Meet the Nominees

2024 Black Carpet Awards

Ora nella sua secondo edizione, Black Carpet Awards celebrates diversity and inclusion in the global community. This annual event from Milan’s Afro Fashion Association recognizes the achievements of the unheard voices within society and unites the champions of Diversity and Inclusion across fashion, design, art, food, music, technology, business, sports and cinema. Meet the 2024 nominees below in Culture, Community, Creativity, Entrepreneurship, and Legacy, plus a special dedication: the inaugural Virgil Abloh Award.
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BCA 2024 Nominees

Leader of Change: Culture

This category is dedicated to leaders that move the discussion about Diversity & Inclusion forward in their specific fields of action, becoming examples for all of society. We asked each nominee to share a brief introduction to their work in their own words.

Marlon Brandao

Marlon Brandao

The perfect definition of me is: “an artist like many, a common person like few,” because being ordinary in today’s world, in the world of large social groups is really difficult.

Il mio percorso inizia all’età di 14 anni, con Disney Channel, con la sitcom Hip Hop Hurray. I immediately experienced firsthand what it means to be a young black boy in Italy, with the dream of becoming an actor. I decided that I would make my dream come true for other young people too: black, African, foreign kids. Every step I have taken in the artistic world I have sweat with blood, tears and sweat. They didn’t give me anything, but I’m honestly happy, because I was able to demonstrate to myself and to all of Italy that it can be done.

Attualmente sono protagonista del cortometraggio La Mia Milano su Prime Video. Storia di giovani ragazzi di seconda generazione che devono fare i conti con un’Italia ancora chiusa nel passato.

Ovviamente ci sono pubblicità, collaborazioni social, ospitate ad eventi, tv e molto altro, ma ciò che mi rende più orgoglioso è il percorso fatto con esserenero, che non è solo una pagina social, ma siamo molto di più. Riusciamo nel nostro piccolo a trasmettere la cultura Africana, afroitaliana e bipoc, raccontando storie del passato, cultura, affrontando tematiche difficili, informando ed unendo la nostra comunità. Ogni giorno lavoriamo per far capire che in Italia possono nascere e crescere stilisti, attori, dottori, poliziotti, cantanti.

Danielle Madam

Danielle Madam

Danielle è nata in Camerun ed è arrivata in Italia all’età di 7 anni accompagnata dalla madre, per sfuggire da una situazione complicata nel Paese di origine. Attraverso la sua crescita, Danielle ha trasformando la sua esperienza in un racconto di determinazione e resilienza. Nel corso degli anni, ha conquistato il cuore dello sport italiano vincendo 5 titoli di campionessa italiana, 2 bronzi giovanili, 1 bronzo assoluto e altri prestigiosi riconoscimenti nella disciplina del getto del peso.

Dopo una lunga lotta burocratica per ottenere la cittadinanza e dopo ben 17 anni in Italia, Danielle ha finalmente giurato fedeltà alla Repubblica italiana il 30 aprile 2021, diventandone cittadina. Il suo impatto va oltre il mondo dello sport, ispira molti giovani, incoraggiandoli a perseguire i propri sogni con passione e determinazione.

With a tireless spirit, Danielle motivates women to overcome every obstacle and achieve excellence in whatever field they choose. Her promotion of the importance of women’s sports motivates girls to pursue their dreams without fear. She was recently recognized among the 107 outstanding Italian female figures portrayed in the national exhibition “Extraordinarie, protagonists of the present.”

Cinzia Adanne Ebonine

Cinzia Adanne Ebonine

Cinzia Adanna Ebonine è la fondatrice di educationwithcinzia, the first educational portal in Italy with resources for parents and educators of Afro-Italian children and youth ages 0-18. Cinzia Adanna: an Italian and a Nigerian (Igbo) name. Two names, distinct and perfectly complementary. It is in this combination that her personal and professional story is written. Cinzia Adanna is driven by a strong sense of social justice that has led her to become an educator and trainer on diversity & inclusion issues within the Italian educational system. She has developed “educazione s-catenata” (literally “education unchained” a teaching method for intercultural education. In recent years she’s collaborated with Amref Health Africa, IOM (International Organization for Migration), Teach for Italy, SFIDE-La scuola di tutti, Infol education, Save the Children, Colory.it, Festival Divercity, Photovogue by Vogue, Afroveronesi, Black History Month Torino, Italiani senza cittadinanza, How to start seeing colours, e Enprise Network.

Djarah Kan

Djarah Kan

Djarah Kan (1993) è una scrittrice italo-ghanese. Cresciuta nella provincia di Caserta, fin da piccola si interessa alla scrittura come mezzo di espressione e resistenza, in una comunità difficile, profondamente segnata dalle tensioni razziali tra residenti italiani e comunità africane. È proprio in questo clima di segregazione che crea, con l’aiuto del suo migliore amico e fotografo, il blog Kasava Call, which will allow her to write consistently about Castel Volturno, a seaside town with a complex past. Kan regularly publishes for several magazines and has participated in the Women’s Creative Mentorship Project and the International Writing Program funded by the University of Iowa.

Anna Osei

Anna Osei

Rinomato autore e giornalista che unisce le culture attraverso le parole. Ci dice:

“With two published books, including Sotto lo Stesso Sole by Italy’s leading publishing house Mondadori, I delve into themes of racism, identity, and the representation of black Italians. As an active contributor to Vogue Italy, my interviews with influential figures, like the Gen Z mixed-race Italian actress championing Afro hair, have garnered acclaim, earning accolades such as the Bulgari Award for Journalism. My passion for storytelling extends to spotlighting BIPOC designers and beauty icons, celebrating their migrant journeys akin to my own. Beyond writing, I lend my copywriting expertise to brands like Ferragamo, promoting diversity and sustainability. Stay tuned for my latest venture, where I continue to showcase the beauty of diversity in fashion!”

BCA 2024 Nominees

Leader of Change: Community

This category recognizes a leader who has made a difference by using their work, knowledge, and or skills to create great change within their community. We asked each nominee to share a brief introduction to their work in their own words.

Johanne Affricot

Johanne Affricot

Johanne Affricot è una curatrice indipendente e produttrice culturale. Fondatrice e direttrice artistica di SPAZIO GRIOT e GRIOTMag, attualmente ricopre il ruolo di curator-at-large all’American Academy in Rome (2023-2024). È particolarmente interessata agli spazi creativi quali dispositivi di rigenerazione che promuovono la coltivazione e disseminazione di strategie e pratiche di immaginazione radicale che abbiano un forte impatto culturale e sociale.

I suoi progetti recenti includono la mostra personale Studio 1. I Miss You So Much (Italian Cultural Institute in London, London, 2023); Il Mio Filippino: For Those Who Care To See, (Mattatoio, Rome, 2023); la collettiva e il programma pubblico Sediments. After Memory (Mattatoio, Rome, 2022); il programma di conversazioni Chef Binta. Reframing Traditions (Museo delle Civiltà, Rome, 2022). An independent researcher, Affricot holds an MA in Innovation and Development from La Sapienza, University of Rome. She co-edited the limited-edition poetry collection Rabbia e Desiderio (SPAZIO GRIOT, British Council, 2022) e della pubblicazione Esercizi per l’Immaginazione di Uno Spazio (SPAZIO GRIOT, Palazzo Esposizioni, 2022). Sua la direzione artistica di Mirrors, performance di danza contemporanea e videoarte realizzata per il programma Italia, Culture, Africa del Ministero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale (MAXXI, Roma, 2018; Teatro Giuseppe Verdi, Addis Abeba; UJ Arts Centre Theatre, Johannesburg; Teatro Nazionale Daniel Sorano, Dakar, 2019). Nel 2021 è tra le dieci donne italiane scelte dal Ministero Degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale per promuovere la cultura, la creatività e la lingua italiana nel mondo, con un ritratto dedicato nella serie documentario Italiana – Portraits of Women.

DEI Futuro Antirazzista

DEI Futuro Antirazzista

D.E.I. Futuro Antirazzista è un collettivo antirazzista, apartitico, antifascista, antisessista, antiomolesbobitransafobico, antiabilista, antigrassofobico e che non persegue fini di lucro.

In quanto collettivo sociale ci preme insistere sulla necessità di una discussione su temi riguardanti i diritti civili e sociali concentrando la nostra attenzione sulla comunità BIPOC, sulla denuncia di atti discriminatori di diversa natura/ragione e sulla fondazione comune di un’educazione antirazzista solida. Occorre dare un segnale vero di STOP con le dinamiche razziste, e non solo, del nostro Paese proiettandosi verso un futuro fondato su diversità, equità e inclusione.

D.E.I. was born in June 2020, during the pandemic, at a time when we could not leave our homes. A disadvantage became our strength, as we made our voice heard from behind a phone, from behind a laptop: we fought so that anyone, even from home, or even outside their country, could make their voice heard. We did what was considered impossible years ago: fighting for one’s rights even when not taking the field directly (not always accessible), giving a chance even to those who, for various reasons, could not actively and physically participate in demonstrations, formations, and changes (because let us not forget that in a country not equipped for people with disabilities, visible or otherwise, and not safe for neurodivergent@ people, physically demonstrating is still a privilege today) and we fought so that it would be understood that “digital activism” is no less important than traditional activism. But it is also time for us at DEI to step up and meet you in person.

Attualmente D.E.I. ha 30 persone all’interno del collettivo, che risiedono in 7 Paesi diversi ed in 3 continenti diversi e siamo in continua espansione. La nostra missione è appena cominciata, ed anche se la strada è tortuosa non è possibile grazie all’aiuto, supporto e sostegno di tutt* voi. Grazie per essere parte di questa battaglia, grazie per chi è stato e per chi lo sarà, ogni voce non sarà mai dimenticata, noi, dal profondo del cuore, non lo dimenticheremo mai.



Khadim Loum

Khadim Loum

Khadim Loum è nato a Dakar nel settembre 1992, dove ha trascorso l'infanzia e l'adolescenza fino al 2009, anno in cui si è trasferito in Italia per ricongiungersi con il padre e il fratello. Vive a Milano da 5 anni.

Nel 2019 ha co-fondato Pleazer Mob, un brand di streetwear nato nel 2018 dall'idea di un gruppo di giovani che aspirano a trasmettere ideali e valori a una comunità in crescita. Il concetto alla base di Pleazer Mob è quello di coinvolgere persone con interessi, idee e passioni diverse, che vanno dall'abbigliamento alla musica, senza trascurare le questioni sociali che ci riguardano nella nostra vita quotidiana. L’aspirazione è quella di favorire la condivisione di interessi, idee e passioni, puntando a creare uno spazio immaginario in cui tutti possano immergersi ed esprimersi liberamente, senza pregiudizi.

In 2022, he co-founded NettaliHshouma, which is a series of weekly meetings focused on various socially relevant topics.These meetings explore subjects such as the environment, racism, classism, sexism, homo-transphobia, radical activism,independent artistic and musical scenes, historical insights, through a critical, analytical, and creative lens. The meetings provide a platform for dialogues to address topics in a participatory and shared manner, stimulating the natural growth of new  relationships and facilitating networking among individuals, collectives, and urban realities. Every Tuesday, experts are invited to guide participants through the inherent challenges and opportunities of each theme, aiming to understand the complexities and bring forth potential, stories, and methods to formulate questions and move closer to finding answers.

Sabrina Onana

Sabrina Onana

Italian-Cameroonian of origin, born in Paris and raised in Naples, Sabrina Onana is a 25-year-old sociologist, independent film director, photographer, and creator of the clothing brand Vêtue d’Art. She graduated in contemporary sociology at ENS-Paris Saclay and Sorbonne University (Paris) and started working as an independent director at 18 years old while still being a student. Since then, she directed 7 feature-length documentaries and already presented 3 of them publicly: Crossing the color line (2020) and Crossing the color line-healing from the past (2022), about Afro-italians, and I am black, I am beautiful (2023), about black womanhood in France. Her documentaries have been selected in more than 20 film festivals, screened internationally (Italy, United States, France, UK, Colombia, Cape Verde, Canada, French Guyana...) e pluripremiato al (Festival International du Film Panafricain de Cannes, Cannes World Film Festival, Rencontres Cinématographiques de Sya).



Carlotta Vagnoli

Carlotta Vagnoli

Carlotta Vagnoli, classe 1987, è una scrittrice, autrice e speaker radiofonica fiorentina. Tramite i suoi canali social contribuisce, insieme a molte altre voci, a sensibilizzare sul tema della violenza di genere. Dal 2017 tiene lezioni di formazione nelle scuole superiori sulla stereotipizzazione di genere. Nel 2021 pubblica Maledetta Sfortuna: vedere, riconoscere e rifiutare la violenza di genere, per Fabbri Editore, seguito da Poverine, edito da Einaudi. Del 2022 il suo ultimo libro, Memoria delle mie puttane allegre, pubblicato da Marsilio.

Since 2022 she has been a speaker for Radio1 Rai’s Il mondo nuovo and host of the format “Basement Café.”

BCA 2024 Nominees

Leader of Change: Creativity

This category recognizes a leader who makes a global impact through their vision and work. We asked each nominee to share a brief introduction to their work in their own words.

Mistura Allison

Mistura Allison

Mistura Allison è ricercatrice, curatrice e storica dell'arte. È la fondatrice di ashikọ, una piattaforma di ricerca visiva ispirata all'Africa e alla sua diaspora. Attualmente ricopre il ruolo di curatrice e coordinatrice del progetto presso Villa Romana a Firenze, impegnandosi in pratiche artistiche transnazionali con particolare attenzione all'arte contemporanea e avanzando metodologie di realizzazione di mostre decentralizzate. Il suo lavoro si concentra su pratiche basate sulla ricerca che interagiscono con la pluralità delle produzioni visive e orali afro-diasporiche contemporanee.

Janine Gaëlle Dieudji

Janine Gaëlle Dieudji

Janine Gaëlle Dieudji is a multilocal curator and cultural practitioner with over a decade of experience in the art world. She has written for publications including Phaidon’s art books African Artists: From 1882 to Now and Vitamin C+, Collage in Contemporary Art. Co-founder of The Recovery Plan (Florence, Italy) and former Director of Exhibitions at MACAAL (Marrakesh, Morocco), Janine Gaëlle works on curatorial projects pertaining to contemporary African art and artists,museums, and cross-cultural interactions.

Nel gennaio 2023 è entrata a far parte del team dello Smithsonian National Museum of African Art (Washington DC, USA) dove continua ad espandere la sua pratica come curatrice.

Loretta Grace

Loretta Grace

Loretta Grace è un'artista italiana, personaggio televisivo e la principale influencer di bellezza e stile di vita afro-italiana. È anche una cantante e attrice di grande talento, molto conosciuta in Italia per le sue interpretazioni in vari musical, tra cui Ghost e Sister Act.

Nel 2022, ha debuttato come una delle co-conduttrici del lancio italiano di Incredible Transformations, uno spettacolo televisivo sulla rete Warner Bros Discovery.

Alberto Malanchino

Alberto Malanchino

Alberto Boubakar Malanchino, nato a Cernusco sul Naviglio, si diploma nel 2016 in recitazione alla Civica Scuola di Teatro Paolo Grassi di Milano. Partecipa nello stesso anno alla Biennale college di Venezia seguendo i Maestri Declan Donnellan, Nick Ormerod e Pascal Rambert. Dopo la formazione accademica, inizia a lavorare come attore di prosa.

He has collaborated with directors Moni Ovadia and Silvio Peroni and starred in roles and monologues both in theatre– notably with several award-winning performances at the Franco Parenti Theater– television, and film. In 2019, he was part of the cast of the Netflix production Summertime e viene scelto per il ruolo di Elvis nel film Easy Living, scritto e diretto dai fratelli Miyakawa.
Nella primavera del 2020 torna in televisione con il ruolo di Gabriel Kidane, uno dei protagonisti della serie Doc – in your hands diretta da Jan Michelini e Ciro Visco.

Per Disney Pixar fornisce la voce italiana di Buzz Lightyear nel film d'animazione Lightyear: The True Story of Buzz, and the voice of the protagonist Tonio in the animated film La famosa invasione degli orsi in Sicilia, tratto dal romanzo di Dino Buzzatti, e Bob Marley nel film biografico Bob Marley: One Loveper la Paramount Pictures.
Ha ricevuto il premio Giffoni Explosive Talent nel 2022 e nel 2023 ha vinto il premio UBU come miglior attore/performer under 35.

Le Sorelle Toledo

Le Sorelle Toledo

Luciana e Adriana sono brasiliane, sorelle, mamme, stiliste e consulenti di moda nate a San Paolo, dove hanno vissuto fino agli anni Novanta.

They have had careers as contemporary dancers, with training in classical dance. After arriving in Italy, Luciana also worked in advertising and created her own line of accessories; Adriana’s dance career instead took her to the US and subsequently Italy, where she studied theater and dance at the Paolo Grassi School of Dramatic Arts and participated in the Biennial of Dance of Venice, directed by Carolyn Carlson.

In seguito a queste esperienze si sono dedicati entrambi alla famiglia, Luciana ha tre figlie e Adriana due.

Their joint project was born on the threshold of their fiftieth birthday, in the middle of the pandemic. From 2020 through now, they’ve had the opportunity to understand and focus on what really stimulates them. Their Respiro project, created in collaboration with the Brazilian actress and director Barbara Paz, was shown at the 2021 Venice Film Festival, and represented the birth of a concept they have coined “Conscious Styling.

Credono che la moda possa essere un potente strumento per condividere i propri valori, per incoraggiare conversazioni e opinioni su questioni che considerano importanti e rilevanti. Sono le Suore Toledo (le sorelle Toledo): : credono nell'alchimia, nell'energia e nell'unicità e preziosità di ogni individuo.

BCA 2024 Nominees

Leader of Change: Entrepreneurship

This category celebrates a leader who has made a significant contribution towards new business models and/or design principles that create positive change.

Ada Ugo Abara

Ada Ugo Abara

I was born in Nigeria and raised in a small town in Northern Italy. I obtained my BA in Political Sciences, International Relations and Human Rights at the University of Padova, then I completed my MSc in Development, Cooperation and Innovation in the Global Economy at the University of Turin back in 2017. 

Throughout my studies, I was upset by the Eurocentric approach that I encountered, with little or no place left for other regional studies, perspectives or even single authors. I found few alternatives and then decided to create my own space. In 2015 I founded the association Arising Africans and started deconstructing stereotypes and promoting cultural awareness on black Italy and diasporas in Europe. Amongst our projects, we realized a short movie titled “Io sono Rosa Parks” that premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2018 and we are now promoting 8 spots on systemic racism called “Fading”. 

After my Master’s Degree, I started working in the field of diaspora engagement and policy making; I am now a project management and implementation consultant working with different public and private entities. I spent four years working as the junior PM of the National Diasporas Summit, a project funded by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation. I have also organized, supervised and thought different training programs on afrobusiness, youth entrepreneurship, community organizing, diaspora engagement policies, black Italia and ICTs for Development for associations, foundations and NGOs. I was also a guest lecturer at the University of Padova, Turin, Palermo, Sapienza University, New York University and many others. I am in charge of the Research and Perspective department of Fondazione Aurora and I am engaging African Scholars in an alternative narration on socio-economic trends in the Continent.

My latest challenge is becoming an expert Information and Communication Technologies for Social Good scholar. I am deepening my studies, working with innovative startups, and focusing on D-Tech Podcast, my latest podcasting project on digital transformation for profit and non profit organizations and youth entrepreneurs.

Afroricci

Afroricci

Afroricci is a unique and innovative brand that offers specific products for afro and curly hair. The brand was founded by Alice Edun to promote belonging, self-care and inclusiveness and remains a trendsetter brand that is committed to promoting women’s empowerment. We celebrate that beauty does not have a specific shape or appearance but manifests itself in many shapes and shades. 

Afroricci today boasts a vast line of products for the whole family, available throughout Italy and several European countries thanks to small and large distributers. We are proud to offer products that meet the needs of people with afro and curly hair, and that promote healthy and natural hair care.

Our company also stands out for the use of raw materials and eco-sustainable packaging and the adoption of practices typical of the circular economy; this led us to be chosen among the companies representing a green and digital future at WWWorkersCamp 2022.

In 2023 we were chosen among 100 small and medium-sized virtuous Made-in-Italy companies to strengthen, with the support of institutions, their presence abroad by leveraging sustainability and digital technologies.

Madeleine Camara

Madeleine Camara

Madeleine Camara is the founder of Milan’s Ristorante Baobab here in Milan. Her roots trace back to Senegal, where she harbored a deep passion for the culinary arts from a young age.

Camara’s culinary journey began in the 1990s, apprenticing in her parent’s restaurant in France. After completing her university studies in Senegal, she honed her cooking skills in Lyon and then in Rome at a prestigious Michelin-starred restaurant, with London and Paris to follow. When it came time to chase her own dream of opening a restaurant, her experience in Italy convinced her that Milan was the ideal place. She shares:

Baobab is more than just a restaurant; it is a bridge between cultures, a place where the flavors of Africa, particularly Senegal, blend with the warm and refined atmosphere of Milan. We collaborate with African artists and artisans to decorate our venue, giving them visibility and promoting their culture. We support corporate social responsibility initiatives, such as our orphan aid program in Africa and the Baobab Luxury brand, which supports African female artisans.

Looking ahead, my primary aim is to grow Baobab as a place of gathering and celebration of diversity. I aim to expand our menu, offering our customers an ever richer and more authentic experience. We will continue to support local and global communities through our corporate social responsibility initiatives. I look forward to the future of Baobab with great excitement and cannot wait to share this extraordinary journey with all of you.

Victoria Adede Mensah

Victoria Adede Mensah

Born in 1992 in Ghana, Victoria moved to Italy in 1998 with her parents and began her education towards a future of great satisfaction. At May she began posing for photo shoots, making television appearances and taking part in various beauty contests.

Always having a passion for make-up in her heart, Victoria began doing make-up for friends and acquaintances for their important events and in 2014 she specialized to become a professional make-up artist. After 12 years of working as an employee in the commercial sector, Victoria created her first beauty line Adede Cosmetics and in 2023 she specialized in the real estate sector and founded her own real estate property management agency.

Victoria has always believed in and followed her passions, transforming them into a full-time job.



Nappytalia

Nappytalia

Since its inception in 2014 as a vibrant online community of Afro-Italians, Nappytalia has grown to become an icon in the beauty industry.

From recognized blog, the company began a new chapter in 2015 with the launch of its first start-up, imported from America. Through years of determination and risk since, Nappytalia has conquered the international stage, obtaining awards such as the Moneygram Award and the European Union Social Category Award. In 2018, the opening of a second company and the launch of Nappytalia Eco Bio Cosmetics marked an epic triumph, becoming the first black-owned company to produce eco-organic cosmetics for curly afro hair in Italy.

With €75k of initial investment and 8000 products sold in 3 years, Nappytalia has demonstrated its strength in the market. However, the desire for innovation pushed the founder to move part of the operations to Ghana in 2022, embracing the future and reaffirming the African roots. This bold move allowed Nappytalia to be independent and maintain total control over the supply chain. “Africa is the future” is not just a cliché, but a tangible reality that Nappytalia is helping to create.

With ambitious plans in Ghana, the company now seeks partnerships and funding to shape a successful and sustainable future. The story of Nappytalia is not just a success story, but a hymn to the proud “Made in Ghana to the world”.

BCA 2024 Nominees

Leader of Change: Legacy

This category recognizes a leader who has a legacy of continually moving forward with culturally diverse and or inclusive projects. We asked each nominee to share a brief introduction to their work in their own words.

Justin Randolph Thompson

Justin Randolph Thompson

Justin Randolph Thompson is an artist, cultural facilitator and educator born in Peekskill, NY in ’79. Based between Italy and the US since 1999, Thompson is Co-Founder and Director of Black History Month Florence and of the research center The Recovery Plan.

Thompson is a recipient of a 2022 Creative Capital Award, a 2020 Italian Council Research Fellowship, a Louis Comfort Tiffany Award, a Franklin Furnace Fund Award, a Visual Artist Grant from the Fundacion Marcelino Botin and an Emerging Artist Fellowship from Socrates Sculpture Park amongst others. His work and performances have been exhibited widely in institutions and contexts including The Lagos Biennial, The Whitney Museum of American Art, the Centro de Arte Reina Sofia and The American Academy in Rome and are part of numerous collections including The Studio Museum in Harlem, and the Museo MADRE. His life and work seek to deepen the discussions around socio-cultural stratification and the arrogance of permanence by employing fleeting temporary communities as monuments and fostering projects that connect academic discourse, social activism and DIY networking strategies in annual and biennial gathering, sharing and gestures of collectivity.

Miyuki Yajima

Miyuki Yajima

Miyuki Yajima è una giornalista, artista e innovatrice culturale nata in Giappone. Da quando ha fondato S.C. Artroom in Milan, Yajima has established herself as an interdisciplinary figure in art and design. Her studio’s multifaceted work, which spans architecture, interior design, branding, and motion graphics, has received international recognition and numerous prestigious awards, including the four of WSDA for exhibition and display design, two Art Directors Club Award’s Grand Awards for works with cosmetic company, the Aga Khan Award as an Finalist for the Japanese Embassy in Syria, and the Chi è Chi Awards Best Digital Designer, and sevenal times of Webby Awards for website creation, etc.

Yajima studied the natural sciences and history of science and technology, giving her a scientific approach to observing and analyzing the world around her. Combined with her aesthetic sensibility and free spirit, Yajima has traveled extensively to feel and understand diverse cultural legacies, shaping her artistic mission—to create new art forms from existing cultural legacies and preserve them through innovative lenses.

By continuously moving her artistic vision forward, Yajima merges new technologies with her deep cultural insights to foster a dialogue between past and present. At the 2023 Salone Milano, Yajima created the exhibition “Dreaming with Open Eyes” in collaboration with eight international artists from different industries. With the project theme, “Life in continuous evolution,” Yajima demonstrated how art and artificial intelligence can interact in the metaverse to create new forms of experience and perception.

Miyuki Yajima’s dedication to cultural preservation and innovation has led to her lifelong works being showcased in esteemed institutions and contexts, highlighting her global impact and the widespread recognition of her contributions to art and design.

BCA 2024 Nominees

Virgil Abloh Award

\We asked each nominee to share a brief introduction to their work in their own words.

Romy Calzado

Romy Calzado

Romy Calzado is a Cuban native fashion and textile designer, from Avana. At the age of four she moved to Italy with her family, between Pavia and Udine, where she attended School of Art, later specializing in Fashion Design and CAD Modeling at Istituto di Moda Burgo in Milan.

She developed a passion for ethnic prints through professional experience at Etro S.p.a, and a taste for classic elegance through an internship at Musani S.r.l and several remote collaboration including a menswear label. Thanks to her work experiences, she became an enthusiastic fashion teacher of Fashion School Monza, with high aspirations
for students, committed to support them to realize their learning objectives.

In September 2020, the Afro Fashion Association chose Romy for the second edition of the FAB 5 “We are Made in Italy,”, a project sponsored by the National Chamber of Italian Fashion, which aims to support emerging BIPOC designers for two seasons.

Her first spring / summer 2022 collection called “Unlabeled” during Fashion Week was successful thanks to the garments made of antiviral and antibacterial graphene denim, in particular the chemisier Naomi 1.5, chosen by top model Naomi Campbell for Fashion Week’s events. Romy launched her brand to express creativity, admitted feeling like an artist who can “express my feelings and emotions playing with fashion, using different silhouette and experimenting new effects.”

Her goal is debunk the misconception that a Caribbean designer should always tap into florals and prints, but can keep the colors and intensity of her birthplace mixing them with the charm of western aesthetic. Like Afro Fashion as a whole, Romy believe in the transformative potential of fashion, design, art, and culture as a means for cross-cultural exchange, empowerment, and sustainable economic development.

Victor Hart

Victor Hart

In 2019, he worked as an intern with Matteo Bardi consultancy to (Camera Nazionale Della Moda Italiana) as a textile designer and “cool hunter” in Milan, designing textiles for Calvin Klein, American Eagle and others using his professional experience of how everyone wants to wear something unique, and to feel special when they wore unique clothes.

In 2020, Victor was the Creative Director for Vicini D’istanti, a sustainable project in Bologna. Having been educated in Europe and Africa, Victor Reginald Bob Abbey-Hart broadened his knowledge of fashion. He relaunched his brand in Italy as “Victor-Hart” in 2021. The brand focuses on hybrid workwear to tackle everyday social problems with the use of Ghanaian heritage and culture with futuristic, made-in-Italy craftsmanship.

Thais Montessori

Thais Montessori

I am Thais Montessori Brandao, I’m 30 years old and I have mixed origins: Italian-Brazilian. My articulate last name is the proof. I am a stylist. The research of my origins, of my Afro descent, has become with time an essential aspect of my artistic research. I work and live in Milan, the city where I grew up, that I love so much and that allowed me to build a network of people and creatives I like to collaborate with. Being a woman is a wonderful gift, for me it is life itself. Being a woman means living with the visceral impulses of creation and acceptance, it means perpetrating love, teaching to push away as much as possible the concept of destruction in the world, the ability to love beyond appearances.

When I speak of creation I am also referring to motherhood of course, but not only. It doesn’t mean that women who don’t go through the process of motherhood don’t have these tools to read the world or that they are less women than others. What I mean is that any woman on the face of Earth is already an artist herself because she has the innate ability to create life. Sisterhood is a process, something I am learning. To stop feeling in competition with others is everything that society doesn’t tell you to do, so the alliance between women is a heroic act.

I grew up in the post economic boom Italy of Mediaset, with ZERO representation, and Bossi’s Lega Nord stronger than ever. No one looked like me; at school, on television, everywhere I went. MTV was different, like everything coming from abroad. I grew up without role models, thinking therefore to be out of place. Over time I realized that if you don’t find a role model, the world is probably telling you that that role model is you, and that you need to create it for yourself and for others like you. But it has been a difficult journey, timid and sometimes painful to reach this awareness. I can say today that I am proud of everything I am. And proud that I’m still working on the things I’d like to change for the better about myself, in no hurry. Hurry is the only female enemy I have.

Claudia Gisele Ntsama

Claudia Gisele Ntsama

Gisèle Claudia Ntsama, originally from Cameroon, founded her brand in Bologna, Italy in 2020 after graduating in Fashion Design from the Academy of Fine Arts. But she began creatively challenging herself long before. Since 2015, she has participated in several university projects with mentorship from Afro Fashion Association, in 2016 she participated in Lineapelle, in 2017 exhibited her first prêt-à-porter in store in Florence, and in 2019 she worked in Brussels as a Textile Designer Assistant, exhibiting at Design Week in Milan. She participated in the first digital Afro Fashion Week in Milan in February 2020 and the following September she was selected as a member of the first generation of Afro Fashion’s Fab Five Bridge Builders thanks to the support of the WAMI Collective. She has also been awarded in the “Fab Five Bridge Builders” in February 2021 with the support of Stella Jean and Edward Buchanan. Since 2020, she has been working as Textile Designer at Ratti S.P.A.and from 2021 to 2022 she worked as Fashion Design Assistant at Valentino.

Marzio Villa

Marzio Villa

Marzio Emilio Villa is a Black-indigenous artist, living and working in Milan, portrait and fashion photographer. His research focuses on the representation of people belonging to minorities. His works, with a sociological introspection deal with relationships starting from colonial reminiscences; starting from discriminatory realities present in European and international social structures, until questioning about the ethics of the photographic process and the power in the field between photographer and photographed.

Since 2009 he has exhibited in various galleries; Myriam Bouagal Galerie (Paris), Heillandi Gallery (Lugano), Leica Galerie (Paris).

Represented by Noble agency, Leica akademie professor and contributor to the Wall Street Journal newspaper. His works can be found in museums such as the Lia Museum (La Spezia) and at Mudec (Milan).

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