Not every creative can daresay that they are a ‘T-shaped creative’ (coined from the T-shaped marketer term used to describe a marketer with a broad understanding of marketing concepts) but Ugonna Ibe can. Not only has she had years of experience curating Nigerian and African art for several galle…
Art
NBA Meets Art at Art X 2023 to Influence Beyond the Court
Tiffany Amber Gardens might be home to the iconic eponymous luxury fashion brand founded by Folake Coker back in 1998, but, on Saturday, November 4, 2023, it took on a new designation: a space celebrating the NBA Meets Art installation, a special project within the just concluded Art X 2023 editi…
In conversation with Joakim Noah, Former NBA All-Star and Global Ambassador, Hennessy In The Paint
A thousand and one things go into building a legacy business, and no one understands this better than Hennessy. Their recent unveiling of a basketball court in Lagos in collaboration with former NBA all-star, Joakim Noah, as part of their In The Paint initiative, comes as no surprise. Hennessy la…
The Christie’s vs Sotheby’s Race to the Emily Fisher Landau Collection: Should You invest in Art?
Globally, the weather may be cooling, following a particularly hot, record-breaking July, but in the art world, temperatures are rising. According to rumours, Christie’s and Sotheby’s, the two most popular auction houses, are in a race to take up the estate of Emily Fisher Landau, art collector, …
Create a One-of-One Art-Inspired Timepiece with Vacheron Constantin and The Louvre
What do art and horology have in common? A lot, as Swiss watchmaker, Vacheron Constantin and The Louvre, France’s national art museum, will tell you following their newest collaboration. ‘A Masterpiece on the Wrist’: a Vacheron Constantin x The Louvre collaboration years in the making Per Vachero…
In Conversation with South African Artist and World Traveler, Reggie Khumalo.
Prior to my conversation with South African artist, Reggie Khumalo, who is as celebrated for his travels as he is for his art, I had seen his work. I was immediately struck by how profound each of them are, despite a perceived simplicity of appearance at first glance. Reggie is like that. On the …
ASPIRE Ones to Watch, 2022
2021 was such a year of hope. We had just exited the worst of a global pandemic and, for Africans living on the continent, an additional uncertainty heightened by protests and economic instability. We daresay almost everyone approached the new year with some level of positivity, as to do otherwis…
Iké Udé: Nollywood Portraits puts African Beauty and Fashion on Display at the Smithsonian
This Black History month, learn more about Africa’s biggest movie industry, Nollywood via Iké Udé: Nollywood Portraits, an exhibition by the Nigerian-born multimedia artist that will be live at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art from February 5 2022 till February 2023. On display wi…
From the Editor: The Best of ASPIRE in 2021
Happy New Year!!!! May 2022 grant us all the best of life and its blessings! You might be right to say that it’s too late in the year for new year greetings, but then again…just one more from a brand you love should not be too much, right? 2021 was definitely an interesting year! We […
Johnnie Walker celebrates African Creatives in The Ones Who Keep Walking
In 2020, premium Scotch whisky brand, Johnnie Walker, debuted a documentary celebrating the life and times of its eponymous founder. Aptly titled The Man Who Walked Around The World, the film captured the beginnings of the business as well the entrepreneurial journey of the man behind the drink. …