Tenane Faotu Blog

Life is the longest thing we do. Beautiful or hideous, it's long. Oh and I'm not quite sure there's such a thing as a life that is ugly. Everything depends on perception. Now the thing with photograghs is how they seize a few moments from the billions we make or come into, and freeze them. This is why photograhs are important. You get to see one moment which ordinarily would have been blurred in memory or vanished; one moment, sometimes important, sometimes not quite so, alive in a form we can touch and visualize. That, my friends is a great thing. These shots by Nirvana Nungaray strike me as seriously invigorating. You know how we often take that shimmering little lake in our backyard for a puddle? Only in our most lucid moments do we note the beauty in small, ordinary things. I love the way Nirvana mirrors grace and joy with these images. There seems to be laughter in each of her photograghs, and it could be the way a feet is placed or how a hand is thrown forward. H...

                                The creative finds expression through various outlets. You have to respect that, and that alone is living creatively. I mean, even the simplest things we do, like doing the dishes and loving someone is or should be a creative act right? And being able to appreciate and love fine creations like these pieces by Precious Henshaw is a creative exercise. Precious Henshaw works with charcoal, graphite, coloured pencils and oil paints. It's interesting how simple her works are and yet, irresistibly captivating. They are idealistic and rather fantastic, yes, but with an appropriate touch of reality. Notice how the women in these portraits are not of the archetypal slender figure? It is lovely, the way the portrait sketches of Precious Henshaw wave the surreal like water from a magic wand. It is like Jacuzzi and hot chocolate to spoil yourself ...

Nope. This is not about the the singer's latest hit song. Adekunle Kosoko AKA Adekunle Gold is one of Africa's fastest rising musicians, whose work could be best described as a fusion of Highlife and Afropop. The man makes good music, take my word for it, and perhaps it's alright to add that he is one of the few young artistes from Africa that put on a lively, original stage show. But this article is only about Gold's unique dress sense. Oh yes. Maybe it's his background as a graduate of arts and design or maybe it's just the artistic in his cells, Gold releases (and always too) the tantalising effect with the way he dresses. It's like the art and creative flow must not end with his melodies, but ought to be visible around him all the time. Dang, even his face and the way he keeps himself is artistic. This is worthy of note because that is not so with many black/African musicians whom we see to be mainly representing mainstream fashion ideas, something th...

Nature is not fragile, it is sparkling and brilliant, and man is heavy. These are the words you'd probably hear when you take in the watercolour creations of Canadian artist, David McEown whose works gently bring to light the glory of landscape and wildlife? We can come to care enough for the environment and save it from the possible cataclysmic effects of our activities. We can correct our ways, but I suppose we have to be able to first appreciate what we have now and appreciate what we stand to lose if we fail nature. Then we'll be able to really care and that is a good place to start. Do you follow? So the watercolour of McEown is powerful for that ability to poignantly highlight the true state of things with global warming for instance and correct us. These pieces are nothing short of a magnificent recording of the rejuvenating power and wonders of nature. Light filled and sparkling with ice and sun, these are the landscape paintings we cannot fail to pay attention to....

It may surprise you to know that these glyphic forms hold an important meaning beyond the individual interpretation of the symbols that make them up. And that is, as a pathway to deeper knowledge about ourselves, about our identities in society. They are the work of Nigerian born, DC based artist Victor Ekpuk. Only two days ago, CNN caught up with the artist to discuss his art and how it might have preempted the blockbuster movie, Black Panther. So what is it about Victor Ekpuk's art? Well, apart from representing the interplay between writing and art, the murals actually draw inspiuration from ancient African ideographic writing systems like the Nsibidi and Uli art. Since his days at the obafemi Awolowo University, Ekpuk has been immersed in the exploration of Nsibidi and all the aesthetic philosophies embedded in it. Briefly, Nsibidi is a system of writing invented by and known to groups indigenous to what is now Southeastern Nigeria, namely the Igbo, Ef...