NKATA: Art and Processes

Part Two of a two-part conversation. Njideka Akunyili Crosby’s portrait The Obamas: Springing Forth marks another chapter in an illustrious career shaped by Nigerian life, family histories and movement between cultures. Continuing her conversation with Emeka Okereke, she opens a window onto the decisions, uncertainties and encounters within her practice. From the Obama portrait to Lagos and Igbo p...

Part One of a two-part conversation. Njideka Akunyili Crosby’s illustrious career has brought Nigerian life and family histories into some of contemporary art’s most significant spaces. A 2017 MacArthur Fellow, she recently created The Obamas: Springing Forth for the Obama Presidential Center. In conversation with Emeka Okereke, she reflects on the foundations laid by her mother and father, growin...

In this episode of Art and Processes , Emeka Okereke sits down with Cameroonian photographer Angèle Etoundi Essamba — a defining voice in contemporary African photography whose four-decade career has centered the presence, dignity, and strength of the Black female body. Born in Douala in 1962, Angèle left Cameroon at nine years old for medical treatment in France — a rupture that shaped a lifelong...

Send a text In this episode of Art and Processes , host Emeka Okereke sits down with renowned Cuban contemporary artist Alexandre Arrechea . Born in Trinidad de Cuba—a UNESCO World Heritage Site steeped in colonial history—Arrechea’s work explores themes of power, surveillance, architecture, and public engagement. From his early days painting trucks for his uncle to co-founding the influential col...

Send a text In this episode of Nkata Podcast: Art & Processes , host Emeka Okereke engages in a compelling conversation with Nigerian painter, designer, and multimedia artist Ibe Ananaba . A lifelong explorer of visual storytelling, Ananaba’s journey is one of relentless curiosity—one that traverses the bustling city of Aba, where he grew up, the creative crucible of Lagos, and his current pra...

Send us a text In this thought-provoking episode, host Emeka Okereke sits down with the visionary Ghanaian-born British artist and filmmaker John Akomfrah. Akomfrah is renowned for his groundbreaking contributions to contemporary art and film, where his work poignantly explores themes of memory, post-colonialism, and the lived experiences of migrant diasporas across the globe. The conversation del...

Send us a text Jide Adeniyi-Jones (b. Lagos, 1952) is a Nigerian documentary photographer based in Lagos and Washington, DC. He credits the English photographer John Vickers for paving his way into photography in 1972. Since then, he has worked across various sectors of the discipline, including advertising, private media, civic service, and contemporary art.  Having been a photographer for most o...

Send us a text Achille Mbembe is no doubt one of the most influential philosophers of the 21st century. Born in Cameroun in 1957, the year that ushered in a ricochet of the independence of African nations – also known as the year of Kwame Nkrumah – in many ways, his work and disposition could be summarised as an embodiment of the spirit of the future. In this conversation moderated by Emeka Okerek...

Send us a text The 12th episode of Nkata Podcast: Art & Processes features a conversation with Koyo Kouoh. Koyo Kouoh is a Cameroonian-born curator. She is a leading figure in the Contemporary art world. More specifically, she is one of the pioneers who helped shape and articulate contemporary art practices from the African continent and beyond. Her work is rooted in community and institution-...

Send us a text Olu Oguibe (b.1964, Aba) is a Nigerian artist and academic living and working in the United States of America. He is one of the foremost scholars of his generation whose work constitutes a pillar of what we now know as Contemporary African art and post-colonial studies. Since 1988, he has saddled a rigorous and prolific artistic practice as a visual artist, writer, curator, professo...

Send us a text In episode 10 of Nkata: Art & Processes, Emeka Okereke is in Conversation with Qudus Onikeku (b. 1984, Lagos), a Nigerian contemporary dancer, performer and Choreographer. He has been active and consistently prolific since 2004, so much that one cannot knowledgeably talk about the practice and evolution of contemporary dance in the 21st century without stumbling on the name Onik...

Send us a text Ahmet Öğüt (b.1981, Diyarbakir, Turkey) is a conceptual artist living and working in Amsterdam, Netherlands. He works with a broad range of media including video, photography, installation, drawing and printed media (Wikipedia) In the 9th Episode of Nkata: Art & Processes, Emeka Okereke and Öğüt discuss the concepts and thought processes behind his work. Ogut is what one might c...

Send us a text Niq Mhlongo (b. 1973, Soweto) is a South African writer born in Johannesburg. Today, he is considered "one of the most high-spirited, irreverent voices of post-apartheid South African literary scene". So far, he has four novels  and two short stories to his name:  Dog Eat Dog (2004), After Tears (2007), Way Back Home (2013),  Affluenza (2016), Soweto Under The Apricot Tree (2018), P...

Send us a text Shahidul Alam (b.1955) is a Bangladeshi photojournalist, teacher and social activist. He has been a photographer for more than 40 years. His life and work can invariably be summarised as a service to society, culture and humanity.  In 2014, he was awarded the Shilpakala Padak by the President of Bangladesh. In 2018 he received the Humanitarian Award from Lucie Awards. In the same ye...

Send us a text One cannot exhaustively and informatively review the history of contemporary Nigerian photography without frequently returning to the name Uche James Iroha (B.1972, Enugu). Since 1999, Uche’s ideology, activities and support for younger photographers, have paved the way for the flourishing of Nigerian photography in no small measure. Yet the temperament, attitude and principles he b...

Send us a text Nontsikelelo Veleko (b. 1977) is a South African photographer most notably recognised for her depiction of black identity, urbanisation and fashion in post-apartheid South Africa. Veleko studied photography at the Market Theatre Photo Workshop(1999–2004). In 2006, her photographs were part of the group exhibition, Snap Judgments: New Positions in Contemporary African Photography, at...

Send us a text Otobong Nkanga (b. 1974, Kano, Nigeria) is a visual and performance artist whose artistic practice spans almost two decades. She began her studies at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife Nigeria and continued at the National Fine Arts School of Paris. She obtained a Masters degree in performing arts from DasArts, Amsterdam, The Netherlands in 2008. Ever since she has exhibited an...

Send us a text For our third episode, Emeka Okereke is in conversation with Jihan El-Tahri, an Egyptian filmmaker, producer, and visual artist. Jihan El-Tahri began her career as a foreign correspondent covering Middle East politics for the Financial Times, Washington Post, and US News & World Reports. El-Tahri has since produced and directed several monumental documentaries, including the tri...

Send us a text Episode two of NKATA sees Emeka Okereke in conversation with Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung.  Ndikung (b.1977, Yaoundé) is an independent curator, art critic, author and biotechnologist from Cameroon, who lives and works from out of Berlin. He studied food biotechnology in Berlin, received his doctorate in medical biotechnology and studied biophysics in Montpellier. Ndikung is the a...

Send us a text In this debut episode of NKATA, Emeka Okereke is in conversation with Akinbode Akinbiyi.  Akinbiyi (b.1946) is a Berlin-based Nigerian photographer, writer, curator and educator who has been working in the art world/ creative field for over four decades. This conversation touches on several aspects of his life and practice beginning with moments and events that led to and spurred hi...

Send us a text In this intro episode, Emeka Okereke – the host of the program – introduces himself as well as the podcast series. He gave some pointers as to what the podcast program will be all about. Watch out for episode 1 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 creativity we bring to this p...