Meet the 2020 BdA Artist Fellowship Cohort!
It is with much alacrity! and gbedu inside the body that we officially announce the Inaugural Bakanal de Afrique (BdA) 2020 Artist Fellowship Cohort, an earth-shaking collective of 50 talented, and multi-dimensional creatives of African descent, who shape culture locally and globally. Our BdA 2020 cohort includes creatives of diverse disciplines including Filmmaking, Dance, Music, Textile Art, Installation, Visual Art, Literary & Performance. They rep for locales and cultures in the Americas, on the African Continent, Europe, and everywhere in between.
These brilliant folks will journey through our 2020 theme, ‘Mi Soon Come’: how modes of transportation in urban cultures intersects with culture, class and citizenship. They will create new artistic work to be featured as part of our Virtual BdA multidisciplinary Afro Urban festival, in November 2020. Through BdA, we celebrate the odyssey of our people through art and culture, and they will guide us as we tell our own stories, our way; affirm the power and presence of art & culture; and foster thriving communities and relationships across continental and diaspora Africa.
Artists stay serving beauty, projecting light and keeping our world afloat. And so, we are honored to welcome these amazing additions to our Afro Urban Society/BdA Family, to continue to celebrate, ignite, and uplift our communities.
We invite you to be a part of this movement by MAKING A DONATION to bring our BDA project to LIFE, and following us on Instagram @afrourbansociety, and Facebook, to be connected with our far-reaching work.
And so, WE MOVE!
The 2020 BdA Artist Fellows
Filmmaking/Videography
Sephora Woldu, Filmmaker/ Visual Artist | San Francisco, United States. Sephora Woldu is an Eritrean American filmmaker based in San Francisco. Recognized by Filmmaker Magazine for her visual narratives (25 New Faces of Independent Film) Sephora is also co-founder of the Asmara Indie Film Festival and plays a bright red accordion named Mushu because among other things, she is full of surprises.
Maureen Douabou, Filmmaker/multidisciplinary artist | Paris, France. Maureen Douabou is a multidisciplinary artist whose work aims to translate the experiences of being black, particularly a black woman, through an array of mediums.
Ifayomí, Filmmaker/Interdisciplinary Artist | Detroit, United States. Ifayomi is an emerging interdisciplinary artist and healer using a multitude of medicines that aim to liberate marginalized communities of color through the synthesis of ancestral healing, art, and wellness, with accessibility at the core.
Demetrius Borge, Filmmaker | Middlebury, Vermont, United States. Just trying to bring a little color to my black and white world.
Dance Performance/Choreography
Tango Leadaz, Creative | Los Angeles, United States. Tango Leadaz is a Los Angeles based movement instructor, choreographer and actor that has made a name for himself as one of the leading choreographers for authentic Dancehall in LA.
DAVID SNIPES, Dancer & Choreographer | Lagos, Nigeria. A dance artiste and choreographer whose aim is to promote and educate the world about Afro urban dance especially the Nigerian urban street style. My purpose as an artist is to export the African culture outside the shores of Africa through dance.
NADÉEYA GK, Movement Artist Dancer Choreographer Teacher | Paris, France. Nadéeya GK is an italo-Cameroonian artist based in France. She started with Cameroonian traditional dances to now be considered in House Dance. A dance style defining her story, Nadéeya GK proposes a movement journey between the traditional, urban and clubbing.
Yap’s Jolito, Dancer/Choreographer | Paris, France. Ivoirien né à Paris. Danseur professionnel et chorégraphe à Paris je suis aussi sollicité à l'étranger. Dans d'autres clips d'artistes du moment où je figure et en chorégraphie certains tel que: Abou Debeing, Lefa (Sexion d'assaut), Axel Tony, Bebi Philipe, Toofan, MHD, etc
Installation Art, Sculpture/Woodwork/Ceramics
Vivian Karia, Visual Artist | Nairobi, Kenya. An artist from Nairobi, Kenya who likes to tell day to day stories through object design.
Judith Dyeme Daduut, Visual Artist | Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria. I am very Passionate about Art.
Yvonne Shortt, Visual Artist | New York, United States. Visual artist investigating inequality using afro picks and other objects used by people of color and marble.
Arafa C. Hamadi, Visual Artist and Set Designer | Kilifi, Kenya/Tanzania. I am a multidisciplinary artist based in East Africa, exploring the intersections of art and architecture through digital and physical installations that provoke the observer into considering how they experience their realities.
Costume, Fashion & Textile Art
Lauren Baccus, Textile Artist | Miami, United States. Island Woman
Bryan Emry, Fashion & Photography | Nairobi, Kenya. Curious
Afatasi The Artist, Textile Artist | San Francisco, United States. Afatasi The Artist, is a cultural curator of Afro-Polynesia; born, raised, and currently resides in San Francisco, California.
Music: DJ
DJ Leydis, DJ | Oakland, United States. Born and raised in Cuba, DJ Leydis combines contemporary hits with a distinct fusion of Latin flavors, R&B classics, and roots reggae blends. Involved in the Cuban hip-hop movement since its inception, DJ Leydis helped organize some of the country’s most respected and best-attended events and community programs.
DJ PHAZE, DJ | Miami, United States. Trinidad born, radio professional and curator of soulful vibes that spans the diaspora. Polyglot with passion for eating his way around the world and learning about cultures through food and music.
Music: Performance/Composition
Mal the Oddity, Audiovisual Artist | New York, United States. I am a musician, visual artist, and storyteller obsessed with motion, travel, and projecting alternate futures.
Trabolee, Rapper/Spoken Word Artist | Nairobi, Kenya. Trabolee stands for Truth Reigns Above But Only Love Exists Eternally.
Piwai, Musician, percussionist, singer & songwriter | Richmond, CA, United States. Piwai’s chilling vocals and hypnotic sound have been described as spiritual nirvana. A captivating performer, she bends genres to seamlessly flow from jazz, reggae or folk to pure African rhythms, moving listeners to physically feel her music, creating a trance-like rhythm that balances consciousness.
Kiazi Malonga, Central African (Kongo) Percussionist | Oakland, CA United States. As a second generation Congolese American, Kiazi Malonga (@MalongaMusic) is sharing the beauty of Ngoma Music with the world.
Kalif Bakare, Artist | Houston, United States. Kalif is balancing his service for others, business ventures, and his artistic vision to cultivate a crossover appeal that is rare while positively impacting all corners of the world.
Dom Jones, Singer/Songwriter/Emcee | Oakland, CA United States. Dom Jones, from Oakland, CA, is an award-winning singer, songwriter, emcee, producer, and creative entrepreneur, creating work where the depth of soul, a contemporary sound, and the social issues of the day are inextricably linked.
Deena Ade, Singer/Songwriter | Lagos, Nigeria. I am British born Nigeria, with a deep love and connection to my culture.
Agyakomah, Music Artist | New York, United States. Agyakomah is a first-generation Ghanaian artist based in New York who utilizes her cultural background and unique upbringing to create music that reflects her story. What she categorizes as Afrofusion, not only represents her West African and R&B/Soul blend, but the outcome of a fusion of different lifestyles, languages, and experiences that is highlighted in her artistry.
Spoken Word & Performing Art
Tayleur Crenshaw, Writer & Spoken Artist | Oakland, CA United States. Tayleur: A writer, a curator, a creator, a co-founder (Gold Beams), a black woman.
Kelly GreenLight, Ritual Performance Artist & Cultural Organizer | Nairobi, Kenya. Kelly GreenLight is a ritual performance artist, wellness worker and cultural organizer. For over a decade, Kelly has been creating music & performance around emotional health, women’s narratives, and nature. She is the foundress @BlackArtsRetreat, an international hub for black creativity, culture, and holistic wellness.
Caroline Ngorobi, Theater Producer & Actor | Mombasa, Kenya. Caroline is an artist who creates space for art in all her experiences: education, family, creed. She believes every human encounter is a story waiting to be told. She joined the theatre space as a stage actor in 2005 and currently a theatre producer and creator for Jukwaa Arts Productions.
Interdisciplinary & Literary
Oganga Mangiti, Poet | Nairobi, Kenya. A passionate individual constantly engaged in a search to express emotions and feelings through words.
Jamica El, Interdisciplinary Artist | Oakland, CA United States. Jamica is a Moorish artist, activist and technologist. She works in digital/analog collage, repeating patterns, neon glass-bending, polymer clay, and vinyl record curation. Mama to a tiny human, she is also the foundress @Muvaboard, a creative tech studio helping black women build brands through technology, design and strategy.
Alexis Alleyne-Caputo, Anthropologist ~ Interdisciplinary Artist ~ Researcher | Miami, United States. Bahamian-American Alexis Alleyne-Caputo is an anthropologist, archivist, researcher, and an award winning, commissioned interdisciplinary artist. Alleyne-Caputo presents from the ongoing project Afro Diaries™, which is archived at Goddard College, New York University and The University of Miami Special Collections. She has exhibited in the U.S., Caribbean and Europe.
Multimedia
Okhiogbe Omonblanks Omonhinmin, Interdisciplinary Artist | Accra, Ghana. My practice is interdisciplinary, using audiovisual tools. It includes documenting, archiving and building a collection of the realities of people with Black and African backgrounds and those within the intersections.
nwaobiala, Multidisciplinary Artist | PG County, MD, United States. nwaobiala is an Igbo-American trans nonbinary multi-disciplinary artist who drives global, Diasporic conversations about African Diasporic queerness, gender identity, fashion and self-expression; Black mental and public health, intergenerational trauma, male preference, history, culture, and everything in between. They use they/them pronouns.
Jonathan Chambalin, Multi sensory visual Artist | Lagos, Nigeria. His work aims to interact with scenarios of evolving existence ,influenced by communal living that is subconsciously interwoven with the fabric of the mind. He sees the mind as a subconscious archive curated by Human interaction.
D'mani Thomas, Poet & Visual Artist | Oakland, United States. D'mani is an educator, horror enthusiast and poet looking to explore urban systems, queer living and Black life.
Digital Art/ Graphic Design & Illustration
Olubori Babaoye, Visual Artist & Graphic Designer | Richmond, CA , United States. My name is Olubori Babaoye, a Nigerian-American multifaceted artist from Oakland, CA that's continuously strived to perfect my craft and earn my titles as a classical painter, digital illustrator, Sip n Paint instructor, as well as a live performer.
Nzilani Simu, Illustrator | Nairobi, Kenya. Illustrator and designer born, raised and based in Nairobi.
Magati Maosa, Visual Artist | Nairobi, Kenya. I'm ready to make you uncomfortably educated
Photography
Wole Hammond, Photographer | Abuja, Nigeria. Wole Hammond is a street and documentary photographer; documenting people, places and everyday life and keenly interested in telling social and environmental stories through the lens.
Vanessa Mwingira, Photographer | Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Unapologetically Punk and black, in love with kinky hair and most of all in love with all shades of black.
Tshepiso Mabula ka Ndongeni, Photographer & Writer | Johannesburg, South Africa. I am a writer and photographer based in Johannesburg, my work focuses largely on identity, loss, nostalgia and the fleeting sense of what it means to belong.
Habila Sani Mazawaje, Photographer | Abuja, Nigeria. A photographer and an all round creative guy who loves telling stories and showcasing the beauty around him through images.
Damilola Onafuwa, Photographer | Lagos, Nigeria. Damilola Onafuwa is a documentary photographer and filmmaker whose work focuses on human-interest stories that create consciousness about social issues and are geared towards understanding how human cultures are formed and how they shape our perception of the world.
Agaba Solomon Peabo, Photographer | Kampala, Uganda. I am a twenty one year old photographer currently pursuing a bachelor's degree in Architecture.
Adetona Omokanye, Photographer | Lagos, Nigeria. A graduate of University of Lagos with Masters degree in Marine Pollution and Management. He’s a documentary photographer based in Lagos, Nigeria. His work navigates and positions at the fore-intertwined relationship between beauty, self-acceptance, politics and environmental pollution.
Fine Art: Painting/Drawing
Valerie Fab-uche, Visual Artist | Lagos, Nigeria. Drawing is movement and boundless in its visual execution and could take the form of art performance, photography, sculptures, installation , etc. I am of the opinion that drawing is everything and anything.
Nico Phooko, Visual Artist | Johannesburg, South Africa. One of Africa's most gifted visual artists who has embraced and popularised the unique concept of LIVE PAINTING, through which he captures the essence of special events live on canvas!
Keena Romano, Visual Artist | Oakland, United States. Uses art as medicine and is a mixed-race Bay Area girl who loves to honor culture, community and color. She is dedicated to the arts and ancestry as a way to enrich and heal our contemporary urban experience. She hop