Rachel Ojuromi Walks for Chanel, Simbarashe Wins the Caine Prize, Burna Boy Hosts GTA 6’s FM

Welcome to Vol 207 of the Spread!

Hello and welcome back to the Spread, your weekly edit of all the best stories and global news about Africans shaping mainstream culture.

I've been thinking about how much talent comes out of different countries across Africa, from photography and stage plays to opera and film. It's exciting to see the prizes being won and all the work reaching international audiences, but I'm just as grateful for the artists who aren't as widely known, steadily creating beautiful work and sharing it with their local communities.

Just recently, through a children's animation, I discovered the sand painters of Gorée Island in Senegal, and it felt like magic. For all the internet's problems (and there are many), I'm grateful that I can stumble upon something like that from miles away and get to experience a little piece of someone else's world.

This week’s stories have a bit of everything. A Nigerian model who turned Lagos streets into her runway just walked her first Chanel show. A Zimbabwean writer has won Africa’s most prestigious short story prize. And Burna Boy is officially voicing a radio station in GTA 6. What a time.

Omotola x

Now on to the real peel 👇