Shade

In this episode I am in conversation with Ekow Eshun . Ekow is a writer and the curator of In the Black Fantastic , currently on show at the Hayward Gallery, London. In the Black Fantastic is a new exhibition of 11 contemporary artists from the African diaspora, who draw on science fiction and myth to question our knowledge of the world. Although the exhibition encompasses themes within Afrofuturi...

AWARD WINNER 'BEST ARTS & CULTURE' PODCAST - BRITISH PODCAST AWARDS 2021 In this episode I’m in conversation with Co-Editors in chief of Citizen , Henrietta Gallina & Danielle Powell-Cobb. In 2017, the idea for Citizen magazine was born out of the desire to see something that did not quite exist, an independent magazine documenting Black life and culture through the words of Black thinkers...

AWARD WINNER 'BEST ARTS & CULTURE' PODCAST - BRITISH PODCAST AWARDS 2021 Shade Podcast is back with ‘Shade Shorts’ the new series of conversations with the founders of some our most radical, Black led art & culture journals.  These episodes will keep us connected and inspired between the main seasons of the podcast. We will explore the power that we all have when we focus on considere...

AWARD WINNER 'BEST ARTS & CULTURE' PODCAST - BRITISH PODCAST AWARDS 2021 Shade Podcast is back with ‘Shade Shorts’ the new series of conversations with the founders of some our most radical, Black led art & culture journals.  These episodes will keep us connected and inspired between the main seasons of the podcast. We will explore the power that we all have when we focus on considere...

SHADE 'BEST ARTS & CULTURE' PODCAST - BRITISH PODCAST AWARDS 2021  Special edition from Shade at South London Gallery ‘Making Sense’ - a new digital resource that assembles people around ideas for structural change through creative practice. In this episode Lou Mensah speaks to Dr. Aminul Hoque about inclusive education and how our local community can support educators in achieving it. Dr. Am...

SILVER AWARD WINNER 'BEST ARTS & CULTURE' PODCAST - BRITISH PODCAST AWARDS 2021 Welcome to our third and final episode in this special series of conversations from Shade, supported by Hauser & Wirth, where we will be exploring ‘Unencumbered Voices in Curated Spaces: Inspired by the life & work of  Sir Frank Bowling’ .  Released throughout this summer, the series pro...

SILVER AWARD WINNER 'BEST ARTS & CULTURE' PODCAST - BRITISH PODCAST AWARDS 2021 Unencumbered Voices in Curated Spaces: Inspired by the life & work of Sir Frank Bowling - a three-part summer podcast series, investigating freedom of expression today and throughout art history. This second episode in a special series of conversations from Shade, supported by Hauser & Wirth is with art his...

SILVER AWARD WINNER 'BEST ARTS & CULTURE' PODCAST - BRITISH PODCAST AWARDS 2021 Unencumbered Voices in Curated Spaces: Inspired by the life & work of Sir Frank Bowling - a three-part summer podcast series, investigating freedom of expression today and throughout art history. This first episode in a special series of conversations from Shade, supported by Hauser & Wirth, is with Silas M...

SILVER AWARD WINNER 'BEST ARTS & CULTURE' PODCAST - BRITISH PODCAST AWARDS 2021 Welcome to the final episode of the four-part series of conversations exploring anti-racism and the arts, co-curated by Shade and Convergence at the South London Gallery   In this episode Lou Mensah is in conversation with Axel Kacoutié . Axel is is a multi-award-winning audio artist and poet. His work has fea...

SILVER AWARD WINNER 'BEST ARTS & CULTURE' PODCAST - BRITISH PODCAST AWARDS 2021 Welcome to the third episode of the new four-part series of in-conversations exploring anti-racism and the arts, co-curated by Shade and Convergence at the South London Gallery   Season Butler is a writer, performance artist and teacher. Season's debut novel ' Cynet' was published in 2019 by Dialogue Books in...

Art futures & BLM in conversation with The White Pube The White Pube is the collaborative identity of art critics Gabrielle de la Puente and Zarina Muhammad. They return as guests to talk about the positive changes they saw and those they hope for in the Arts, as a result of the BLM uprisings. @tate_united  @riotgames  @mark.leckey  @swarzymacaly  @thewagaduchronicles ...

In this episode I take you through the origins and manifestations of the raised fist salute, which has more recently been associated with the BLM movement. We move on to my conversation with Nicola Green , the artist behind the work ‘In Seven Days’ - a series created from her unprecedented artistic access to Barack Obama’s 2008 Presidential campaign trial. Nicola Green is renowned for gaining acce...

Welcome to the second episode of the new four-part series of in-conversations exploring anti-racism and the arts, co-curated by Shade and Convergence. This episode is part of the South London Gallery's Convergence Community Film Festival on Saturday 20th February 2021. Our guest today is Courttia Newland. Courttia wrote the screenplays for Steve McQueen's BBC Small Axe 'Lover's Rock' & 'Red, W...

With Guest Photographer Andre D Wagner Gordon Parks’ work was shared widely during the 2020 BLM protests, perhaps to share comfort, solace and act as a collective creative marker acknowledging that our civil justice work continues. My guest Andre shares the impact of Parks’ work on his own photography, his experiences of the protests, plus his working practice & life as a street photographer&n...

Guest Sophie Williams Author Anti Racist Ally & Millennial Black Sophie had a career in advertising, before she left to create her own business, working with clients such as Netflix on projects combining her professional advertising experience with active anti-racism work.  In the summer of 2020, Sophie posted  10 slides to Instagram  outlining how to be an anti-racist ally. Her...

Image Focus (click on link below to view image) Protestors remove statue of Slave Trader, Edward Colston. June 7, 2020, Bristol, UK Guests Joshua Virasami, BLM UK Member & Author George Osei-Prempeh , The Photographers Gallery London Guests share their personal responses to the statue removal and it’s symbolism within the wider context of the civil rights movement Shade is produced and hosted...

UK BLM Protests Press Photos Image Focus: Patrick Hutchinson BLM Protest Image REUTERS/Dylan Martinez June 13 2020 We discuss the impact of the image from social, cultural and art history perspective Guests Lanre Bakare. Arts & Culture correspondent, The Guardian Carey Robinson. Head of Education, The South London Gallery Patrick Hutchinson Shade is produced and hosted by Lou Mensah Please sup...

This bonus series of four co-curated conversations between Shade and Convergence - the South London Gallery’s platform for critical conversations, screenings and written commissions - explores anti-racism and the arts. This first episode features  Kevin Morosky , filmmaker, advertising creative director and co-founder of  We are Pocc  (the creative network accelerating equality...

Fashion & the BLM uprisings Image Focus: British Vogue Cover, The September Issue 2020 American Vogue Covers, The September Issue 2020 Guests Osman Ahmed, Fashion Features Editor i-D Magazine  Mariel Tyler, Photographer (Former Photo Editor of  ELLE.COM  & Getty) Shade is produced and hosted by Lou Mensah Please support this work by becoming a  Shade Patron  ...

Guest Paul Moakley Editor at Large, Special projects TIME Magazine Image ‘The Overdue Awakening’ TIME, June 2020 Photographer Devin Allen Produced and hosted by Lou Mensah Music composed for Shade Podcast by Brian Jackson Copyright Brian Jackson/Shade Podcast Mixing & sound design CA Davis Available on all podcast apps & Shade Website Please support this work by becoming a Shade Patron Sea...

Shade returns for a new season, reflecting on the images and stories that emerged from the 2020 BLM uprisings. Join Lou, along with the trailblazers and change-makers from the worlds of magazine & book publishing, photography, art, journalism and activism, to consider the effect of the summer 2020 uprisings on our visual and social cultures. Music has been composed for Shade this season by mus...