Culture, Creativity & Community: How The Africa Centre Has Built a Home for African Heritage in the UK Since 1964 With Olu Alake

[00:00:00] You're listening to the Unlocking Africa Podcast In 1964 about two thirds of Africa was still under colonial. Most of the Africans in London were either students or had been sent on courses by the government. When I moved back to London, this was in the early 90s, there still weren't that many places where you could meet other people who went from all over Africa.

[00:00:26] We have sizable African diaspora populations all over the world. In Brazil, the Middle Americas and Canada. So the Africa Centre has to speak to all of them. Stay tuned as we bring you inspiring people who are unlocking Africa's economic potential. You're listening to the Unlocking Africa Podcast with your host, Terser Adamu.

[00:00:54] Welcome to the Unlocking Africa Podcast where we find inspirational people who are doing inspirational things to unlock Africa's economic potential. Today we have Olu Alake, who is CEO at the Africa Centre, which is a home for contemporary African culture and heritage, serving communities in the UK, Africa and the global African diaspora since 1964.

[00:01:23] Welcome, welcome, welcome to the podcast Olu. How are you? I'm very well Terser, thanks for having me. It's an absolute pleasure to have you on the podcast and looking forward to the conversation. Indeed. As usual, I'd like to dive straight in. For those who don't know, what is the Africa Centre?

[00:01:44] Thanks Terser. The Africa Centre was set up in 1964 in London and to understand the rationale for why the Africa Centre needed to be set up, we have to cast our minds back or our imaginations for the younger ones, back to 1964 and to understand what London was like for Africans and what the conversations Africans were having back then were.

[00:02:12] In 1964, about two thirds of Africa was still under colonial rule. Most of the Africans in London were either students or had been sent on courses by their governments and those governments were either of newly independent nations or about to become independent nations. Two thirds of Africa at that time, remember, was still under colonial rule.

[00:02:34] So when they got to London, it was a far more hostile environment for Africans then than it is now. And there weren't that many welcoming spaces for them where they could have conversations with each other, meet each other from all across the continent, strategise about how they gain their independence or their liberation,

[00:02:59] and then share their culture and foster that deeper sense of African independence and Pan-Africanism that was very much prevalent at that point in time. So that's how the Africa Centre came into being with a donation from actually the Catholic Church back then. The centre was set up and opened for business.

[00:03:28] So they would have the people would meet up there. For younger people, those are back in the days when there were no mobile phones, you know, so they had to like make all these arrangements to meet at the Africa Centre at a particular time. They would have conversations there, arguments and debates. And then they would go downstairs, they would socialise, they would have a drink, they would have a meal and they would party together. And in essence, that's what the Africa Centre still is today.

[00:03:56] You know, it's a place for facilitating connections between people of African descent or have an interest in Africa. It's a place where physical conversations and debates happen. And it's a place where we celebrate African culture and heritage in all these manifestations. Brilliant. So you've given us great insights into the history and the original purpose of the Africa Centre.

[00:04:21] But if you look specifically at yourself, what inspired you to take on the leadership of the Africa Centre? I've had a very interesting journey to becoming the chief exec of the Africa Centre. When I arrived back in the UK, so I was born in the UK, but I left when I was quite young, moved to Nigeria, and then came back after my university.

[00:04:48] And when I moved back to London, this was in the early 90s, there still weren't that many places where you could meet other people who are not from, apart from people who are from your immediate circle, from all over Africa. There weren't that many places where you could learn about Africa or celebrate African heritage and see African culture.

[00:05:15] And the Africa Centre was the only place, you know, where you could find that. So I gravitated towards the Africa Centre as a, you know, young master's student back then, met some amazing people. I subsequently went to work at the Arts Council. I was head of cultural diversity and the Africa Centre was one of my clients at that time.

[00:05:40] And when I left the Arts Council, I became a trustee of an organisation that was based at the Africa Centre. Then in the late 2000s, when the Africa Centre was going through its then crisis, which resulted in its move from Covent Garden, I was expected to be part of the Africa Centre campaign.

[00:06:05] You know, so I've gone through all manifestations of engagement with the Africa Centre. So when the opportunity to actually take on the mantle of the organisation, when it reopened in its new home in Southwark a couple of years ago came up, I thought, if not me, who? If not now, when? And here I am. Fantastic. So we've discussed the original purpose of the Centre and your reason for joining.

[00:06:34] So since joining, what would you say are some of the biggest changes you've implemented to, I guess, keep the Centre current and still relevant? It's been a very interesting time. So the Africa Centre is 60 years old. It was based at Covent Garden, King Street Covent Garden for 50 of those first 60 years and left in 2012 when we saw the building was falling apart.

[00:07:03] The trustees thought it was more economically beneficial to leave the space than to try to raise funds to renovate. And it took quite some time for them to find a place where they would be comfortable to build what would be a new Africa Centre, which we have in Southwark.

[00:07:25] And lots of debates and conversation around how relevant is it, what does it need to be and what kind of space do we need to be able to do that? The context for the Africa Centre has changed a lot in that in 1964, there were no other places where you could find Africa in mainstream London.

[00:07:53] That's changed, you know, it's changed quite a lot. You now have African artists who don't necessarily have to carry their portfolio under their arms and wander into the Africa Centre hoping for an exhibition space, which is how many contemporary African artists actually started out. Three of them have gone on to win the Turner Prize. Several of them have gone on to become the biggest artists in their countries all over Africa.

[00:08:24] But now, you know, we have young African artists selling in contemporary galleries all over London. Similarly with music, the first place and for many, the only place where many African artists could perform in the 70s and 80s was at the Africa Centre. That's changed now.

[00:08:48] On any night of the week in London, there are probably four or five concerts with African artists going on. We've now got Afrobeats artists selling out the O2 Arena and so on, which was unimaginable even 15 years ago.

[00:09:06] So the big challenge for me when I started was to reimagine the Africa Centre and to re-establish its relevance for the 21st century. It's not so much about what has happened in the past. Of course, history matters, heritage matters. It's far more important to think about what is happening now and what's going to happen in the future.

[00:09:36] And where does the Africa Centre actually sit within that? And that has been, you know, the big challenge for me. So it's in deliberating all of that, that we have a focus, a strategic focus of the global African, you know,

[00:09:56] as our strategic theme for the next few years, where we will be looking at the recognising that there is the world in Africa and there is Africa in the world. And, you know, there are all the contemporary issues that are impacting the world today. A lot of the answers are going to be found in Africa, if not all of them.

[00:10:23] From arts and culture, we've seen the explosion in how African art and culture is now celebrated and actively being attracted by people all over the world. We have seen how in the fields of technology and how much more respect there is for indigenous technologies coming out of Africa.

[00:10:50] We've seen how many unicorns and how much investment is being placed into Africa. We've seen how young Africans now have a very, very different and more empowered sense of identity for themselves. And the Africa Centre needs to be at the heart of all those conversations. It needs to be at the heart of celebrating African excellence.

[00:11:11] It needs to be at the heart of changing the narrative that is still quite pervasive in mainstream media about what Africa is and what Africa, you know, can be and what young Africans are actually prioritising. So that's where we are at. And that's been a big challenge for me over the last couple of years. So as you mentioned, the context of the Africa Centre has changed since 1964.

[00:11:40] So with the younger generation that now access the centre, how would you say the role of the centre has evolved in response to the younger generation that engage or access the Africa Centre currently? It's similar but different.

[00:11:58] So the context of the context of the centre as a place for facilitating connection is still very much needed and still very much at the heart of everything that we do. And it's quite interesting that 10, 15 years ago, young people of African heritage in London were still at a place where they would feel ashamed of their African identity.

[00:12:27] Many of them would anglicise their names. So, you know, like, might be calling themselves Oliver Lake. You know, just 10, 15 years ago. And then suddenly, well, it wasn't sudden, but it seems sudden.

[00:12:47] We now have a situation where even people who are not African are claiming African identities or chasing back their heritage to Africans and being very proud of, you know, all their African friends and, you know, engaging in jollof wars and dancing to Applebeats and telling you how they want to learn the Yoruba language just so they can understand what Ashaka is thinking about. Yeah, we get a lot of demand for that.

[00:13:16] So young people, but a lot of those young people are learning about that. I've got a hunger and a thirst for knowledge when they didn't actually have the cultural underpinning and the foundational setup from their parents.

[00:13:40] It's because the parents, when they came in the 60s, 70s, 80s, 80s, had different priorities. And in their bid to protect their children and to ensure that they integrated into society directly or indirectly helps to erase or at least suppress key elements of their African cultures. Yes.

[00:14:06] So you have a lot of those young people who now really want to assert an identity that they haven't been adequately prepared for. Many of them can't speak the languages. Food is the one area which I suppose is an exception here because that's what they eat at home.

[00:14:25] You know, they still, they still, they got the grounding in food, but not in much else, not in understanding of the history, not in an understanding of the politics, not in an understanding of the social cultural heritage of the continent, not in an understanding of the interconnectedness or the history of the continent and how that has impacted on contemporary Africa and the global African diaspora.

[00:14:53] So what they seek from the Africa center now is slightly different. It's not just about somewhere to hang out. It's not just about somewhere to come and have a good time. It's also a place for genuine connection to each other and to the continent and to understand, to get a deeper understanding of their place,

[00:15:18] even as diaspora Africans in the African continent and how they can self-fulfill as well as contribute to Africa's development. So a lot of the programs and activities that we have here is geared very much towards that, you know, across our five pillars of activity. So whether it's in arts and culture, whether it's in entrepreneurship and innovation, whether it's in education or community development or thought leadership,

[00:15:47] we try to ensure that everything we do is cross-cutting across all of these so that young people especially, you know, get that sense of depth in understanding of who they are, what Africa has been and what Africa is so that they can help to shape what Africa will be. So you've kind of touched on this in terms of the younger generations engaging differently and having different needs.

[00:16:14] I was wondering, how do you balance the center's, would you call it legacy, with the needs of the modern audience or the modern customer? It's quite interesting. So for an organization that's been around for 60 years, we call ourselves a 60-year-old startup. I like that. Because we are forever reinventing ourselves and negotiating a tension between different audiences.

[00:16:44] So the audience, audience pre-2012 of the Africa Center are the people who grew up in the, who grew up at the Africa Center in the 60s and 70s and the 80s into the 90s, who were very much a part of the immediate post-colonial moment for the center.

[00:17:09] So you can imagine that the conversations was very much about asserting independence for them. Into the 70s and 80s was more about the liberation of all of Africa and recognizing that until we were all free, then none of us are really free. And the Africa Center became the de facto headquarters for the anti-appetite movement.

[00:17:32] And at any point in time, you could wander into the bar of the Africa Center and find your tabo beckies and desmatutus hanging around. In fact, the bar, the Africa Center, was named Soweto. Because, yeah, going through the archives, all kinds of very interesting conversations were happening back then.

[00:17:55] So it's been really, really interesting to see how, you know, things have changed and are changing. And now it's more about, you know, as I was saying, it's more about, you know, how we ensure that, you know, we remain relevant for the times and help to reshape what Africa needs to be, especially with young people.

[00:18:25] But with the older people, what we need to do with them is to attract them back to the center, recognize that there is still, you know, a place and a space for them. That home is still always home. You know, Africa Center, we like to call ourselves your home away from home.

[00:18:45] And that they will still find points of recognition and points of relevance for their experience, for their understanding and for their insights at the center. And their points of education as well, intergenerational education for them as well, as for the young people. And we do that in various ways.

[00:19:07] One particular, particularly poignant example of how that happened was with last year was the 90th birthday of Wale Shoinka, who is Africa's first Nobel laureate in literature. Wale Shoinka used to hang out at the Africa Center in the late 60s and early 70s when he was a student in England.

[00:19:31] He performed quite a few of his poems and plays at the center back then and had always held the Africa Center in, you know, very high regard. So when his team suggested that he had an international celebration of his 90th birthday, he insisted that he can only be at the Africa Center. And we were more than delighted to host him. So we had nine days of activity for one of which decade of his life, obviously.

[00:20:01] Last July. And he came, the great man came himself to the last couple of days of the celebration. What that did was really, really interesting because up to that point, we had found it quite difficult to re-engage what we call the old Africa Center audience. Because the average age of attendees of the last couple of years since we reopened is actually quite young. It's like in the early 30s.

[00:20:31] And the older people seem to have had a notion that the Africa Center can never be the same again, given that it's left its spiritual home in Covent Garden. Or that the program of activity that it now has is not really geared towards them and their generation, but is more geared towards the younger generation.

[00:20:55] So to have had a touch point, an emotional and intellectual touch point, such as Wole Shoyinka, come back to the Center, you know, understood how important the Africa Center still was to him, was also like an open invitation to that generation to come back as well. And it was amazing.

[00:21:46] The average age was probably about late 50s, you know, early 60s. Because people came back and they recognized and they could have, you know, they could feel at home. And some of the comments that we're getting were like, yes, the Africa Center is back, you know, I'm back home again. You know, this is the Africa Center that we used to have, you know, the kind of conversations that we're having now, this is what we need. So that was really, really powerful.

[00:22:13] But also, it was very powerful for the younger people as well, because many of them didn't know Wole Shoyinka, you know. And it was really magical to have had a whole day that Shoyinka had just with young people, you know.

[00:22:31] So he was surrounded by young people, generously gave up his time answering their questions, telling them about his life and his work and his inspirations and how they inspired him as well. So the really great intergenerational connection.

[00:22:47] And since then, what we have found is that all the Africa Center have now been coming back to the Center for other events and even events that are not geared towards legacy characters like Shoyinka or Nguji and so on. So, you know, they're finding that, you know, this is still their Africa Center. So you mentioned something quite interesting earlier in terms of negotiating the interest of different audiences.

[00:23:15] I know you've made a conscious effort representing or trying to represent all of Africa beyond just the major countries such as Nigeria, Kenya. But how do you ensure this type of inclusivity in practice? You have to be very, very intentional and very, very careful about it.

[00:23:37] So in celebrating the global African, we have to recognize that there are 54 African nations. And you have the Caribbean as an officially recognized region of the African Union now, and that we have sizable Africa diaspora populations all over the world.

[00:24:04] You know, in Brazil, in the Middle Americas, in North America, both in the United States and Canada, and across Europe as well as even in Asia. So the Africa Center has to speak to all of them in different ways.

[00:24:27] Even if not directly, then even indirectly in our messaging, we have to be as inclusive as we can and as inviting as we can to everyone by ensuring that we are highlighting and seizing upon the transversal issues that impact all of the global African diaspora.

[00:24:53] Even if, you know, the case study of a particular exhibition or a particular talk is focused on a particular country or region. So that's one way. Secondly, we have specific cultural showcases of particular regions or countries as well.

[00:25:16] So this year, for instance, we've been commissioned by British Council to run the UK-Kenya season. So that would mean from May to November, there will be a whole host of activities focused specifically on Kenya. But of course, we'll have regional implications for the whole of East Africa as well. So there will be conversations that will touch upon the rest of that region as well.

[00:25:46] We started last year with a Lucophone Africa Day, which was an opportunity to celebrate the Portuguese-speaking African countries, which was really, really powerful.

[00:26:00] And probably one of my favorite events that we've had since I've been here, because it gave voice and it gave visibility to a very under-recognized part of the African story and of African people. We make all these assumptions about the different language, colonial language blocks that we have across Africa.

[00:26:30] So there's Anglophone Africa, there's Francophone Africa, there's Lucophone Africa. And Lucophone Africa tends to be the more forgotten part of the continent, mainly because many of the countries are geographically quite small. Some of them don't even appear on the map of Africa at all. So you're hard-pressed to find Cape Verde or Sao Tome or Comoros on any map of Africa at all.

[00:26:59] So to have a whole day where we could celebrate Lucophone Africa and have a whole building takeover of the continent was very, very powerful and very, very informative and educational for us and for them. And we make all these assumptions about Lucophone Africa, like it's one big block and one big homogenous block and they all know everything about each other. And that's not the case at all.

[00:27:28] So it's really, really incredible to hear, you know, people from Cape Verde meeting people from Angola and telling them, I didn't know that about Angola and people from Mozambique saying, I'd never met anyone from Sao Tome before and so on. You know, and then people from parts of Angola and Francophone Africa asking, where is Sao Tome? You know, what is Cape Verde?

[00:27:55] So that level of ignorance and lack of understanding about the continent is quite prevalent because we've been divided by language. And one of the key things that we need to do and keep doing at the centre is raising awareness about that. Next year, we'll also be having a focus on Afro-Brazilian culture as well. So that will be quite powerful.

[00:28:21] And again, that tells a story of Africa, which many people either don't know or has been suppressed, even within Brazil. Well, similarly with Afro-Mexican cultures until about five, six years ago, it wasn't even officially recognised that they were Afro-Mexicans, you know, because that level of that part of their history had been eradicated and the people's cultures had been suppressed that much.

[00:28:51] But we need to highlight what that all means at the Africa Centre. And we've been doing that and we've been doing that through our programming, but also strategically by starting an affiliate organisation network where we partner with organisations in different countries across Africa and the global African diaspora.

[00:29:16] And we look to work with them to co-produce or co-develop activity with them, to be African, the global north for those who require resources, access to resources that we might help to facilitate and so on as well.

[00:29:34] But more importantly, it gives us a better understanding and it helps us to better highlight the issues of and the potential for the global African diaspora. You've hit on something very important with regards to the lack of knowledge of Africans about other African cultures or countries. So what role would you say education plays in the Centre's work? Oh, it's massive.

[00:30:04] It's massive. So we've got those five pillars of activity that I previously mentioned. And one of the key changes that I've made since being here is that we don't see those pillars of activity, arts and culture, education, thought leadership, entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship and innovation,

[00:30:27] community development as separate pillars of activity, but as cross-cutting to everything that we do so that everything that we do speaks to everything that we are about. So, for instance, when we have an exhibition, that's arts and culture, but we ensure that there's an education element to it as well. So we can highlight, we can tell stories about the artist. We can tell stories about the country that the artist is from.

[00:30:55] We can tell stories about the issues that the artist is highlighting or the material that they are using and so on. You know, we can program debates and talks around that and meet the artists and we can invite young people in to, you know, have those to get that, to have workshops and understanding of what it's all about.

[00:31:25] So education is multifaceted in how we present it and in how we work with it, which is very much at the heart of everything that we do. And it's not just for young people, but for, as I'm saying, for older people as well who have not had the benefit of traveling all over Africa. It's still very, very difficult to do that, even if you want to now anyway, because of the connectivity issues.

[00:31:56] But you can visit the whole of Africa at the Africa Center. You know, that's our ambition and you can learn about everything that you need to learn about Africa from the Africa Center in as much as we possibly can, you know, through film, through exhibitions, through talks, through discussions, through food, through drink, you know, all those things, you know, that, you know, make our, give our culture meaning. We seek to educate about all of that as well.

[00:32:25] So, yes, that's probably the most important aspect to our work is the education aspect. I'd say as well, one common theme or thread for our conversation is that during its time, the Center has kind of served as a meeting place for African thinkers, change makers.

[00:32:48] So with that in mind, is there a specific way that you promote those type of intellectual and social conversations today? Yes, there are. And in different ways as well and with different partnerships. As an organization that prides itself very much on its convening role and having had the credibility of 60 years,

[00:33:18] track records and lists, a very impressive list of African thinkers. And intellectuals who have graced the stage and bars of the Africa Center through the years.

[00:33:40] It's, it's really, it's a really powerful calling card for us to be able to attract not just the older intellectuals, most established ones, but the younger intellectuals as well, to discuss various issues and their own takes on those issues. We do that through, you know, our programming.

[00:34:05] So we invite people to speak and to give talks and have debates at the Center. We partner with various universities, not just in London, but all over the world to participate in or invite us to help them to facilitate conversations about different issues

[00:34:31] or ask us to actually help them to put on events either here or at their venues as well.

[00:34:41] And we also do that through working with other multilateral organizations about to ensure that the African voice is heard and that there's African presence when they're having their conferences and summits.

[00:35:02] So a very live example, yesterday and today, I'm at the Global Soft Power Summit and working with them to ensure that, you know, there's a better understanding of soft power in Africa and how that's impacting how Africa is seen

[00:35:25] and the kind of investment that goes into Africa and, you know, how, what responsibility the rest of the world has in ensuring that there is clearer understanding about Africa. We have partnerships with universities such as the University of the Arts London, SOAS, King's College London and various others as well,

[00:35:53] where we work with them on their programs, their African weeks and so on. We have partnerships with universities in Brazil and America and about five now African universities, West and East and South Africa,

[00:36:12] where we either host their intellectuals when they come here or we have talks with them about different topics. So working with London Met University, South Africa, University of Ligarjo, Nigeria, University of Lagos and so on, on various issues.

[00:36:39] Just later on tonight, we are launching our program commemorating the 140th anniversary of the end of the Berlin Conference of 1884 to 1885, which is, as many would know, the conference at which 13 European powers and the USA sat around a table and effectively carved up Africa into the nation states that we largely still have today.

[00:37:07] So talking about what the implications, what really happened, what the implications of that are for contemporary Africa, and more importantly, how we reimagine Africa beyond that for our own benefit and on our own terms. We work with various universities and with the Fatherland Group to do that. And it's all going to culminate in a conference in Lagos in November.

[00:37:34] So the various ways in which we work with organizations to ensure that, you know, there is, that thinking is new and is fresh and there is the right platform for new thinking to actually influence Australia's development. Brilliant. You touched on, obviously, the work and partnerships with universities and different cultural institutions.

[00:38:02] This might seem like a very obvious question, but how important is collaboration with regards to, I guess, the aims and objectives of the center? We couldn't do anything without partnerships. That's how important it is.

[00:38:15] And it's, and especially over the last couple of years where, you know, as a six-year-old startup, no money, people will be amazed to find out that all the programming that we've done over the last couple of years has been with zero program budget.

[00:38:33] You know, what we have done is leveraged partnerships. We have leveraged our credibility, our heritage as an organization to be able to attract people to the center or to work with the center to identify issues or where they've identified issues, but they're not really sure how to implement them.

[00:39:00] You know, we have been able to provide, you know, the muscle power, the brain power to be able to actualize them. So that's been a very important part of our story. The other way in which partnerships are going to be increasingly important for the organization as well is in terms of our longer term sustainability.

[00:39:29] So we have been an organization that's not too dissimilar to many other arts and cultural organizations in the UK, lurched from funding peaks and troughs at regular intervals.

[00:39:51] You know, so we would go from being co-funded by one particular funder to that funder's priorities shifting and suddenly in a financial crisis because we haven't got any sustainable financial backing to keep us going. So one of the key things that we're doing.

[00:40:13] So one of the key things that we're doing with our fundraising campaign is to ensure that we're establishing a number of partnerships with different institutions and corporate entities to ensure that we will be able to develop that sustainable funding base. And the AFCO Center will be able to work with and the AFCO Center will be able to fulfill its mission regardless of how the context for that mission will be changing.

[00:40:41] But in between time, it's really important as well that, as I mentioned, through things like our affiliate organization network, that we have eyes and ears on the ground all across the continent and the global African diaspora.

[00:41:00] It's really, really important that we engage with multilateral institutions in Africa, but across the world as well to ensure that we are telling the story about Africa. We are ensuring that Africa is on the table. We are ensuring that the right story is being told about Africa in everything that we do.

[00:41:25] So from, you know, the African Union to UNESCO to United Nations and so on, you know, we have and intend to continue to have a presence at those places next week.

[00:41:45] In fact, I will be doing a presentation on a partnership that we are launching with the Alliance for Science in Kenya, which will be partnering with AU NEPAD on, which will be about how we use arts and culture to animate the sustainable development goals and link that into the AU 2063 agenda,

[00:42:13] which will be really, really exciting and really interesting as well. We also will be announcing partnerships in the next week with Rolling Stone Africa to work together with them on music and culture, arts and culture programs at the center and across Africa.

[00:42:42] And especially a cultural education program that we've been working on together out of the center, but also digitally as well. So, yeah, there are various ways in which we are going to be establishing and leveraging partnerships. You mentioned that the events that you've hosted over the last year have been done with limited budgets and also trying to create a sustainable funding base.

[00:43:09] So, how do you balance, would you call it, the commercial viability of the center of actually staying true to the center's mission? It's difficult. It's quite a juggling act. Yes. But we need the commercial to be able to deliver the overall mission of the organization.

[00:43:33] So, the commercial is very, very important for us, but it does not get and should never get in the way of ensuring that our focus on the mission is paramount. So, the ways in which we do that and we try to square that circle as much as possible is to ensure that there's always clear alignment between the commercial activity and our challenging objectives.

[00:44:03] That's why when I was talking about corporate sponsorships, it's not just about sponsoring us for the sake of sponsoring us. It's about sponsoring the work that we do or programs of activity that are in alignment with the interests and values of the organizations that we are looking to work with.

[00:44:28] Where we have a very interesting gallery space, which I'm sensing right now. And we have quite a few mainstream galleries who look to use the space and to hire it for their own exhibitions. But again, we have to be quite careful that, yes, we need the money for that, but we don't want the gallery to just be a higher space.

[00:44:56] Otherwise, we won't be able to program anything in it ourselves. Similarly, we have a restaurant and we have a bar and they operate under license. We could probably earn more money from those spaces if we just threw it open to any commercial operator.

[00:45:19] But we specifically have demands of whoever's going to be running those concessions that it fits in with our concept of, you know, global African excellence. And they have to be willing to work accordingly.

[00:45:45] So our bar has to stock the best of African drinks and in as much as possible curate that from all over the continent at any point in time. Our restaurant has to reflect and be willing to reflect all of Africa, even if they have a particular country point of excellence.

[00:46:11] During the course of the year, we still expect that there will be celebration and recognition of the whole of Africa in the space. So you wouldn't get that if you just if you award a concession to maybe a Michelin starred French restaurant, for instance, you know, but you probably get more money from from doing it.

[00:46:35] So those are the ways in which we seek to to balance the commercial and the mission of the organization. So keeping on the theme of the mission of the center has always been a thriving hub of creativity and culture, which must give you insight into new trends. Are there any new artistic trends or movements that you're seeing emerging from the center that you're quite excited about?

[00:47:03] Is there anything new under the sun? I think what is really, really interesting is the assertion of of independence and the and empowered self identity that we are seeing in young African artists.

[00:47:30] And even how that is influencing older African artists. Oh, wow. So I'm surrounded in the gallery at the moment by some incredible arts, which is our next exhibition by a Nigerian artist called Kritzi Kouemesi. Kritzi had his first exhibition at the Africa Center in 1976.

[00:47:58] The work that he's producing now that we're surrounded by for his latest exhibition is just absolutely incredible and could have been is using motifs and cultural references, which young people would identify very much as their own.

[00:48:21] You know, you know, and it's very so it's very interesting to unfabrily using fabric and, you know, and imagery that are very 2025 with with his, you know, older artistic sensibilities.

[00:48:44] So how young African artists are, you know, expressing that newly found sense of empowerment and pride in the continent and their identity, I think is really, really powerful. We've seen that in music as well. You know, and it's not just about Afro beats and Amar piano, but even in classical African music as well.

[00:49:14] And how younger people are marrying, you know, the traditional with the contemporary to create something really exciting and cool. We started a program of DJ nights at the center last month. And we had three young Sudanese female DJs performing at the center.

[00:49:40] And the really interesting thing about their work is they were all using traditional Sudanese music set to contemporary beats to create something that's really, really new and interesting and, you know, really exciting as well.

[00:50:01] Next month, we are going to be hosting an Ethiopian classical musician who is using, you know, classical Ethiopian instrumentation, but with a contemporary Western choral arrangement, you know, orchestral arrangement. The orchestra won't be at the center.

[00:50:53] In new and exciting ways. Thank you for sharing that. So I guess looking ahead, looking at the future, where do you see the Africa Center in the next five to 10 years? In the next five to 10 years, the Africa Center has to be in a place where it can very comfortably and confidently assert itself on the global stage.

[00:51:20] Where it can be recognized as not just a hub for African excellence, but also an incubator and an encourager and a platform for that excellence across the globe.

[00:51:41] So it's not just our ambition is not just about surviving the current difficult financial landscape for artists, for us and heritage organizations in the UK. No, we've got to be so much more than that. We have got to be, you know, a voice.

[00:52:06] We've got to be a powerful advocate for African excellence. We've got to be a natural influence. We've got to ensure that in everything that we do and in everything that we're saying and all the platforms that we are on and all the platforms that we are creating,

[00:52:22] We are creating space to ensure that we are really and truly ensuring that Africa is finding its emancipation politically, economically, socially and culturally. And that emancipation is finding expression in and through the Africa Centre. Quote of the Week

[00:52:48] As people, we often have quotes, mantras, proverbs or affirmations that keep us going when times are good or when times are challenging. Do you have one that you can share with us today? Yes, my Uruban sisters would be very angry at me if I don't. Remember the son of whom you are. Brilliant.

[00:53:16] It is a very, very important and powerful one for me. And that's not just speaking about my own natural appearance. It's about remembering who I am, the ancestors that have gone before me to create the space and opportunity that I currently have. It's about understanding the greatness that is within me.

[00:53:40] Because there are people who have demonstrated that excellence under circumstances far more grueling and far more difficult than I will ever have to deal with. And that's within me. So, yes, I have to always tell myself, remember the son of whom you are. I'm a son of Africa. I'm a son of the place, the cradle of humanity.

[00:54:07] I'm the son of a people whose legacy has spread all over the world. I'm the son of the country and the continent from which under the soles of the feet of which you find the most precious things in the world.

[00:54:30] I'm a son of the continent where you have the most diverse genetic and intellectual diversity in the world. I'm a son of Awa. That's, yeah, that speaks for me. I couldn't have thought of a better way to end today's conversation. It's been an extremely thought-provoking conversation.

[00:54:54] You've highlighted the powerful work being done at the Africa Centre to celebrate African heritage, promote creativity, and also drive meaningful conversations. I think from the conversation today, it's quite clear that the Centre isn't just a space. It's actually also a movement that has been taking place since 1964. So, yes, long may it continue.

[00:55:21] And thank you for joining us today on the podcast. Olu, it's been an absolute pleasure. Thank you very much, Tessa, and to everyone listening. Thank you very much. Do sign up to our newsletter, see what we're up to. And I hope to see you all at the Centre sometime very soon. Brilliant. You'll definitely see me there. Wonderful. Thank you. All right, Ian. Thank you. Thank you to everyone who has listened and stayed tuned to the podcast.

[00:55:49] If you've enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, share, or tell a friend about it. You can also rate, review us in Apple Podcasts or wherever you download your podcast. Thank you and see you next week for the Unlocking Africa podcast.