African youths in the diaspora launch contemporary black arts online platform ISE-DA

AFRICAN diaspora youths have launched an international black contemporary arts platform named ISE-DA created to link them up and serve as a cultural hub through which they can exchange ideas and develop the sector.

Launched by three young African diasporans, ISE-DA is connected community of young Black people who are interested, invested and informed about art across the diaspora. Located at www.iseda.co it aims to cultivate a pioneering generation of collectors and artists who will push arts culture forward and who are invested in the social and financial growth of cultural hubs in black communities.

Nigerian Adefolakunmi Adenugba, Ghanaian George Kofi Prah and Sierra Leonian Adama Kamara created the platform, which they say  provides a network of art collectors, curators and administrators. It delivers customised support for those eager to be invested in the arts community.

Ms Adenugba said: "Through our hosted panels and workshops, ISE-DA provides resources for our community to learn about the workings of the commercial art industry. We aim to dispel common misconceptions about participating within the industry, building an art collection, and sustainable career prospects available.

"Our international network and outlook further allow for our community to be knowledgeable about Black arts movements and cultures cross-nationally. A core aspect to ISE-DA is being able to re-imagine what the art ecosystem and art engagement looks like for our community.  This includes experimenting with various exhibition formats, promoting collective exhibitions and transforming how our community interacts with art."

A graduate student in the Master of Arts Business program at Sotheby’s Institute of Art, New York, Ms Adenugba leads business development and strategy for ISE-DA. She completed her Bachelor of Business Administration with a double major in Art History at Emory University in Atlanta in the US.

At Emory, she received the Emory NAACP Presidential Image Award, the Goizueta Business School Campus Leadership Award and a Graduating Woman of Excellence Award. She was also inducted into the Class of 2017 Senior Honorary and is currently a 2020 Sokoloff Arts Creative Fellow.

Mr Prah is a graphic designer, illustrator and visual artist from Ghana, based in New York city, who leads visual design and art direction for ISE-DA.  Ms Kamara is a recent graduate of Emory University and a storyteller of the black experience, who leads social media management for ISE-DA.

At Emory, Ms Kamara was editor-in-chief of Blackstar, Emory’s first and only Black student publication and served as a research and curatorial assistant for The James Weldon Johnson Institute of Race and Difference. She was also inducted into the Class of 2020 Senior Honorary, received a Graduating Woman of Excellence Award and was selected as the 2020 Class Orator.