Afroesthetics

From accountant to curator. Adenrele Sonariwo took a chance on a dream. Leaving a stable job behind in the US the decided to try her hand at the world of art. Although she’s not an artist herself, she has created institutions dedicated to the elevation, education, and curation of Nigerian contemporary art. As the founder of Relevances Gallery, Art Summit, and the Young Contemporaries Program to name a few, this young woman has charted an incredible path, and it is very clear she will go the distance.

This episode explores how a bad review at work launched the food media career of Ozoz Sokoh, a food adventurer, and champion of Nigerian cuisine. After moving to the Netherlands, she finds herself homesick for the foods of her childhood so she began writing about food as a way to remember, to call back fond memories. Overtime, that effort to reach back, helped pull her forward into purpose. In this episode you will experience Ozoz's infectious energy, and love of cuisine, her insatiable curiosity about food culture, and her perspective on how food brings us all together as one human family. Towards the end she shares intimate details of her experience with one of her heroes, the late great journalist, Mr. Anthony Bourdain. This is an episode you do not want to miss.

Obinna Okerekeocha is the Creative Director of Red Tv, and online content platform powered by the United Bank of Africa. They are known for shows like Our Best Friends Wedding, and most recent success, The Men's Club. This episode takes you through Obinna's family legacy of artists from his grandfather, who was a successful photographer as well as his father an accomplished Ad man who used to draw the concert posters for great musicians like the late Fela Kuti. Fans of history and culture will enjoy this in-depth interview.

In this episode, we learn how an engineer, brand-maven and mother is empowering the next generation of Nigerian social marketers and influencers. For this week’s guest, Amin Amen is using her Instagram profile and hashtags @EverythingnaArt to empower a new generation of social media marketers and Influencers for the African market. Amin’s goal is to teach young Nigerians how to use online marketing skills to serve businesses, corporations, and brands operating in Africa looking for novel ways to navigate the realities of a new media and content driven marketplace. Some students have earned money on the side, while others have turned their skills into own full blown business. For Amin the ability to see art in everything became an ethos, a way of seeing possibilities in even the worst of circumstances. She challenges her students to do the same. Make something out of nothing, turn your distractions into income, and be the champion of your life.

A global conversation is brewing about Blackness, about the emergence of great Black creativity around the world. Afroesthetics, is a podcast that acts as an audio-catalogue of that movement. Let us start a conversation. Welcome.