Julie Mehretu teamed up with her longtime friend and Emmy-nominated film producer Mehret Mandefro, along with a group of African and international artists, to initiate the African Film and Media Arts Collective. When Mehretu began her collaboration with BMW on designing the 20th BMW Art Car for the iconic collection she never dreamed that it would lead to the creation of a pan-African artists workshop, which ultimately birthed the idea for the collective.

With the generous support of the BMW Group, the African Film and Media Arts Collective will gather artists from various African nations and the global diaspora to negotiate the pressing issues of political, cultural, and historical identity that span the African continent. Participants will attend workshops held in five different locations, where they will have the opportunity to consider forms of experimentation made possible by this translocal gathering.

Mehretu views the collective as a platform where she can engage with her artistic peers. She invited the following artists to lead workshops: Jim Chuchu (Kenya), Robin Coste Lewis (USA), Mati Diop (France/Senegal), Coco Fusco (Cuba/USA), Wanuri Kahiu (Kenya), Zeresenay Berhane Mehari (Ethiopia) and The Otolith Group. The workshops will be held in Lagos (Nigeria), Dakar (Senegal), Tangier (Morocco), Nairobi (Kenya) and Cape Town (South Africa).

Artists participating in the collective will have the opportunity to develop their own creative approaches and new forms of media art, with full access to an archive of African films and media works to serve as inspiration. At the end of each workshop the participants will create a new film production which will be included in an anthology of contemporary African filmmaking at the conclusion of the collective project in December 2025. The anthology will premiere at an exhibition at the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary African Art in Cape Town.

The first workshop was held in Lagos on April 15. More details and updates about the activities of the African Film and Media Arts Collective can be found on their site.

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