Join Me at “Behold New Suns”!
It’s only been a year since my last Hello… and I bear good news: I’m officially quieting Sweetie Adventures to start a new substack newsletter called Behold New Suns.
As you may remember, I started this newsletter to capture the gap year that Steve and I took in 2023 - when we visited 13 countries, 10 of them on my home continent of Africa. It was a grand adventure and continues to be an incredible gift for living now.
Since our return a year & a half ago, Steve has returned to his community organizing work, which is as critical as ever, and I am making my way as an independent arts worker.
In that stead and with the disastrous turn of political events in the past few months, I’m asking myself everyday… What new art, ideas, theories, movements, and more will guide us, ground us, and sustain us in the times ahead? What phoenix can we birth from these ashes?
In other words, I’m trying to pay attention to the possibilities, not just the destruction. I’m doing this in my work, my personal projects, my reading, my travel, and now, in my writing.
In full recognition that Black people across the African diaspora already have advanced degrees in doing the most in the least of times, what captures my attention these days is how dynamic and generative a time it is for the African arts ecosystem right now. From Lagos to Kampala, Harlem to Sao Paulo, new institutions are rising, old canons are shattering, and our voices are louding. These are the new suns.
To find out more, please consider signing up for my new Substack: Behold New Suns.
Please subscribe if you care about the beauty, challenges, and possibilities of arts and culture in the African diaspora. I’ll share bits about artists, arts workers, cultural spaces, travel, etc. You’ll be the first to learn about my new projects. I’m not yet sure how often it will be but I hope it’s always worth your while.
In light & community,
Kemi