'Where are you from?' 'No, where are you really from?' These questions, which he has been asked since boyhood, drive Ekow Eshun to travel through Ghana in search of his roots, and lead him on an exploration of history and belonging, from slavery in Africa and the West to the present day and what it means to be black. In search of answers, Ekow unearths yet more questions, some shocking contradictions and some long-forgotten truths about his family past...

Black Gold Of The Sun

Eshun, Ekow

Biographies & Memoirs

Penguin Uk

Growing up in London, Ekow Eshun never felt truly at home. Born in Britain to African parents, he found himself caught between two cultures without fully belonging to either. Plagued by the unease of dual identity, he travels to Africa to look for an idea of home - only to discover he's as much of a stranger there as in Britain. The result is a journey that crosses paths with nineteenth-century philosophy, twentieth-century black liberation movements and the psyche of modern, multicultural Britain; a book that combines the intimacy of confession with a sweeping tale of continents and generations - all in pursuit of the answer to the question: where are you from?

Black Gold Of The Sun: Searching For Home In England And Africa

Hamish Hamilton

A richly illustrated exploration of Black culture at its most wildly imaginative, artistically ambitious, and politically urgent.\nA richly illustrated exploration of Black culture at its most wildly imaginative and artistically ambitious, In the Black Fantastic assembles art and imagery from across the African diaspora. Embracing the mythic and the speculative, it recycles and reconfigures elements of fable, folklore, science fiction, spiritual traditions, ceremonial pageantry, and the legacies of Afrofuturism. In works that span photography, painting, sculpture, cinema, graphic arts, music and architecture, In the Black Fantastic shows how speculative fictions in Black art and culture are boldly reimagining perspectives on race, gender and identity.\nStanding apart from Western narratives of progress and modernity premised on the historical subjugation of people of color, In the Black Fantastic celebrates the ways that Black artists draw inspiration from African-originated myths, beliefs, and knowledge systems, confounding the Western dichotomy between the real and unreal, the scientific and the supernatural. Featuring more than 300 color illustrations, this beautifully designed book brings together works by leading artists such as Kara Walker, Chris Ofili, and Ellen Gallagher; explores groundbreaking films like Daughters of the Dust and Get Out; considers the radical politics of pan-Africanism and postcolonialism; and much more.\nEach section—“Invocation,” “Migration,” and “Liberation”—includes an introductory text by Ekow Eshun and longer essays by Eshun, Kameelah L. Martin, and Michelle D. Commander.\nArtists featured: Larry Achiampong, Jim Adams, Djeneba Aduayom, Leonce Raphael Agbodjelou, John Akomfrah, David Alabo, Edgar Arceneaux, Marc Asekhame, Belkis Ayón, Radcliffe Bailey, Raphaël Barontini, Beddo, Sanford Biggers, Nuotama Bodomo, Nick Cave, Sedrick Chisom, Jacek Chyrosz, Coldefy, Raffaele Contigiani, Damon Davis, Cristina de Middel, Imani Dennison, Jeff Donaldson, Kimathi Donkor, Aaron Douglas, Edouard Duval-Carrié, Curtis Essel, Minnie Evans, Rotimi Fani-Kayode, Ali Fao, Raymond Thomas Farah, Adama Delphine Fawundu, Heinz Fenchel, Ellen Gallagher, Rico Gatson, Maïmouna Guerresi, Prince Gyasi, Lauren Halsey, Allison Janae Hamilton, Thomas Heatherwick, Kiluanji Kia Henda, Kordae Jatafa Henry, David Huffman, Juliana Huxtable, Zas Ieluhee, Alex Jackson, Ayana V. Jackson, Fabiola Jean-Louis, Shintaro Kago, Kéré Architecture, Black Kirby, Victoria Kovios, Wole Lagunju, Wifredo Lam, Jean François Lamoureux, Thomas Leitersdorf, Namsa Leuba, Hew Locke, Michael MacGarry, Gerald Machona, Loïs Mailou Jones, Jean-Louis Marin, Markn, Kerry James Marshall, Moshel Mayer, Mohau Modisakeng, Puleng Mongale, Fabrice Monteiro, Ronald Moody, Kristin-Lee Moolman, Jean-Claude Moschetti, Aïda Muluneh, Wangechi Mutu, Gustavo Nazareno, Rashaad Newsome, Daniel Obasi, Toyin Ojih Odutola, Chris Ofili, Ruby Okoro, Rinaldo Olivieri, Yaoundé Olu, Zohra Opoku, Tasha Orlova, Frida Orupabo, Gordon Parks, Jordan Peele, James Phillips, Naudline Pierre, Keith Piper, Robert Pruitt, Umar Rashid, Robert Reed, Tabita Rezaire, Stacey Robinson, Athi-Patra Ruga, Stanisław Rymaszewski, Alison Saar, Zina Saro-Wiwa, Ignace Sawadogo, Devan Shimoyama, Yinka Shonibare, Mary Sibande, Lorna Simpson, Cauleen Smith, Tavares Strachan, Mickalene Thomas, Bob Thompson, Wilfred Ukpong, David Uzochukwu, Lina Iris Viktor, William Villalongo, Hannsjörg Voth, Kara Walker, Gerald Williams, Kandis Williams, Peter Williams, Saya Woolfalk, Alisha B. Wormsley, Zaha Hadid Architects

In the Black Fantastic

Arts & Photography

History & Criticism

The MIT Press

At the age of thirty-three, Ekow Eshun—born in London to African-born parents—travels to Ghana in search of his roots. He goes from Accra, Ghana’s cosmopolitan capital city, to the storied slave forts of Elmina, and on to the historic warrior kingdom of Asante. During his journey, Eshun uncovers a long-held secret about his lineage that will compel him to question everything he knows about himself and where he comes from. From the London suburbs of his childhood to the twenty-first century African metropolis, Eshun’s is a moving chronicle of one man’s search for home, and of the pleasures and pitfalls of fashioning an identity in these vibrant contemporary worlds.

Black Gold of the Sun: Searching for Home in Africa and Beyond

Arts & Literature

Vintage

Intimate and beautifully written, Black Gold of the Sun is a compelling memoir that chronicles a man’s journey to his ancestral home and to the hidden keeps of his heritage. In 2001, at the age of thirty-three, Ekow Eshun–born in London to African-born parents–embarks on a trip to Ghana in search of his roots, and in this rich narrative he evokes both the physical and emotional aspects of his travels. Eshun makes his way to Accra, Ghana’s cosmopolitan capital city; to the storied slave forts of Elmina; to the historic warrior kingdom of Asante. He reflects on earlier pilgrims who followed the same path–W. E. B. DuBois, Richard Wright, Malcolm X–and on the millions of slaves shipped to the West from the Ghanaian coast. He recalls the racially charged years of his youth, and he considers the paradoxes and possibilities in contemporary Britain for someone like himself. Finally, he uncovers a long-held secret about his lineage that will compel him to question everything he knows about himself and about where he comes from. Written with exquisite particularity of place and mind, and with rare immediacy and candor, Black Gold of the Sun tells a story of identity, belonging, and unexpected hope.

Community & Culture

Pantheon

In the Black Fantastic /anglais

Thames&Hudson

Africa State of Mind (Paperback) /anglais

Photography & Video

A vibrant photographicanthology that presentsthe work of a generationof image makerswho are forging newvisions of Africa. Africa State of Mind 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. Both a summation of new photographic practice from the last decade and a compelling survey of the ways in which contemporary African photographers are engaging with ideas of "Africanness," Africa State of Mind is a timely collection of those photographers seeking to capture the experience of what it means to "be African." 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. With over 300 photographs by more than fifty photographers, Africa State of Mind is a mesmerizing survey of the most dynamic scenes in contemporary photography and an introduction to the creative figures making them.

Africa State of Mind: Contemporary Photography Reimagines a Continent

The painting of New York-based Kehinde Wiley (born 1977) fuses portraiture and pattern, situating modern subjects in traditional heroic poses against richly patterned backgrounds. Despite the multitude of layers, the abundance of allusions both traditional and contemporary, the results are conceptually clear and impressive. In the works reproduced in Kehinde Wiley: The World Stage Jamaica, the artist paints young, urban Jamaican men and women in poses appropriated from colonial-era British portraiture, who are placed against and intertwined with backgrounds from British textile designer William Morris. Wiley thus restages history: the race and gender of the colonial hero have been transformed. The dignified, strong pose refers not only to the conventions of the genre, but also to the symbolism of Jamaican culture and its particular ideals of style and beauty. Within a single frame, Wiley combines a traditional mode of portraiture, the ongoing complexities of colonialism and a proud, unique, modern culture--a narrative of contemporary Jamaica. Alongside full-color illustrations and installation images from Wiley's exhibition at the Stephen Friedman Gallery, an extensive essay from leading British-Ghanaian cultural commentator Ekow Eshun explicates the symbolism at play in Wiley's work.

Kehinde Wiley: The World Stage Jamaica (STEPHEN FRIEDMA)

Stephen Friedman Gallery

Encensé par la presse à sa sortie, épuisé en deux mois, voici ce livre réimprimé pour l'exposition aux Rencontres d'Arles 21 dont Ekow Eshun est le commissaire. Ce panorama de la photographie contemporaine africaine à travers 51 artistes et 300 images, loin d'une vision occidentalo-centrée, met en lumière une scène extrêmement dynamique en prise avec les enjeux sociétaux, culturels, politiques et écologiques.

Africa 21e siècle: Photographie contemporaine africaine

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Books by Eshun, Ekow

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Eshun, Ekow. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Black Gold Of The Sun

Black Gold Of The Sun: Searching For Home In England And Africa

In the Black Fantastic

Black Gold of the Sun: Searching for Home in Africa and Beyond

Black Gold of the Sun: Searching for Home in Africa and Beyond

In the Black Fantastic /anglais

Africa State of Mind (Paperback) /anglais

Africa State of Mind: Contemporary Photography Reimagines a Continent

Kehinde Wiley: The World Stage Jamaica (STEPHEN FRIEDMA)

Africa 21e siècle: Photographie contemporaine africaine