ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT - The African Mirror

Apr

08

2026

Jemima Kakizi is rewriting the future of Rwandan art

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

THE drill-like sounds of a tufting gun cut through the quiet of a hilltop neighbourhood on a sunny morning in Kigali, Rwanda. With focused precision, Ethiopian artist Tsega Zewde Rago guides the handheld machine, punching multicoloured yarn through a taut canvas. Rago is a graduate of the prestigious Alle School of Fine Arts and Design at Addis Ababa University. When her family moved to Kigali about two years ago, she sought a creative shift and taught herself to tuft using online videos. She had been an active member of the art community in Addis and was eager to collaborate with…

Apr

07

2026

By DYLAN VALLEY

Inside The Manosphere exposes online hate and the dying voice of traditional media

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

BRITISH-AMERICAN journalist and filmmaker Louis Theroux has a long history of documenting outlandish and extremist communities, from the Westboro Baptist Church in The Most Hated Family In America to The Settlers in the West Bank. His deadpan, nerdish delivery, in contrast to his interviewees’ more animated behaviour, has become a signature style. The humour in these awkward scenarios makes him a bit of a legend in the internet era. He gave South Africa one of its earliest memes when he interviewed a gangster for his documentary Law and Disorder in Johannesburg. With a new documentary, Inside The Manosphere, on Netflix,…

Apr

01

2026

By JOVIAL RANTAO

The groom who never got his day

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

THERE is a particular cruelty in dying on the cusp of joy. Not in the middle of grief, not in the depths of struggle - but right there, at the threshold of the most beautiful morning of your life, with the flowers ordered, the guests invited, and love standing patient on the other side of the door. That was the precise geography of Gofaone Gabriel Modise's passing - a man taken from us on Sunday, 29 March 2026, only days before he was to stand at the altar and pledge his life to the woman he loved. Botswana has lost…

Apr

01

2026

By YAKUBU MESSENI , BIRD STORY AGENCY

From bean to bar: How Viviane Kouamé is building the “Made in Cote d’Ivoire” brand

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

INSIDE a humming workshop in Abidjan, black-gloved hands move with rhythmic precision, sorting through mounds of roasted beans. Behind industrial machines and stainless steel vats, a master artisan leans over a workstation, her chef’s collar stitched with the national colours of Côte d’Ivoire. Only as the machines begin to pour does the true scale of this transformation become clear, as the raw harvest finally melts into thick, glossy ribbons and gold-painted squares. At her location on Rue Sol-Béni in Riviera 3, a bustling area of Abidjan's Cocody district, Viviane Kouamé is hard at work in the workshop she founded in…

Mar

30

2026

By The African Mirror

When Hova went to Kasaï

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

NOBODY asked Jay-Z to do this. That is the most important thing to understand about the cover of GQ's April 2026 issue. Nobody sent Shawn Corey Carter a memo. No delegation from Kinshasa flew to New York. No African Union subcommittee on cultural diplomacy tabled a motion. The man simply sat down — or stood up, or however one poses with a Kifwebe mask — and, with characteristic nonchalance, delivered what may be the most consequential act of African cultural promotion since Miriam Makeba sang at the United Nations in 1963. He did it, as Congolese musician Alesh noted with…

Mar

28

2026

By TINASHE MUSHAKAVANHU

Makemation: a Nollywood movie that shows AI in action in Africa

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

A new feature film, Makemation, is an African coming-of-age story set in a time of artificial intelligence (AI). Makemation was produced by Nigerian AI-developer-turned-filmmaker Toyosi Akerele-Ogunsiji. As conversations about AI are dominated by external global powers, his film offers a different vantage point: an AI story rooted in African realities. After a successful run in Nigerian cinemas in 2025, it’s now touring internationally, and I attended a screening at the Harvard Centre for African Studies. It was followed by a discussion with its producer and economist Ebehi Iyoha, who researches AI in Africa. The evening foregrounded precisely what the film…

Mar

21

2026

By CONRAD ONYANGO, BIRD STORY AGENCY

Canal+ leverages AI to win over African audiences

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

AFRICAN streaming subscribers could soon see a more personalised and potentially cheaper viewing experience for local content as French media giant Canal+ rolls out artificial intelligence tools following its acquisition of MultiChoice. The company plans to use AI to better understand audience preferences and recommend films, series and sports that resonate with viewers across different African markets. From June 2026, it said subscribers will start receiving tailored recommendations that highlight locally produced shows, regional languages and culturally relevant stories. Currently, subscribers have to scroll through vast libraries and sift through a mix of foreign and local titles to view their…

Mar

21

2026

By FAMA DIONE

A Senegalese all-female music band is blazing a trail for women

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

AT Jokko Studio in Dakar, five instrumentalists play out original tunes seeped in a vibrant fusion of reggae, salsa, hip-hop, blues, jazz, rock and mbalax, the neo-traditional pop music of Senegal. They are: Khady Dieng, pianist; Amina Sarr, the lead vocalist; Aissatou Dieng, the percussionist; Ndeye Cisse, the sambar and djembe player; Evora Vas, the bassist. Together, they are Orchestra Jigeen Ñi, which in Wolof means "the women's orchestra." The all-female band was formed in 2018 by cultural entrepreneur Samba Diaité with a mission to champion the rights of women in Senegal and to be an inspiration for girls who…

Mar

17

2026

By OWN CORRESPONDENT

“Pops flew in from Ghana for this”

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

THE Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles fell momentarily still on the night of 15 March 2026 when Michael B. Jordan stepped to the podium to receive the Academy Award for Best Actor. He had won for his dual performance in Ryan Coogler’s Sinners - portraying twin brothers Smoke and Stack, children of the Black South navigating violence, vampires, and history in the 1932 Mississippi Delta. But what the world’s cameras caught next had less to do with Hollywood and everything to do with Africa. “God is good,” Jordan said, visibly overwhelmed. Then, scanning the audience: “Momma, what’s up? Pops —…

Mar

16

2026

By The African Mirror

Golden horns, golden looks – and one very golden night for Bonko Khoza

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

The SAFTAs did not tiptoe back. After last year's inexplicable no-show — the industry's equivalent of a lead actor simply not arriving on set - the 19th Annual South African Film and Television Awards came roaring back to Midrand's Gallagher Convention Centre on Saturday evening with the energy of a township telenovela season finale. There were tears. There were gasps. There were outfits that will require explanation to future generations. And, yes, there was Bonko Khoza. The dual-ceremony format was maintained: the technical Craft Awards streamed quietly on YouTube on Friday, the night the real work was recognised, before Saturday's…