NKATA: Dots of Thoughts
by Nkata Podcast Station
I often wake up in the morning with thoughts reeling in my head. Thoughts inspired by a conversation with someone; something I read, heard, listened to (music/podcasts), a film I saw, a photograph I made, an essay/poem I wrote, or in broad terms, an impactful encounter. They exist as disjointed, scattered particles I often refer to as dots of thoughts.Thus, this podcast show is an attempt to articulate, to converse and to put in relation these floating thoughts. While it relies on random impulses, the podcast is structured by thought-prompts focusing on everyday issues across space, time and works of life. Though it is not a live podcast, it somewhat mimics this approach in that for every episode, the conversation, which begins as a monologue, evolves into a dialogue through a phone conversation with someone else in another part of the world (a friend, a colleague, relative, expert in a subject, creator of a work, originator of an idea). This ensures a broadening of the thematic and lo
Episodes
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EP31: The Human Intelligence and Provinciality
What if the danger we fear in artificial intelligence also asks us to confront the limits we impose on human intelligence? In this episode of Dots of Thoughts, Emeka Okereke turns the anxiety that “AI will kill us all” towards a question about humanity itself: how can human intelligence evolve...
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EP30: Language, the Foremost Cultural Archive: Reflections around Igbo Landing
In this episode of Dots of Thoughts, Emeka Okereke enters into reflections with Sophia Chimaoge Nelz, a 12th grade high school student researching the history and meaning of Igbo Landing for her school assignment. Beginning with a historical event from 1803, the conversation gradually unfolds…
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EP29: A Meditation on Light
In this episode of Dots of Thoughts, Emeka Okereke reads and reflects from a freshly written essay titled A Meditation on Light. The episode begins from a simple physical fact: light has no mass. Light has no weight. From this point, the reflection opens into a meditation on light as that which...
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EP28: The "I AM" is free from all labels
On Easter Sunday morning, moving from a dream-state clarity into waking reflection, this episode unfolds around the question of the “I” and its relation to the self. The “I” appears here as a fixed point—a scaffolding through which the “me” is constructed, accumulated, and named. In contrast, the...
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EP27: Effort, The Ledger of Self-Worth
Since “work” is the bane of our lives — that is, from the moment we are born to the moment we die, we are at work — should we not strive to understand what it means beyond extraction and peddling of labour? In this episode, Emeka Okereke continues his long-running examination of concepts and...
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EP26: Encounters as Mirrors – Difference and the Long Arc to Oneself - with Tamia Hill
Send us a text What begins as a chance meeting in Berlin becomes a conversation—one that moves attentively through difference, identity, and the long, uneven arc of returning to oneself. In dialogue with guest Tamia Hill (Mia), host Emeka Okereke reflects alongside her on how encounters—with...
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EP25: Unknotting Identity: The Igbo Language and its Cosmological Insights
Send us a text Emeka Okereke explores the Igbo language as a vessel of cosmological insight and a lens for re-examining identity. He traces the movement from self to collective consciousness and introduces Nlekota—the Igbo principle of stewardship, a presence that absences nothing. In this…
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EP24: Presence that Absents Nothing: Beyond the Confines of Thought
Send us a text In this episode of Dots of Thoughts, Emeka Okereke takes us beyond the Cartesian dictum “I think, therefore I am,”unraveling how this foundational idea has shaped—and distorted—the modern mind. With poetic lucidity, he reveals how thought, once a useful tool, has become a false...
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EP23: On Following The Intangible – with Genevieve White
Send us a text In this episode, we journey with Genevieve White, a seasoned artist and performer, as she shares her path from her multicultural roots in Canada to the vibrant art scene of New York City—recorded in the tranquil atmosphere of Berlin’s Grunewald Forest as a conversation with host…
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EP22: "Pleasures in the confusions of boundaries": Transdisciplinary Artistic Practices and Pedagogy – with Lukas Feireiss
Send us a text In this episode of Dots of Thoughts, Emeka Okereke engages in a thought-provoking conversation with Berlin-based artist, producer, and scholar Lukas Freireiss. Renowned for his transdisciplinary approach, Lukas shares his practice of working in a “collage-like manner” that unites...
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EP21: Dilemma of a New Age: Black Fathers, Resilence, Raising a Child in Berlin - with Alain Missala
Send us a text Can the simple act of daily gratitude empower and transform your life? In this episode of Dots of Thoughts Podcast, recorded on-site at the Neue Berliner Kunstverein, host Emeka Okereke and guest, Alain Missala, explore the vibrant multicultural landscape of contemporary Berlin....
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EP20: How Can Photography Shape Political Discourse in the 21st Century? – with Jane Tormey
Send us a text In this episode, I discuss the book, "Photography and Political Aesthetics" with the author, art critic and professor, Jane Tormey. Our enlightening conversation traverses the landscape where artistry intersects with political fervour, dissecting how photographs can sway social...
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EP19: Polyrhythmic Weavings Across Countries, Continents, and Time – with Batila
This episode takes you on an auditory pilgrimage with the Berlin-based, musician, Batila, weaving the essence of his Congolese and Angolan heritage into a rich narrative that dances between the notes of his latest album, "Tatamana." As Batila unpacks his life's journey from Germany to the…
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EP18: Rooftop Encounters, and "Living Tangier." – with Abdelmajid Hannoum
Send us a text During a three-week residency in Tangier, Morocco, my friend and colleague, anthropologist Mathangi Krishnamurthy, and I, Emeka Okereke, had the privilege of meeting Abdelmajid Hannoum, whose book "Living Tangier" served as a springboard for our research and thought processes…
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EP17: Confronting Germany's past through colonial relics of the Prussian Palaces – with Carolin Alff
Send us a text This episode was inspired by my participation in the exhibition "Prussian Palaces. Colonial Histories", taking place at the Schloss Charlottenburg Berlin. My guest, Carolin Alff, one of the exhibition's curators, guides us through the thoughts that inform the exhibition's making.…
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EP16: Exploring Existential Complexity: A Dive into 'Everything Everywhere All At Once' with You Kim.
Send us a text If you've ever found yourself lost in the labyrinth of existence or pondering the multiverse and the many layers of our identity, my recent chat with the talented filmmaker and fashion model You Kim is sure to resonate with you. We venture into a reflective analysis of the film,...
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EP15: Finding Home in the Body Through Dance and Ballet - with Diana Mora
Send us a text In this episode of Dots of Thoughts, I am in conversation with Diana Mora. She is a ballet dancer. Her inclination to dance started from as early as the age of six, when she first watched Swan Lake. Supported by her mother, she studied and completed ballet dancing at the National...
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EP14: Being Palestinian, a Life of Permanent Temporality – with Bahaa Abudaya
Send us a text In 2006, I remember photographing, in Paris, the protest against killings that then took place in Isreal and Palestine. In the photo, a father is clutching his little daughter on one hand, while with the other hand, waves a placard that reads “Le meme age que ma fille” (same age as...
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EP13: To Organise a place as if it was a photograph – with Eric Gyamfi
Send us a text Eric Gyamfi (1990, Ghana) is a visual artist working with and within photography. This podcast conversation was induced by the inclusion of his work in the book, Africa State of Mind: Contemporary Photography Re-imagines A Continent “by Ekow Eshun. Rightfully so, the conversation...
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DoTShorts #2: Inner Voice
Send us a text In the second episode of Dots of Thoughts Shorts, Emeka shares a few thoughts and impulses about what the inner voice means for him. Duration: 9:19 mins. Join the conversation and leave a comment on your preferred listening platform. Support the show Hi, amazing listeners! Emeka...
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DoTShorts #1: What Are You Working For?
Send us a text This is the debut episode of the bonus series called Dots of Thoughts Shorts (DoTshorts). Emeka Okereke gives a glimpse of his thoughts regarding the notion of work, and what work has come to signify for him. The episode is backdropped by sonic “artefacts” made up of ambient sound...
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EP12: Memory, Performance, Healing and Celebration in the Photographic works of Lebohang Kganye.
Send us a text In the 12th Episode of Dots of Thoughts, Emeka Okereke reflects on the photographic work of Lebohang Kganye. Ke Lefa Laka: Her-story, was realised in 2013. It explores the relationship between Lebohang Kganye and her mother, who passed on three years earlier. She employs the...
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EP11: 21st Century Photographers Re-articulate The Continent – with Ekow Eshun
Send us a text In this episode of Dots of Thoughts Podcast, Emeka Okereke is joined by Ekow Eshun to reflect on the book, “Africa State of Mind” edited by Ekow Eshun and published by Thames & Hudson. The book brings together works from 52 contemporary photographers from Africa. Fundamental to the...
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EP10: Time does not pass. We, on the other hand, pass through it - and make forms of it (Part 3) with J. Redza
In this episode of "Time Does Not Pass. We, on the other hand, pass through it - and make forms of it", Emeka Okereke (Berlin) is in conversation with J. Redza (Kuala Lumpur). They reflect on the idea of Time in relation to age(ing). This episode can be best described as a "rumination between...
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EP09: Time does not pass. We, on the other hand, pass through it – and make forms of it (Part 2) with Jude Anogwih
Send us a text "I am looking at Time as an element of art, an element of expression not as a clock or calendar. I am looking at the capacity you have as an individual to define a progression of your existence and your event." In this episode, which continues our reflection on Time, Emeka Okereke…
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EP08: Time does not pass. We, on the other hand, pass through it – and make forms of it (part 1)
Send us a text We often hear such expressions as "Time passes". "Don't waste time". "Buy time". "Spend time". But, is time quantifiable in the sense we use it? Isn't it a paradox, this inclination to contain what contains us? These are some of the thoughts (and more) foregrounding this reflection...
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EP07: The Legacy of Queen’s College – A Perspective on Radical Education for Women in Nigeria.
Send us a text Founded in 1927, Queen's College, Yaba, Lagos, Nigeria is part of a formidable legacy addressing the gender disparities between male and female education in Nigeria spearheaded by a group of women who contributed to the founding of this country's first government-owned secondary...
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EP06: Mama Margeret of Afroshop Tropical Markt – 25 Years of Making Life Matter in Berlin.
Send us a text For 25 years, Madam Margaret Opambour-Adjei has run the Afroshop Tropical Markt, in Neukölln Berlin, where she sells foodstuffs, cosmetics and fabrics mainly from West Africa. Originally from Ghana, she migrated to Germany in 1988. In this episode, Emeka Okereke visited her shop...
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EP05: Dalit, A Quest For Dignity – Relating Image-Making to World-Making Through a Photo Book
Send us a text In this Episode, Emeka Okereke (Berlin) connects, through a phone conversation, with Diwas Raja (Kathmandu) – writer, scholar and Lead Researcher at the Nepal Picture Library. Their discussion expands on the intentions and the operative premise of the photography book, "Dalit, A...
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EP04: It Takes Many Trees to Make a Forest – Tribute to Tony Allen
Send us a text To dedicate a conversation to Tony Allen is to recall the rich history of African Music, unsurpassed wit and creative ingenuity, needful rebellion, activism and truly African artistic inventions and languages through that very melodious, harmonious, rhythmic, soul-soothing art form...
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EP03: Morrison's Black Book, Chimurenga's Festac '77 – "Unwritable Stories" in a Book Form
Send us a text In Episode 3 of Dots of Thoughts (DoT), Emeka Okereke reflects on a book which preoccupied him of late: Festac ‘77. This book, “decomposed, an-arranged and reproduced” by Chimurenga the Cape-Town based Pan African art space/publishers, is a compilation of the 2nd World Black and...
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EP02: Neukölln to Bariga from a Bird's View
Send us a text Features: Innocent Ekejiuba /Oladimeji Olasoju /Ade Bantu (Lagos, Nigeria) Host: Emeka Okereke (Berlin, Germany). Episode two of DoT is an extension of thoughts explored in episode one. This time, Emeka Okereke connects with Innocent Ekejiuba and Oladimeji Olasoju, in Bariga Lagos…
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EP01: Social Distancing and Its Sides of The Coin
Send us a text This debut episode of Dots of Thoughts takes as a prompt an essay I wrote in reference to the notion of social distancing and its many undertones especially in the context of Berlin, Europe where I am currently observing the lockdown. Invited to join the conversation, through a…
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About this show
I often wake up in the morning with thoughts reeling in my head. Thoughts inspired by a conversation with someone; something I read, heard, listened to (music/podcasts), a film I saw, a photograph I made, an essay/poem I wrote, or in broad terms, an impactful encounter. They exist as disjointed, scattered particles I often refer to as dots of thoughts.Thus, this podcast show is an attempt to articulate, to converse and to put in relation these floating thoughts. While it relies on random impulses, the podcast is structured by thought-prompts focusing on everyday issues across space, time and works of life. Though it is not a live podcast, it somewhat mimics this approach in that for every episode, the conversation, which begins as a monologue, evolves into a dialogue through a phone conversation with someone else in another part of the world (a friend, a colleague, relative, expert in a subject, creator of a work, originator of an idea). This ensures a broadening of the thematic and lo
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