Honoring Black Excellence is an Adidas initiative which celebrates Black achievements across generations. As part of their promotion for this year’s program they approached acclaimed Afrosurrealist collage artist Dakarai Akil, whose work is rooted in Black identity and storytelling.
Dakarai was commissioned to create the official poster and inviation for HBE: An Experience Curated by Rog & Bee Walker. His layered, vibrant visual language set the tone for the entire event, capturing its spirit of pride, legacy, and creativity.
The resulting collage blends textured portraits with archival-like fragments and portrait photography, into a dreamlike, documentary-style tapestry of Black excellence. To honour his contribution, Dakarai was flown to Atlanta to attend the opening, where his work was celebrated alongside film, photography, live performances, and workshops.
Dakarai spoke to us about his involvement in the project;
You must be proud seeing your work as the intro to Honoring Black Excellence. How collaborative was this project?
It was pretty simple. I worked closely with the art director at For Good & Co. (the agency working this project), Adidas and Rog & Bee, who provided such great material to work with. Projects like these are always my favourite because working with one photographer provides a certain level of cohesion that makes the collages so dynamic. When the tones and direction match up in the photos the collage is much stronger. I provided most of the background textures, but the majority of the collages came from what I could pull from Rog & Bee's photos.
You attended the event in Atlanta. What was it like seeing the exhibition?
The event in Atlanta was amazing. Being there to witness the completed project in person was a pleasure. Being able to meet the honorees and hear their stories was inspiring. I was left with the thought that using your work to not only connect with the community but also bringing the communities together is the ultimate goal.
What’s next for you, and what would your dream collaboration be?
My dream collaboration would be more sports brands and major global campaigns. The opportunity to collage for the NBA, Nike or even Adidas again for a bigger project is on my radar. My hope is that this project catches the attention of those to see how my work can look with their identity.
Using your work to not only connect with the community but also bring communities together is the ultimate goal.
