We sat down with @suchett_ ; writer, artist, and founder of @theartsandvibes , to explore what it means to find an authentic voice in a generation still navigating the echoes of colonialism.
From being shortlisted for the Alinea Prize to building a community centered on culture without fear, Suchet is redefining the Afrocentric essence.
đź”— Read the full sit-down at the link in our bio.
#bitaclan
Can’t remember where I heard the quote that said, it’s a privilege of a lifetime to discover what you’re truly capable of.
I plan to leave this world empty, having fully explored all my God given gifts and talents to the fullest.
Have we lost ourselves chasing whiteness? Or are we now at the point Frantz Fanon says about the contemporary black man trying at all cost “to prove the existence of a black civilization to the white world.”
The latter seems like the lesser of two evils till you realize one shouldn’t have to live their lives trying to prove in comparison to westernisation that we too have what it takes.
#decolonisation
Still can’t get used to the fact that I’m now a full time artist 🥹
My pieces are showing at @wunikamukangallery . You should go check it out.
Thank you to the team for putting together an amazing show đź’•.
The exhibition runs till the 25th of May.
#sutheartist #artexhibition
Young, Fresh N’ New - Suchet Baba
Suchet Baba is a writer, painter, and festival director whose interdisciplinary practice moves between storytelling, painting, and material experimentation.
Working with vivid colour, symbolic form, and intuitive composition, she creates emotionally charged paintings that explore the space between the mystical and the personal. Her works draw from ancestry, spirituality, and self-discovery, constructing visual languages that articulate what often resists words.
Influenced by rhythm, atmosphere, and narrative structure, Baba’s practice invites viewers into layered spaces where the personal and ancestral converge.
What does colour reveal when language falls short?
Discover her work at Young, Fresh N’ New.
Opening: Saturday, May 9th, 2026 | 3:00 - 7:00 PM
Address: Wunika Mukan Gallery, 31b Bashorun Okusanya Avenue, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos
#suchetbaba #wunikamukangallery #contemporaryart #contemporaryartist #exhibition
1. Nigeria is one of the most dysfunctional countries; corrupt, poor, and constantly a joke. Yet, it produces some of the best minds in the world.
2. Women who are the givers of life are constantly being relegated and disregarded. If the world were balanced, it would be a matriarchy.
3. All of humanity can trace their origins to Africa, yet, Africans are the most discriminated against and the continent, the most exploited.
4. Pain is necessary for the evolution of your soul. Everything you desire is on the other side of the pain you’re running from.
5. We fear darkness so much, we forget that light and some of the most beautiful things in this world came from some of the darkest places.
6. You cannot fully live till you let go of your fear of death, and you cannot love till you let go of the desire to be loved.
7. Not everyone has a soul. Some lose theirs and never gain it back, while others lose theirs and gain it with intention and conscious living
8. Soulless things are often flashy and easier to attain.
9. Spirituality turns to religion when it creates doctrines that MUST be followed. The journey of spirituality is meant to be as unique as your DNA, no two paths can be the same.
10. The bad news is, injustice, bigotry, wars, oppression etc. will never cease to exist in this world. The good news is, you can change yourself and begin to create ripple effects of love and kindness. Be the change you want to see.
In summary, nothing is as it seems.
#weirdtruths
Sometimes explaining feels like an exercise in futility.
I mean, yes, to freedom of expression. Yes, to doing whatever you want with your hair.
But remember, it’s not natural that you leave your hair to wear the hair of another person and worse you look down on others because you paid an arm and a leg for it.
Unfortunately, many of us were raised to aspire to owning bone straight, and all the other weave styles. Many of us don’t feel beautiful and at ease unless we’ve put chemicals, added inches or have hair so far from our natural texture.
When will our hair be enough?
I’m tired. Aren’t you?
#decolonisinghair
God is the first creator. And a return to self, is a return to source.
My clothes matching with the painting in both phases was a purely happy coincidence 🥹
#sutheartist #art #creation
There is God outside of organised religion.
If your religion lays emphasis on fear, fear of hell, fear of sin, then it was designed to keep you small. Fear and shame are some of the lowest frequencies you can vibrate on and in that space, you can never reach the divine.
Heaven is a mind state not a place.
Jesus never asked to be worshipped, he was simply a messenger. He said, “the kingdom of God is within you” when the Pharisees asked when the Kingdom of God will come (Luke 17:20-21). Man made a god out of Jesus for political reasons.
Our ancestors understood the connection to the divine before the colonisers came and demonised our ways of worship while severing us from ancient wisdom.
Before you mention that some of our spiritual practices were inhumane, remember that societies with time and evolution correct their ways organically with the provision of more information. The intrusion of western contact emphasised the bad and turned a blind eye on the good. The history of Africa told from the western perspective had one specific theme, “the dark continent”. Naturally, almost all literature was filtered through that lens.
I found a book last year, African Religions, A Symposium. Certain anthropologists were scrambling to correct the notion of African ways of worship, and what I got out of it was, Africans were not worshipping idols or gods as presumed. We believed in a supreme God. We had masks, we had figurines, we had shrines and these were reserved for ancestral veneration. The people that walked this earth before us were honoured, not worshipped and during certain seasons, the spiritual leaders asked the ancestors to intercede on behalf of the people.
You must learn who you are and where you come from. And reject completely what you’ve been told you are.
Remember, decolonisation is a thorough process of tearing down every aspect of the present identity of indigenous peoples.
It’s not convenient, it’s necessary.
#decolonisation #decoloniseyourmind #africanreligion #spirituality
