ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT - The African Mirror

Mar

22

2023

Calm Down: how a Nigerian singer and a Cameroonian dancer inspired a powerful protest in Iran

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

ON 8 March 2023, five teenage girls uploaded on social media a video of themselves performing the Calm Down Dance Challenge. This is the choreography for the first verse of the Afrobeats hit Calm Down by Nigerian singer Rema (Divine Ikubor). Author ANANYA JAHANARA KABIR, Professor of English Literature, King's College London The girls were following people across the world who’ve made this dance challenge go viral for over a year by uploading videos of themselves dancing to it. With one difference, though: they were dancing in Iran, where it is forbidden to dance in public, especially without the mandatory…

Mar

21

2023

By The African Mirror

Gloria Bosman was more than a South African jazz vocalist, she was a guiding light

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

THE immediate public reaction to the death of Gloria Bosman from a short respiratory illness on 14 March 2023 was shocked disbelief. The multiple award-winning South African jazz vocalist, composer and teacher was only 50. She had just launched a new album, Live, her first in a dozen years, and was on the eve of a promotional tour. Author GWEN ANSELL, Associate of the Gordon Institute for Business Science, University of Pretoria Warm tributes followed, from family, friends and industry colleagues, and from a whole generation of singers for whom – directly and indirectly – she had served as a…

Mar

16

2023

By The African Mirror

Walid Kilonzi is telling the African story with virtual reality

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

BIRD STORY AGENCY YOU find yourself on the second highest peak in eastern Kenya, in the thick of the Iveti forest, with its famed cedar and pine trees. Near the top of a rise, you come upon the famous 'miti muonza', the seven trees that have stood there for over eight decades. With a move of your head, you leave the forest and are transported to the inside of a workshop, where woodcarvers are busy at work. After appreciating the finished bags, baskets, wood, and stone carving designs on display at the over-50-year-old Wamunyu Handcrafts, you can choose to go…

Feb

25

2023

By The African Mirror

Nigeria elections: the surprising influence of Afrobeats music on politics

LIFESTYLE, ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

IN the run-up to Nigeria’s February 2023 elections, the country’s younger generation has mobilised to demand change and redefine the political landscape – and music has been pivotal. Despite being dismissed by several political commentators, Nigeria’s younger generations have shifted the former two-party liberal electoral democratic competition between the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) and the prominent People’s Democratic Party (PDP). This is due to their overwhelming support for Labour Party candidate, Peter Obi. Author EKA IKPE, Reader, Development Economics in Africa and Director, African Leadership Centre, King's College London The use of music in campaigning for these elections shows…

Feb

25

2023

By The African Mirror

South African rapper AKA’s murder video went viral – it shouldn’t have

LIFESTYLE, ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

IN the days after the killing of rapper Kiernan Jarryd Forbe, known as AKA, and his friend Tebello “Tibz” Motoane, the murders kept playing out on social media. Again and again, leaked CCTV footage of the two being gunned down was viewed and shared – some 490,000 times in the version of just one Twitter account. Author FRANZ KRÜGER, Associate researcher, University of the Witwatersrand The explosive viral spread of the grainy but dramatic footage shows the limits of mainstream media ethics. Beyond the reach of press and broadcast codes and complaints mechanisms, social media platforms are driven by algorithms…

Feb

21

2023

By The African Mirror

Fences: August Wilson’s play powerfully affirms the value and struggles of black life

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

FENCES, a creative examination of a black family’s experience, is one of the most frequently performed plays in the US. It was first developed in 1983 by celebrated African American dramatist August Wilson, becoming a successful Broadway production in 1987. Wilson was born in 1945 in a poor district of Pittsburgh; he died in 2005. A pathbreaking force in shaping African American drama, he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for both Fences (1987) and The Piano Lesson (1990). Fences became an acclaimed Hollywood film in 2016. Author MERLE A. WILLIAMS, Professor Emerita of English and Research Associate of the African…

Feb

18

2023

By The African Mirror

Jean-Paul Zé Bella: the cunning Cameroonian soldier who became a global music legend

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

ONE of Cameroon’s most influential music stars – Jean-Paul Zé Bella – passed away on 15 January at the age of 71 after a battle against cancer. The singer and drummer was a founding member of the band Zangalewa and performed with it until he retired from the military. Part of the texture of Cameroonian popular culture, he continued making music until he fell ill. He lived an extraordinary life, from starting out as a lowly soldier to shaping the global hit song Waka Waka. We asked media studies professor Lyombe Eko to tell us more. Author LYOMBE EKO, Professor…

Mar

15

2023

By The African Mirror

The healing work of the social circus, Tamba Africa

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

TATENDA KANENGONI/ BIRD STORY AGENCY THE Tamba Africa Social Circus crew take turns applying paint strokes on each other's faces. When this is done, they huddle up, clasp each other's hands and bow their heads. Troupe leader, Tinotenda Makamure, looks each of them in the eye, carefully enunciating the words, "Remember who we are, where we come from, and what we are about to do." The circus is at the Madsoc Theatre in Lilongwe, Malawi, where in a few moments, they will walk out on stage to a fully packed auditorium to perform a healing dance chronicling the pain, sorrows…

Mar

14

2023

By The African Mirror

Costa Titch: the rising white South African rap star who embraced black hip-hop culture

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

RISING 28-year-old South African dancer and rapper Costa Titch (born Costa Tsobanoglou) died after collapsing on stage on 11 March while performing in Johannesburg. Costa Titch entered the entertainment world as a dancer with Cassper Nyovest, another South African hip-hop megastar, before trying his luck as a rapper, often dabbling in the country’s amapiano dance music genre. He had a huge hit with his track Big Flexa and was destined to shine bright on the country’s music scene. Author SANYA OSHA, Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Humanities in Africa, University of Cape Town Being white, Nelspruit-born Costa Titch brought new…

Feb

08

2023

By The African Mirror

New film Under the Hanging Tree examines how Namibia’s genocide lives on today

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

UNDER the Hanging Tree is a new film written, directed and produced by Perivi Katjavivi, a young, up-and-coming Namibian filmmaker. Despite two decades of gradual growth in the fledgling Namibian film industry, only about 20 features have been produced by the southern African country so far. Katjavivi’s efforts at writing, directing and producing are to be lauded. Under the Hangman’s Tree is his third feature and it premiered in the official selection of the prestigious International Film Festival Rotterdam. Katjavivi’s films offer political themes that reveal the dark underbelly of Namibian society. His narratives expose the devastating effects of colonialism,…