Does Africa Dream of Androids?

Pnuema Vita

What is it: A girl living in an authoritarian nation in a future where the air is poisonous learns that a potential cure for her sick father is hidden in the wilderness

The Good: This comic is pretty new, but it gets off to a fantastic start, quickly setting up an interesting world and a plot hook while slowly letting us get to know the characters. The art is also quite effective.

The Bad: As of the time of this review, the comic is not even fifty pages, so it's yet to be seen if it pays off anything it's setting up. Call this a "one to watch" more than a "Yooooo!".

You should read it if: You want to take a chance on a promising webcomic

Why not check out this demo website that a friend of mine has been working on? Featuring writing and creative responses to the concept of the Black Atlantic.

The Ex-Con, Voodoo Priest, Goddess, and the African King: A Social, Cultural, and Political Analysis of Four Black Comic Book Heroes (2016)

“Challenging the conception of empowerment associated with the Black Power Movement and its political and intellectual legacies in the present, Darieck Scott contends that power can be found not only in martial resistance, but, surprisingly, where the black body has been inflicted with harm or humiliation.

Theorizing the relation between blackness and abjection by foregrounding often neglected depictions of the sexual exploitation and humiliation of men in works by James Weldon Johnson, Toni Morrison, Amiri Baraka, and Samuel R. Delany, Extravagant Abjection asks: If we’re racialized through domination and abjection, what is the political, personal, and psychological potential in racialization-through-abjection? Using the figure of male rape as a lens through which to examine this question, Scott argues that blackness in relation to abjection endows its inheritors with a form of counter-intuitive power—indeed, what can be thought of as a revised notion of black power. This power is found at the point at which ego, identity, body, race, and nation seem to reveal themselves as utterly penetrated and compromised, without defensible boundary. Yet in Extravagant Abjection, “power” assumes an unexpected and paradoxical form.

In arguing that blackness endows its inheritors with a surprising form of counter–intuitive power—as a resource for the political present—found at the very point of violation, Extravagant Abjection enriches our understanding of the construction of black male identity.”

by William Jones 

Get it  now here

William Jones, the founder of Afrofuturism Network, is a historian, “comic book geek”, writer, and educator. He is a sought-after public speaker on the subjects of the history of black people in America, the image of black people in various forms of media, pop culture and hip-hop music, to name just a few. He has spoken on various college campuses and at conferences both nationally and abroad.

Crowdfunding:  Is'nana the Were-Spider: Drums of Ogoun

by Greg Anderson-Elysee  

“ Accidentally breaking a barrier between our world and theirs (called THE MOTHER KINGDOM), Is'nana (the son of Anansi the Spider God of Stories) accepts the responsibility for releasing creatures of horror into our reality, villains who want nothing more but to cause chaos and mayhem to achieve their own diabolical or selfish goals. 

With guidance from his father, Is'nana not only strives to live up to his father’s name but to also reach his own potential while he seeks to discover his individuality and place in the world. “

“ Like the previous entries of the series, the main mission of Is'nana the Were-Spider is to serve as a way to introduce audiences to folklore, mythological, and spiritual figures from various Black cultures and beliefs. 

The first two volumes introduced modernized characters from West African folklore (Anansi the Spider, Osebo the Leopard, Mmboro the Hornet) and also characters and figures from Haitian stories and beliefs (Papa Legba, Ti-Malice, Bouki, Compere Chat). “ 

Check it out on  kickstarter

“Immense Atrum”

Imagery by >>>> Mia Lomberts

Studio Ghibli’s animation software will be made available via open source this month. 

That’s right…💯% free.

Animation software is, by and large, very expensive and out of the range of most people seeking to get into animation.  As of March 26th, this software will become open source and available to all prospective animators!

FROM THE ARTIST DIRECTORY

No Preconceived Notions

Berlin, Germany. Collage came into Marion Kavi's life by chance, but it has followed her ever since. Her main motivation is to embrace her creative side and to do things with her hands. Collage is the perfect art form because it is endless, spontaneous, and most importantly: fun. But there is also a healing aspect to the technique, it is one way to truthfully see herself through collage. She approaches her work with no preconceived notions, staying curious for what will come next, while the creative process drives itself. She does not intend to tell stories, though. It is the viewer that makes their own interpretation. MORE

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Kolaj Magazine, a full color, print magazine, exists to show how the world of collage is rich, layered, and thick with complexity. By remixing history and culture, collage artists forge new thinking. To understand collage is to reshape one's thinking of art history and redefine the canon of visual culture that informs the present.

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THIS WEEK AT KOLAJ MAGAZINE

Rotationships, Pieces, & Potent Symmetry

COLLAGE COMMUNITIES Virtual Collage Jam

FROM THE ARTIST DIRECTORY Potent Symmetry: Sherman Fleming, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

FROM THE ARTIST DIRECTORY A Narrative of Anger, of Protest: Fariba Rahnavard, Hamburg, Germany

COLLAGE ON VIEW Rotationships Augustine Kofie at Heron Arts in San Francisco, California, USA

COLLAGE ON VIEW Putting It Together at The Lockwood Gallery in Kingston, New York, USA

COLLAGE ON VIEW Putting the Pieces Back Together at the Bristol Art Museum in Bristol, Rhode Island, USA

COLLAGE ON VIEW A Suh Wi Dweet Stuart Robertson at Second Street Gallery in Charlottesville, Virginia, USA

Read the full update

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Kolaj Magazine, a full color, print magazine, exists to show how the world of collage is rich, layered, and thick with complexity. By remixing history and culture, collage artists forge new thinking. To understand collage is to reshape one's thinking of art history and redefine the canon of visual culture that informs the present.

SUBSCRIBE | CURRENT ISSUE | GET A COPY

The Mud Series Art Prints by #Kwesiabbensetts buy my fantastic art people.