ARTAFRICAFEATURE / ARTS WRITING IN AFRICAWIELDING THE PEN / HOUGHTON KINSMAN 8/10 ARTAFRICA
- BILLIE ADWOA MCTERNAN
Billie Adwoa McTernan is a writer and editor. She covers
cultural and political affairs across Africa, with a particular
focus on Ghana and West Africa.HK: Reading your article Treasures of Accra’s
Growing Art Scene, I considered the role of the
arts writer in creating awareness, developing
momentum and fostering longevity for an art
scene. Aware that all these actions require
input from various groups, how critical do you
think the contributions of art writers are?Billie Adwoa McTernan: Writing about the arts is critical. If all this wonderful work is created
and there is no one to document and share it, then how would the immediate community- let alone the wider world – ever know about it? Art writers are the cheerleaders of the
arts. In order for this current momentum to continue, we should know whom we are
writing for and why we are writing. While there is a space for everyone, ultimately it is the
writers (writing about the art worlds and communities that they move in) that will inspire
the people in those communities and grow the ‘scene.’ We also have a responsibility to
make our writing accessible in the same way that art should be. It is up to the writer to
decide whether that means utilising alternate ways of publishing, such as social media
as opposed to traditional media. Art writers should inspire and trigger reflection and
debate. Writing, like the art itself, shouldn’t be reserved for elite observers.
09. IJEOMA LOREN
UCHE-OKEKE
Ijeoma Loren Uche-Okeke is Omenka magazine’s Johannesburg
Editor. She worked for over 3 years as the arts projects manager
at Gallery MOMO in Johannesburg and has over ten years
of professional experience in the arts and culture sector as an
administrator, curator and facilitator, having worked actively as an
arts and culture manager in both the creative and performing arts
sectors in Nigeria, and more recently in South Africa.HK: In a previous interview with ARTsouthAFRICA you acknowledge that a new
trans-national dialogue around African art would be beneficial in helping ensure
the development of various discourses on the continent. How important is critical
writing discourse (around what is happening in these art locales) to fostering this
transnational dialogue?