Host, Author at Nkata

EP07: “Our subalterns have not sold out; our youngsters have not sold out”. Nkata with Shahidul Alam

July 4, 2020 Host 01:39:11 0 Comments

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. While in Dhaka in February 2020, Emeka Okereke visited Alam at his home – same apartment from which he was arrested and thrown in jail in 2018. This episode is the result of their extensive conversation about his life and work – his childhood, parents, family and dedication to social justice in Bangladesh.

EP06: Mama Margeret of Afroshop Tropical Markt – 25 Years of Making Life Matter in Berlin.

June 4, 2020 Host 00:34:07 0 Comments

For 25 years, Madam Margaret Opambour-Adjei has run the Afroshop Tropical Markt, in Neukölln Berlin, where she sells foodstuffs, cosmetics and fabrics mainly from West Africa. Originally from Ghana, she migrated to Germany in 1988. In this episode, Emeka Okereke visited her shop during which they discussed various aspect of the movement of African food…

EP05: Dalit, A Quest For Dignity – Relating Image-Making to World-Making Through a Photo Book

May 24, 2020 Host 00:44:50 0 Comments

In this Episode, Emeka Okereke (Berlin) connects, through a phone conversation, with Diwas Raja (Kathmandu) – writer, scholar and Lead Researcher at the Nepal Picture Library. Their discussion expands on the intentions and the operative premise of the photography book, “Dalit, A Quest For Dignity” of which Diwas is the editor. The book, which is…

EP04: It Takes Many Trees to Make a Forest – Tribute to Tony Allen

May 14, 2020 Host 00:37:00 0 Comments

To dedicate a conversation to Tony Allen is to recall the rich history of African Music, unsurpassed wit and creative ingenuity, needful rebellion, activism and truly African artistic inventions and languages through that very melodious, harmonious, rhythmic, soul-soothing art form called music. Much of Africa’s temperament, sense of community, sharing, family, humanity and spirituality has…

EP03: Morrison’s Black Book, Chimurenga’s Festac ’77 – “Unwritable Stories” in a Book Form

April 29, 2020 Host 00:36:07 0 Comments

In Episode 3 of Dots of Thoughts (DoT), Emeka Okereke reflects on a book which preoccupied him of late: Festac ‘77. This book, “decomposed, an-arranged and reproduced” by Chimurenga the Cape-Town based Pan African art space/publishers, is a compilation of the 2nd World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture which took place in…

EP06: “My father always told me that only Love is above the law” Nkata with Uche James Iroha

April 19, 2020 Host 01:12:28 1 Comment

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 brought…

EP02: Neukölln to Bariga from a Bird’s View

April 17, 2020 Host 01:01:14 0 Comments

Features: Innocent Ekejiuba /Oladimeji Olasoju /Ade Bantu (Lagos, Nigeria) Host: Emeka Okereke (Berlin, Germany). Episode two of DoT is an extension of thoughts explored in episode one. This time, Emeka Okereke connects with Innocent Ekejiuba and Oladimeji Olasoju, in Bariga Lagos – Nigeria. They conversed about the state of things with regards to the present…

EP01: Social Distancing and Its Sides of The Coin

April 7, 2020 Host 00:31:54 2 Comments

This debut episode of Dots of Thoughts takes as a prompt an essay I wrote in reference to the notion of social distancing and its many undertones especially in the context of Berlin, Europe where I am currently observing the lockdown. Invited to join the conversation, through a phone call, is Mathangi Krishnamurthy, a colleague…

“Not only are we ahead of time, we are classic” with Nontsikelelo Veleko

March 18, 2020 Host 01:33:22 0 Comments

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 the International…

EP04: “My mother told me: I have dreamt of you in colours” with Otobong Nkanga

December 20, 2019 Host 01:56:32 0 Comments

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….

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