Latitudes Podcast
Latitudes Podcast is the voice of art from Africa. Hosted by Refiloe Mpakanyane, it explores new ways of accessing and thinking about contemporary visual arts from Africa, while building community and a robust archive of thought leadership. The podcast serves as a resource and platform for critical discourse, bridging regional perspectives and shaping conversations about art from Africa and the diaspora. It is sponsored by iTOO Artinsure and brought to you by Latitudes Online, a digital marketplace for art from Africa curated by experts.
Episodes
Architecture as an artistic medium: what are its impacts on local, social narratives?
Refiloe speaks to Professor Sumayya Vally, acclaimed architect (and principal of the award winning architecture and research practice Counterspace) about architecture as an artistic medium. The conversation salvages the concept from the idealistic or theoretical and brings it into the deeply personal and intimate realms. Sumayya gives a peak into the engine at the heart of her practice including h
Standing on quicksand with gallerist Mark Read
Refiloe interviews Mark Read, the chairman of Africa's oldest commercial gallery, the Everard Read Group. They talk about Mark’s unique experience of being raised in the art business; then going on to helm and grow the family enterprise and ultimately becoming an influential figure in the art community. They also focus on his parallel life as a dedicated naturalist and preservationist who uses his
Cinga Samson: Staying grounded amid a meteoric rise
Refiloe is in conversation with visual artist Cinga Samson about his meteoric rise to global, artistic success. Known for his figurative oil paintings of large-scale group scenes and self-portraits; along with his depictions of figures with pupil-less eyes arranged in ceremonious poses. Cinga unpacks just what his works seek to portray and perhaps why they might never fully do. Sceptical about t
Simchowitz and Altman: The Lightning Rod and The Anchor
Our guests on this episode of the Latitudes Podcast are South African-born, U.S-based friends of more than 30 years: Stefan Simchowitz and David Altman. Their wide-ranging conversation with Refiloe explores everything from walking the line between collector and dealer, what success means in the art world and the promotion of cultural production from Africa. Touching on the political, spiritual and
The ABCs of Gen Z: Always be creating
In today's episode, host Refiloe Mpakanyane delves into why so many Gen-Z artists multi-task and produce at the intimidating rate they do. In conversation with dynamic young artists and ANNA Award finalists, Nindya Bucktowar and Alexandra-Naledi Holtman, she explores whether this is a necessary adaptation to contemporary demands or a simple extension of their innate, intellectual curiosity. And wh
South African Modernism and Surprising Tales From a Life in the Auction World
In this episode, Alastair Meredith chats to Refiloe about his fascination with South African modernist art; where it all started and why the genre remains the gift that keeps on giving to the South African public and the world. Alastair lets us into the workings of the secondary art market and shares heartwarming anecdotes of unexpected encounters with forgotten art gems. His is a work of passion
Painting Our Humanity With Charles 'Chuck' Collins
In episode 7 of the Latitudes Podcast, host Refiloe Mpakanyane talks to San Francisco based Charles 'Chuck' Collins. Whether working in law or sitting on the board of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Collins’ career has always bent toward improving the lived experiences of communities. This theme is baked into the conversation which focuses not only on what art and design tell us about ours
Thenjiwe Niki Nkosi: Making Art is a Way of Thinking and Releasing
In episode 8 of the Latitudes Podcast, host Refiloe Mpakanyane talks to the dynamic New York born, South African-based, multi-media artist Thenjiwe Niki Nkosi, who received the Tollman Award for the Visual Arts in 2019 and the Phillippe Wamba Prize in African Studies in 2004. Nkosi has collaborated, exhibited and studied globally and is popularly known for her pastel-hued paintings of triumphant B
On Blackness and Beauty with Ekow Eshun
In Episode 9 of the Latitudes Podcast, host Refiloe Mpakanyane talks to Ekow Eshun; a British writer, journalist, broadcaster and curator, about his abiding penchant for doing the difficult (and sometimes agonising) in order to spark meaningful conversations in audiences. A thoughtful and considered conversationalist, Ekow reflects on a multifaceted and impactful career that has spanned magazines,
Setting your Change Agenda with Osei Bonsu
In episode 10 of the Latitudes Podcast, host Refiloe Mpakanyane speaks with British-Ghanaian, curatorial powerhouse, Osei Bonsu. A sought-after curator of contemporary art, Osei’s work has taken him all over the world, advising museums, art fairs as well as private collections. Also a lecturer and writer, Osei has contributed to various arts publications and exhibition catalogues.Before joining th
Ubuntu and Isintu, Milisuthando Bongela on How Not to Forget
In this episode, Refiloe Mpakanyane speaks to award-winning writer Milisuthando Bongela. While her career began in fashion, her creative spirit has carried her into music, art, media and now film. Bongela has written and directed her first film: the self-titled: Milisuthando. The artfully edited and scored documentary is a personal essay spanning 30 years and was eight years in the making. Written
The Awe-Inspiring Mission of Valerie Kabov
Valerie Kabov is the Director of First Floor Gallery Harare as well as the co-founder of the African Art Galleries Association.She is an educator, writer and researcher whose international experience in teaching, training and implementing projects in the field of art; audience engagement and intercultural dialogue, has further burnished her impressive mission into an awe-inspiring one. Valerie si
Ayana V. Jackson – The Art of Showing Up
Chapter 1 of Season 2's podcast is all about flicking through the manual - a guide to the art industry: The door opener, the first step, the how-to enter and engage with the art industry. A resource-driven series providing practical tools for emerging artists and enthusiasts to navigate the art world’s complexities.In this opening episode of The Latitudes Podcast powered by iTOO Artinsure Season 2
Zizipho Poswa: Sculpting Legacy, Rooted in Ancestry
In this moving conversation, Cape Town-based sculptural ceramicist Zizipho Poswa joins Refiloe Mpakanyane to share the personal, cultural and spiritual underpinnings of her extraordinary art practice.Known for her monumental ceramic and bronze sculptures celebrating African womanhood, Poswa opens up about her rural Eastern Cape upbringing, the powerful women who shaped her, and the ancestral calli
Athi-Patra Ruga: Portrait Of A Boundless Artist
In this instalment of the podcast, multidisciplinary artist Athi-Patra Ruga joins Refiloe Mpakanyane, remotely from his farm and studio in the beautiful Hogsback area, in the Eastern Cape. The conversation happens under the aegis of revealing the realities and hidden truths of his studio practice; as well as unpacking the lessons he has learnt along the way and the events that triggered growth a
To Not Dream is To Die: The Philosophies of Ugoma Ebilah
In this episode of Latitudes Podcast Refiloe Mpakanyane is joined by Lagos based art curator, gallerist and cultural convener Ugoma Ebilah. In this conversation Ugoma talks us through the skills that have enabled her to stay at the forefront of shaping contemporary discourses in African art. Whether it was through representing artists and changing the artist-gallerist dynamic; founding BLOOM Ar
Thandiwe Muriu: Creating Locally, Impacting Globally
In this episode of the Latitudes Podcast, Refiloe Mpakanyane connects with Nairobi-based photographer Thandiwe Muriu. Thandiwe unpacks her knack for incorporating local wisdom into her art and letting it shine on the global art platforms. After walking us through the beginning of her artistic career (193 Gallery slid into her dm’s), the conversation gets into the depths and thoroughness of Thandiw
Touria El Glaoui | On An Equitable Art World
In this episode of the Latitudes Podcast, Refiloe Mpakanyane talks to Moroccan born and raised Touria El Glaoui about the impact of her cultural work. As the founder of 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair, Touria is widely celebrated as a global cultural taste maker whose work has been important in championing African art on the global art scene. Beyond her work with 1-54, Touria has curated and
Heba El Kayal: Speaking Across Mountains
On this episode of the Latitudes Podcast, Refiloe Mpakanyane is joined by Heba El Kayal. Heba is a curator, consultant, writer and researcher, originally from Cairo with networks in the Middle East, North Africa, The UK and the USA.With a Master's degree in Art History from Columbia University in New York, Heba is the former Chief Curatorial Consultant at the Norval Foundation in Cape Town and rec
Who Are the Art Critics of Today? Antwaun Sargent on Criticism and Cultural Change
What does it mean to be an art critic today, in a world where attention is shrinking and art is increasingly filtered through the scroll?Writer and curator Antwaun Sargent has spent the past 15 years championing and critically engaging Black artists, producing vital writing that has reshaped how contemporary art is understood and valued. In this episode, Sargent reflects on the shifting role of th
Buoyancy & Belief: Inside a South African gallerists world with Emma van der Merwe
Buoyancy & Belief: Inside a South African gallerists world with Emma van der MerweIn this episode Refiloe Mpakanyane talks to Everard Read Cape Town Gallery Director, Emma van der Merwe from the dealer’s perspective, talking about the quiet contracts that hold the art world together — trust, instinct, and love for the work itself. In this conversation, she lifts the curtain on the energy and p
Justin Naylor and Carel Nolte: Beyond Collecting and Investing in Artists
On this episode of the Latitudes Podcast, Refiloe Mpakanyane is joined by Justin Naylor and Carel Nolte. Justin is the CEO of iTOO ArtInsure (sponsors of the Latitudes Podcast) and Carel is the Chief Enablement Officer of EasyEquities. Both are ardent wine and art collectors whose interests have blended with their work as well.This conversation gives an insurer’s perspective on the enduring appeal
Carla and Pieter Schulting: The Collector As A Patron Of The Arts
In this final episode of season two, Refiloe Mpakanyane speaks to Carla and Pieter Schulting, Dutch collectors whose journey into contemporary African art has grown into a 350+ artwork collection representing all 54 countries on the continent. They share how one encounter with an Ethiopian artist sparked an unexpected pivot in their collecting life, eventually leading to Africa Supernova, the blo
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