Ghanaian singer/songwriter and motorcyclist Noella Wiyaala in Accra. (Photo courtesy of Afripedia)
Afripedia is a platform dedicated to art, film, photography, fashion, design, music and contemporary culture from African creatives worldwide. Launched last year by the Swedish production collective Stocktown Films, the project’s first venture is a five-part documentary series.
Shot in Kenya, Ghana, Angola, South Africa and Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire, each Afripedia episode follows a group of artists in their respective creative scenes, like kuduro’s reigning queen Titica and all-around provocateur Nástio Mosquito in Luanda, fashion and photography phenoms Omar Victor Diop, Selly Raby Kane and Paul Sika in Dakar and Abidjan and the video game streetwear empire 2Bop and the DIY style collective The Smarteez in Cape Town and Soweto.
In the show’s Kenyan episode, we’re introduced to the likes of sci-fi political 3D animator Andrew Kaggia, futuristic-afro-indie-funk group Just A Band, the ever-inventive visual artist Cyrus Kabiru and African Digital Art‘s Barbara Muriungi.
In Ghana, we meet the likes of Afrogallonism performance artist Serge Attukwei Clottey, the Circus Ghana bike collective, singer and stylist Jojo Abot, filmmaker Akosua Adoma and musician and motorcyclist Noella Wiyaala.
Next Sunday, Brooklyn’s new artist-led, non-profit venue, National Sawdust, will host a special Afripedia event with a spotlight on Nairobi and Accra's creatives. The night will consist of screenings of the Kenyan and Ghanaian Afripedia episodes and live musical performances by Jojo Abot and Just A Band's Blinky Bill–both of whom will join Afripedia founders and filmmakers Senay Berhe and Teddy Goitom in a conversation moderated by Society HAE founder and creative director Ngozi Odita.
Stocktown Films x National Sawdust presents Afripedia on Sunday, November 15, at National Sawdust in Brooklyn, New York (80 North 6th Street). For tickets and more information, head to nationalsawdust.org.
