Colourful, insightful, whimsical, and mysterious! All words I would use to describe AKANTUNSE, the debut project by Kabumba; a pro-African multimedia and curatorial platform. The group based out of Lusaka, Zambia aims to showcase work that celebrates the beauty and diversity of Africa, because why not? The diaspora has so many gems that need exhibiting.
So you may be asking, what is AKANTUNSE? Well, the term derives from the Bemba people of Zambia and can be defined as "a thing that was, is, and forever will be". In other words, it is an infinite, eternal presence. The AKANTUNSE project provides an insight to 9 mythological figures that are popular in African folklore. The cool twist they added though is that they showcase these mythological figures in a more contemporary light as a means to bridge the past with the audience of today.
AKANTUNSE features figures spanning from East to West Africa and includes the golden goddess Oshun, chief god of sustenance NyamiNyami, and Queen of Sheba Makeda. Special shoutout to Yumboe for holding it down for Senegal (YAY! Coz Senegal always gets left out of stuff lol).
Not only does Kabumba provide such captivating series of images of each aforementioned figures, but they provide fantastic and intriguing descriptions as well (more detailed descriptions and varied photographs can be found on their Facebook page).
Below I have included snippets of some of the devastatingly dazzling images used to capture the essence of the 9 mythological figures.
For an inaugural project, I think Kabumba did a fine task at storytelling and I am eager to see what other masterpieces they come up with next.
Make sure to check out their project here and let your mind take you on an imaginative and mythical journey.
I do not own the rights to any of the photographs below.
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