BMW | AFMAC

On the road with the African Film and Media Arts Collective

Case Study

The African Film and Media Arts Collective (AFMAC) is a continent-spanning cohort of artists and makers imagining new conditions of creation. Developed by artist Julie Mehretu—in the context of her BMW Art Car #20 project—and filmmaker Mehret Mandefro, AFMAC's goal is to engage media as a tool for liberation and build sustainable infrastructures for artistic communities across Africa.

Pacific worked closely with Mehretu, Mandefro, and BMW to conceptualize a visual framework for AFMAC and create a new brand system. This includes an oscillating visual identity, the design and development of the project website, film and video, social assets, activations, merchandise and beyond. In AFMAC's first year, Pacific traveled to five countries across Africa documenting the project in lead up to a culminating exhibition at Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa in late-2026.

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Between April 2025 and January 2026, Pacific traveled to Nigeria, Morocco, Kenya, Senegal, and South Africa to document media workshops led by Jim Chuchu and Wanuri Kahiu, Mati Diop, Coco Fusco, Zeresenay Berhane Mehari, and the Otolith Group.

In the spirit of Pan-Africanism, the workshops created space for experimentation and collaboration, treating media as a tool for liberation and discovery at the intersection of cinema and fine art. Pacific captured each stop on film and video, alongside local photographers. The result is a series of short films, made specifically for social media, that act as an entry-point to AFMAC, the workshops, and creative energy in each city.

Lagos, Nigeria

AFMAC's inaugural workshop took place in Lagos, the capital of African cinema production. The five-day workshop was hosted by AFMAC partner Angels & Muse, a non-profit art organization founded in 2018 by acclaimed artist and writer, Victor Ehikhamenor. The workshop was led by artist Coco Fusco.

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Tangier, Morocco

The second AFMAC workshop took place in Tangier, Morocco in partnership with Cinémathèque de Tanger and artist Yto Barrada in the historic Cinema Rif building at the edge of Tangier's Medina. The workshop was lead by filmmaker Zeresenay “Zee” Berhane Mehari, whose acclaimed film Difret was also screened for the public during the week.

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Nairobi, Kenya

The third AFMAC workshop took place in Nairobi, Kenya, coinciding with the Nairobi Film Festival. Along with partnering with the festival, Docubox hosted the workshops led by award-winning filmmaker, speaker, and science fiction writer Wanuri Kahiu and multidisciplinary artist Jim Chuchu, whose work spans film, music, photography, and visual arts.

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Dakar, Senegal

The fourth AFMAC workshop took place in Dakar in partnership with host RAW Material Company—the late curator Koyo Kouoh's center for art, knowledge and society—and Fanta Sy, celebrated filmmaker Mati Diop's production house founded in collaboration with Fabacary Assymby Coly. Diop and Assymby Coly also led the workshops.

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Cape Town, South Africa

The final workshop took place in Cape Town, with host Chimurenga—a pan African platform of writing, art and politics founded by Ntone Edjabe in 2002. As well as partnering with the innovative art space, Zeitz MoCAA were also hosts and the trailblazing duo the Otolith Group led the workshops.

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