At the Crossroads – Art, Politics and Culture in Nigeria

Ivie Ani is an award-winning, internationally recognized journalist, writer, editor, critic, and on-air host covering culture. Ivie is a Nigerian-American Bronx native and New York University alumna with a dual degree in Journalism and Africana Studies. Her writing has been published in The New York Times Women in The World, The Village Voice, NY Mag, GQ, Teen Vogue, Vanity Fair, VIBE Magazine, The Fader, NBC News, BBC, PAPER magazine, Pitchfork, Complex, LEVEL Magazine, OkayAfrica, Grazia UK, NYU’s Social and Cultural Analysis Journal, and more. She is the former Editor In Chief & Editorial Director of AMAKA Studio and the former Music Editor of Okayplayer, and has held positions at Facebook as a Trending News Content Curator, at BET Networks, and Associated Press. She currently hosts her live radio show “In Full Effect” on Amazon Music’s AMP.

Uzodinma Iweala is an award-winning writer, filmmaker, and medical doctor. As the CEO of The Africa Center, he is dedicated to promoting a new narrative about Africa and its Diaspora. Uzodinma was the CEO,Editor-In-Chief, and co-Founder of Ventures Africa magazine, a publication that covers the evolving business, policy, culture, and innovation spaces in Africa. His books include Beasts of No Nation, a novel released in 2005 to critical acclaim and adapted into a major motion picture; Our Kind of People, a non-fiction account of HIV/AIDS in Nigeria released in 2012; and Speak No Evil (2018), a novel about a queer first-generation Nigerian-American teen living in Washington, D.C. His short stories and essays have appeared in numerous publications like The New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair and The Paris Review among others. Uzodinma was also the founding CEO of the Private Sector Health Alliance of Nigeria, an organization that promotes private sector investment in health services and health innovation in Nigeria. He sits on the boards of the Sundance Institute, The International Rescue Committee and the African Development Bank’s Presidential Youth Advisory Group. A graduate of Harvard University and the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and aFellow of The Radcliffe Institute at Harvard University, he lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Seun Kuti is the youngest son of Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti. He has spent most of his life preserving and extending his father’s political and musical legacy as the leader of his father’s former band Egypt 80. Fela passed in 1997, and Seun, in fulfillment of his father’s wishes, assumed the mantle as head of Egypt 80; he has run it ever since. Along the way, Seun began to add his own twist to the music, digging deep into various African traditions to reflect the continent’s struggles and cultures. His debut recording, Seun Kuti & Fela’s Egypt 80, was initially issued by WM Recordings in 2008, and later picked up for distribution by Mr. Bongo. Mr. Bongo also released his Many Things set later that year, which drew more praise than criticism. Seun toured globally and played for enthusiastically receptive audiences in Detroit, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Paris, London, Tokyo, and especially Lagos. In 2011, He cut From Africa with Fury: Rise for Knitting Factory Records. It was co-produced with Brian Eno and John Reynolds. The set proved to be his breakthrough; it landed on both Billboard and digital International Charts. Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 have toured the globe relentlessly, often playing multi-hour shows that are as heavy on group improvisation as on composition.