DIARY OF A BORDER-BEING

musings in the in-between spaces of socio-cultural conflations

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  • A Time in Bloomington, Indiana and a note on the Dialectics of the Future.

    by Emeka Okereke

    This essay is a short recount of my time in the city of Bloomington in Indiana. In the later part of the essay, I shared lingering thoughts about the dialectics of the future.

    February 25, 2023
    Comments 0
    Critical Thoughts, Post-Colonial Discourse
  • Dakar’s Vibrant Art Biennale: Beyond Exhibition as Display

    by Emeka Okereke

    Exhibitions must invite the audience to partake in an experience wherein they become co-sojourners on the road conjured by the artist's proposal. This road is one of myriad, rhizomatic strands for which Africa, in our time, is a story of journeys.

    June 15, 2022
    Comments 0
    Africa, Art Biennale Reviews, Art Reviews and Cities, Contemporary Art, culture, exhibitions, Uncategorized
  • Two Months in Barcelona: A Recap

    by Emeka Okereke

    Yesterday, it rained and somewhat doused the sunniness of the city. Yet, it rendered the coal-tarred roads, streets, and pavement glasslike and reflective — like a mirage. There is something about the earth-colour aesthetic prevalent in the city. It lends warmth and cosiness even to a gloomy atmosphere. In the sun’s absence, the sky acts like a giant softbox, the rain a diffuser. Tungsten-lit...

    May 20, 2021
    Comments 0
    Art Reviews and Cities, Barcelona, Borders, Essays, Featured, Project, reflections, Social Intervention, Uncategorized
  • On Truth and Honesty

    by Emeka Okereke

    “Truth is bitter” is an all too familiar expression. As it seems to me, the expression borrows its validity from an understanding of “bitter” as the opposite of “sweet” – chocolaty, ice-creamy, sweet – as such, the antithesis of comfort and the comfortable. Many English words and adages ought to be passed through the scrutiny of a renewed gaze if they are to retain...

    May 3, 2021
    Comments 0
    Critical Thoughts, Featured, reflections, Uncategorized
  • In Search of The Collective

    by Emeka Okereke

    In beginning this reflection about the collective, I have, ringing at the back of my head, an Igbo saying: Igwe bụ ike which translates to “the collective is power”. This saying is in many ways fundamental to the social psychology of the Igbo people of Nigeria with whom I share a lineage. Elsewhere, Chinua Achebe, the acclaimed Nigerian novelist, and critic, referred to this as...

    February 29, 2020
    Comments 0
    Africa, Borders, Contemporary Art, Post-Colonial Discourse, trans-Africa
  • A Glimpse of Chennai, and its Photo Biennale (Part 1)

    by Emeka Okereke

    Twenty-four hours prior to hopping into a plane for a fifteen-hour journey, I had no idea I would eventually be making it to Chennai. My Nigerian passport seems to be the gift that keeps on giving where it has to do with being a document that, rather than aid mobility, actively facilities its restrictions. I was informed by the Indian embassy that holders of...

    March 28, 2019
    Comments 0
    Art Biennale Reviews, Art Reviews and Cities, Chennai
  • Seeing in the Eye: On Photography and the Gaze

    by Emeka Okereke

    “The danger of identifying with a stranger is the possibility of becoming a stranger. To lose one’s racialized rank is to lose one own valued and enshrined difference”. In my preoccupation with borders, movement and all the various forms of differences they presuppose, I have, more often than not, encountered the question: how can imagery (and by extension photography) play a useful role in...

    February 7, 2019
    Comments 0
    Art, Borders, Contemporary Art, culture, Featured, Photography
  • Emeka Okereke Awarded France’s Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters: Acceptance Speech

    by Emeka Okereke

    On Saturday, 27th October 2018, Nigerian photographer, filmmaker, writer and visual artist, Emeka Okereke, was conferred France’s prestigious insignia of Chevalier De l’Ordre Des Arts et Des Lettres (Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters) by the Ministry of Culture of France. The award ceremony took place at the new Alliance Francaise, Lagos. The event was officiated by the Ambassador of France to...

    December 3, 2018
    Comments 0
    Emeka Okereke
  • Is Amoeba Shapeless, or is Shapelessness a Shape?

    by Emeka Okereke

    I want to begin this reflection by taking some memory-steps back to my high school days when I was a science student. In our biology class, we were introduced to Amoeba, the shapeless, single-cell organism. As with most students of my age, the only character of this organism I really retained was its shapelessness. How can something be shapeless? I often wondered. The whole...

    July 10, 2018
    Comments 0
    Emeka Okereke, Essays, Featured, Post-Colonial Discourse, reflections, Trans-African
  • Knowledge, Time and Futures of Super(s)heroes.

    by Emeka Okereke

    Is it possible to think from that silence (the silence created by coloniality of knowledge), to undo the colonial differences that “time” contributed to make and contributes to maintain?1 For well over two weeks, the cyberspace has been in a state of frenzy following the latest release of Marvel comics’ blockbuster superhero movie: Black Panther. What is it that makes this film different from...

    February 23, 2018
    Comments 0
    Africa, Essays, Post-Colonial Discourse, reflections

Quote of the day

"Confrontation with history might enable us to escape its conditioning"

Wole Soyinka

Exhibition, Art Biennale Reviews, Cities

June 15, 2022

Dakar’s Vibrant Art Biennale: Beyond Exhibition as Display

Exhibitions must invite the audience to partake in an experience wherein they become co-sojourners on the road conjured by...

by Emeka Okereke
Comments 0
May 20, 2021

Two Months in Barcelona: A Recap

Yesterday, it rained and somewhat doused the sunniness of the city. Yet, it rendered the coal-tarred roads, streets, and...

by Emeka Okereke
Comments 0
March 28, 2019

A Glimpse of Chennai, and its Photo Biennale (Part 1)

Twenty-four hours prior to hopping into a plane for a fifteen-hour journey, I had no idea I would eventually...

by Emeka Okereke
Comments 0
November 5, 2017

San Francisco: Back and Forth Across Place and Time

It’s been about ten days since I flew across the ocean and backward in time from Paris to San...

by Emeka Okereke
Comments 0
January 1, 2017

On Permanently Temporary Lives: Reflections on Somolu/Bariga – Lagos

In the first quarter of 2016, I made an off-handed decision to find some semblance of coordination in the...

by Emeka Okereke
Comments 0

Post-Colonial & Post-Racial Reflections

February 25, 2023

A Time in Bloomington, Indiana and a note on the Dialectics of the Future.

This essay is a short recount of my time in the city of Bloomington in Indiana. In the later...

by Emeka Okereke
Comments 0
February 29, 2020

In Search of The Collective

In beginning this reflection about the collective, I have, ringing at the back of my head, an Igbo saying:...

by Emeka Okereke
Comments 0
July 10, 2018

Is Amoeba Shapeless, or is Shapelessness a Shape?

I want to begin this reflection by taking some memory-steps back to my high school days when I was...

by Emeka Okereke
Comments 0
February 23, 2018

Knowledge, Time and Futures of Super(s)heroes.

Is it possible to think from that silence (the silence created by coloniality of knowledge), to undo the colonial...

by Emeka Okereke
Comments 0

Borders, Movement & Trans-Africanism

July 10, 2018

Is Amoeba Shapeless, or is Shapelessness a Shape?

I want to begin this reflection by taking some memory-steps back to my high school days when I was...

by Emeka Okereke
Comments 0
April 18, 2017

Poetics of Location: Beyond “Africa Focus” of the Paris Art Fair ...

Version  fraiçaise traduite par Janine Gaelle In the train from Paris to Berlin, I reflected on the events of the...

by Emeka Okereke
Comment 1
December 9, 2014

Movement is the Word

Sometime ago, I came across Mo Ibrahim’s keynote address at the Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture in Tshwane, South Africa....

by Emeka Okereke
Comments 0
November 24, 2014

A Border Philosophy

I was in conversation with a friend, breaking down thoughts around the question of borders. My point of deperture was...

by Emeka Okereke
Comment 1
July 1, 2013

Reflections on “Return to N’djamena”

We have just returned from N’djamena after a very intense but super exciting 12 days. As some of you may...

by Emeka Okereke
Comments 0
January 3, 2013

Discussing Aesthetics in The Trans-African Project

Reality can be synthesized I am sitting in a moderately furnished apartment, in the living room precisely. There is a flower...

by Emeka Okereke
Comments 0
October 7, 2012

Diary of a Border-Bieng – Libreville Gabon

This morning, I woke up at some few minutes after 5.am. My head was pounding with a slight headache...

by Emeka Okereke
Comments 0
June 26, 2012

Traversing From West to East

Traveling has been a very important aspect of my existence. More so because it represents that phenomenon by which everything...

by Emeka Okereke
Comments 4

Reflections on Behaviour and Humanity.

February 25, 2023

A Time in Bloomington, Indiana and a note on the Dialectics of the Future.

This essay is a short recount of my time in the city of Bloomington in Indiana. In the later...

by Emeka Okereke
Comments 0
May 3, 2021

On Truth and Honesty

“Truth is bitter” is an all too familiar expression. As it seems to me, the expression borrows its validity...

by Emeka Okereke
Comments 0
February 9, 2018

“Water No Get Enemy”: A Thing or Two About Running.

I am in a different mood today. So I am going to write about running. But first, let me...

by Emeka Okereke
Comments 0

The Author

Emeka Okereke

Emeka Okereke

I am an Igbo-Nigerian visual artist and writer who lives and works between Lagos and Berlin, moving from one to the other on a frequent basis. Check bio here: http://emekaokereke.com/biography

Personal Links

  • Emeka Okereke
  • Invisible Borders Trans-African Project
  • E.O Multimedia LTD.

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Recent Posts

February 25, 2023

A Time in Bloomington, Indiana and a note on the Dialectics of...

June 15, 2022

Dakar’s Vibrant Art Biennale: Beyond Exhibition as ...

May 20, 2021

Two Months in Barcelona: A Recap

musings in the in-between spaces of socio-cultural conflations

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