Those Things I Say

Yaw Obuobi, one of Ghana’s finest artists, returns to the homeland with an exhibition entitled “A View From The Diaspora”. Yaw is renowned for his signature style, using yarn knitting wool to create vibrant masterpieces which depict scenes of everyday West African cultural experiences. After mesmerizing many in North America, Europe, the African Diaspora, with his captivating art, Yaw is returning home to where it all started. The exhibition will take place at Novotel in Accra from the May 2nd, 2013 to June 2nd, 2013.

Don’t be fooled by the attractively colourful and slightly cartoonish signature style of Kenyan artist Michael Soi’s work, for there is a world of seriousness and heavy socio-political undertones in his illustrations.

Soi’s work illustrates visual portraits that serve as social commentary inspired by his observations of daily life in his hometown of Nairobi.

“My work mostly touches on issues related to the youth like fashion trends, music and life in general. I try to create an attitude of what you see might be what you get from it. I am involved in work that deletes, distorts and changes various images into what I want them to be, and am excited by the subtle play that erasure seems to create when executed in certain ways.

“My work is not about the suppression of images or distortion, or the negation of what the image represents, but is about obscuring the images in order to create a different relationship between the final piece and the viewer.

Most of my work is social commentary inspired by the city of Nairobi that addresses everything from this to what we would rather not talk about in public.”

Two brothers from Chechnya. That was the official word early morning on Friday April 19th, 2013 as to who were behind the Boston marathon bombings. “Chechens.”

So, naturally, who do some brilliant citizens of the United States of America blame? The CZECH REPUBLIC, of course!

Women in Africa and the Diaspora: “Pray the Devil Back to Hell”

Pray the Devil Back to Hell chronicles the extraordinary story of the courageous Liberian women who came together and persistently protested for peace in the worst days of brutal and protracted civil conflict. . Armed with only white T-shirts, courage, and strength, thousands of ordinary Liberian women demanded a resolution to the country’s civil war through prayer and creative protests.

Shortly after Charles Taylor was elected president of Liberia in 1996, he rapidly descended to dictatorship. Rival warlords attempting to depose Taylor, terrorized, raped, and murdered Liberians sparking a bloody civil war. Determined to bring peace to her troubled country, social worker Leymah Gbowee called on everyday Liberian women from neighboring churches to form the Christian Women’s Peace Initiative. The women formed an alliance with the Liberian Muslim Women’s Organization, created by Asatu Bah Kenneth and together they became the Women of Liberian Mass Action for Peace. 

Daily life in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania