“Preserving Memory as Future”: An Interview with AIDA Muluneh

by Sionne Neely

MARIE-Ange BORDAS: “I was too young” | photo courtesy of Addis Foto Fest 2012

AIDA MULUNEH is definitely a force to be reckoned with. The photographer and filmmaker heads up ADDIS FOTO FEST – a biannual, international photography festival in Addis Ababa that brings a diverse cadre of African photographers together to showcase their work [the third installation is Dec 2014]. In direct response to how Ethiopia has been popularly imagined by western development + media agencies since the 1980s, Aida is building an appreciation for photography among the Ethiopian public by re-working how photography takes shape in the country. The festival develops the capacity of emerging Ethiopian photographers to tell their own compelling stories.

I caught up with my fellow Howard U Film Dept. comrade on a recent trip to Accra. Here we rap about Addis Foto Fest and how emerging Ethiopian photographers are in a unique position to transform the country’s visual future.

Drive AIDA Drive | photo courtesy of Addis Foto Fest 2012

ACCRA Report: 3 Dope Events This Weekend!

There’s a lot happening in Accra these days. This weekend is no exception. Here are three awe-inspiring events that you should check out:

What: YARI YARI NTOASO: International Black Women Writers Conference

When: Thursday, May 16 – Sunday, May 19

Damage: FREE

MAD About MAWUSI [Part 1]

Abstract x Ghanaian x Handmade Art Gear

by Sionne Neely | photos by Jane Odartey

JANE ODARTEY in the Red Cowl

MAD About MAWUSI [Part 2]

Abstract x Ghanaian x Handmade Art Gear

by Sionne Neely | photos by Jane Odartey

JANE ODARTEY in the Yarn Tribal Series Necklace

This is Part Two of the interview with JANE ODARTEY, creator of MAWUSI, an eclectic collection of abstract wearable Ghanaian art. Jane is also a photographer, writer and model. Jane talks to ACCRA [dot] ALT about finding bliss thru crafting, building community far from home in Queens NY and how using Ghanaian prints proves to be solid as a rock.

TAWIAH: When FREEdom Drops [April 30th!]

Interview with Sionne Neely |  photos by Mantse Aryeequaye + Abass Ismail for REDD Kat Pictures

TAWIAH releases FREEdom Drop on April 30th | photo by REDD Kat Pictures [Dec 2012]

ADA: During your set at IND!E FUSE 2012 you talked a bit about love. We can’t assume everyone defines it the same way. What are your thoughts on love?

T: You have encounters with love everyday – with friends, family, lovers. Love is one of the most important things. . I think I’m a bit of a hopeless romantic. I love love. It’s an extremely complex thing but do we make it complex with our mortal thoughts and ways? Is love an act or is it a feeling? Surely love is ever present – it’s there before we manifested into our physical bodies. It’s always there, innit? It definitely should feel good and not judge or discriminate. But we put our own thing on what love is and what it should be.

Learn GA with ANBULEY

by AIGERIM SAPAROVA

ALMIGHTY AWULA : ANBULEY

It isn’t often you hear a millennia-old language sprung across a backdrop of cold electronic beats. Lucky for us ANBULEY, the Vienna-born Ghanaian music maker, blends hard electronica with her native Ga language [spoken throughout greater Accra].

ROLE PLAY: Phyllis Galembo’s Masquerade Museum

by KATHARINE M. ORTIZ

Baby Dance of Etikpe, Cross River, Nigeria 2004 via The Third Eye | photo by Phyllis Galembo

As we gear up for our MASQUERADE JAM this Wednesday, April 17th at Alliance Francaise and prelude party our way to the third annual CHALE WOTE Street Art Festival, we bring you a bit of mask magic to increase your vim.

We are inspired by the visual feast that is portrait photographer Phyllis Galembo’s work. Here, have a look:

CHALE WOTE 2013: Open Call for Visual + Performance Art Proposals

CHALE WOTE Chillin x Tei Huagie’s Mannequin Installation

ACCRA [dot] ALT in association with REDD KAT Pictures, Foundation for Contemporary Art Ghana, Dr. Monk and Attukwei Art Foundation have begun preparation for the third annual Chale Wote Street Art Festival 2013 which will be held on Saturday, September 7 – Sunday, September 8th.

The Chale Wote Street Art Festival is an alternative platform that brings art, music, dance and performance out into the streets in James Town Accra. Its aims are to cultivate a wider audience for the arts, break creative boundaries and use art as a viable form to rejuvenate public spaces.

THE WINNEBA MASQUERADE

The Chale Wote Street Art Festival challenges local and international artists and Accra residents to connect by creating and appreciating art together. The festival includes street and sidewalk painting, graffiti murals, large photography displays, interactive art installations, live street performances, extreme sports, experimental community theater, independent African film screenings, a fashion parade, a music block party, recyclable design workshops and much more.

EXHIBIT: El Anatsui’s Africa at the Brooklyn Museum

by AIGERIM SAPAROVA

El Anatsui via The Globe and Mail

Globally renowned Ghanaian-born contemporary artist, El Anatsui, has officially graced the Big Apple.  As of February 8, 2013, the Brooklyn Museum welcomed Anatsui’s first solo exhibition in New York City entitled, “Gravity and Grace: Monumental Works by El Anatsui.” Over 30 of his metal and wood works will be on display through August 4th of this year.

Earth via Fireplace Chats

Golden Drainpipes via The Brooklyn Museum

Born in 1944 to a fisherman father who was also a master weaver of kente cloth, Anatsui grew up in the Anyako province of the Volta Region. He studied art at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology [KNUST] in Kumasi. However, the young artist did not forget his African roots—making efforts to immerse himself in local Ghanaian traditions. In the 1970s, Anatsui’s artistic style was entirely local – wall pieces made from wooden display trays gathered in local markets, stamped with mythical symbols using a hot iron.

The Byzantine via Art Info

Somewhere OUT There: Ghostpoet’s Gamut

by AIGERIM SAPAROVA

GHOSTPOET via The Guardian

Let it be known that Obaro Ejumiwe better known as Ghostpoet carries a power to hypnotize. This discovery was made whilst listening to the sounds of his debut album Peanut Butter Blues & Melancholy Jam, released back in February 2011.

Ghostpoet’s music weaves a mellow yet magnetic mumble-speak with the penetrating backdrop of beats, rhythms, and sounds to create his unique noise. His music speaks of the bare-bone reality of getting through life – falling in love, paying the rent, battling the fear of loneliness, and the melancholic tick of time.

Although born & raised a London boy, the down-to-earth artist traces his roots back to Nigeria and Dominica. He first made his mark on the UK music scene with the release of his first EP, The Sound of Strangers (2010).

GhostPoet 101: Here are three tracks that you’ll want to keep on loop.

INNIT? via The Tab Cambridge