Calabar Magazine

by Atim Annette Oton, February 15, 2009 Every so often the work of contemporary black artists is selected and curated in a series of exhibitions that gives one just a slice or taste of the range of the work that is being created; but their work as a collective is rarely seen in one setting with a [...]

by Peter Kondrat, May 2006 After Port-au-Prince, Brooklyn has more Haitians than any city in the world. Language, poverty and cultural misconceptions often conspire to keep this creative, vibrant and fascinating community on the outskirts of our awareness. Wyclef and Edwidge have become virtual household names, but other talented Americans of Haitian descent like Madafi and [...]

by Bonnie Sandy Sterling, May 2006 In an industry where a shooting star could take years to rise, Brooklyn’s independent designers stand out for the uniqueness of their designs. Many foreign design students who come to attend New York’s design schools opt to settle closer to relatives, which often means living in Brooklyn. For designers who are [...]

by Atim Annette Oton, May 2006 A quiet revolution is shaking the design world, and its base camp is in Brooklyn. The borough’s renowned melting-pot neighborhoods are producing a mix of styles and flavors that merges Asian and African design. Just enter several homes in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Prospect Heights or Crown Heights, and you’ll see the startling yet [...]

by Janice D. Williams-Myers What strikes me about the “Obama Phenomenon – this Movement,” is what I remarked to a young skinny white kid back in Iowa during the Kerry presidential campaign in 2004 when we both worked to get him elected.  Back then as now with the Obama campaign, my work was through my union, [...]

by Crystal Dundas I have once heard someone say “ovaries over gender”, at first I didn’t know what to make of it, but now that the primaries and the dirty political tricks is half done I could say that not everyone felt the same way. Not everyone fell for the already broken promises of the Clinton [...]

This exhibition was in 2008 In Summer 2008, the Museum of Contemporary African Disaporan Arts (MoCADA) welcomes Kindred Cool: Portraits inspired by the jazz friendship of Romare Bearden, Ralph Ellison and Albert Murray. The exhibition is produced byBrooklyn-based photographer Laylah Amatullah Barrayn (Calabar Magazine’s cultural writer) in conjunction with Up South, Inc., Kindred Cool highlights the [...]

by Atim Annette Oton, June/July 2008 After my last article on Food 4 Thought, a Brooklyn restaurant, I was thrilled to see their re-emergence in the same space with a slew of partners that included Brother Solomon, the guy who created Solomon’s Porch and the Sankofa Collective, a locally based Bed-Stuy organization. My wish for Wil [...]

by Imani Kaba, June/July 2008: Vol. 2, No. 6 Dance is the physical manifestation of music” says Imani Kaba who teaches West African dance at Charles Moore Dance Theatre in downtown Brooklyn. As we know from our African ancestors music and dance has always been extremely important in African culture. Most all important functions, ceremonies, celebrations, [...]

by Atim Annette Oton, June/July 2008: Vol. 2, No. 6 Editorial Summer 2008 is yet another festival season and for Calabar Magazine, we return to Commodore Barry Park to our staple ritual of the International African Arts Festival for the 37th year celebration. For the second year in a row, we are the publication partner for the [...]