, table, Dutch wax printed cotton 132 x 488 x 280cm Courtesy of the artist. Collection Guggenheim Abu Dhabi Photographer: Stephen White
Courtesy Yinka Shonibare/Stephen White/Guggenheim Abu Dhabi
Why being an African artist is so important today
Nutella self portrait by Adam
Haneefah Adam
Nigerian artist Haneefah Adam turns food into art
LAGOS, NIGERIA - APRIL 20: Model Naomi Campbell (R) walks the runway wearing Kenneth Ize during Arise Fashion WeeK on April 20, 2019 in Lagos, Nigeria. (Photo by Bennett Raglin/Getty Images,)
Bennett Raglin/Getty Images
Kenneth Ize, the LVMH-prize finalist redefining African luxury
noma osula top
Noma Osula: The photographer challenging social norms in Nigeria
"Shrine to Wisdom" an installation by Viktor Ekpuk, part of "Get Up, Stand Up Now ---- Generations of Black Creative Pioneers"
Artist Victor Ekpuk’s mesmerizing mural pays homage to African writing systems
Katiso Kgope, Daveyton, Johannesburg, 2017
Courtesy Zanele Muholi/Stevenson, Cape Town and Johannesburg/Yancey Richardson, New York
Zanele Muholi captures powerful portraits of South Africa’s LGBTQ community
Model Naomi Campbell walks the runway during Arise Fashion Week 2019 in Lagos, Nigeria.
Bennett Raglin/Getty Images Europe/Getty Images,
Naomi Campbell: ‘Africa is very rich in so many ways and has been so untapped’
CANNES, FRANCE - MAY 17: Mati Diop attends the "Atlantics (Atlantique)" Press Conference during the 72nd annual Cannes Film Festival on May 17, 2019 in Cannes, France. (Photo by Ian Langsdon/EPA-EFE/Pool/Getty Images)
Pool/Getty Images Europe/Getty Images
Cannes 2019: ‘Atlantics’ director Mati Diop is the first black female contender for the Palme d’Or
John Akomfrah. The Ghana Pavilion, curated by Nana Oforiatta Ayim and designed by David Adjaye, at the 58th Biennale di Venezia. Venice Biennale. Venice, Italy. Photograph by David Levene 6/5/19
Courtesy David Levene
Ghana makes a star-studded debut at the Venice Biennale
"Madonna III" shot by Kadara Enyeasi
Kadara Enyeasi
Expert view: Seven leading African photographers from across the continent
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Lucara Diamond Corp
Why the newly discovered, second-biggest diamond ever is not worth as much as you’d think
Yinka Shonibare CBE Scramble for Africa 2003 Fourteen life-size mannequins, fourteen chairs, table, Dutch wax printed cotton 132 x 488 x 280cm Courtesy of the artist. Collection Guggenheim Abu Dhabi Photographer: Stephen White
Courtesy Yinka Shonibare/Stephen White/Guggenheim Abu Dhabi
Yinka Shonibare’s colorful artworks subvert colonial narratives
The 20.46-carat Okavango Blue was found in Botswana's Orapa mine.
Handout/Okavango Diamond Company
Botswana unveils blue diamond to rival the Hope Diamond
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Ricci Shryock
African-American artist Kehinde Wiley is laying down roots in Senegal
Ellen Degeneres Campus of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund.
MASS Design Group
The Rwandan design school re-shaping Africa’s future
Photograph of Cedric Mizero's "Strong Women" collection, created in 2017.
Chris Schwagga
Cedric Mizero is bringing his Rwandan village to fashion’s global stage
Photographed by Travys Owen.
Travys Owen
Thebe Magugu: ‘I come from a very rich culture’
Tutu Nigerian painting homepage
Bonhams
First public display of $1.6 million Ben Enwonwu painting, and other highlights from ART X Lagos
The colossus of Ramses II was moved from downtown Cairo to the GEM site in 2006, and in January 2018 was transfered to its final resting place, in the atrium of the Grand Egyptian Museum.
Dana Smillie
Egypt’s treasures to receive a new $1 billion home
genderless fashion Nigeria
courtesy Orange Culture
From Harare to Lagos: Africa’s gender fluid designs are defying norms
All in One by Ethiopian photographer Aida Muluneh
Aida Muluneh
Aida Muluneh: Changing the narrative on Ethiopia, one photo at a time
African traditional fabrics in a shop in Ghana
Jacek Sopotnicki/imageBROKER RF/Getty Images
The complex future of African fabric (which isn’t African)
American Invasion series
Courtesy Victor Ehikhamenor
Victor Ehikhamenor: Portraits from a world in transition
(Photo: Moshoodat & Joey Rasado)
Photo: Moshoodat & Joey Rasado
The ‘Melaniin Goddess’: Meet the model whose skin tone made her a social media sensation
SYDNEY, NEW SOUTH WALES - NOVEMBER 24: Adut Akech attends the Swarovski Rainbow Paradise Spring Summer 18 Collection Launch on November 24, 2017 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Brook Mitchell/Getty Images)
Brook Mitchell/Getty Images AsiaPac/Getty Images
Adut Akech: The South Sudanese refugee making fashion history
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Max Siedentopf
Toto’s ‘Africa’ to play ‘for eternity’ in Namibia desert
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Courtesy Stephen Tayo
Stephen Tayo captures the sacred kinship of Nigerian twins
Hair sculpture created by Laetitia Ky.
Laetitia Ky
Laetitia Ky’s strong hair and its powerful message
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Courtesy Stephen Tayo
Stephen Tayo captures the sacred kinship of Nigerian twins
Hair sculpture created by Laetitia Ky.
Laetitia Ky
Laetitia Ky’s strong hair and its powerful message