Innervisions

I think I’m in love. I recently stumbled across Pop’Africana, a new fashion/art magazine with a focus on Africa and the African Diaspora whose first issue launched last month.

Also, it is very difficult to find images of Africans and people of African descent in style, fashion, and art publications. And when those images are there, they are usually exoticized, the subject’s Otherness played to the absolute hilt. Not to mention that magazines that were dedicated to black and brown denizens of style were shuttered after sadly short runs (i.e., Vibe Vixen and Suede).

It is quite refreshing to see Oroma Elewa the magazine’s founder and a wonderful photographer in her own right, dedicate herself to increasing the visibility of Africans in the fields of art, design, fashion, and photography. It’s definitely not easy to start a print publication in a media environment where magazines and newspapers are folding on a regular basis and it’s inspiring to see the passion and drive fueling this project. It is rare to read and see people from the Diaspora highlighted and celebrated instead of ignored or exoticized, so I’m excited to see the results. Not to mention that it’s just a real treat to see such sumptuous images and creative design choices; something truly original.

For more information on Pop’Africana, visit its editor’s blog (chock full of beautiful photos and musings from Elewa), Twitter and Facebook pages. (Phew!)

Stay tuned. As soon as my copy comes in the mail, I will share a few choice selections here.