This Artist Talk will offer insights into the creative process and discuss the particular challenges faced by Black artists and creatives in Germany. The focus will be on highlighting the inspiring journeys of the guests, addressing the structural barriers they have encountered in their industries and sharing their personal experiences. As most professional creatives work independently, they often find themselves alone in artistic, strategic, and economic decision-making processes. The influence of society and the media, which can be both inspiring and restrictive, will also be discussed. Creatives from the fields of painting, fashion design, music, and film are invited to participate.
 

Isyah Asher

The artist Isyah Asher grew up in Hamburg in an artistic family: his mother is a singer and actress, his father a bassist and his sister a singer-songwriter. From an early age, Asher discovered his passion for abstract art in endless sketches and later in his first sculptures made of stone and clay. At the age of eighteen, he taught himself to paint on canvas and quickly achieved commercial success. He has since exhibited successfully in Hamburg, Berlin and New York, USA, among other places. His artworks can be found in various (inter)national private collections.
 

Oceana

Oceana is a musician, singer-songwriter and actress from Hamburg. She made her breakthrough in 2009 with »Cry Cry«, which reached number one in several countries and went gold. With »Endless Summer«, the official UEFA song, she landed a global hit – platinum, over 100 million clicks and worldwide attention. She has released three studio albums and toured with Lionel Richie, Annie Lennox, Raphael Saadiq and Maceo Parker. As a songwriter, she has collaborated with renowned producers in Los Angeles, New York and Jamaica. Her songs can also be heard in commercials and films. As an actress, she has appeared in the Netflix series »Kleo«, as a detective in »SOKO Hamburg«, in the film »Die Macht der Frauen« (Lars Becker) and in other TV and cinema productions.
 

Yolander James

Yolander James is an entrepreneur, fashion designer and founder of the studio »Schnittdesign Hamburg«. For over 15 years, she has been supporting creative people on their path to self-employment – especially fashion label founders and players in the creative economy. Having grown up on the Caribbean island of Dominica and started her own business at an early age, she is particularly committed to raising awareness of the creative careers of Black women, creating spaces for exchange and strengthening new role models in the creative industries. James sees education and the transfer of knowledge as the key to self-confidence, independence and long-term success in creative self-employment.. 
 

David Odiase

David Odiase is a poet and member of the »African Narrative Collective« whose practice traverses the interstices of poetry, performance, film, indigenous technologies, and speculative methodologies. His work critically engages with Africa’s entangled histories, epistemologies, and cultural imaginaries, seeking to dismantle hegemonic narratives and foreground ancestral knowledge systems as vital instruments for reworlding. Odiase’s works have been presented at institutions and festivals across the world, including Kampnagel Hamburg, Akademie Der Künste Berlin, Haus Der Kulturen Der Welt (HKW) & Lagos International Poetry Festival, Nigeria. He lives and works in Lüneburg.
 

Anna van Hoorn aka Tinapu

Anna van Hoorn, also known as Tinapu, is a poet, author, and moderator. In collaboration with author Alex Tetteyfio Bergfeld, she completed her first children's book project, »Eine Puppe für Ashé« in 2021. She holds a degree in Romance linguistics, is a certified trainer for political education, and currently resides in Hamburg. She grew up in Liberia, Benin, Guinea, Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire and Germany. Her poetry texts are based on English-based Pidgin from Liberia.
 

bhmhamburg.de

06.02.2026, 7 PM: Artist Talk

Location: M.Bassy e.V., Schlüterstraße 80, 20146 Hamburg
Entry: free of charge
Please reserve via: bhm.hamburg@gmail.com

The event is part of Black History Month Hamburg 2026, supported by the Hamburg Ministry of Culture and Media.