Julie Mehretu Champions a New Era of African Creativity Through Continent-Wide Workshops
World-renowned abstract artist Julie Mehretu is extending her influence far beyond museum walls, using her global platform to actively nurture and connect Africa’s next generation of creative voices.
Celebrated for her monumental, multilayered abstract paintings that interrogate history, migration, and global interconnectedness, Mehretu’s work is housed in some of the world’s most prestigious institutions. From the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York to the British Museum in London and the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, DC, her artistic language has become synonymous with intellectual rigor and visual power.
Yet despite her international acclaim, the Ethiopian-born, US-based artist remains deeply rooted in a philosophy of collective growth and creative responsibility. Speaking with CNN’s Larry Madowo during a recent visit to Nairobi, Mehretu emphasized the importance of honoring those who came before her while creating space for those yet to be seen.
“We’re here standing on the shoulders of giants, as we always are,” she said. “And hopefully we can also create more of that space for so many others that deserve to be a part of it.”
That commitment has taken tangible form through the African Film and Media Arts Collective (AFMAC), a pan-African creative network co-founded by Mehretu and filmmaker Mehret Mandefro. Through AFMAC, Mehretu and her team are concluding an ambitious series of workshops across the African continent, designed to empower emerging artists working in film, media, and interdisciplinary arts.
The workshops, hosted in five major African cities, focus on media arts and filmmaking within today’s deeply mediated global environment. According to Mehretu, the initiative aims to spark meaningful dialogue across borders, generations, and creative disciplines.“Our goal is to create a cross-disciplinary, intergenerational conversation between countries and artist spaces,” she explained. “Not just to amplify our voices, but to invent new forms that are just as rigorous and challenging.”
Building Pan-African Creative Connections
The vision behind the workshops can be traced back to 2018, when Mehretu was selected by BMW to create its 20th Art Car as part of the company’s iconic Art Car initiative. Since its inception in 1975, the program has invited globally acclaimed artists to transform BMW vehicles into mobile works of art. Mehretu joined an elite roster that includes Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein.
Rather than approach the project conventionally, Mehretu proposed an idea deeply connected to Africa. She envisioned a symbolic journey from Cairo to Cape Town, inspired by the concept of a Pan-African highway, using the car and the road as unifying elements.“What if we went from Cairo to Cape Town,” she proposed to BMW, “and used the car as the common link between these places to work with filmmakers in each country, allowing Africans to tell their own stories?”
With BMW’s financial backing, Mehretu and Mandefro partnered with local cultural institutions to bring this vision to life. The workshops launched in Lagos, Nigeria, in April 2025, before moving to Tangier, Morocco; Nairobi, Kenya; and Dakar, Senegal. The final stop will take place in Cape Town, South Africa.Each workshop produces an original short film, and together, the films will form a powerful anthology showcasing contemporary African storytelling. The completed compilation will premiere alongside the BMW Art Car exhibition at the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa in Cape Town next year.
For Mehretu, the project is deeply personal.
“The African continent is a place that has always drawn me back,” she said. “There’s immense possibility here, especially when we think about the pan-African creative potential.”
A Landmark Commission at the Obama Presidential Center
As she concludes the workshop series, Mehretu is also preparing to unveil one of the most ambitious projects of her career. In 2024, the Obama Foundation announced her selection to create a bespoke artwork for the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago.
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The commission marks a significant departure from her previous work, pushing her into new material and conceptual territory. The artwork will be installed across a towering 34-story glass window running alongside the building’s escalator, an unprecedented scale for the artist.“I’ve never worked with glass before,” Mehretu admitted, describing the project as both exciting and uniquely challenging. Through experimentation, collaboration, and perseverance, she and her team successfully brought the vision to life.When asked about accepting the commission, Mehretu laughed, noting that when former President Barack Obama calls, “you say yes, and then ask, ‘How fast?’” The public will be able to experience the work next spring.
A Legacy Rooted in Collective Possibility
Despite her extraordinary résumé and global recognition, Mehretu measures success not by individual accolades but by collective impact. When reflecting on her legacy, she consistently returns to the importance of community and collaboration.
She envisions herself as part of a broader ecosystem of creators, painters, sculptors, filmmakers, musicians, and media artists, whose shared efforts generate lasting cultural reverberation.“There’s a collective we are all a part of,” Mehretu said. “And hopefully that creates space for more possibility. I’m excited for what the future holds.”
Through her workshops, mentorship, and groundbreaking artistic projects, Julie Mehretu is not only shaping contemporary art but actively building pathways for African creatives to thrive on their own terms, locally, globally, and collectively.
