About Reads & Art

I’m the reader behind Reads & Art. A few years ago, I started a Bookstagram account simply as a way to keep a record of the books I was reading. Through Bookstagram, I met so many wonderful readers with completely different reading tastes, and slowly my own reading started to change too.

Then I randomly picked up Second Class Citizen by Buchi Emecheta. I was blown away. It made me want to read more African literature and eventually led me to start Read Africa Month, an annual celebration of African literature on Bookstagram.

The more I read, the more curious I became about the histories, cultures and ideas I came across in books. And somewhere along the way, I started thinking about how some of those ideas could exist beyond the pages too.

That’s how the Sankofa bookmark came about — my first piece inspired by African symbolism.

But I don’t want Reads & Art to stop at bookmarks. My hope is to slowly build a collection of beautiful objects inspired by African symbols, stories and culture — pieces that feel contemporary but still have a story behind them.

For now, I’m enjoying seeing where this reading journey takes me next.