“Mandela was not the only head of state taken in by Koagne. Le king kept snapshots of himself with many a man of power, among them Mobutu Sese Seko and Denis Sassou Nguesso […] He took Mobutu for 15 million dollars. Blaise Compaoré of Burkina Faso lost 40 million to him. Sassou, Etienne Eyadéma of Togo, several high officials of Gabon, Tanzania and Kenya, a member of the Spanish government and an ex-operative of the Israeli Mossad were bamboozled as well.” – Dominique Malaquais (Blood Money: A Douala Chronicle).
Bantu Serenade by Ntone Edjabe (featuring Nah-ee-lah) (read excerpt)
Santu Mofokeng: Trajectory of a street photographer (part1) (read excerpt)
Binyavanga Wainaina: Hell In Bed With Mrs Peprah (read excerpt)
Dominique Malaquais: Lindela (the winnie suite) (read excerpt)
Boubacar Boris Diop: Myriem (read excerpt)
Cover:
Neo Muyanga
Into the nothingness: The Strangeness of Seeing, What Blinds our Being was curated by Fulufhelo Mobadi in 2020. Fulufhelo Mobadi is a South African photographer and curator. She was the second ARAK Collection 2020 Curatorial Residency Fellowship Recipient. Into the Nothingness: The Strangeness of Seeing, What Blinds our Being brings to the fore the entanglements of historical, physical, metaphysical and existential spheres of contemporary African lives. Through the distorted faces, fragmented landscapes and clear references to the dark memories that travel with us in sometimes nightmarish visions, are traces of knowledge systems that seem to explore these spheres of existence through artworks that cover cultural identities, different beliefs, cultural practices, mythologies and cosmologies. The publication allow one to visualize, respond to and create dialog around the complexities that inspire African artists to create work that speak of their beliefs, thoughts, histories and their futures as well as the rich and complex traditions in a contemporary world.