Latest news with #Cofie
Tokyo Reported
17-05-2025
- Tokyo Reported
Ex-West Ham youth player arrested in UK over ¥75M Harry Winston heist in Tokyo
LONDON (TR) – A former West Ham United youth footballer has been arrested in the UK nearly a decade after a smash-and-grab robbery at a Harry Winston boutique in Tokyo netted over ¥75 million in luxury goods. Isaac Cofie, 32, was taken into custody last week in London under a Japanese extradition request, British media reported. He is accused of being one of three helmeted men who stormed the high-end Omotesando Hills store in March 2015, smashed display cases with a crowbar, and fled with 46 items —— including luxury watches and jewelry. The suspects escaped in a stolen vehicle later abandoned in Shibuya. All three men, described as British nationals of Ghanaian descent, are believed to have fled Japan shortly after the robbery. Japanese police issued international arrest warrants in the months following the heist. Cofie, who once played in West Ham's youth system and later for semi-professional clubs in England, reportedly spent time at a football academy in Japan before the robbery. Japanese authorities believe the gang had scouted the store in advance and acted with military precision. He is now fighting extradition, arguing that Japan's criminal justice system — including prolonged pre-trial detention and a lack of plea bargaining — could violate his human rights. Japan has sought Cofie's extradition since 2015, but legal experts say the process may be drawn out due to differences in judicial systems and prison conditions. A decision could take months or longer. The Omotesando Hills robbery shocked Japan for its bold execution in broad daylight and raised concerns about soft targets in Tokyo's upscale retail corridors. The Harry Winston store has since tightened its security, but no suspects have been tried in Japan to date. This is a developing story. Related Tokyo Reporter coverage: British nationals placed on wanted list over Omotesando Hills jewelry heist (2015) British nationals placed on wanted list over Omotesando Hills jewelry heist Foreign gang suspected in ¥75 million Tokyo jewelry heist (2015) Foreign gang suspected in ¥75 million Tokyo jewelry heist British nationals wanted in Omotesando Hills jewelry heist (2015) British nationals wanted in Omotesando Hills jewelry heist British nationals may be extradited over Harry Winston smash-and-grab (2015) British nationals may be extradited over Harry Winston smash-and-grab Source: Daily Mail – Former West Ham youth player, 32, arrested over £400,000 Japan jewellery store heist
CBC
27-01-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
Those striking photos at Sankofa Square? They capture a journey of self-discovery
Since the beginning of January, an outdoor photography exhibition has been lighting up Toronto's Sankofa Square. It's called At the Conjuring of Roots, I Wished to Meet Me …, and will appear there through the end of the month. Five massive screens at the corner of Yonge and Dundas display a collection of striking portraits by Delali Cofie. The images hold their own against the jumble of billboards that dominate the intersection, and depending on your vantage point, it's possible to spy the art from blocks away. That was Cofie's own experience of seeing the show for the first time. He was walking north on Yonge, he says, when he caught sight of a photo and felt his heart skip a beat. "It was a bit unbelievable," he says, flashing back to that moment. "I turned the corner and the images were right there, you know. Everywhere." In each shot, incredible garments fill the frame, pulling all focus. They are voluminous creations that ripple with fringey layers of raffia and ruffles. In one picture, a woman lies in bed. She appears serene, lost in thought. Only her head is visible, however; a cocoon of bristles and patterned fabric has enveloped the rest of her. In another portrait, shot at night, a lone figure stands against a garden wall framed by leafy shrubs and branches. In a way, the model is camouflaged — hidden by the heavy layers of a grassy, green cloak. And yet, they demand to be seen. Their gaze is steady. Self-assured. Through the trees and shadows, their bright eyes lock on the viewer. The exhibition is appearing downtown as part of DesignTO. More of Cofie's work can be seen at another festival event, a group exhibition called Revive, which is on at the Harbourfront Centre through March 30. But for Cofie, there was something especially remarkable about seeing his large-scale photographs appear in Sankofa Square amid the crowds of Eaton Centre shoppers — the traffic, the skyscrapers and all the chaos of the city. "I was a little speechless, to be honest. And when I think about it now, I still am. Thinking about the concept of the work and the story behind it," he says, "it shows the spirit of what I was aiming for." The project, he says, "is basically an ode to self," he says — a story of becoming who we will be. Meet the artist So who is Delali Cofie? He's an artist with a busy schedule, for one. In addition to the DesignTO exhibitions, Cofie has a show at the Stewart Hall art gallery in Pointe-Claire, Que., this month. That group exhibition, Afrotopos, runs through March 30. And in early March, he'll be off to Milan, where he'll be bringing more of his work to the PhotoVogue Festival. It just goes to show how much can change in a year. This time last winter, Cofie was still a student at OCAD University. He graduated in the spring, and the photos appearing at DesignTO emerged from his award-winning thesis project. Like the show appearing at the corner of Yonge and Dundas, that series' title is At the Conjuring of Roots, I Wished to Meet Me…. The pictures were shot in Accra, Cofie's hometown in Ghana. Born in 1999, the artist was raised in Africa, but moved to Toronto in 2017 for university. Originally, his plan was to study mechanical engineering at York University, but soon, he realized his true calling was photography, and he enrolled at OCAD in 2020. By his second year at OCAD, Cofie was already working through ideas he'd realize in At the Conjuring of Roots, I Wished to Meet Me…. At first, he was interested in the masquerade traditions that exist across West Africa. He was inspired by "the magnificence of those costumes," he says, and he began thinking about how identity and the construction of self might be represented through wearing one of these incredible, layered garments. He imagined it as "this weight that you balance, that you carry around," he says. "It can be a burden, or it can be a graceful sort of carry." Clothes make the man Cofie designed the clothing that appears in his photographs. The frame-filling garb is made of raffia, a palm native to Africa. He also incorporates plenty of fabric — used fabric — which is selected for its symbolic heft. The patterns are cut from bedsheets and old clothes, things he gathered from home and also purchased secondhand. "I call them artifacts of time," he says of the material. Each finished costume is meant to be a representation of who we are as individuals, he says. "You are wearing the history that you don't necessarily see." Like a lot of students, Cofie would go back home when he could, visiting family in the summer and over the holidays. It was during such a trip in 2023 that he began developing the project in earnest. His dad, who's also an artist, was an early supporter of the idea. "It's kind of wild, but he was all for it," says Cofie. He brought his son old clothes that he could use, including the outfit he was wearing when he proposed to Cofie's mother. Together, they found traders who'd sell them raffia, and artisans who could dye it forest green and a rich blood red. They also hired a team of seamstresses to realize Cofie's designs. While those local sewers had never made masquerade costumes before, everyone threw themselves into the challenge, with the elder Cofie acting as a translator between the artist and artisans. "Although I was born and raised in Ghana, I don't speak any of the local languages," he says. "There were many hands involved in bringing the vision to life." 'A process of self-discovery' The opportunity to work so closely with his dad was one of the most meaningful aspects of the project, Cofie explains, and there's a photo at Harbourfront Centre where the two men are pictured together. They sit side by side in matching robes, as the artist turns toward his father. The elder Cofie looks straight ahead, his expression full of pride. "But I'm also controlling the camera, looking back at us," says Cofie. "It's thinking about the cyclical nature of life, and the project, and sort of searching for myself within my father." "That's not an image I could have planned for," he says. "I think that's something that really just came to me as I was working on the project and seeing how collaborative it was." "The project is about self-discovery," says Cofie, "and making the work became a process of self-discovery as well. Simply being in Accra shaped the direction of the project, he explains. "I think despite growing up there [in Ghana] my entire life, there's always been some points where I didn't necessarily fully feel connected." As a kid, he felt caught between cultures. His mom is from Nigeria; his dad is from Ghana. "We sort of just spoke English at home," he says, and there were times when he felt like a tourist in his own city. The search for "home" has been a recurring theme in his work, he says, but being back on familiar streets — spending time in his parents' home, his father's garden — shifted his perspective a bit, attuning him to the heightened emotion of returning to a place he knows well. Cofie is continuing to work on the series, and he plans to expand it with short films and more photographs later this year. He's designing additional apparel too. "[It] feels like this is a large internal adventure where I'm meeting different forms of myself," he says of the process. And he feels like a new person compared to who he was at the start of this creative journey. "Seeing the way [the series] has been received is extremely affirming," he says. "I feel like I'm starting to realize my voice."
CBC
26-01-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
What's worth seeing at Canada's biggest design festival? Art shows galore … plus a corner store for pigeons
Toronto is home to the biggest annual design festival in the country, DesignTO. The 10-day-long affair opens its 15th edition Friday, with the launch of more than 100 events across the city, including art shows aplenty, window installations, talks, tours and other happenings, most of which are totally free. So what's worth seeing first? We gathered tips from some of this year's participating artists. At the Conjuring of Roots, I Wished to Meet Me … Technically, this outdoor photography exhibition has been towering above Sankofa Square since the beginning of January, but the next time you're shopping downtown, linger at Yonge and Dundas awhile to acquaint yourself with the work of Toronto-based artist Delali Cofie. A recent grad of OCAD University, Cofie is showing a selection of images from his award-winning thesis project, At the Conjuring of Roots, I Wished to Meet Me …, as part of DesignTO. Through Jan. 31, those photographs will be appearing on five of the square's massive screens. Incredible garments pull the focus in each shot. They are voluminous creations that ripple with fringey layers of straw-like raffia and ruffles. Cofie, who was born and raised in Ghana, took inspiration from West African masquerade costumes in designing each look, and he collaborated with seamstresses back home in Accra to bring them to life. "The textiles that I use represent personal history," Cofie tells CBC Arts. For the project, he collected used fabric such as bedsheets and old clothes, stuff he gathered from his own closet — and his family's too. "I sort of reimagined these clothes as the self come to life." Revive For a closer look at Cofie's work, head to Gallery 235 at the Harbourfront Centre. There, the artist will be installing two garments plus four more photographs from the aforementioned series. Cofie is one of seven artists and designers featured in Revive, a group show curated by DesignTO. (It runs Jan. 25 – March 30). Other participants include Jessie Sohpaul, Judy Anderson and Roda Medhat. "From my perspective, [Revive] is archiving and an attempt at preserving art practices and craft practices that are in danger of being lost, either through industrialization, technological advances, globalization," says Medhat, whose own work explores Kurdish culture and craft. At Revive, the Guelph-based artist will be showing Marital Rug, a piece from 2024 that's part of a larger series inspired by neon signage. Using LED tubing, Medhat's created a mat with patterns that sizzle and glow — and yet, its form appears to slump and curve with the weight of gravity. "The way I think of rugs and textiles, they're not static objects that are just put on display. They are used in life," says Medhat. "So I want to bring that movement and the weight of the material back into the work." Why use LEDs instead of traditional textiles? "When you're making something that's a bit of a spectacle," he says, "it helps to bring people into the conversation more easily. They want to approach the work and understand it. And from there, you can have the conversation around Kurdish history, Kurdish culture and things like that. Materially, I'm always exploring so that I can find ways to pull people into the work." (Medhat will be showing more from his neon rug series at another DesignTO exhibition: The Shape I'm In. That show, which runs Jan. 22 – Feb. 1 is at All Ours Studio & Art Vessel on Geary Ave.) Dwell "Being at Union [Station] at rush hour is kind of this horrible nightmare," says Alison Postma. "Busy, busy, busy. Rush, rush, rush. If there is a moment to kind of sit and reflect — or contemplate — I think that's really needed." On any given day, more than 300,000 people hustle through the station. And if you're frantically dodging a few hundred of those bodies as you make your way through the West Wing, this group show invites you to stop and chill for a second — a radical notion, especially if you're late for the train. Postma, a Toronto-based artist and recent graduate of the furniture design program at Sheridan College, is one of five designers with work on display between Jan. 24 – Feb. 2. Their contribution, Kissing Chair (2022), is a modern spin on a conversation seat, a sort of conjoined-twin version of a loveseat, one which arranges sitters in a forced tête-à-tête. "In Victorian times, [it] was used as a way for courting couples to interact but not be too close and be supervised," says Postma. "I thought that was quite charming," they laugh. "I wanted to think about the possibilities for furniture to kind of shape your reality. So, it's not just something that you sit in. When you sit in it, it creates this space, it creates conversation. It creates an intimacy," says Postma. "Like, it's very easy to sit in it with another person and forget what's going on around you." Medhat says he's excited to see the piece in person, and the concept of the group show, which was curated by DesignTO, captured his imagination. "I think spatially it's interesting because it's in Union Station," he says. "To put in a show where the intention is for you to sit and wait and reflect and be with the work is interesting … To kind of go against the ethos of the space by creating these works that demand that you sit with them." Bubble Quilt Studio Rat is a creative collective founded by Dom Di Libero and Emily Allan, artists known for transforming trash into supersized inflatables — like the balloon tent (Plastiscapes) that rose 33 feet off the floor at Art Toronto in October. For the festival, the duo will be presenting a piece described as an "immersive inflatable installation and lighting concept" — a Bubble Quilt of patchwork plastic that'll be revealed Jan. 24 at 55 St. Clair Ave. W. Postma can't wait to see it while it's up. (The installation will be on view through Feb. 2.) "I've been following [Studio Rat's] practice for awhile," says Postma. "There is this aspect of the material breathing and moving which I think needs to be seen in person." New Narratives in Design: Salvage, Reuse and Toronto's Evolving Aesthetic Sustainability is a recurring theme on the festival schedule, Studio Rat's Bubble Quilt being one example. And this project — a two-fer involving a group exhibition of local makers plus an off-site tour of a renovation project — looks at how architects, designers and artisans can put salvaged materials to use here in Toronto. That pitch has Postma intrigued. "We live in a world of limited resources and that's not something that is always talked about in design," says the designer. "I think it's important, so I'm excited to see what people are doing with reclaimed materials." (The free exhibition is at Underscore Projects Jan. 25 – Feb. 2. The renovation tour runs Sunday, Jan. 26, and advance RSVP is required.) About Time Six old classmates from the craft and design department at Sheridan College are coming together for this eclectic group show featuring furniture, lighting and interactive design. It's like the grad exhibition they never had — with a twist. Toronto was still in lockdown when the participants finished school in 2021. "The work they're showing is kind of a reflection of the work that they didn't get to show then — and then, what they've been up to now," says Postma, who's excited to see how the cohort bridges that gap. It's on Jan. 24 – Feb. 2 at Stackt Market. Snapshot: Foto de Familia Speaking of old friends from school, Delali Cofie says you've got to see this window installation by Ernesto Cabral de Luna, one of his pals from OCAD U. The piece, which is appearing in the Stantec Window Gallery through March 20, is a deconstructed family photo from the '70s. A portrait of the artist's mom, aunt and grandparents has been enlarged, cracked and eroded. (As part of his process, Cabral de Luna transfers photo-album snapshots onto corroded copper plates.) "He's thinking about visual distortion of memories and how that can be visualized through physical degradation of material," says Cofie. "Also, it is just really good to look at." Fractures and Futures This solo exhibition from artist Catherine Chan appeared at the Art Gallery of Guelph last year. That's where Roda Medhat first saw it, and he's eager to revisit the show when it arrives at Collision Gallery for DesignTO (Jan. 24 – Feb. 15). "The work is visually striking," says Medhat, referring to Chan's use of kintsugi, the art of mending cracks with gold. Traditionally, it's a technique for repairing pottery, but here, Chan gilds rocks and other natural materials, making a link between geological time and the human experience of memory. Homing (Pigeon Store) Pigeons. Name a bird that city-dwellers hate more. I'll wait. Maddy Young describes herself as a lifelong Torontonian, but she's developed a more charitable opinion than most. Last year, the artist embarked on a research project. She roamed the downtown by bike, documenting pigeons and the humans who fancy them. And as part of her study, she even built a miniature convenience store — a whimsical bike trailer stocked with plenty of feed. (Snacks are a great way to make friends, feathered or otherwise.) For DesignTO, she's presenting an installation based on the project. Inside the lobby of a condo building at 95 St. Clair Ave. W, you'll find her mobile bird bodega plus a flock of pigeon sculptures. (The show runs Jan. 24 – Feb. 2.) Why pigeons, though? "There's a strong feeling of instability, insecurity, living in the city," says Young. "You move around a lot, things change a lot. You don't know — like, can I continue living in Toronto? All my friends are leaving Toronto. And the pigeons are interesting to me as a symbol of adapting. Like, hacking the city, finding ways to keep living in this kind of precarious environment." They're "urban survivors," she says. "That's the draw." Beyond the Body and The Archivist Toronto-based artist and designer Pixel Heller has two exhibitions at DesignTO, and both are must-sees according to Young and Cofie. Carnival masquerade and the artist's Afro-Caribbean culture influence much of her work, which extends across photography, performance and textiles. Costumes — wearable sculpture, really — take centre stage in Beyond the Body, an exhibition appearing at the same site as Young's show (95 St. Clair Ave. W). And in The Archivist, she shares a series of carnival-time photographs taken from the POV of a "performative photographer character." That show can be found down the street at 2-22 St. Clair Ave. E. Both exhibitions run Jan. 24 – Feb. 2.
