Posted by in THE AYA TALKS SERIES The ‘funny’ thing to note about The AYA TALKS series is the interconnectedness of our experiences, the way our personal stories and professional journeys intertwine, join, align. A thriving community is one where its members know and celebrate each other in this time and the next, irrespective of the space(s) in which we get to…Read more »
Posted by in THE AYA TALKS SERIES In Mousmée, the Diary of an Orchid Woman, an exploratory artistic piece that soulfully combines poetry, music, dance and language, Stéphanie Melyon-Reinette in tandem with Martinican musician Gérald Toto, talks about love, intimacy, sexuality in ways that reminded me of Edouard Glissant’s decolonial rendering of the process of creolisation as innately universal and intrinsically connected…Read more »
Posted by in THE AYA TALKS SERIES Plenty of us would find it hard to meet someone whom you could both describe as rebellious and soft-spoken until you meet (even over the phone), the fascinating Adeline Rapon. Parisian jeweller by trade, photographer and influencer by taste, Adeline sits atop seemingly contrasting worlds that she has been able to give meaning and voice…Read more »
Posted by in THE AYA TALKS SERIES As I sat reading articles upon articles on heightened stress levels, parental burnouts, depression, anxiety and fear of loneliness in times of global pandemic and social chaos, I kept reminding myself of our individual and collective capacity to heal but also to love despite it all… and mind you… over time. Of course there are…Read more »
Posted by in THE AYA TALKS SERIES There is something infectious about this petite yet larger than life, all-around creative who goes by the name of La Furie Photographe (“Fury” in French is a feminine noun albeit it can be used to describe a man or a woman). And it is that moniker that led me to her photography… at first. I…Read more »
Posted by in THE AYA TALKS SERIES The density and depth of this “AYA Talks’ still resonates. Audrey Warrington is a thinker, someone who ascribes “weight “ to the words she uses; she consistently enriches her answers by providing detailed context. When asked in what ways current feminist movements have tackled women’s sexuality for instance, she begins by asserting that the strides…Read more »
Posted by in THE AYA TALKS SERIES What I have always thought was a sly almost provocateur tilt in her head when posing, or in the way her gaze met the lens of the camera is actually what is so rare to find in the many afro-caribbean entertainers in Paris and France at large. Yet it is simply the mere sense of…Read more »
Posted by in THE AYA TALKS SERIES You may have seen celebrity creatives sporting those uber vintage, crazy sexy cool t-shirts or sweaters with stunning photos of African family portraits or known African proverbs in Paris, New York or Accra and paused… perhaps even,wondered who was behind the name, the brand, the hype,… Afrikanista. Well, no need to look any further, her…Read more »
Posted by in Uncategorized It takes quite a lot to infuriate me. Really. One, I have become quite jaded, I must reluctantly admit. People (me included) will disappoint and irritate you on a daily basis (sometimes hourly… exaggeration is underrated anyway!). Nothing new under the stars. It is the way our social fabric is manufactured. Luckily, age will don…Read more »
Posted by in Uncategorized There is something about this year, about 2019 that calls for softness, gentleness, deep and authentic well-being… maybe because the world is everything but soft, but gentle, but reassuring. I guess part of this visceral yearning comes from wanting time to slow down, to skip a beat, to pause so as to let life unfold.…Read more »
Kadara 