AFROPOLITANS @ V&A Friday Night Lates
Enjoyed a really great night at the V&A friday last, this has been my first chance to post. Called Afropolitans, the event was an exploration and celebration of a cosmopolitan African identity. Amongst the talks, workshops and live sets, drinks were served and drunk by a well-turned crowd of interested Londoners - which included many who could subscribe to an Afropolitan identity if they so chose. It was a friday so lectures felt a stretch, and queues for workshops seemed too long - however what I really enjoyed was roaming around, people watching, soaking up the atmosphere and popping into open installations.
The highlight of the evening was no doubt Spoek Mathumbo playing his UK debut in a rain soaked courtyard. His music is pretty far from the sunny, upbeat afro-pop we often associate with that part of the world. Being an electronic music fan, I like what he does, and it translates really well onto the stage. It is his energy and lyrics that feel distinctly different to what you’d expect from a similar sound in Europe. This is about pushing a global genre from a place not often associated with that sound. Above is his video for Control, a cover of Joy Division, which is directed by Pieter Hugo one the featured South African photographers at the Figures and Fictions exhibition from which the Afropolitans event stems. Great video, great track, and great live.
