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 of Africa's post-independence era, he has witnessed and documented many key political events in the continent as they unfolded. Yet, to those who know him within the profession, Adeniyi-Jones has put his humanity and nuanced way of reading the world at the service of those behind the viewfinder as much as he has of his camera. Moreover, through masterclasses, mentorship programs, jury activities, and informal tutelage, he has, over the years, transmitted his sensibilities to younger professionals in ways that transcend the scope of any documented account. Thus, in many ways, he has contributed to the foundation of thought and ethics of contemporary Nigerian photography, of which many photographers/artists of today are fortunate beneficiaries.

In the 14th episode of Nkata: Art & Processes, Adeniyi-Jones takes us back on memory lane through expansive recollections of noteworthy events of his life and practice that underscores his passion for photography and devotion to social issues. He takes the listener through the ethics of photography accrued over so many years of experience telling stories of everyday persons to explain what he means when he says, "Photography forces you to establish a point of view."

For those searching for the wealth of hindsight, this podcast conversation is an encouraging companion in the interminable journey of growth. This is aptly captured, towards the last minutes of the conversation, when he says, "Move one foot in front of the other, and you will find the road."

Guest: Jide Adeniyi-Jones
Host: Emeka Okereke
Production: Atelier E.K Okereke
Production Assistant: Tom Saater
Photography: Tom Saater

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 Okereke for the 13th episode of Nkata Podcast, Art and Processes, Mbembe generously opens up personal spaces to offer intimate knowledge through which the intentions behind his work can be grasped.

Starting with key moments that marked his childhood, he weaves strands of trajectories together while paying tribute to the two people that mattered most in his life: his parents. He speaks of his mother as the one who taught him what joy is all about such that his life's work becomes an ongoing attempt to transform joy into hope.

The passing of his father was the most remarkable moment for him. It was also the moment he became, in all sense of the world, a person born into a "planetary world".

Throughout the conversation, his voice is measured, calm, and thoughtful, yet grounded in the conviction of its cadence. He expands on Afropolitanism, a concept which he helped to coin:

"When I use the term Afropolitanism, it refers to the "becoming planetary" of our predicament."

Most remarkably, the conversation incites the listener to contemplate a world whose cartography is in contestation without evading the indispensable question: what will become of our future in such a world whereby the rate at which we encounter each other is intensified? Mbembe offers a few pointers:

"The question becomes: What are the lines of flight that allow for a modicum of respiration – that allow for the disruption of the logic of suffocation?"

"We live in a state of interminable predicament. We have to learn to live with it in a way that is not sterile – that allows an opening to keep nurturing, at the very least, the spirit of resistance. We have to keep open the possibility of a horizon".

Although not directly, he invites the listener to re-read and re-understand the works of such influential thinkers as Frantz Fanon, Edouard Glissant and Toni Morrison for how they elucidate our times and serve as beacons for the future.

This conversation adds yet another layer of lucidity to thoughts, ideas, and propositions expounded in such seminal works as "The Critic of Black Reason", "Necropolitics", and "Out of The Dark Night" for which Mbembe is deservedly known.

Who would benefit from listening to this conversation? Anyone who is genuinely committed and, by extension, tangibly hopeful about the future of our planet.

Runtime: 73 mins.

Photo Credit: Herby Sachs
Production: E.O Multimedia LTD.
Conceptualisation: Atelier E.K Okereke 
Host: Emeka Okereke
Guest: Achille Mbembe

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-building through collaborations. She is the founder of RAW MATERIAL COMPANY, an art space in Dakar that promotes critical thinking and knowledge production through artistic activities. She is currently the Executive Director and Chief Curator of Zeitz MOCAA in Cape Town.

Her work spans geography in a tentacular manner and no given order. So, suppose one of the biggest challenges of the 21st century is the limitations that come with mapping and shaping of the borders of the world. In that case, she is one of those remapping and tangibly affecting culture through her movement and way of being in the world.

The podcast conversation starts with Koyo recounting her earlier days. Then, prompted by Emeka Okereke, she dwells extensively on the experiences that propelled her towards her vocation as a curator.

She speaks of her encounter with Toni Morrison's Beloved, the birth of her son; her work as the editor of the German version of Magaret Busby's Daughters of Africa (1992), and meeting of the late avant-garde Senegalese artist Issa Samb. These encounters – layered unto her upbringing (having been born, raised and "bathed in the care of extra-ordinary women") in Cameroun before moving, with her mother, to France and Switzerland at the age of 13 – served as the earliest compass in a world and discipline that she would eventually help forge.

Yet, throughout the conversation, Koyo reiterates the half-truth of merely understanding her work simply as a curator.

"This is not a job. We are workers of the spirit".

The conversation meanders through myriad recollections of Koyo Kouoh's trajectory while elaborating on how they feed into her professional practice.

"I believe in Professional Genealogy".

Faithfully keeping steps with her pace of thoughtful word choices, the conversation makes a running thread from Koyo's dedication to her relationships with artists and young professionals and how that has shaped her notion of institution building.

Koyo's words are a beacon, just as they are a backbone, for artists and art practitioners interested in the wealth of hindsight.

If not for the nuggets of wisdom scattered across the length of the episode, let it be for her concluding words when she speaks of her responsibility in managing a 9,500 square metres space as the Director of Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Arts in Cape Town. It exemplifies the disposition Toni Morrison refers to as "Careful Optimism". In other words, we do this for joy. We do this for hope. We do this for posterity. There is nothing to prove beyond that. Yes, the work is cut out for us. Yet, the possibilities of our agency and subjectivity are humbling as much as they are empowering.