In an exhibition titled “Liberty”, Omar Victor Diop reinterprets defining moments of historical revolt and black struggle in Africa and the diaspora. His images challenge monolithic history-telling of roles such as African railway workers, French migrants, Second World War soldiers, Jamaican maroons and members of the Black Panther Party.
The first-ever original work of art created using artificial intelligence – a machine-learning algorithm that scans historical artwork – has been sold at auction. “Portrait of Edmond de Belamy” (2018) was sold for an astonishing US$432,500.
Performance artist Serge Attukwei Clottey is best known for his work with the yellow plastic jerrycans that are typically used to collect and carry water. He calls this technique “Afrogallonism”. His performance installations are intended to highlight Ghana’s soaring levels of pollution and to draw attention to social injustice.
Congolese photographer Robert Nzaou Kissolo is known for documenting life from a unique perspective. His hair politics series, done in 2016, and his current Congo delicacies series are peculiar, avant-garde and breathtaking all at once.
Popular illustrator Nicholle Kobi is known for her representation of black women in all their variations in an online space that rarely features them and a country that shuns them. Her work is inspired by the simple manifesto “Carefree Yet Refined”.
The first edition of Tunisia’s Journées de l’art contemporain was a three-day feast of contemporary art, held in the brand-new City of Culture.
Music icon Janet Jackson has returned to the music scene in full force, first by reviving her State of the World tour, which is a rebranding of 2015’s ill-fated Unbreakable tour, and then by releasing new music that features the aesthetic of African designers.
Sheillah Sheldone Charles is a nine-year-old Kenyan artist and designer who, even at such a tender age, knows that her talent is her lifelong path
Aida Muluneh is an internationally recognised photographer whose work told the story of Ethiopia long before it became a trend – and long before the tremendous changes the country has seen under the new regime
The Evora Africa festival hosted at the historic Palace of the Dukes of Cadaval in Portugal aimed to celebrate the ever-expanding wealth of Africa’s cultural heritage and uncover the many faces of a contemporary Africa, the continent of the future, where sacred rituals of the past merge with urban art of a vibrant, modern and changing world.
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