AFROPUNK is defining culture by the collective creative actions of the individual and the group. It is a safe place, a blank space to freak out in, to construct a new reality, to live your life as you see fit, while making sense of the world around you.
– Afropunk
The second Paris AFROPUNK festival came and went. My timeline was flooded with radiant smiles, ‘black girl magic’ hashtags and show-stopping outfits – I was told the atmosphere at Le Trianon was electric.
Missing out on its London leg wasn’t an option. Here are some of the snaps of the wonderful people I took on the day (in between instagramming, Grace Jones stanning and a wobbly two-step).
They say the reckless abandon people feel at these festivals is symptomatic of the spirit of AFROPUNK, and it rubbed off on me – I felt free, respected and safe. A long waist coat I brought to strategically conceal my curves was soon discarded; I was able to move around without feeling self-conscious of a fetishising/judgemental gaze. Do you know how empowering that is?
London showed up and showed out. We were simply able to be ourselves.
