ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT - The African Mirror

Jun

26

2020

Celebrating an Algerian music great

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

THE death of Algerian icon Idir has brought an important chapter of Algerian music to a close. HUGO HADJI Hugo Hadji, Doctoral Researcher in ethnomusicology, SOAS, University of London THE death of Algerian icon Idir has brought an important chapter of Algerian music to a close. Through his brilliant career, Idir modernised and promoted the richness of Kabyle melodies and poetry, popularised North African culture, and advocated for unity and tolerance both in Algeria and in France. Looking at Idir’s life in music is looking into Algeria’s relationship with its history and identity, but also questioning what it means to…

Jun

25

2020

By The African Mirror

The ‘seismic impact’ of Busi Mhlongo’s masterpiece

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

Matsuli Music has reissued Busi Mhlongo’s Urban Zulu masterpiece on vinyl for the first time, alongside Dudu Pukwana and the ‘Spears’ and Jump Uptight by the Zorro Five. LOYD GEDYE Whether a new album release is greeted with rave reviews or completely ignored, its full impact becomes visible only with time, especially in the case of a career-defining album. In 1998, when the record label Melt 2000 released Busi Mhlongo’s Urban Zulu, her second album,it was widely acclaimed, later winning three South African Music Awards and spending two months at the top of the Billboard world music charts. With a reissue of Urban Zulu about…

Jun

24

2020

By The African Mirror

Vincent Mantsoe chronicles lockdown life in ‘Cut’

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

Unable to return to South Africa this winter, the dancer and choreographer created a dance piece for film, proving the power of creative expression and collaboration. UFRIEDA HO It’s raining in Vichy – five soggy, grey days and counting. This is Vincent Mantsoe’s French home nowadays. His thoughts, though, drift to his other home, to Soweto in winter, when the light cuts like a blade through the bluest of days. The dancer and choreographer was meant to be back in South Africa this April for a month-long tour, presenting his solo piece SoliiDaD and facilitating a workshop programme. Then the coronavirus slammed…

Jun

18

2020

By The African Mirror

30 Days of Editorials

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

LERATO MBANGENI IF anything, the restrictions of quarantines and lockdowns around the world have shown us the levels of creativity and optimism that people can reach. With social media as a tool of distribution, people of all ages have come together as a community of the talented and bored to make works that make us smile or gasp in awe of their ingenuity. We’ve had the #NoRushChallenge where makeup lovers created transformation videos in the style of TikTok videos with quick transitions and punchy soundtracks. We also had people at home recreating famous paintings with whatever they could find in…

Jun

17

2020

By The African Mirror

Music review: Simphiwe Dana’s Bamako is a triumph

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

PHUTI SEPURU Lecturer, University of Pretoria BAMAKO, the fifth album from Simphiwe Dana, marks 16 years of her recording career. To the dismay of her fans, a few days prior to the album’s long-awaited release, the South African singer-songwriter announced that this would be her last. An iconic figure in the country’s cultural life, Dana hails from the Eastern Cape and is a singer, composer and producer. The largest part of her musical output is sung in her home language – isiXhosa, including her most loved songs such as Ndiredi, Zandisile, Bantu Biko Street and Ilolo. Dana’s voice is also…

Jun

08

2020

By The African Mirror

Mory Kanté, Guinea’s hero, found new ways of playing the old music

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

By Lucy Durán Guinea is in mourning. Mory Kanté, who passed away from chronic health problems at 70, was one of Africa’s most influential and legendary artists of the late 20th century. He was best known for his 1987 dance hit Yéké Yéké, which sold over a million copies and continues to liven global dance floors in a myriad of remixes. No other musician from Guinea has reached international audiences on the level of Mory Kanté. Even though his recorded output would dwindle, his live performances remained superb – and for Guineans, he was, and will always be, a hero.…

Jun

08

2020

By The African Mirror

Uganda’s musicians are fighting COVID-19 – why government should work with them

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

Dominic D.B. Makwa Ugandan pop musicians have released a raft of songs and music videos to educate and alert the public about COVID-19. Notable among them have been Bobi Wine and Nubian Li’s Corona Virus Alert and Bebe Cool’s Corona Distance. But there’s also the likes of Pastor Frank Kyeyune’s Katonda Yekka ku Corona (God Only On Corona), Dickens Ahabwe’s Coronavirus in Uganda and Corona by Ykee Benda, King Saha, Joanita Kawalya, B2C, Fefe Busu Dre Cali and Myci Ou. These are simple songs that assume a responsibility to help educate citizens. They are dense in information about COVID-19, about…

Jan

01

2021

By The African Mirror

2021 Cape Town International Jazz Festival cancelled

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

MPHO RANTAO THE coronavirus pandemic continues to upturn the entertainment industry as many cultural and arts events get cancelled in an effort to decrease infections from events that may be classified as super-spreaders events. The Cape Town Jazz Festival is no exception. Producers espAfrika announced that the 2021 edition of the Cape Town International Jazz Festival would be cancelled, due to the ongoing covid-19 pandemic that has seen an increase in infections in South Africa, where the jazz festival is hosted. This announcement was made amidst the country’s President Ramaphosa’s heartfelt plea for the country to be extra cautious with…

Jul

14

2022

By The African Mirror

Alphadi, top African fashion designers, creatives dazzle in London

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

PATRICK NELLE, BIRD BORN Sidahmed Seidnaly, the designer and creative best known as Alphadi has been leading the charge since the 1980s for the global recognition of African creatives, especially fashion designers. Having just attended the opening of an unprecedented African fashion exhibition at London’s Victoria&Albert museum in early July, bird story agency caught up with Alphadi en-route to his next event. “I am going to Morocco now for a ceremony, and then I will fly to Niger. This is my life as an activist who has committed his existence to defend African creatives and to struggle for their worldwide recognition,”…

Mar

04

2022

By The African Mirror

The legacy of iconic singer Miriam Makeba and her art of activism

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

SOUTH AFRICA'S world famous singer and activist Miriam Makeba (1932-2008) would have turned 90 on 4 March 2022. Born Zenzile Miriam Makeba in Johannesburg’s Prospect township, she had a life of remarkable global impact. She contributed to black people’s struggle for liberation and defended the integrity of African identity and artistry while living in a land absent of her ancestry. Author NOMFUNDO XALUVA, Lecturer, South African College of Music, University of Cape Town Despite being banned from her home country for her outspokenness and resistance to apartheid, Makeba went on to build an illustrious international career, performing on some of…