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AFRICA STATE OF MIND Africa State of Mind: Contem
porary Photography of a Continent gathers together the work of an emergent generation of photographers from across the continent, exploring Africa as a psychological space as much as a geographical one. Emerging from an exhibition of the same name presented by curator Ekow Eshun in Nottingham in 2018, the collection is presented in four thematic sections – “Hybrid Cities,” “Inner Landscapes,” “Zones of Freedom,” and “Myth and Memory”. Each part presents selections of work by a new wave of African photographers who are looking both outward and inward: capturing life among the sprawling cities of the continent, turning the continent’s history into the source of resonant new myths, and exploring questions of gender, sexuality, and identity. Eshun explains: “On one hand, there is the boosterism of an ‘Africa rising’ narrative, that celebrates the development of an emergent middle class and the growth of a tech sector driven by a young aspirational population, while glossing over the inequalities of income and opportunity that still hinders social progress in many countries. On the other hand, the reductive stereotype of Africa as a land of would-be migrants and corrupt rulers – a vision given ugly validation by President Trump’s description of its nations as “shithole countries”. Thames and Hudson, $60 (out in April) ROADMAP Michael McDermott BOARD(GAM)ING SCHOOL In keeping with our How to? cover story, Liam Geraghty continues his curious streak with his insightful podcast series ‘Meet Your Maker’. His latest involves a discussion with Ian Benjamin Kenny as he sets about creating Table Top Island, a new board game. Kenny is the man behind the visual effects on The Farthest as well a distinguished animation director, illustrator and filmmaker. He sets about creating locations such as Mermaid Cove and Piranha Springs, introduces us to the duel of ‘cannibal, sword and parchment’ and bored tests it against his toughest critics – his kids! “You look like a barnacle out of fish’s posterior,” says one of his children at one stage. We’re not sure if this is a game instruction or a crude observation about her dad. ianbenjaminkenny.com meetyourmaker.ie Ocean apart… while we remain gutted to learn that there’s no Frank Ocean at Primavera this summer, one place he will be is at Coachella along with Fontaines D.C. and The Murder Capital. We are available to travel. 10 BACK TO THE PAST “I’ve seen the future, and I’m not going,” declared David McDermott, the visual artist who forged a well-known partnership with his former lover Peter McGough. McDermott & McGough were self-professed Victorian dandies renowned for eschewing modern luxuries something which McDermott still does sans smartphone, computer and reputedly electricity in his Dublin base. New York-based McGough, meanwhile, has decided to reflect on their lives, loves and fallouts in his memoir, I’ve Seen the Future and I’m Not Going: The Art Scene and Downtown New York in the 1980s. “I like to think I’m a bohemian living here during the Depression,” says McGough who describes McDermott as “the Mad Hatter of art.” Sadly, the two are currently having a transatlantic quarrel. Pantheon Books, $29.95 MR MEN “Mr Quiet has always spoken few words, but Mr Chatterbox has decided to take him to kiss the Blarney Stone in Ireland in the hope he’ll learn to chat more! Join Mr Men and Little Miss as they visit the Titanic Experience, climb the Giant’s Causeway, go fishing in Galway and enjoy the Kilkenny Arts Festival on their way to Blarney Castle. But will Mr Quiet be granted the gift of the gab when he kisses the famous Blarney Stone?” That’s the sales blurb synopsis of Mr Men as it undertakes a peculiar adventure here. Alas, no room for drag shows in The George or céilí dancing over homeless people as Adam Hargreaves continues the much loved and lucrative legacy of his father Roger. Egmont Publishing, Out February 20, £3.99