NKATA: Dots of Thoughts

In this episode of Dots of Thoughts , Emeka Okereke enters into reflections with Sophia Chimaoge Nelz, a 12th grade high school student researching the history and meaning of Igbo Landing for her school assignment. Beginning with a historical event from 1803, the conversation gradually unfolds into broader questions around memory, language, and continuous re-enactment of identity. Together, they e...

In this episode of Dots of Thoughts , Emeka Okereke reads and reflects from a freshly written essay titled A Meditation on Light . The episode begins from a simple physical fact: light has no mass. Light has no weight. From this point, the reflection opens into a meditation on light as that which illuminates without force, imposes no hierarchy, absents nothing, and yet remains indomitable. Its ind...

On Easter Sunday morning, moving from a dream-state clarity into waking reflection, this episode unfolds around the question of the “I” and its relation to the self. The “I” appears here as a fixed point—a scaffolding through which the “me” is constructed, accumulated, and named. In contrast, the “I am” emerges as presence without anchor: movement without fixation, being as relation. What follows...

Since “work” is the bane of our lives — that is, from the moment we are born to the moment we die, we are at work — should we not strive to understand what it means beyond extraction and peddling of labour? In this episode, Emeka Okereke continues his long-running examination of concepts and societal tendencies encapsulated in words and language. Here, he reflects on the descriptive implications o...

Send us a text What begins as a chance meeting in Berlin becomes a conversation —one that moves attentively through difference , identity , and the long, uneven arc of returning to oneself. In dialogue with guest Tamia Hill (Mia) , host Emeka Okereke reflects alongside her on how encounters—with people, places, and moments—serve as relational thresholds through which the self becomes legible to it...

Send us a text Emeka Okereke explores the Igbo language as a vessel of cosmological insight and a lens for re-examining identity. He traces the movement from self to collective consciousness and introduces Nlekota —the Igbo principle of stewardship, a presence that absences nothing. In this episode of Dots of Thoughts , Emeka Okereke unknots the idea of identity through the cosmological depths of...

Send us a text In this episode of Dots of Thoughts , Emeka Okereke takes us beyond the Cartesian dictum “I think, therefore I am,” unraveling how this foundational idea has shaped—and distorted—the modern mind. With poetic lucidity, he reveals how thought, once a useful tool, has become a false guarantor of being, leading to fragmentation, anxiety, and an over-reliance on structure. This is not me...

Send us a text In this episode, we journey with Genevieve White, a seasoned artist and performer, as she shares her path from her multicultural roots in Canada to the vibrant art scene of New York City—recorded in the tranquil atmosphere of Berlin’s Grunewald Forest as a conversation with host and transdisciplinary artist Emeka Okereke. Genevieve’s story reveals the transformative power of collabo...

Send us a text In this episode of Dots of Thoughts, Emeka Okereke engages in a thought-provoking conversation with Berlin-based artist, producer, and scholar Lukas Freireiss. Renowned for his transdisciplinary approach, Lukas shares his practice of working in a “collage-like manner” that unites artists and cultural producers from diverse fields, transcending conventional boundaries. Lukas introduc...

Send us a text Can the simple act of daily gratitude empower and transform your life? In this episode of Dots of Thoughts Podcast , recorded on-site at the Neue Berliner Kunstverein, host Emeka Okereke and guest, Alain Missala, explore the vibrant multicultural landscape of contemporary Berlin. Alain delves into his pivotal work with Black Dads Germany and Zula, shedding light on how these initiat...

Send us a text In this episode, I discuss the book, "Photography and Political Aesthetics" with the author, art critic and professor, Jane Tormey.  Our enlightening conversation traverses the landscape where artistry intersects with political fervour, dissecting how photographs can sway social movements and mould public opinion. We navigate the evolution of politically motivated photography, from...

This episode takes you on an auditory pilgrimage with the Berlin-based, musician, Batila,   weaving the essence of his Congolese and Angolan heritage into a rich narrative that dances between the notes of his latest album, "Tatamana." As Batila unpacks his life's journey from Germany to the cultural depths of his upbringing, we discover how a childhood migration shaped not only his reality but als...

Send us a text During a three-week residency in Tangier, Morocco, my friend and colleague, anthropologist Mathangi Krishnamurthy, and I, Emeka Okereke, had the privilege of meeting Abdelmajid Hannoum, whose book "Living Tangier" served as a springboard for our research and thought processes during our residency in the city, organized and supported by The Minority Globe. In this episode of Dots of...

Send us a text This episode was inspired by my participation in the exhibition "Prussian Palaces. Colonial Histories", taking place at the Schloss Charlottenburg Berlin.   My guest, Carolin Alff, one of the exhibition's curators, guides us through the thoughts that inform the exhibition's making. We discuss the mystery of two statues, their damaged state, a testament to the inaccessible vignette s...

Send us a text If you've ever found yourself lost in the labyrinth of existence or pondering the multiverse and the many layers of our identity, my recent chat with the talented filmmaker and fashion model You Kim is sure to resonate with you. We venture into a reflective analysis of the film, Everything Everywhere All At Once - a cinematic marvel that masterfully addresses the complexities of sub...

Send us a text In this episode of Dots of Thoughts, I am in conversation with Diana Mora. She is a ballet dancer. Her inclination to dance started from as early as the age of six, when she first watched Swan Lake. Supported by her mother, she studied and completed ballet dancing at the National Academy in her home country Bolivia. Dance became the incentive for her movement and consequent self-unr...

Send us a text In 2006, I remember photographing, in Paris, the protest against killings that then took place in Isreal and Palestine. In the photo, a father is clutching his little daughter on one hand, while with the other hand, waves a placard that reads “Le meme age que ma fille” (same age as my daughter). I remember feeling deeply struck by this double emphasis aimed at reiterating what shoul...

Send us a text Eric Gyamfi (1990, Ghana) is a visual artist working with and within photography. This podcast conversation was induced by the inclusion of his work in the book, Africa State of Mind: Contemporary Photography Re-imagines A Continent “by Ekow Eshun. Rightfully so, the conversation build’s on Eshun’s central premise of focusing on photographers/works that fall within the 21st-century...

Send us a text In the second episode of Dots of Thoughts Shorts, Emeka shares a few thoughts and impulses about what the inner voice means for him.  Duration: 9:19 mins.  Join the conversation and leave a comment on your preferred listening platform. Support the show Hi, amazing listeners! Emeka Okereke here. I am the founder and host of this show. If you’ve enjoyed the stories, insights, and crea...

Send us a text This is the debut episode of the bonus series called Dots of Thoughts Shorts (DoTshorts).  Emeka Okereke gives a glimpse of his thoughts regarding the notion of work, and what work has come to signify for him. The episode is  backdropped  by sonic “artefacts” made up of ambient sound and music.  Listen in full at https://nkatapodcast.com Also on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Google Podcas...

Send us a text In the 12th Episode of Dots of Thoughts, Emeka Okereke reflects on the photographic work of Lebohang Kganye. Ke Lefa Laka: Her-story ,  was realised in 2013. It explores the relationship between Lebohang Kganye and her mother, who passed on three years earlier. She employs the techniques of double exposure and superimposition to “re-enter” the life of her mother and to seek out a sp...

Send us a text In this episode of Dots of Thoughts Podcast, Emeka Okereke is joined by Ekow Eshun to reflect on the book, “Africa State of Mind” edited by Ekow Eshun and published by Thames & Hudson. The book brings together works from 52 contemporary photographers from Africa. Fundamental to the book is Ekow Eshun’s intention to “explore how contemporary photographers have presented Africanne...

In this episode of "Time Does Not Pass. We, on the other hand, pass through it - and make forms of it", Emeka Okereke (Berlin) is in conversation with J. Redza (Kuala Lumpur). They reflect on the idea of Time in relation to age(ing). This episode can be best described as a "rumination between millennials". Emeka Okereke and J. Redza were born on the same year (1980, Kaduna Nigeria, and Kuala Lumpu...

Send us a text "I am looking at Time as an element of art, an element of expression not as a clock or calendar. I am looking at the capacity you have as an individual to define a progression of your existence and your event." In this episode, which continues our reflection on Time, Emeka Okereke is in conversation with Jude Anogwih. It opens with Anogwih's proposition to think of Time as an elemen...

Send us a text We often hear such expressions as "Time passes". "Don't waste time". "Buy time". "Spend time". But, is time quantifiable in the sense we use it? Isn't it a paradox, this inclination to contain what contains us?  These are some of the thoughts (and more) foregrounding this reflection on and about time. This podcast is an introduction to a series of conversations aimed at fleshing out...