Air Afrique, a Black-owned, Paris-based collective founded by creatives Lamine Diaoune, Djiby Kebe and Jeremy Konko, will launch a new print magazine during Paris Fashion Week on June 23.
The collective and its soon-to-launch namesake magazine take their name from a now-defunct West African airline, which operated from 1964 to 2000. The Air Afrique team has acquired the rights to the archive of the airline’s former in-flight publication, Balafon, from which it plans to include images in the relaunched title.
The magazine is relaunching with support from Bottega Veneta as luxury brands ramp up their cultural partnerships. The brand also sponsored the relaunch of iconic queer magazine BUTT in February 2021. Bottega Veneta will be the sole advertiser for the inaugural issue as well as funding a launch party June 23 at Paris’ Centre Pompidou art museum.
The brand has also collaborated with Air Afrique on a collection of limited edition blankets designed by French-Sudanese designer Abdel El Tayeb.
Air Afrique was regarded as a symbol of West African post-colonial independence and Pan-Africanism before shutting down in 2000. The relaunched title will be published in English and French, and include interviews with West African cultural leaders, essays on historical subjects relating to the region, archival images, and editorial shoots.
“Air Afrique was more than an airline, it was a cultural platform,” said creative director Kebe. “We want to share the Air Afrique archive and create our own archive — to capture this moment of change in Black awareness and expression.”
“We want to revive the African transcendence that Air Afrique represented,” said Diaoune. “Our mission is to preserve this heritage, to put Air Afrique back in the cultural conversation, and to build on their example of cultural engagement.”
Along with co-founders and creative directors Diaoune and Kebe and Jeremy Konko as photo editor, Air Afrique has tapped Zhedy Nuentsa and Ahmadou-Bamba Thiam as the publication’s editors.
