Features | Dezeen dezeen.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from dezeen.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
by Charlene Prempeh
With the biggest urban population in Nigeria, its Nollywood film industry, and local celebrities such as Grammy-award winner Wizkid, Lagos is typically the Nigerian city that receives the most global attention. However, with a new generation of creative entrepreneurs returning to Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, the spotlight is starting to widen. At the centre of this change is Dolly Kola-Balogun, co-founder and creative director of Retro Africa gallery and Atelier Hotels.
“My interest in art arose as a result of the brilliant work I saw coming out of the continent,” says Kola-Balogun from her house in Abuja.
In collaboration with Gucci, A Vibe Called Tech calls upon four artists to celebrate the Black image
Alayo Akinkugbe, Theophilus Imani, Renata Cherlise and Osei Bonsu take part in a series of conversations and self-portraits, reinterpreted by artist Jazz Grant.
Words
Coinciding with Martin Luther King Day – the annual holiday marking the birthday of his life and legacy on 18 January – is
Pioneers of the Past, a series of conversations and self-portraits in collaboration between creative agency A Vibe Called Tech and Stance, an arts and culture podcast founded by Chrystal Genesis.
Commissioned by the luxury fashion house for the launch of its collaboration with The North Face, the series sees a curation of international artists and curators combine – those whose work celebrates the Black image and its representation in art and society. The artists include Alayo Akinkugbe, founder of A Black History of Art – a platform that highlights overlooked Black artists, curators an
Gucci’s collage portrait project celebrates Black history pioneers
The fashion brand has partnered with A Vibe Called Tech to create a series of self portraits that highlight four curators championing Black narratives 18/01/2021 2:29 pm
Unveiled for Martin Luther King Jr Day, the Pioneers of the Past collaboration is part of the brand’s partnership with North Face as well as a wider celebration of Black representation in art.
A Vibe Called Tech – set up by Charlene Prempeh to explore the intersection of Black creativity, culture and innovation – brought together Alayo Akinkugbe, founder of Instagram account @ablackhistoryofart, visual researcher Theophilus Imani, Black Archives founder Renata Cherlise and curator and art historian Osei Bonsu for the portrait series. Each of them created their own images, which were then reinterpreted by collage artist Jazz Grant.
Gucci x TNF Invites the Art World to Reconsider Itself
Gucci x TNF Invites the Art World to Reconsider Itself
Gucci and The North Face have released a new campaign titled Pioneers of the Past to highlight the monogram puffer, chainlink bucket hat, and knitted beanie from their new collaboration. The semi-abstract images celebrate four individuals who are rethinking and recalibrating how Black images are presented in fine and contemporary art spaces.
For this campaign, Gucci partnered with A Vibe Called Tech, a UK-based initiative founded by Charlene Prempeh, which has worked with Gucci before for a series documenting Ghanian culture, gender fluidity, and the Jackie 1961 bag.