Mide Kadiri is a multidisciplinary artists currently based in Mohkínstsis/Calgary. Mide has created the featured artwork as an original piece for Afros In Tha City and below discusses what inspired the piece.

For this artwork, I wanted to capture the essence of being an Afro person in the city of Calgary. Through this process, I came to self identify as an Afro person; my inspiration, of course, coming from the name Afros In Tha City.

For as long as I can remember, Afro people have always been identified as ‘Black people,’ which never really felt right to me. I grew up in Nigeria and a lot of Afro people aren’t even “black.” They have various skin tones ranging from brown, orange red, and golden olive; very few of us have black tones. 

In creating this piece, I learned more about how Africans are identified in western society. This identification by western societies has spread towards other parts of the world, namely Asia, South America, and even Africa itself. 

So I challenged my own beliefs, conceptualizing a new way of identifying myself and others within my ethnicity.

The creation of this artwork enabled me to find my power through self identification, to amplify my own voice by sharing how I see myself and other Afro people in contrast to how others have taught us to see ourselves – an inspiration brought by the message of Afros in Tha City. 

This art piece represents my transition to being more compassionate towards people — Afro or not — and understanding the power words have in shaping a person’s world. In making this piece, I wanted to capture a change of mindset in addition to my experiences as an Afro person in Calgary.

For this piece I wanted to capture mostly the positives and some negatives of being an Afro person in Calgary. It hasn’t always been great. Trying to assimilate into a different culture whilst being discriminated against by said culture takes its toll on the psyche, but I’ve realize that Afro people are very strong and we have a lot of power in this world. I wanted to represent the differences that we have but also the similarities we share.

Afro people are very colourful! We come in different colours of light brown, dark brown, reddish yellow, and shades of caramel. We are a very diverse group of people and I wanted to capture that within this artwork. We didn't choose to be called ‘Black,’ and I don’t feel that term represents me. Instead, I feel that a colourful expression better captures the vibrance of our skin, hair, traditions, cultures, and practices. This, to me, embodies what it means to be an Afro person in a place like Calgary.