Zhedy

This picture is from a very layered night. First meal of the week where I didn’t order pasta. A table of 5 turned into 12 somewhere between dinner and the decision to go to the UK pavilion party. We arrived at 23:37, they closed at midnight, they didn’t let us in. but friends from inside are progressively joining us out. One of them is a ghanian artist showing his work at the Giardini. Little note on the night before when we met: we took over a random bar, the staff saw 6 melanin-charged people walk in and immediately switched the music to a Davido track from 2013. Because it was 2013 tracks we didn’t take offence lol We just had to take over the whole sound atmosphere of the place from there and they gladly let us do it. Had a blast. Almost put on some Ben Decca. Back to this night the Ghanaian artist introduced me to his brother. A scholar. He asked where I was from. My Parisian accent already gave context. I said Cameroonian. He said: do you know some people in Cameroon are descendants from the Nile? I said yes I’m one of them. Real Nubian Queeeeen! And then we had one of those rare conversations. About Cameroonian independence, about the Marthe(s) the women behind the figures, the ones history almost forgot. When he first said “the Marthe” I genuinely thought he was saying “merveilles”, different accent my full belly was holding me back from earring correctly but I caught up and I’m so glad I did. At some point a girl stopped me to compliment my coat long blazer, white blue and black stripes, made in Benin by Gaëtane. She asked if I was Fulani. I said no, Cameroonian. She told me her grandmother was a Fulani woman born in Benin who stole her sunglasses. Then she mentioned she used to have a Cameroonian friend who turned out to be homophobic. I said: well I’m Cameroonian and I’m not homophobe. Mali overheard and looked at me with a very specific glance, “in what context do you need to say that sentence.” We both went our ways smiling. I wrapped the conversation with the scholar right as we reached San Angelo. By then it was just Mali and I and we stopped at our gelato place. Ice cream and a spritz at 1am.

@anicet_bijoux @elia.pradel ✨

A basketball court at the edge of the forest. De l’eau à l’aube! Breeze-block façades with patterns of a research campus in Ibadan.

São Paulo Bonendalé Bed-Stuy

17 Avril

J’ai écrit cet essai l’année dernière. Il était destiné à une publication, mais je me suis laissée rattraper par d’autres projets et je n’ai jamais pu l’éditer à temps pour la deadline de la publication. Je le publie tel quel sur Substack, parce que 6 mois après je n’ai pas d’énergie pour une session d’auto édition et qui sait, il provoquera peut-être d’autres pov sur le sujet. Ces 1000 mots viennent de conversations que j’ai eues avec des designers et des créatifs autour de l’art et du design en fin 2025, un de mes points de départ c’est le « Manifeste en suspens » de Martin Sigler (@mor__sure ), Sigler y écrit que ceux qui “shape the forms of everyday life hold a particular kind of power, a quiet and infrastructural one”. Les designers noirs restent largement absents des systèmes qui produisent les objets de notre quotidien. Parallèlement les créatifs noirs sont très visibles dans le monde de l’Art, du coup, je me demande si ces designers deviennent artistes par choix, ou parce que le design (industriel) ne leur est pas vraiment ouvert. Et ce qu’on perd quand ils quittent cet espace.

Seasonal visit at the @yoshita1967 showroom and came across this campaign we shot at Lac Retba. Always special seeing a project on paper. Beautiful work with the best team @anilpadia @koura.is.rosy @selly.sy @sidydiaye89 ✨ Also spotted my next “want” at the showroom.

Work + side quests in Senegal

Celebration of African talents and craftsmanship in Casablanca Cc: @leatik merci ✨🤍

Aya, la cousine de Jess 🤍🤎👰🏾 Baoulé par association 🇨🇮

@maisoncrivelli in Lagos. Paloma and I shaped and coordinated an invitation-only dinner and a cocktail open to all, bringing together the brand, the city and its creative community in a way that felt grounded. In every project I work on, I pay close attention to shaping moments that feel both intimate and open. Here, Maison Crivelli was able to connect with the city and its many circles in a way that felt natural and respectful. Deep gratitude to @thibaud.crivelli , @palomaximum , and @arinolanike for the trust and openness throughout the process. Thibaud presence and generosity made the work lighter and more fluid than it needed to be. Paloma, my work wife thank you for the journey, for trusting my brain, sometimes quicker than I do myself, and for your rare gift for building relationships. Thank you to Mrs Folawiyo and her teams at NOK and Alara for the hospitality and generosity. Working in Lagos was a reminder that place and people shape the work as much as any idea. Et j’adore jongler avec toutes ces entités. This was my last project of 2025, and I’m deeply grateful for the experience and the conversations. I’ll be back in Lagos my visa is still valid. Grateful to everyone who played a part in making Lagos comfortable for me. Grateful for my previous Decembers in Lagos, I was definitely collecting skills ✨