Mikael Calandra Achode

I am designer and researcher working primarily with film, sound, modern media and sonic practices situated across the African diaspora. I'm a full time lecturer on the BA (Hons) Graphic Communication Design at Central Saint Martins covering aspects of design thinking, culture theory, filmmaking and West African visual heritage.

My visual work focuses on musical spaces emerging and maturing across communities of the African diaspora, exploring themes such as identification and cultural actualization at the intersection of music, vernacular culture and lifestyle. I considers music not only an echoing literature that reveals nuances of everyday life, but also a superstructure that anticipates historical developments, to foreshadow new social formations in a prophetic and declarative way.

My practice sets itself the ambition to capture and participate in the development of contemporary musical scenes of the African diaspora using documentaries, visual media, music videos and musical production.