The Journal

When I moved to Sydney, I arrived with excitement and ambition.

On January 15, 2026, I visited Amadou Opa Bathily in his studio in Bamako. From the first moments, the welcome was deeply warm, the kind that immediately sets the tone for the entire encounter.

On the afternoon of January 26, 2026, I arrived at Ibou Diagne’s studio in Dakar for our first in person meeting. Until then, our conversations had taken place over the phone.

There are artists whose work speaks through paintings alone, and there are artists whose presence reshapes an entire ecosystem.

On January 22, 2026, I visited Vincent Isambourg at Lac Rose for an in person meeting, one of those encounters...