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Web Articles
Pittsburgh City Paper. “Rainbow Serpent and a celebrated British photographer capture Pittsburgh's "fierce" side” by Atiya Irvin-Mitchell. April 01, 2025.
CNN. “Candid portraits explore the lives of LGBTQ African migrants” by Mikael Owunna. October 10, 2019
NPR. “Every Black Person Deserves To See Themselves This Way” by Becky Harlan. March 3, 2019
The New York Times. “Pride and Self-Love in the L.G.B.T.Q African Diaspora” By Jake Naughton. March 19, 2018
NewsOne. “Marques Redd And Mikael Owunna Are ‘Pulling Back The Veil On What It Means To Be African’” by Ervin Dyer. August 09, 2024.
90.5 WESA. “Pittsburgh exhibit views Egyptian gods through a contemporary queer lens” by Bill O'Driscoll. July 25, 2024.
Pittsburgh City Paper. “Experience the radiant glass deities of Myth-Science of the Gatekeepers at Pittsburgh Glass Center” by Sean Beauford. May 08, 2024.
Table Magazine. “Pittsburgh’s Rainbow Serpent Celebrates Black, Queer, and Multimedia Art” by Corinne Whiting. September 21, 2023.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "New mural at Warhol museum is just the beginning of Pop District partnership” by Emily Costantino. July 19, 2023.
The Bay Area Reporter. “Queer African-centric retreat coming to Big Sur” by Heather Cassel. May 10, 2023.
The Advocate. “Mikael Owunna Imagines the Cosmos in the Nude Black Body in 6 Works” by Christopher Harrity. September 16, 2021.
Vanity Fair. “Introducing the Inaugural Silver List, Featuring 47 Exciting Contemporary Photographers Whose Work You Just Have to See” by Katey Rich. February 11, 2021.
Artnet. “Hollywood Has the ‘Black List’ for Undiscovered Screenplays. Now, Photography Has a ‘Silver List’ for Up-and-Coming Photographers” by Taylor Dafoe. February 14, 2021.
Bomb. “In Some Far-off Place, Many Light Years in Space, I’ll Wait for You: Mikael Owunna Interviewed” by Jessica Lanay. July 19, 2021.
The Guardian. “Four queer women defying the snow: Mikael Owunna's best photograph” by Dale Berning Sawa. August 19, 2020.
Aperture. “Mikael Owunna’s Photographs Show the Essence of Black Healing” by Amber Hickey and Anney Traymany. June 4, 2020.
Hyperallergic. “Imagining Utopia, Just Over the Horizon” by Seph Rodney. December 4, 2019.
British Journal of Photography. “Our pick of books and exhibitions arriving in October.” October 1, 2019.
VICE. "‘Limitless Africans’ Is a Stunning Snapshot of LGBTQ African Immigrant Lives” by Jonathan Feinstein and Jon Feinstein. October 11, 2019.
Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin. "The image of a queer African person is a direct affront” by Simon Sales Prado. June 11, 2019.
Art Critique. “Changing the narrative: Mikael Owunna’s ‘Infinite Essence ’” by Katherine Keener. March 18, 2019.
Buzzfeed. “10 Photo Stories That Will Challenge Your View Of The World” by Gabriel H. Sanchez and Kate Bubacz. March 9, 2019.
Colossal. “Black Bodies Painted and Photographed Like the Cosmos by Mikael Owunna” by Andrew LaSane. April 7, 2019.
Cheese Konbini. “Meet the LGBTQ+ community of the African diaspora immortalized by Mikael Owunna” by Lise Lanot. January 10, 2019.
Afropunk. “Beautiful photo series explores the connections between the black body, the universe and the eternal” by Eye Candy. December 28, 2017.
Teen Vogue. “‘Limit(less)’ LGBTQ African Immigrants Photo Series Reframes Identity” by Lexie Bean. October 12, 2017.
Artsy. “Photographers Who Have Captured LGBTQ Life in the African Diaspora” by Yelena Keller. August 16, 2017.
Les Inrockuptibles. “Mikael Owunna shoots the emancipatory looks of the LGBTQ African diaspora” by Hélène Brunet-Rivaillon. June 18, 2017.
Sverige Radio. "Mikael Owunna wants to create new images of black bodies" by Mina Benaissa. June 10, 2020
PBS. “How one photographer is challenging the myth that being LGBTQ is ‘un-African’” by Kamaria Roberts. June 9, 2017.
i-D Magazine. “an ambitious documentary photo project traces lgbtq africans in the diaspora” by Jacqueline Lara. December 14, 2016.
Podcasts
The Museum of Flight: Flight Deck Podcast. “Cosmic Storytellers” with host Sean Mobley. November 28, 2023.
Busy Being Black. "Mikael Owunna – I Have Magic to Work." May 31, 2023.
Tech in the Arts, Carnegie Mellon University. "Ultraviolet Light and Creative Engineering for Photography with Mikael Owunna" with hosts Rachel Broughton and Maraika Lumholdt. October 13, 2022.
The Cosmic We Podcast. "Rediscovering Our Origins with Mikael Owunna" with hosts Barbara Holmes and Donny Bryant. August 28, 2021.
Tech Intersect. " Mikael Owunna-Artistic Empowerment through Crypto, Art & Identity" with Dr. Tonya M. Evans. August 17, 2021.
The Heinz Endowments: We Can Be Podcast. "Artist Mikael Owunna reveals inherent beauty, power & dignity of Black & LGBTQ+ bodies" with host Grant Oliphant. July 9, 2020.
Concept Aware. "J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Mikael Owunna." April 30, 2020.
Radio Free Qtopia. “Limitless Visions (Mikael Owunna).” July 25, 2017.
Artist Talks & Other Videos
KDKA Talk Pittsburgh. "Chatting with Rainbow Serpent's Mikael Owunna about the “The Three Sisters” light installation." December 30, 2024.
Fotografiska Stockholm. "Artist Talk with Mikael Owunna." November 6, 2024.
Blue Sky, Oregon Center for the Photographic Arts. "Artist Talk with Mikael Owunna." June 13, 2024.
American Research Center in Egypt – Missouri Chapter. "Uniting the Gods & Their Statues: Activating Ancient Egyptian Cosmology." May 21, 2024.
[French Language] Middlebury French School. "Film et conversation : Mikael Owunna." August 15, 2023.
CBS Pittsburgh. "Local artist's work unveiled on the North Side." June 28, 2023.
CBS Pittsburgh. "Artist Mikael Owunna is unveiling his latest piece at the Andy Warhol Museum." June 26, 2023.
Busy Being Black. "How African cosmologies challenge homophobia and transphobia." June 5, 2023.
Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD). "In the Artist's Studio | Mikael Owunna." May 31, 2023.
MIT Media Lab. "Space and the Arts. Beyond the Cradle: Earth + Space." Cambridge, MA. March 15, 2023.
SF Camerawork Channel. "FORECAST2021 Towards Eternal: Reflections on Black Futurity and Imagining." August 29, 2022.
Innovation Works. "Mikael Owunna Studios - AlphaLab Gear Artist-in-Residence." October 24, 2022.
August Wilson African American Cultural Center. "Lit Fridays with Mikael Owunna and Marques Redd." April 21, 2022.
WQED Pittsburgh. "WQED Mini Docs: The Photographers | Short Docs Celebrate Black Artists." April 7, 2022.
NYU Institute for Public Knowledge. "Co-Opting AI: Photography." March 24, 2022.
The Pittsburgh Foundation and CFWC. "Mikael Owunna: 2021 Carol R. Brown Creative Achievement Award Established Artist finalist." December 13, 2021.
The Medicine Shell. "Obi Mbu (The Movie) - Igbo Creation Myth Brought to Life by Mikael Owunna and Dr. Marques Redd." November 8, 2021.
Pittsburgh Glass Center. "Black Transfigurations — Virtual Studio Visit with Multi-Media Artist Mikael Owunna." November 4, 2021.
Fulbright Prism. "Queer n' Color with Mikael Owunna." August 19, 2021.
Silver Eye Center for Photography. "Community Perspective: Mikael Owunna reflects on Infinite Essence." June 21, 2021.
"In Conversation: Larry Ossei-Mensah and Mikael Owunna." May 24, 2021.
UCR ARTS. "Third Thursday Talks: Mikael Owunna." April 16, 2021.
Prizer Arts & Letters. "Mikael Owunna Artist Talk." April 14, 2021.
SF Camerawork Channel. "In Conversation with Mikael Owunna and Jonathan Calm, 2021." February 18, 2021.
WQED Pittsburgh. "Limitless | Explore the life and work of a captivating LGBTQ+ photographer." February 10, 2021.
Duke Franklin Humanities Institute. "Left of Black | Exploring Black Cosmologies Through the Art of Mikael Owunna." February 4, 2021.
Tate Modern. "Tate Modern | Mikael Owunna." November 5, 2020.
August Wilson African American Cultural Center. "Lit Fridays with Jari Bradley and Mikael Owunna." September 29, 2020.
Davidson College Art Galleries. "Van Every/Smith Galleries | Artist Talk with Mikael Owunna, Katyayani Singh, and Shan Kelley." September 2, 2020.
TEDxTrinityCollege. "TEDx 'Transcending The Body' | MIKAEL CHUKWUMA OWUNNA." May 26, 2020.
Fotografiska New York." 'Limitless Africans' with Mikael Owunna Live at Fotografiska New York." February 8, 2020.
Middlebury College Museum of Art. "Mikael Owunna: Precolonial African Sexuality, Contemporary Homophobia, and 'Limitless Africans'." October 17, 2019.
Never Apart. "Winter 2018 Exhibition Artist Interviews." April 3, 2019.
Region Västerbotten. "Mikael Owunna, fotograf Limit(less): Queer African Representation, Resistance & Colonialism." September 22, 2017.
Hamilton College. "Mikael Owunna: #LimitlessAfricans, Colonisation & Queer African History." August 24, 2017.
Chelsy Monie. "Un-African Queer (Part 1)" and "Un-African Queer (Part 2)." March 6, 2017.