Africalia recently engaged with artists who completed a residency program in collaboration with our partners in the Belgium programmeat Atelier Graphoui and Wiels. The aim is to learn more about their artistic backgrounds and practices, as well as the experience of the residency supervised by the partner.
2nd portrait, Steve Biko.
Steve Biko refuses to be pigeonholed. Above all, avoid describing him as an artist, because for him, an artist is a force capable of giving life to the imaginary and the material, of setting ideas and consciences in motion, of revealing the voices stifled by the dominant narratives. Anyone who claims to be an artist must be capable of all these things. His artistic expressions are varied. Initially a draughtsman, he later embraced photography under the influence of his father, a fighter for black consciousness. Today, he expresses himself through film, photography and poetry.
Her film project, supported by Africalia as part of an editing residency in partnership with Atelier Graphoui, explores contemporary realities through family heritage, highlighting the celebration of ancestors and their achievements.
Originally from Cameroon, Steve Biko is also the founder of l'Iris Africaine, a residency and resistance space for emerging artists, offering a place for exchange and resources to bring their projects to fruition. He draws his inspiration from his heritage. In an environment where you have to make do with what you have, he finds the motivation he needs to contribute in his own way to his country's cinematographic landscape, so that he can remain master of his own stories.
His name pays homage to the South African anti-apartheid activist, and for him, every artistic practice is an act of militancy from the outset.
To find out more, you can read more about his film "... The Seed and Things "currently in post-production, on the Atelier Graphoui website.
Interview by Norbert Nzarubara.
