Globetrotter Lab

Globetrotter caught up with Copenhagen-based photographer Jamil GS during his trip to New Delhi, India. At the time, his "American Royalty" exhibit just made its Asian debut at the inaugural HGStreet festival. The exhibition featured a selection of iconic photos of hip-hop legends—Jay-Z, Outkast, Mary J. Blige, Chuck D, Diddy and many more— that Jamil has taken throughout his decades-spanning career. Relive our interview where Jamil talked about connecting to a new audience in Asia through his photos, the influence of his music to his works and more.  

Globetrotter looks back at our conversation with the designer duo behind NorBlack NorWhite, an Indian fashion brand that recently celebrated its 10th year anniversary. On meeting the duo in their private studio in New Delhi, India a few years ago, Mriga Kapadiya and Amrit Kumar talked to Kennedy Ashinze about their transition back to India from Toronto, being inspired by traditional Indian textile, running a woman-led business, and building NBNW into a platform for people of color and many more.  

Blackup Jakarta by Globetrotter lab. 

⁣On Saturday, June 27th, Globetrotter Lab hosted a virtual conversation on the global state of black affairs and assembled some brilliant minds to share their perspectives on current happenings regarding the black lives matter protests, its history, cultural context, and why it's important for Asians, especially Indonesians, to engage.⁣⁣⁣⠀⠀

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Despite Jakarta's proximity to the center of the Black Lives Matter movement that continues to reverberate around the world, Indonesians also resonate with the issue of colorism. Cities across the world continue to stand together in solidarity against global systematic racism ⠀⠀⠀

⁣𝐇𝐎𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐃 𝐁𝐘⁣⁣⁣⠀⠀

Kennedy Ashinze⁣⁣⁣ - @kennedyash_

Founder - Globetrotter Lab ⁣⁣⁣⠀⠀

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𝐌𝐎𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐓𝗘𝗗 𝗕𝗬⠀⠀

Arief Aziz⁣⁣⁣⠀- @arief_aziz

Country Director - Change.org Indonesia ⠀⠀

Cofounder - TedxJakarta ⁣⁣⁣⠀⠀

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𝐏𝐀𝐍𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐒⁣⁣⠀⠀

⁣⁣Barbara Allen⁣⁣⁣ - @ba1245

Emmy-award winning filmmaker / Producer⁣⁣⁣⠀⠀

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Hadi Ismanto⁣⁣⁣ - @hadiismanto__

Founder Manual Jakarta⁣⁣⁣⠀⠀

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Eric Williams⁣⁣⁣ - @i_know_eric

Entrepreneur / Community Leader⁣⁣⁣⠀⠀

The Silver Room - Chicago ⁣⁣⁣⠀⠀

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Curtis Johnson⁣⁣⁣⠀⠀

Fmr Senior Manager ATAMERICA ⁣⁣⁣⠀

Michael Jakarimilena - @michaeljakarimilena

Musician

In "Switch," a Globetrotter Original, we catch up with Soliat Bada, the dancer-turned-chef who's not afraid to take on new challenges.   

Soliat started out as one-third of CEO Dancers, a group of all-female dancers who rose to stardom after reaching the semi-finals at Britain's Got Talent 2013.   

Following the group's disintegration, Soliat switched her focus to cooking and traded in her dancing shoes for an apron. "I thought, like, I needed something to focus on, I needed something that I could be creative in. And cooking was just an easy transition for me, because it was something I was always doing, anyway."   

In addition to establishing Nula's Kicthen and a cool chicken eatery, Byrd, Soliat is currently the host of Accelerate TV's "Off the Menu with Soliat Bada." Not only does the cooking show allow her to share recipes and cooking methods to the viewers, but it also lets her showcase her quirky humor and personality.   

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It’s not every day that you get to meet pioneering musicians, but that’s exactly what happened to us when we sat down with Show Dem Camp (SDC) in their hometown, Lagos.

It won’t be an exaggeration to say that the rap duo is responsible in defining the music industry in Nigeria today. The Nigeria-born members Ghost (Olumide Ayeni) & Tec (Wale Davies) have dome that by embracing and popularizing the palm-wine music genre, which originated in West Africa. 

Palm wine is essentially African, and so is palmwine music. As Tec mentioned in the interview with Globetrotter, it’s “what is organic, what is originally ours.” Through their Clone Wars series, for example, they’re offering “a snapshot of who [they] are“ as Nigerians. Tec continued, “Nigeria is a place where we were  born with frustration. We learn to continue to live and adapt with frustration.“ In their music there’s an honest take about young guys trying to make it in this present-time Nigeria. 

SDC brings palmwine music to a higher level with Palmwine Music Fest. The festival was founded in 2017 to celebrate African music and introduce West African music to the continent. Ghost and Tec, though, also want the festival to go beyond that and turn it into a platform for up-and-coming African musicians “with the hope that those people, when they’re in that position, they’ll be able to bring up other people as well.“

Listen to our conversation!

PRODUCER & DIRECTOR Kennedy Ashinze
EDITORS Robatron, Chairun Riza 

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 When Globetrotter met Nigerian illustrator and graphic designer Lemi Ghariokwu in Lagos, he described his legendary collaboration with the Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti as “preordained.”   

Lemi’s fateful journey into becoming the creator of dozens of Fela’s iconic album covers began with a chance meeting. The two hit it off right away, and it isn’t hard to see why; to Globetrotter, he talked about being proud to be an African, one of the similarities he shared with Fela. Lemi’s fateful journey into becoming the creator of dozens of Fela’s iconic album covers began with a chance meeting. The two hit it off right away, and it isn’t hard to see why; to Globetrotter, he talked about being proud to be an African, one of the similarities he shared with Fela.  

We didn’t just reminisce about the past. In our conversation, Lemi also talked to Globetrotter about discovering Childish Gambino through YouTube and continuing to create artwork for contemporary artists.   

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We last saw Natasha Diggs at G360 Live in Jakarta in August 2018, but earlier in March, she visited the New Delhi to perform at HG Street, the country’s first ever premium street and sneaker culture festival. While she was there, she also had the chance to meet up with the city’s creative community such as the founders of fashion label NORBLACK NORWHITE as well as sit down for an interview with Globetrotter.    

To Globetrotter, Natasha talks about the excitement of sharing the energy of “Mobile Mondays” and “Soul in the Horn” to the emerging street culture in India. “A lot of people came to me and [were, like,] ‘We don’t get what you do here that much. This is special for us,’” she says.

Laduma Ngxokolo started Maxhosa in 2011. Six years later, with lines for men and women, his creations are stocked all over the world: Cape Town, Johannesburg, London, Tokyo, Amsterdam. 

The inspiration for the brand came from Laduma’s own cultural tradition - from a desire to make high quality, beautiful knitwear for Xhosa initiates, who give away all their belongings before a coming of age initiation (between the ages of 18-25) that marks their transition from boyhood to manhood. Having been through the process himself, he's well-versed in the history and symbolism of the rituals.   

Maxhosa is home grown. Laduma produces his knitwear entirely in South Africa, with raw material (mostly woolen mohair) from Port Elizabeth. “We have the biggest mohair industry in the world and the biggest wool industry in Africa,” he says. “So I take advantage of those resources to come up with products that are premium, produced locally and yet relevant to the local market and to the people who visit South Africa.”

It seems that fashion designer Ji Won Choi has been anywhere and everywhere. She was born in Seoul, raised in the midwest USA, and educated in New York City and Paris. In November 2018, she once again embarked on a journey, this time to Lagos, Nigeria, where she was scheduled to show her eponymous brand’s latest collection at this year’s GTB Fashion Weekend.  

One of the winners at the Parsons x Kering Empowering Imagination competition in 2017, Choi is known for creating designs that celebrate human cultures and champion sustainability.  

We met her backstage to talk about taking inspirations from her heritage, living as an immigrant, enjoying Lagos and more.

Samuel Bazawule turned Blitz the Ambassador after he touched down on American shores after 18 years in Ghana. The mixing of cultural waters woke him up, and he now takes up all tools at his disposal. “We cannot underestimate any of the channels we have available to us,” he stresses, “We must fire on all cylinders.” Instead of allowing non-Africans to shape identity and understanding, he calls for “a new canon of African storytellers” engaging in “non-linear, complex” dialogue to reclaim and enrich African identities. 

Globetrotter revisits our conversation with world-famous Chef Will Goldfarb at his restaurant, Room 4 Dessert in Bali, Indonesia.

In the podcast, the chef, who has been dubbed the Thom Yorke of pastry by Eater.com, shares about his decision to open the restaurant and move with his family in a country so far away from his home in New York.