We all know, at least by name, the now distant airline “Air Afrique” which carried and, for a prosperous era, linked 11 African states.
Its story began in 1926 in the French colonies of Africa. The company, which became Transafricaine in 1928, ceased all activity at the dawn of the Second World War after undergoing multiple transformations.
However, the more recent company is the one that comes to mind when the name is mentioned: the Air Afrique of the post-independence years.
Born on 26 June 1961, the company united the fate of Cameroon, Senegal, Niger, Chad, Mauritania, Congo, Benin, the Central African Republic, Gabon, Côte d’Ivoire and Burkina Faso.
However, the company was soon caught up by reality. A good number of loss-making flights, embezzlement and scheming of every kind pushed it into a period of crisis around 1985. It was finally liquidated on 14 August 2001.
But in 2021 the name of this company that carried thousands of Africans rose from its ashes, this time at the initiative of a Parisian collective that bought the brand 20 years after its fall.
Lamine Diaoune, Djiby Kebe and Jeremy Konko, the three founders, now follow more closely in the footsteps of Balafons, the famous magazine of the former airline.
The new Air Afrique creates a cultural platform that celebrates the promotion of African historical heritage and stimulates conversations on current Afro-diasporic narratives.
Air Afrique is therefore back in another form, certainly, but Air Afrique is hitting hard. The cover story of the first issue features Tiakola, a young Franco-Congolese musician who is finding success with what he calls “mélo”, his hybrid and highly melodic rap.
In the accompanying article, the cultural critic Noémie Taty pays tribute to the Congolese rumba orchestras of the 1960s and 1970s, such as African Jazz and OK Jazz. Other editorials take the reader on journeys to Abidjan, Dakar, Seine-Saint-Denis and Martinique.
Bottega Veneta partnered with the Air Afrique collective for the launch of its eponymous magazine.
Air Afrique speaks to everyone interested in historical and contemporary Pan-African cultural, artistic and political conversations, while targeting a transgenerational Afro-descendant audience, particularly in our French/Francophone context, where these people no longer feel connected to magazine culture.
Thus, each issue will be a mix of archive documents from the airline’s cultural patronage and contributions from new French, Caribbean and African artists and writers.
The ethos behind Air Afrique magazine fits perfectly with the distinct approach of Bottega Veneta, if we go by its editor-in-chief, Amandine Nana.
It was relevant, in her view, for Air Afrique to work with a brand whose previous collaborations show it is genuinely committed to supporting independent magazines that bring under-represented perspectives to the contemporary media environment.
Bottega Veneta is the magazine’s sole advertiser and created a series of images dedicated to the campaign. The models Dara Gueye and Rhenny Alade, photographed by the Senegalese Malick Bodian, wear blankets handmade by the Sudanese designer Abdel El Tayeb, who works in the brand’s workshop and also runs his own label.
The Air Afrique collective also takes care to pay tribute to its predecessor, whose whole identity was deeply Pan-African.
With cabin crew and vintage aesthetics put in the spotlight, the magazine works on a genuine artistic direction of its own, reconnecting with the jewels of the former airline. The 140-page square-format magazine has already begun shipping its very first issue to its members, old or new, those who dream of a distant era, past or future, in which Air Afrique soars in all its glory.