LIFESTYLE - The African Mirror

Jul

19

2025

Chimamanda’s Lagos homecoming wasn’t just a book launch, it was a cultural moment

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

WHEN the announcement of Chimamanda Adichie Ngozi’s latest novel, Dream Count, was made, it was regarded as a major event in African literature. The internationally celebrated Nigerian writer had not published a novel in the past 12 years, and her long-awaited return stirred both anticipation and speculation. In the post-COVID context in which the book comes, so much has changed in the world. The first leg of her three-city homecoming book tour coincided with my stay in Lagos as a curatorial fellow at Guest Artist Space Foundation, dedicated to facilitating cultural exchange and supporting creative practices. After Lagos, Chimamanda took…

Jul

15

2025

By BONFACE ORUCHO, BIRD STORY AGENCY

bird Interview: In Conversation with Nigerian documentary filmmaker Joel Kachi on winning an Emmy, potential of virtual reality in storytelling, and more

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

NIGERIAN filmmaker Joel Kachi Benson won an Emmy Award last month in the documentary film category for "Madu," a coming-of-age story set in Nigeria. Benson is only the second African to win in his category after Trevor Noah’s 2014 win. Just weeks after Benson took home the Emmy, he won Best African Feature at the 2025 Encounters International Documentary Festival in South Africa for "Mothers of Chibok," a documentary film that returns to the Chibok community with a deeper lens, not just on grief, but on resilience, memory, and the long arc of healing. It is a follow-up to "Daughters…

Jul

12

2025

By JACOB NYARKO and OSWELLED UREKE

TikTok users in Ghana and Zimbabwe enjoy making fun of government – why it can have a downside

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

BROWSE the internet or turn on the global news, and chances are the coverage of Africa you find is about war, coups, displaced populations and disease. Generally, the West and its media are blamed for this negative, Afropessimistic portrayal of the continent. Africans have taken strategic steps to repair this negative narrative. An example is the Africa Rising campaign. It was launched in 2000 by a coalition of African activists and organisations. Its objective was to highlight the role of Africa in global development and encourage Africans at home and the diaspora to contribute positively. Social media platforms played a…

Jul

10

2025

By BONFACE ORUCHO, BIRD STORY AGENCY

bird Interview: In conversation with Sudanese filmmaker Yasir Faiz on storytelling, survival, and rebuilding from exile

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

WHEN the war in Sudan broke out in 2023, Yasir Faiz had already spent over a decade nurturing stories through the lens of journalism, film, and cultural activism. But as bullets tore through his Khartoum neighbourhood, he and his family were forced to flee, eventually making their way to Kenya. Now based in Nairobi, Faiz is rebuilding, personally and professionally. He is working on a new film, co-producing with Kenyan creatives, and imagining how displaced Sudanese artists can help shape a broader cultural ecosystem across Africa. For Faiz, filmmaking is not just an art form; it’s a tool for survival,…

Jul

03

2025

By NNAMDI O. MADICHIE; MOTSHEDISI MATHIBE and NOBULALI DANGAZELE

Detty December started as a Nigerian cultural moment. Now it’s spreading across the continent – and minting money

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

EVERY December in Nigeria and Ghana, a giant party takes place, unfolding in a whirlwind of concerts, festivals, weddings, art shows, dress-ups, meet-ups and travel. Locals and diaspora West Africans returning from overseas come together to create Detty December, a festive event stretching from mid-December to the new year. Detty is a playful term for “dirty” in the regional Pidgin language, and “Detty December” is a term commonly believed to have been coined by Afropop star Mr Eazi in 2016. It means letting loose and indulging in some fun and revelry. Major events headlined by local and international music stars…

Jul

02

2025

By DARIUS BRUBECK

Feya Faku as I knew him – a tribute to the great South African jazz trumpeter

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

LEX Futshane, the South African bass player in the 1992 student band NU Jazz Connection, was the first to tell me that the great South African jazz trumpeter Feya Faku had died while touring Switzerland on 23 June. He was born on 6 June 1962 and was just 63 years old. Within a day of Feya’s passing, my wife Catherine Brubeck and I had heard from every member of the student band that I’d helped form, except the late Lulu Gontsana, of course. They expressed great sadness and praised not just his playing but also the man himself. https://www.youtube.com/embed/fhthU1zLz6U The…

Jun

30

2025

By WUNPINI FATIMATA MOHAMMED

Netflix gives African film a platform – but the cultural price is high

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

NETFLIX began its African operations in South Africa in 2016. When the US streaming giant announced it was setting up shop in Nigeria in 2020, many West African filmmakers, writers, artists and media audiences were jubilant. Finally, West Africa’s creativity and brilliance would be formally recognised on the world stage. Netflix Naija’s purpose was to produce local content for Netflix, just like Netflix South Africa and later Netflix Kenya. Some filmmakers have been wary of US cultural imperialism happening through the market dominance of Netflix and other US streamers. Others have rushed to the streamer to sign deals that will…

Jun

30

2025

By HEDLEY TWIDLE

5 great reads by South African writers from 30 years of real-life stories

LITERATURE

ACROSS three decades of democracy, South Africa has – like many places undergoing complex and uneven social change – seen an outpouring of remarkable nonfiction. The Interpreters is a new book that collects the work of 37 authors, all of it writing (plus some drawing) concerned with actual people, places and events. The anthology is the product of many years of reading and discussion between my co-editor Sean Christie (an experienced journalist and nonfiction author) and me (a writer and professor who teaches literature, including creative nonfiction). The book is a work of homage to the many strains of ambitious…

Jun

25

2025

By JOVIAL RANTAO

FEYA FAKU: The Trumpet that sang Africa’s soul

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

THE golden brass is silent now. On June 23, 2025, in the distant mountains of Switzerland, Feya Faku drew his final breath, and with it, one of Africa's most luminous musical voices fell quiet. But even in death, his trumpet continues to sing - echoing through the townships of New Brighton, reverberating in the jazz clubs of Durban, and soaring across continents where his music touched souls and transformed hearts. In the vibrant township of New Brighton, Port Elizabeth - a crucible where South African jazz was forged in struggle and hope - a young Feya Faku discovered magic in…

Jun

24

2025

By RACHEL AMA ASAA ENGMANN

Kwame Akoto-Bamfo: the Ghanaian artist using work about slavery to find justice and healing

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

THOUSANDS of sculpted heads – captive African men, women, and children – meticulously created by the artist Kwame Akoto-Bamfo, emerge from the soil at the Nkyinkyim Museum, as a sacred gathering of ancestors. Together, they form a powerful monument to the horror, violence, and resistance to enslavement, as well as the ongoing work of remembrance and healing. Kwame Akoto-Bamfo is a Ghanaian multidisciplinary artist who engages with the histories and legacies of the transatlantic slave trade and colonialism at home and, increasingly, internationally, on both sides of the Atlantic. As an archaeologist who works in the field of critical heritage…