LIFESTYLE - The African Mirror

Sep

24

2024

Caine Prize for African Writing: Nadia Davids on her winning story about women and freedom

LITERATURE

SOUTH African playwright, academic, novelist and short story writer Nadia Davids is the winner of the 2024 Caine Prize for African Writing. It’s an important award that has played a significant role in shaping the career trajectories of numerous African writers. She received the prize for her exquisitely written and disturbing short story Bridling. The title refers to a scold’s bridle, also known as a witch’s bridle, a cruel metal muzzle placed on a defiant (or even gossiping) woman’s face in an act of public humiliation in centuries past. A bridle must be worn on stage by the narrator of…

Sep

19

2024

By KEITH GOTTSCHALK

Joe Modise biography dismisses corruption claims against the former South African defence minister

LITERATURE

THE new biography of Joe Modise, one-time commander of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the military wing of South Africa’s African National Congress (ANC), is welcome. Comrade and Commander fills in a blank about Modise throughout the ANC’s three decades as an underground liberation movement with an armed wing. The book is edited by Ronnie Kasrils, a lifelong colleague of Modise and later South African deputy minister of defence, and Fidelis Hove, a son-in-law of Modise. Modise’s posting as Umkhonto we Sizwe commander makes him one of the most important leaders throughout the ANC’s underground epoch. In addition, he played a major…

Sep

14

2024

By OLIVIER MOREILLON

Johannesburg’s underbelly is explored in Niq Mhlongo’s fresh new novel about a messy break-up

LITERATURE

NIQ MHLONGO was born in Soweto, Johannesburg in 1973 and grew up under apartheid, South Africa’s institutionalised racial segregation under white minority rule. He graduated in political studies and African literature in 1996 and then studied law, but dropped out in his final year to become a writer instead. Mhlongo entered the South African literary scene with his novel Dog Eat Dog (2004). He’s since published three more novels and three short story collections, and has edited three volumes of writing. Critics have called him “one of the most high-spirited and irreverent new voices of South Africa’s post-apartheid literary scene”.…

Sep

13

2024

By The African Mirror

Oskido announces his exciting new lifestyle festival ‘BIG DAY OUT’

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

THE iconic award-winning South African DJ and music producer Oskido is thrilled to announce his latest venture, lifestyle festival BIG DAY OUT, set to take place this November. The lifestyle festival is a spectacular celebration of South Africa’s vibrant music scene over the past 3 decades, rekindling the golden era of kwaito by showcasing performances by a stellar lineup of legendary artists and tracking the journey of South African House Music from then to now. Oskido, a trailblazer in the South African music industry, is renowned for his influential role in shaping the kwaito genre and his enduring impact on…

Sep

09

2024

By HEIN WILLEMSE

James Matthews: the rebel writer who was South Africa’s voice of resistance

LITERATURE

WORLD-RENOWNED South African poet James Matthews has died at 95. His was the last great voice of an era of writers who worked against South Africa’s repressive and racist system of apartheid, which resulted in him being relentlessly harassed, detained by police and his work banned. Schooled in District Six, an area of Cape Town where black people were forcibly removed to make way for white development, he was most famous for his poems. But he was also a journalist, cultural worker, short story writer, novelist, proponent of the Black Consciousness movement and a one-man cultural institution who never stopped…

Sep

06

2024

By MADISENG PHORI

South African heritage tourism could uplift rural communities, with a little help: the case of Sekhukhune

TRAVEL

IMAGINE visiting a remote valley surrounded by mountains, hundreds of kilometres away from the nearest city, listening to local people explaining hundreds of years of history to you. The Tšate Valley, in South Africa’s Limpopo province, is one such place. Housing the Tšate heritage site and home to the Bapedi nation, the area has a rich natural and cultural history. This is where the Bapedi empire rose in the 15th century and fell to colonisers in the 19th century. The area is still home to two Bapedi royal houses. Today, the Sekhukhune area, where the valley is located, has a…

Sep

05

2024

By ANNE MWITI

Kenyan artists reflect Gen Z hopes and frustrations in new exhibition

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

AS young protesters in Kenya took to the streets in June to demand the government account for its spending of taxpayers’ money, the Wajukuu Art Project was opening a new exhibition in Nairobi. Visitors to In the Absence at The African Arts Trust Gallery are greeted by large installations. Draped materials hang from a pillowy sky, razor-sharp knives are welded to rusty iron sheets, suspended lanterns reflect off aluminium mirrors and poems are written on walls. Kenyan curator Rose Jepkorir’s text on the exhibition proposes that In the Absence creates an atmospheric space where visitors can reflect with themselves –…

Sep

05

2024

By FRANCOISE VERGÈS

Looting of African heritage: a powerful new book explores the damage done by colonial theft

LITERATURE

European colonisation of Africa was not only about armed conquest, massacres and the exploitation of resources. It was also about the appropriation of spiritual and political symbols. It led to the erasure of a social, cultural, and symbolic world. A 2024 book, Fifteen Colonial Thefts: A Guide to Looted African Heritage in Museums, adds to the growing literature on the history of the colonial looting of African art and heritage and the issue of restitution, reappropriation and return. Published by Pluto, the book is edited by Ghanaian-born multidisciplinary artist Sela K. Adjei and Berlin-based postdoctoral researcher Yann Le Gall. It…

Aug

24

2024

By The African Mirror

Lewis Hamilton’s African Adventure

LIFESTYLE

THE roar of engines faded as Lewis Hamilton traded the Formula 1 circuit for the vibrant rhythms of Africa. His summer break unfolded like a kaleidoscope of colors, sounds, and experiences across five diverse nations. In Morocco, the seven-time world champion wandered through bustling souks, inhaling the heady scent of spices. The call to prayer echoed off ancient walls as he marveled at intricate mosaics, each tile a testament to centuries of craftsmanship. Senegal's golden beaches beckoned next. Here, Hamilton's competitive spirit found a new outlet as he joined locals in impromptu football matches on the sand. The setting sun…

Aug

27

2024

By SETH ONYANGO, BIRD STORY AGENCY

Kenya Railway adopts Boeing-style luxury in first-class offering

LIFESTYLE

SPACIOUS cabins, complete with fully reclining seats reminiscent of the business class on an aircraft, entertainment options, and fine dining experiences are the highlights of Kenya Railways’ new premium offering on the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) that covers over 400 km between Nairobi and Mombasa. Complementing the plush leather seats, which are thoughtfully arranged for both privacy and comfort, are charging ports, including wireless options. This latest upgrade is part of Kenya’s broader strategy to tap into the growing market of affluent travellers between Nairobi and Mombasa whose other option is to fly between the two cities. Passengers will also…