NKATA is an Igbo word from the language spoken by the Igbo people of Nigeria. It simply means "Conversation". Thus this podcast series will feature conversations with selected individuals (artists, cultural operators, and creatives) whose work I have known – some over many years and others, a little less so. What sets them apart is that I consider them and their works to be compelling, engaging and relevant to the time. The idea of this podcast is to have in-depth but also accessible conversations about who these individuals are, their life’s journeys and how this translates into their vocation as creative people. Conversations will depart from exploring the background of the artists' personal history while meandering through key themes, positions, and ideologies central to their works. Each episode will feature one conversation with a selected artist. Emeka Okereke (Host).
EP18: "Photography Needs Time...Time for Light" – Nkata with Angèle Etoundi Essamba
In this episode of Art and Processes, Emeka Okereke sits down with Cameroonian photographer Angèle Etoundi Essamba — a defining voice in contemporary African photography whose four-decade career has centered the presence, dignity, and strength of the Black female body.
Born in Douala in 1962, Angèle left Cameroon at nine years old for medical treatment in France — a rupture that shaped a lifelong meditation on displacement, belonging, and "home."
The conversation moves from that culture shock, to the moment in 1980s Amsterdam when she realized the Black community around her was visually absent — and decided to put the Black woman at the center of her frame, on her own terms.
They trace her major bodies of work: Série Noire, Afro Cosmos, and the Renaissance series (including The Girl with the Amber Earring), and talk about photography in the age of social media and AI, motherhood and darkroom discipline, and what freedom and dignity look like when "progress" means moving away from stagnation rather than climbing a ladder.
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28 May 2025
EP17: "The Learning Curve Never Stops" – Nkata with Alexandre Arrechea
Host Emeka Okereke interviews Cuban contemporary artist Alexandre Arrechea about his artistic journey, exploring themes of power and architecture, from his early work to his distinguished solo career.
14 Mar 2025
EP16: "Creativity is what we owe Humanity" – Nkata with Ibe Ananaba
Send us a text In this episode of Nkata Podcast: Art & Processes, host Emeka Okereke engages in a compelling conversation with Nigerian painter, designer, and multimedia artist Ibe Ananaba. A lifelong explorer of visual storytelling, Ananaba’s journey is one of relentless curiosity—one that traverses the bustling city of Aba, where he grew up, the creative crucible of Lagos, and his current practice in Canada. At the heart of this discussion lies a fundamental question: What do we owe the...
19 Aug 2024
EP15: "The garment of the present is always stitched by cloths and threads from a variety of elsewheres" – Nkata with John Akomfrah
Send us a textIn this thought-provoking episode, host Emeka Okereke sits down with the visionary Ghanaian-born British artist and filmmaker John Akomfrah. Akomfrah is renowned for his groundbreaking contributions to contemporary art and film, where his work poignantly explores themes of memory, post-colonialism, and the lived experiences of migrant diasporas across the globe.The conversation delves into Akomfrah’s illustrious career, beginning with his pivotal role as a founding member of the...
14 Apr 2023
EP14: "Move one foot in front of the other, and you will find your road". Nkata with Jide Adeniyi-Jones
Send us a textJide Adeniyi-Jones (b. Lagos, 1952) is a Nigerian documentary photographer based in Lagos and Washington, DC. He credits the English photographer John Vickers for paving his way into photography in 1972. Since then, he has worked across various sectors of the discipline, including advertising, private media, civic service, and contemporary art. Having been a photographer for most of Africa's post-independence era, he has witnessed and documented many key political events in...
8 Feb 2023
Ep13: "When I use the term Afropolitanism, it refers to the "becoming planetary" of our predicament." Nkata with Achille Mbembe.
Send us a textAchille Mbembe is no doubt one of the most influential philosophers of the 21st century. Born in Cameroun in 1957, the year that ushered in a ricochet of the independence of African nations – also known as the year of Kwame Nkrumah – in many ways, his work and disposition could be summarised as an embodiment of the spirit of the future. In this conversation moderated by Emeka Okereke for the 13th episode of Nkata Podcast, Art and Processes, Mbembe generously opens up personal sp...
19 Oct 2022
EP12: "We are workers of the Spirit". Nkata with Koyo Kouoh
Send us a textThe 12th episode of Nkata Podcast: Art & Processes features a conversation with Koyo Kouoh.Koyo Kouoh is a Cameroonian-born curator. She is a leading figure in the Contemporary art world. More specifically, she is one of the pioneers who helped shape and articulate contemporary art practices from the African continent and beyond. Her work is rooted in community and institution-building through collaborations. She is the founder of RAW MATERIAL COMPANY, an art space in Dakar ...
17 Apr 2022
EP11: "We were brought up to strive for Eloquence". Nkata with Olu Oguibe
Send us a textOlu Oguibe (b.1964, Aba) is a Nigerian artist and academic living and working in the United States of America. He is one of the foremost scholars of his generation whose work constitutes a pillar of what we now know as Contemporary African art and post-colonial studies. Since 1988, he has saddled a rigorous and prolific artistic practice as a visual artist, writer, curator, professor and art historian. Put succinctly, a credible account of the history and trajectory of Post-colo...
7 Dec 2021
EP10: We are trying to remember the future and rewrite the past. Nkata with Qudus Onikeku
Send us a textIn episode 10 of Nkata: Art & Processes, Emeka Okereke is in Conversation with Qudus Onikeku (b. 1984, Lagos), a Nigerian contemporary dancer, performer and Choreographer. He has been active and consistently prolific since 2004, so much that one cannot knowledgeably talk about the practice and evolution of contemporary dance in the 21st century without stumbling on the name Onikeku. As with many notable artists who came of age at the dawn of the century, he embodies the beli...
14 Oct 2021
EP09: "Water will always find its crack". Nkata with Ahmet Öğüt
Send us a textAhmet Öğüt (b.1981, Diyarbakir, Turkey) is a conceptual artist living and working in Amsterdam, Netherlands. He works with a broad range of media including video, photography, installation, drawing and printed media (Wikipedia)In the 9th Episode of Nkata: Art & Processes, Emeka Okereke and Öğüt discuss the concepts and thought processes behind his work. Ogut is what one might call a peripatetic artist – an artist whose practise relies on constant displacement from one locati...
20 Oct 2020
EP08: "If I write for them, it means I am removing myself from my source". Nkata with Niq Mhlongo
Send us a textNiq Mhlongo (b. 1973, Soweto) is a South African writer born in Johannesburg. Today, he is considered "one of the most high-spirited, irreverent voices of post-apartheid South African literary scene".So far, he has four novels and two short stories to his name: Dog Eat Dog (2004), After Tears (2007), Way Back Home (2013), Affluenza (2016), Soweto Under The Apricot Tree (2018), Paradise in Gaza (2020). He has also edited two collection of Essays: Black Tax, A Bu...
4 Jul 2020
EP07: "Our subalterns have not sold out; our youngsters have not sold out". Nkata with Shahidul Alam
Send us a textShahidul Alam (b.1955) is a Bangladeshi photojournalist, teacher and social activist. He has been a photographer for more than 40 years. His life and work can invariably be summarised as a service to society, culture and humanity. In 2014, he was awarded the Shilpakala Padak by the President of Bangladesh. In 2018 he received the Humanitarian Award from Lucie Awards. In the same year, he was named one of the Times Persons of The Year by Time Magazine. Alam found...
19 Apr 2020
EP06: "My father always told me that only Love is above the law" Nkata with Uche James Iroha
Send us a textOne cannot exhaustively and informatively review the history of contemporary Nigerian photography without frequently returning to the name Uche James Iroha (B.1972, Enugu). Since 1999, Uche’s ideology, activities and support for younger photographers, have paved the way for the flourishing of Nigerian photography in no small measure.Yet the temperament, attitude and principles he brought to photography preceded him. Before Uche was another hero of Nigerian art: Chief James Iroha...
18 Mar 2020
EP05: "Not only are we ahead of time, we are classic" Nkata with Nontsikelelo Veleko
Send us a textNontsikelelo Veleko (b. 1977) is a South African photographer most notably recognised for her depiction of black identity, urbanisation and fashion in post-apartheid South Africa. Veleko studied photography at the Market Theatre Photo Workshop(1999–2004).In 2006, her photographs were part of the group exhibition, Snap Judgments: New Positions in Contemporary African Photography, at the International Center of Photography (ICP) in New York; curated by Okwui Enwezor. There, the bo...
20 Dec 2019
EP04: "My mother said to me: I have dreamt of you in colours" Nkata with Otobong Nkanga
Send us a textOtobong Nkanga (b. 1974, Kano, Nigeria) is a visual and performance artist whose artistic practice spans almost two decades. She began her studies at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife Nigeria and continued at the National Fine Arts School of Paris. She obtained a Masters degree in performing arts from DasArts, Amsterdam, The Netherlands in 2008. Ever since she has exhibited and published her work in various platforms and institutions numerous to expound here. Otobong’...
28 Jun 2019
EP03: "No Thank You – I Will Live Up To The Consequences" Nkata with Jihan El-Tahri
Send us a textFor our third episode, Emeka Okereke is in conversation with Jihan El-Tahri, an Egyptian filmmaker, producer, and visual artist.Jihan El-Tahri began her career as a foreign correspondent covering Middle East politics for the Financial Times, Washington Post, and US News & World Reports. El-Tahri has since produced and directed several monumental documentaries, including the trilogy Egypt’s Modern Pharaohs (2016); The House of Saud (2004); Cuba, The African Odyssey (2006), an...
21 Apr 2019
EP02: "What have you, or what have I paid into that Trust?" NKATA with Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung.
Send us a textEpisode two of NKATA sees Emeka Okereke in conversation with Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung. Ndikung (b.1977, Yaoundé) is an independent curator, art critic, author and biotechnologist from Cameroon, who lives and works from out of Berlin. He studied food biotechnology in Berlin, received his doctorate in medical biotechnology and studied biophysics in Montpellier. Ndikung is the artistic director and chief curator of the art space SAVVY Contemporary in Berlin, which he fou...
27 Feb 2019
EP01: "I wonder as I wander" Nkata with Akinbode Akinbiyi
Send us a textIn this debut episode of NKATA, Emeka Okereke is in conversation with Akinbode Akinbiyi. Akinbiyi (b.1946) is a Berlin-based Nigerian photographer, writer, curator and educator who has been working in the art world/ creative field for over four decades. This conversation touches on several aspects of his life and practice beginning with moments and events that led to and spurred his vocation as an artist. Some noteworthy anchors of the conversation include: the photogr...
18 Feb 2019
EP00: Introduction of NKATA by EMEKA OKEREKE
Send us a textIn this intro episode, Emeka Okereke – the host of the program – introduces himself as well as the podcast series. He gave some pointers as to what the podcast program will be all about. Watch out for episode 1Support the showHi, amazing listeners! Emeka Okereke here. I am the founder and host of this show. If you’ve enjoyed the stories, insights, and creativity we bring to this podcast series, I invite you to join my Patreon community at patreon.com/EmekaOkereke. 🎉
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
YouTube views
25
Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
4 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
6 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 26 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
14
Social presence
0
YouTube
63
Engagement
32
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