Afropunk London 2018: August Greene, Laura Mvula, Akala and more at Brixton takeover

By in Art Events Music News

Afrop­unk returns to Lon­don in Sep­tem­ber with a week-long series of talks, film screen­ings and live music.

The fes­ti­val, which has become known for its cel­e­bra­tion of African and Caribbean art, fash­ion and music, is tak­ing on a larg­er com­mu­ni­ty focus this year for its Brix­ton takeover.

Over six days, Afrop­unk Lon­don will host art exhi­bi­tions, dis­cus­sions, film screen­ings, DJ sets and live per­for­mances at Brix­ton venues, includ­ing The Ritzy, 198 Gallery, the Black Cul­tur­al Archives, and O2 Acad­e­my Brixton.

On Sat­ur­day, Sep­tem­ber 8, jazz-hip hop super­group August Greene (Robert Glasper, Com­mon, Kar­riem Rig­gins) (pic­tured) will head­line the clos­ing night at the O2 Acad­e­my Brix­ton. Oth­er guests include Lau­ra Mvu­la, Akala and Bak­er. More guests are due to be announced.

See the agen­da and line-up (announced so far) at the bot­tom of this post.

From Mon­day, Sep­tem­ber 3, the 198 Gallery will host a week-long art exhi­bi­tion. There will be six evenings of insight­ful talks at the Depart­ment Store, explor­ing what it means to be black, and cov­er­ing issues such as men­tal health, gen­der, entre­pre­neur­ship and more.

BBZ and Gal-dem will dis­cuss all things LGBTQIA and hold a post-dis­cus­sion din­ner on Wednes­day, Sep­tem­ber 5.

Oth­er events include the return of Afropunk’s Bat­tle of the Bands, film screen­ings at The Ritzy, and a look back through Afrop­unk his­to­ry cour­tesy of Black in the Day and the Black Cul­tur­al Archives.

Speak­ing about the event, Afrop­unk founder Matthew Mor­gan said: “The Afrop­unk Brix­ton Takeover is about cre­at­ing com­mu­ni­ty engage­ment and con­ver­sa­tion. There is a black cul­tur­al move­ment of cre­ativ­i­ty, music, lit­er­a­ture, cin­e­ma, pho­tog­ra­phy, LGBTQ+ pres­ence, social jus­tice and con­scious­ness right now. We want­ed to cre­ate a dia­logue and curate a plat­form to raise aware­ness and con­nect the artists, thought lead­ers and cre­ators in our own community.

“Our ethos is to cre­ate a com­mu­ni­ty of like-mind­ed peo­ple who are cre­atives, activists and vision­ar­ies who want to build and cre­ate black busi­ness, move­ments and art that show the strength and pow­er of our cul­ture. We want to sup­port black busi­ness­es, thinkers and artists and ele­vate our com­mu­ni­ty. Brix­ton is the per­fect place to do this because it is our com­mu­ni­ty, our home. We also want to cel­e­brate Brix­ton while it is being gen­tri­fied and remind peo­ple of its legacy.”

For more infor­ma­tion and tick­ets, vis­it afropunk.com.

2018 marks Afropunk’s third year in Lon­don. Some of the Lon­don festival’s pre­vi­ous acts have includ­ed Grace Jones, Wil­low Smith and Jme, as well as sup­port­ing home­grown UK tal­ent, such as Jor­ja Smith, Lady Leshurr, and Nova Twins.

Afropunk London 2018 line-up

Sat­ur­day, Sep­tem­ber 1

Open­ing event (TBA)

Mon­day, Sep­tem­ber 3

Start of art exhi­bi­tion at 198 Gallery
Talk at Depart­ment Store

Tues­day, Sep­tem­ber 4

Art exhi­bi­tion at 198 Gallery
Talk at Depart­ment Store
Film screen­ing at The Ritzy

Wednes­day, Sep­tem­ber 5

Art exhi­bi­tion at 198 Gallery
BBZ and gal-dem talk LGBTQIA, din­ner at Depart­ment Store
Bat­tle of the Bands final at Pop Brixton

Thurs­day, Sep­tem­ber 6

Art exhi­bi­tion at 198 Gallery
Talk at Depart­ment Store

Fri­day, Sep­tem­ber 7

Art exhi­bi­tion at 198 Gallery
Black in the Day at Black Cul­tur­al Archives: Afrop­unk archive event
Club night at Elec­tric Brix­ton: Jazz­ie B, BBZ, Born n Bread, and more

Sat­ur­day, Sep­tem­ber 8

Art exhi­bi­tion at 198 Gallery
Talk at Depart­ment Store

Afrop­unk Takeover Brix­ton at O2 Acad­e­my Brixton
August Greene (Robert Glasper, Com­mon, Kar­riem Riggins)
Lau­ra Mvula
Akala
Bakar
More guests to be announced

See what hap­pened at Afrop­unk Lon­don 2017 here.

Image: Afropunk/PR

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