The Grapevine

And now for something completely different: Recently, we had the opportunity to sit down with John and Charles Agbaje, the two brothers behind The Elite Comics & Art Studio at Central City Tower. Their now concluded and wildly successful Kickstarter campaign to fund the development of an 11-minute pilot episode of Spider Stories, the duo’s new ‘action cartoon set in a[n] African inspired fantasy world,’ has been the subject of growing buzz in a variety of internet circles. Through Spider Stories, the two Nigerian-American brothers hope to bring a unique African cultural perspective to the universal narratives found in cartoons, comics and animation – a world where such perspectives have been defined primarily in terms of their glaring absence.

Even though Nigeria didn’t get much love at this year’s FESPACO film festival, some Parisian organizers believe that the francophone world has been ready for Naija cinema. Nollywood, the world’s second largest film industry, produces over 2000 films annually, and now, seven of its best will be screened at France’s first ever NollywoodWeek Paris (and we’re wholeheartedly endorsing this). From May 30 to June 2, 2013, the L’Arlequin Theatre in Saint-Germain-des-Prés will host the festival, which is to include a VIP cocktail with the filmmakers, panel discussions and a crafts marketplace. Here’s the festival trailer:

This brief post is one of pure congratulations  a glass raised to Lynnette Yiadom-Boakye, as last week she became the first black woman shortlisted for the Turner Prize.

Yiadom-Boakye is of Ghanaina descent, born and based in London she atteneded Central Saint Martins, Falmouth College of Arts and Royal Academy Schools. She is currently represented by Corvi Mori. An imaginary painter, her shortlisted exhibition Extracts and Verses (at the Chisenhale Gallery) consisted of portraits of black people with invented histories, black bodies the focus of her loose European-style traditional painting. We’re encouraged to stare at them and think about how we read pictures, how we read black subjects.

Yiadom Boakye isn’t currently exhibiting in London but as soon as she is this blog will make some noise about it. An an exhibition of the four nominated artists. will be held in Derry-Londonderry between 23 October 2013 – 5 January 2014.  The winner will be announced at an awards ceremony on Monday 2 December 2013.

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