A Black History of Art Presents: A Shared Gaze

A conversation with Turner Prize-winning artist Lubaina Himid, who is representing Britain at the 61st International Art Exhibition of the Venice Biennale with 'Predicting History: Testing Translation’. The episode also features curator Ese Onojeruo discussing the making of the exhibition. Himid’s exhibition explores what it means to make a home in a place not designed to welcome you. Through...

This episode is filmed and is available on YouTube. A conversation with Shaqúelle Whyte, a London-based painter who grew up in Wolverhampton and studied at the Slade School of Fine Art and the Royal College of Art. Whyte’s practice draws on personal imagery, art history, and an intuitive studio process. In this episode, we discuss his early life, his experiences at two of London’s most revered art...

A conversation with Taiba Akhuetie, a multidisciplinary artist based in London. During lockdown, Taiba began exploring hair as a standalone material for creating sculptures, installations and clothing. Since then, her designs have been worn by the likes of Tems and Cate Blanchett, she has made a bag for Rihanna, collaborated with Fiorucci, and contributed to numerous fashion editorials. Her career...

A conversation with photographer, filmmaker, artist, and activist Misan Harriman. His work spans portraiture, film, and social documentary, capturing some of the most defining images of contemporary culture. The first Black man to photograph a September issue of British Vogue , Misan is known for his portraits of celebrities like Rihanna, Angelina Jolie, and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, as well...

A conversation with Los Angeles-based artist Umar Rashid, who blends historical research with world-building. Umar’s practice -- which includes painting, sculpture and writing -- engages with colonial history, global interconnections, and alternative historical narratives, focusing on the period from 1648 to 1880. His work often incorporates elements of time travel and cosmic exploration. In this...

A conversation with Lagos-based artist Modupeola Fadugba, whose multidisciplinary practice spans installation, painting, film, and social engagement. Modupeola's work often explores subjects of race and pedagogy, as seen in her acclaimed ' Synchronized Swimmers' series and her Emmy-winning documentary on the all-Black senior synchronised swimming group, the Harlem Honeys and Bears....

A conversation with Philadelphia-based artist Qualeasha Wood, whose multidisciplinary practice spans textiles, digital media, and performance. Qualeasha’s work investigates Black femme identity, Catholic iconography, and the psychological effects of the internet, often rendered through intricately tufted and woven tapestries. Her recent solo exhibition Malware at Pippy Houldsworth Gallery in Londo...

A conversation with Béninois artist Roméo Mivekannin, who works primarily in painting and installation. Roméo’s practice centres on marginalised Black figures in canonical European paintings, which he reimagines with his own self-portrait. His first exhibition in Italy, Black Mirror, at Collezione Maramotti in Reggio Emilia is on until the 27th of July. It features a new series of paintings on bla...

A conversation with Victor Ehikhamenor. Victor is a multidisciplinary artist based in Nigeria; his practice encompasses painting, installation, writing and unique forms of mark making, such as perforation. On the occasion of his solo exhibition ‘The Enigma of Time Remembered’ at Maruani Mercier gallery in Brussels in 2024, Victor and Alayo discuss his life and practice. Victor shares how his upbri...

A conversation with Paris-born artist Tabita Rezaire. Rezaire is a new media artist, doula and cacao farmer based in French Guiana. On the occasion of her solo exhibition, Calabash Nebula at Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, Rezaire has created an immersive series of installations, which are inspired by and honour the Yoruba water spirit Yemoja. Yemoja is the main water spirit of the West...

A conversation with Botswana-born artist Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum. Sunstrum’s practice spans painting, drawing, and installation and is characterized by detailed narrative world-building, and figures who resemble the artist herself but are not self-portraits. On the occasion of her commission for The Curve at London’s Barbican, Pamela has created an installation titled ' It Will End in Tears&...

This episode is a live recording of a panel discussion which interrogated the position of so-called “Black Figuration” – in other words, work by Black artists which portrays Black figures – today. Alayo Akinkugbe is joined by writer John Baptiste Oduor, artist Anya Paintsil and curator, educator, writer and director of La Foundation for the Arts (LAFA), Chantel Akworkor Thompson. The discussion wa...

A conversation with Kenturah Davis, an American artist who splits her time between California and Accra, Ghana. Kenturah’s work explores an interplay of portraiture and design and spans drawing, textile, sculpture, and performance.  On the occasion of her exhibition ‘clouds’ at Stephen Friedman Gallery, London, Kenturah speaks to me about her exploration of shadows and metaphysics, her desire to c...

A conversation with Ghanaian artist Ibrahim Mahama whose installations address themes of labour, circulation of goods and globalisation, and whose practice is charactarised by the use of materials collected from urban environments, which he manipulates and transforms in collaboration with communities in Ghana.   On the occasion of his permanent site-specific installation at Palazzo Diedo in Venice...

A conversation with pioneering Ghanaian-born British artist, John Akomfrah on the occasion of his commission for the British Pavilion, at the 60th Venice Biennale. Akomfrah discusses early childhood memories in both Ghana and the UK, his love of filmmaking as a medium, and his experience with national representation at the Venice Biennale, having been part of the Ghanaian pavilion in 2015, and now...

A conversation with artist Woody de Othello, whose practice spans sculpture, painting and drawing. Woody’s first UK solo exhibition, ' Faith Like a Rock ' is on until the 13th of April 2024 at Stephen Friedman Gallery, London. Woody recreates everyday, inanimate objects and transforms them into humanoid characters which elicit different emotions. The exhibition unfolds as an immersive mi...

A conversation with Gideon Appah, a Ghanaian artist who draws on childhood memories, mythology and west African landscapes.  This conversation was recorded on the 24th of March 2023. Our discussion centres on specific paintings in his first UK solo exhibition with Pace gallery, London in 2023 titled How to Say Sorry in a Thousand Lights . In this conversation, Gideon speaks to Alayo about his chil...

A conversation with Ayo Akingbade, an artist, writer and director based in London. She has directed 17 short films, which include documentary, fiction and those that blur the lines between the two. In this conversation, Ayo speaks to Alayo about their shared heritage and similar names, growing up in Hackney, her love of fashion & textiles  and her exhibition ‘ Show me the world Mister’ , which...

A conversation with Na Chainkua Reindorf a Ghanaian artist who works across textile, painting, sculpture and installation. Her work is heavily influenced by the rich cultural history of West African, particularly Ghanaian, textiles, from the weaving traditions of Kente, to Fante Asafo flags and Yoruba masquerade dress (aka Egungun). Chainky has also garnered a  following on her carefully curated I...

A conversation with Isabel Okoro, a Nigerian photographer and filmmaker based between Toronto, Canada and Lagos, Nigeria. Isabel’s practice is firmly rooted in world-building, she has invented a world called Eternity, which she describes as a “normatopia”. Normatopia is a word that Isabel coined to mean a space that exists at the sweet spot between harsh reality and utopia. She self-published her...

A conversation with Tesfaye Urgessa, a painter based between Nurtingen, Germany and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Tesfaye's paintings are figurative, fleshy and dynamic. There is often -- amidst the business of his paintings -- an anchor point in the form of a piercing gaze. In this episode, Tesfaye speaks to Alayo from his studio in Nurtingen, about his life and his practice. *apologies for the low...

A conversation with Anya Paintsil, a Welsh and Ghanaian artist based in the UK. Anya creates textiles using techniques of rughooking and embroidery. She often includes human and synthetic hair as a material and has explained that she finds many similarities between the act of weaving or “doing” afro hair and textile production techniques. In this episode, Anya speaks to Alayo about her life and he...