Latitudes Podcast

• To Not Dream is To Die:  The Philosophies of Ugoma Ebilah

  In this episode of Latitudes Podcast Refiloe Mpakanyane is joined by Lagos based art curator, gallerist and cultural convener Ugoma Ebilah. In this conversation Ugoma talks us through the skills that have enabled her to stay at the forefront of shaping contemporary discourses in African art. Whether it was through representing artists and changing the artist-gallerist dynamic; founding BLOOM Art (a gallery and salon that has been instrumental in instigating dynamic curatorial interventions and programming that has attracted a new generation of art collectors and enthusiasts) or serving on the board of trustees for G.A.S Foundation: Ugoma is a cultural producer with a deep held belief in art’s potential to be a catalyst for structural renewal, ideological innovation and societal transformation. The conversation is the first episode in Chapter 2 of The Latitudes Podcast.Highlights Include:How Ugoma’s corporate finance skills have bolstered her creative arts and cultural work.Brokering her first sale by selling a Lemi Ghariokwu piece. He is also famously known creating iconic record covers for Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti.How to speak the language of the collector.Joining the Guest Artist Space Foundation’s board of trustees.Growing the continent’s pool of art collectors before the pool of artists outstrips them and looks to other territories for survival. Referenced exhibitions & institutions: Guest Artists Space (G.A.S.) Foundation a non-profit organisation established by Yinka Shonibare “A Tapestry of Contradictions and Convergence at the 2024 Lagos Biennial”, Artthrob feature by Sinazo Chiya(March 2024)The Art Basel and UBS Art Market Report 2025Chapter 2 (connecting the stories from the continent) spans episodes 4-6 of Season 2 of the Latitudes Podcast, and is a regionally focused exploration of the intersections between local art scenes across the continent. Featuring insights from curators, art advisors, museum directors, and gallerists; this chapter examines curatorial themes, market positioning, and unique regional dynamics. Powered by iTOO ArtinsureSupported by Business and Arts South Africa (BASA)Co-curated by Art School AfricaHosted by Refiloe Mpakanyane

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• Athi-Patra Ruga: Portrait Of A Boundless Artist

  In this instalment of the podcast, multidisciplinary artist Athi-Patra Ruga joins Refiloe Mpakanyane, remotely from his farm and studio in the beautiful Hogsback area, in the Eastern Cape. The conversation happens under the aegis of revealing the realities and hidden truths of his studio practice; as well as unpacking the lessons he has learnt along the way and the events that triggered growth and change in himself and his creative practice. Athi is forthright and forthright and forthcoming in this conversation that is an exercise of looking forward, interrogating the moment in which we are talking as well as projecting his hopes of leaving behind something tangible for other artists to hold onto. Highlights Include:Moving to Hogsback at the beginning of the COVID lockdown influencedCreating in a rural space- how his studio practice has changed and how Iinyanga Zonyaka subsequently came aboutCreating a studio that serves your changing needsUnlearning people-pleasing as an artistIrma Stern as unintellectual ancestor and Athi in his Georgia ‘O Keefe eraMentorship, community and taking on the mantle of an artist philanthropistReferenced exhibitions & institutions:Inyanga Zodyaka, Narval, Cape Town, 2021Gladys Mgudlandlu (1925-1975), self taught South African artist who began her career painting in the rural areas of the Eastern Cape. And the featured exhibition is the Irma Stern: An artist of modernity between Berlin and Cape Town” at the Bruecke Museum in Berlin Victory of The Word- project to preserve the historic Lovedale Press in Alice, Eastern Cape.Elana Brundyn (cultural entrepreneur) newsletter on Medium.Chapter 1, spanning episodes 1-3 of Season 2 of the Latitudes Podcast, offers a foundational guide to entering and engaging with the art world. A resource-driven series providing practical tools for emerging artists and enthusiasts to navigate the art world’s complexities. Featuring first-hand insights from artists, arts educators, and professionals who demystify the industry and share actionable guidance on residencies, networking, and career building.Powered by iTOO ArtinsureSupported by Business and Arts South Africa (BASA)Co-curated by Art School AfricaHosted by Refiloe Mpakanyane

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• Zizipho Poswa: Sculpting Legacy, Rooted in Ancestry

  In this moving conversation, Cape Town-based sculptural ceramicist Zizipho Poswa joins Refiloe Mpakanyane to share the personal, cultural and spiritual underpinnings of her extraordinary art practice.Known for her monumental ceramic and bronze sculptures celebrating African womanhood, Poswa opens up about her rural Eastern Cape upbringing, the powerful women who shaped her, and the ancestral callings that fuel her creative vision. From co-founding Imiso Ceramics with almost no capital, to exhibiting at global institutions like LACMA and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Poswa reflects on her path with humility, purpose and fire.She and Refiloe unpack her creative rituals, her career-defining partnership with Southern Guild, and the tension between craft and fine art - as well as the urgent need to preserve work on the continent so future generations don’t have to fly to foreign museums to see themselves reflected in art.This not-to-be-missed conversation incorporates personal history, creative entrepreneurship, cultural pride and legacy-building.Highlights include:How Zizipho Poswa's mother's belief laid the foundation for her artistic journeyFounding Imiso Ceramics on a shoestring and a visionSpiritual rituals and ancestral messages as creative guidanceHer dream of keeping important works accessible to African audiencesThe leap into bronze and what it means for legacyReferenced exhibitions & institutions:iLobola | uBuhle boKhokho | Indyebo yakwaNtuSouthern Guild (Cape Town & LA)LACMA, The Met, Princeton University Art MuseumLouis Vuitton x LOEWE collaborationsFrieze Sculpture, Regents Park, LondonChapter 1, spanning episodes 1-3 of Season 2 of the Latitudes Podcast, offers a foundational guide to entering and engaging with the art world. A resource-driven series providing practical tools for emerging artists and enthusiasts to navigate the art world’s complexities. Featuring first-hand insights from artists, arts educators, and professionals who demystify the industry and share actionable guidance on residencies, networking, and career building.Powered by iTOO ArtinsureSupported by Business and Arts South Africa (BASA)Co-curated by Art School AfricaHosted by Refiloe Mpakanyane

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• Ayana V. Jackson – The Art of Showing Up

  Chapter 1 of Season 2's podcast is all about flicking through the manual - a guide to the art industry: The door opener, the first step, the how-to enter and engage with the art industry. A resource-driven series providing practical tools for emerging artists and enthusiasts to navigate the art world’s complexities.In this opening episode of The Latitudes Podcast powered by iTOO Artinsure Season 2, Refiloe Mpakanyane speaks with internationally celebrated photographer Ayana V. Jackson. Known for her arresting visual investigations of race, gender, history and the colonial gaze, Ayana takes us behind the scenes of her practice, from navigating global residencies and managing her studio, to honouring her family's legacy and making space for the next generation through her Johannesburg-based residency, STILL Art.This episode is a deep dive into the practical and philosophical tools that have shaped Ayana’s trajectory: the power of public programming, the reality of running your studio like a business, and the ongoing process of becoming an artist. Recorded between time zones and continents, this conversation is generous, grounded and deeply human.Highlights Include:Ayana’s reflections on legacy, privilege and purposeHow residencies and research shaped Ayana's exhibition, From the Deep at the SmithsonianThe value of public programming as artistic practiceWhy artists should master the business side of their workA moving tribute to curator and visionary Koyo KouohPowered by: iTOO ArtinsureSupported by: BASACo-curated by: Art School AfricaHosted by: Refiloe MpakanyaneLatitudes Online: www.latitudes.online

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• The Awe-Inspiring Mission of Valerie Kabov

  Valerie Kabov is the Director of First Floor Gallery Harare as well as the co-founder of the African Art Galleries Association.She is an educator, writer and researcher whose international experience in teaching, training and implementing projects in the field of art; audience engagement and intercultural dialogue, has further burnished her impressive mission into an awe-inspiring one. Valerie sits down with host Refiloe Mpakanyane to explain her approach toward supporting the artist; thriving in spite of the capitalist head-winds that Creativity faces; the need for unbowed and professional art criticism and the foundational need for art in every single person’s life.Valerie brings forth some surprising and delightful elements of her upbringing in Belarus and Australia, which continue to inform her work and which along with experience, her studies and temperament, have coalesced into a delightful, invigorating and expansive world view.

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