Nigerian-American artist, Jamal Ademola uses a broad palette to tell stories about African identity. Working across media as varied as film, painting, drawing, photography, and performance, he deploys an arsenal of tools to depict the African experience, frequently in a surreal way. He creates conversations around such themes as black identities, the divine feminine, cultural consciousness and society. The dreamworlds he erects are indicative of an awareness of self and others that is otherworldly. His knack for storytelling and love for fine art permeate throughout his body of work. Part of the film “I DREAMED OF SEEING MYSELF” is about taking back our power to tell our own stories and define our realities. “I had no real qualms with the term Afrofuturism until I discovered that it was a white male writer that created it. Finding that out made me consider the importance of controlling our own images and narratives. We don’t even control our own descriptions of ourselves. It’s hard for me to embrace it wholeheartedly even though I know that its intentions are good.”
SOURCE: OKAYAFRICA
More Stories
Top 5 African Travel Destinations To Visit This August
African Countries that don’t Require a Visa to Enter South Africa
South Africans are Now Swelling the Ranks of Explorers Shouldering Backpacks
Getting around West Africa’s Most Populous City can be an Adventure in Itself
The Mauritian Dream
The Newly Reopened Africa Centre Celebrates the Continent’s Culture (and Seriously Chic Room Dividers)
From Bold Prints to Gender Defying Clothes: 4 Things to Know About Contemporary African Fashion
Meet the Nigerian Artist Visualizing Africa’s Future by Reaching into the Past
En Vogue
Interview: Director K is Making Historic Afrobeats Music Videos
Nigeria has Promised to Legalize Local Refineries and Set Up Refining Hubs in the Niger Delta
Central African Ministers Agree to Merge Two Regional Blocs to Boost Trade and Growth