LIFESTYLE Archives - The African Mirror

Dec

01

2023

Opera in Cape Town: critics trace how a colonial art form was reinvented as African

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

MANY people thought that classical opera in South Africa – regarded as a Western, colonial art form that was the preserve of white people during apartheid – would die with democracy in 1994. Instead, the opposite happened. Black singers emerged as the new stars and the format of opera began to be Africanised for new audiences. Critics mapped this transformation as Cape Town established itself as a hotbed of the new opera. One such critic was Wayne Muller, who became an academic and wrote a PhD on the view of these changes. Now he has a book on the subject…

Nov

30

2023

By ESTHER MUSEMBI AND FISKE NYIRONGO, BIRD STORY AGENCY

Missla Libsekal is a Global Ambassador for African Contemporary Art

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT, MULTIMEDIA

DRESSED in two shades of black and flipping through Kenyan writer Binyavanga Wainaina’s How To Write About Africa; Ethiopian writer, curator, researcher and activist Missla Libsekal was in her element as she took a break from her work on Art X Lagos, one of the continent's premier art events. "These kinds of events offer Africans on the continent and in the diaspora to be in dialogue with each other. ART X really does provide a space for that to actually happen, for somebody like myself to be invited and participate in the conversation," Libsekal shared. Libeskal has been working to…

Nov

28

2023

By The African Mirror

Good Jew, Bad Jew: new book explores why the West views brutality against Ukrainians and Palestinians differently

LITERATURE

IN a recently published book Steven Friedman, who has written extensively on the political and social aspects of apartheid and post-apartheid South Africa, explores the racist underpinnings of the west’s responses to Israel’s war in Gaza. This is an extract from the book, Good Jew, Bad Jew. STEVEN FRIEDMAN, Professor of Political Studies, University of Johannesburg Ugandan academic Mahmood Mamdani sees a link between the violence of the coloniser and the slaughter of Jews and Slavs by the Nazis. The racial theories of Houston Stewart Chamberlain and others who claimed the Aryan race was superior meant that Jews and Slavs,…

Nov

25

2023

By CONRAD ONYANGO, BIRD STORY AGENCY

Music streamers collaborate with telcos to widen Africa reach

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

WITH African superstars taking to global music stages and a growing army of young mobile subscribers - consisting largely of Gen Z’s - among the most ardent African music fans. homegrown and foreign streaming platforms are pushing hard to build their presence in a growing market. Until recently, one of the biggest challenges for streamers has been high data costs and few payment options. But there is some light at the end of the tunnel. Streamers are now increasingly partnering with mobile operators to overcome expansion hurdles, offering incentives like free access to premium content and attractive offers on data…

Nov

24

2023

By The African Mirror

South African politicians vs judges: new book defends the Constitution

LITERATURE

IN 1994, South Africa became a democracy founded on a supreme constitution. The Constitution’s preamble affirms the nation’s quest to establish a society based on democratic values, social justice and fundamental human rights. The Constitution clearly envisioned political accountability and judicial review of executive and legislative actions. But, almost three decades on, this vision is increasingly under virulent criticism by populist politicians. ANTHONY DIALA, Director, Centre for Legal Integration in Africa, University of the Western Cape Dan Mafora’s new book, Capture in the Court – In Defence of Judges and the Constitution, likens the rising rebellion against judges and the…

Nov

24

2023

By The African Mirror

NBA Africa’s first original docuseries “Born & Bred” premieres on NBA App

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

NBA Africa has announced that its first original documentary series “Born & Bred” has premiered on the NBA App. The five-part series tells the stories of five current and former NBA Academy Africa prospects from Angola, Egypt, Nigeria, Senegal, and South Sudan through exclusive footage and interviews with the prospects, family members, friends, and coaches. “Born & Bred,” which features Nigeria’s Rueben Chinyelu, Egypt’s Seifeldin Hendawy, South Sudan’s Khaman Maluach, Senegal’s Khadim Rassoul Mboup, and Angola’s Aginaldo Neto, spotlights each prospect’s basketball journey, including the communities where they were raised and the moments that have shaped them as players and…

Nov

23

2023

By BIRD STORY AGENCY

bird’s TenX Series: 10 Top African Female Afrobeats Stars

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

FEMALE artists are a major driver of the Afrobeats phenomenon, producing some of the top singles and collaborations that rank as the most-streamed Afrobeats hits, both on the continent and abroad. Their global recognition is aided by wins and mentions in the world's top music and entertainment awards. Afrobeats emerged in the late 1960s and primarily involved the fusion of a variety of West African music genres such as juju, highlife, fuji and Yoruba vocals, rhythms, and instrumentals. During this period, the music grew mostly on the continent and was primarily associated with two West African countries: Nigeria and Ghana.…

Nov

23

2023

By ATIENO ODERA, BIRD STORY AGENCY

This runway model is campaigning against gender-based violence in the fashion industry

BEAUTY AND FASHION

ENTERING Watamu town in Kilifi County, north of Mombasa on the Indian Ocean, it is immediately apparent that an awareness of gender-based violence is widespread. The ‘RED CARD CAMPAIGN FASHION SHOW’ advertised loudly on a billboard at the town's entrance displays an image of international runway model Sharon Okubo. The RED CARD campaign is a symbolic call-out to get the wider society to get involved in penalising gender-based discrimination and violence. Started by the non-profit African Renaissance and Diaspora Networks (ARDN), Okubo is an ambassador for the campaign, working closely with models and designers who are survivors of gender-based violence.…

Nov

21

2023

By The African Mirror

Nkoli: The Vogue Opera – the making of a musical about a queer liberation activist in South Africa

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

THE history of South Africa’s struggle against apartheid (separatist white minority rule) is taught only through the broadest of brushstrokes in the country’s schools. So might music be a way to bring the story of one anti-apartheid activist alive for a new generation? And when that activist is a Black gay man, Simon Nkoli (1957-1998), how do you reclaim his story from the stereotypes all of those labels potentially carry? GWEN ANSELL, Associate of the Gordon Institute for Business Science, University of Pretoria Those were the challenges facing South African composer Philip Miller when he began work on what became…

Nov

21

2023

By The African Mirror

Henri Lopes, the prime minister of Congo who became a famous novelist: behind the power of his writing

LITERATURE

“ON the other bank … that is where Henri Lopes now rests,” wrote novelist and journalist Nicolas Michel in a beautiful tribute to mark the passing of the celebrated Congolese author. It’s a reference, of course, to Lopes’ 1992 novel Sur l'autre Rive (On the Other Bank). JUDITH SINANGA-OHLMANN, Professor of French language, French and Francophone Literature, University of Windsor Indeed, how can we not imagine Lopes as the character Andélé from his 1990 novel Le Chercheur d’Afriques (The Researcher of Africa), who describes himself as a man “born between the waters”. Lopes, born to mixed ancestry, was a writer…