Jesse Weaver Shipley

RN How did you get into curating? NF I was working with Revue Noire. We were publishing, but we were also ourselves discovering and sharing those discoveries. For us, it was an obvious step after publishing and having all these artists in the magazine; we said we can do more. We were a partner of the Dak’art Biennale in 1996 and decided to do an exhibition at the same time, which was the magazine issue on African artists and AIDS (published in 1995).

This post is from the first print edition of Africa Is a Country. Get your copyhere. It has become fashionable in recent years to assert that neoliberalism is in crisis. At face value, this seemed increasingly plausible in the wake of political shifts that appeared to intensify—especially in the “Global North,”—following the 2008 financial crisis.

When I was little, I had a very clear image of what it meant to be a grown woman. I imagined owning my own apartment, driving my own car, the ability to do whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted, and an unlimited supply of midriff blouses. This was the epitome of what being a grown, free woman meant to me. So, when I saw Lady Jaydee on the CD cover of her sophomore album, Binti, clad in a black two-piece that showed off her belly button, it immediately resonated with me.