LIFESTYLE - The African Mirror

Mar

07

2024

Congo Style: how two dictators shaped the DRC’s art, architecture and monuments

LIFESTYLE

WHAT kind of art is left behind by totalitarian regimes? A new free-to-read book called Congo Style: From Belgian Art Nouveau to African Independence explores the visual culture, architecture and heritage sites of the country today known as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). It does so by exploring two now-notorious regimes: King Leopold II’s rule (1885-1908) of Belgium’s Congo colony and Mobutu Sese Seko’s totalitarian Zaire, established when he seized power in a military coup in 1965 after five years of political upheaval. We asked artist and visual culture scholar Ruth Sacks five questions about her book. RUTH SACKS,…

Mar

01

2024

By BONFACE ORUCHO, BIRD STORY AGENCY

Artists’ residencies are on the rise across Africa as art investment catches on

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

FROM Accra to Dakar, Marrakech to Lagos, Nairobi and now, Cape Town, art residence programs are on the rise, often initiated by successful African artists and now also by public-private partnerships. The French Ambassador to the southern African region, David Martinon, recently signed a letter of commitment with MEMORIST’s Director of Corporate Development, Sophie Taïeb, committing to supporting an African art residency in Cape Town. “This is the first such residency we’re establishing in Africa, we’re very excited about the possibility of creating a modern, cultural experience within a historic environment,” he is quoted in the South African art news…

Feb

29

2024

By BONFACE ORUCHO, BIRD STORY AGENCY

Africa’s music and sports icons are forging a tech-sports fusion through investments

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

AFRICA'S music and football luminaries are increasingly channelling their resources towards the continent's tech startups, utilizing their wealth and expansive global networks to secure their futures while fostering community-level social change. Nigerian musician and businessman Oluwatosin Ajibade, also known as Mr. Eazi, is widely recognised as a master of this new trend. In a December 2023 appearance on the podcast Silverbacks Valley, Ajibade explained how the intersection of music, technology and entrepreneurship had landed in his favour. “Music has given me access to networks and finances, but I've never really left technology and entrepreneurship because that's what I've always been,”…

Feb

22

2024

By BONFACE ORUCHO, BIRD STORY AGENCY

Triggerfish, Ng’endo Mukii, Africa’s busy animation ecosystem all recognised in Annie Award

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

WHEN ‘Enkai’, the tenth episode in the 2023 animation series ‘Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire’ emerged as the Best Limited Series Episode in the TV/Media category at the 51st edition of the Annie Award on February 17, the honour marked another milestone for African animation. The episode, written by Ng’endo Mukii, a Kenyan filmmaker, is one of the six episodes from the Disney animation series that were nominated in various categories at the Annie’s Award. Produced by South African animation studio, Triggerfish, the short film combines advanced technology, aliens, spirits and monsters, while paying tribute to African culture. The film chronicles…

Feb

21

2024

By BIRD STORY AGENCY

World Tour for 88-year-old cultural icon kicks off with Cape Town retrospective

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

BOLD strokes and visually compelling patterns seamlessly fusing traditional African art and contemporary art have transformed the walls of the Iziko South African National Gallery in Cape Town - both inside and out - with the opening of a retrospective exhibition featuring a South African legend: 88-year-old Esther Mahlangu. The exhibition, dubbed "Then I Knew I Was Good at Painting": Esther Mahlangu, A Retrospective, summarises a career spanning five decades, showcasing her style that blends the rich heritage of Ndebele culture with modern art. “The retrospective pays homage to Esther Mahlangu's unique approach to art, which intersects African cultures with…

Feb

21

2024

By VELMA PAMELA, BIRD STORY AGENCY

This popular floating restaurant was on the rocks until Frida Njeri took over

LIFESTYLE, MULTIMEDIA

THERE are no land rates for this bar and restaurant that floats on the sea waters of Lamu Island in Kenya. People have lived here for over 700 years. Lamu Old Town is older than Zanzibar, and other settlements in East Africa where Bantu, Arabic, Persian, Indian, and European influences fused into the Swahili culture. The town, with its relatively well-preserved buildings and traditions, is now a UNESCO World Heritage site. The island’s natural beauty, history, culture, and popularity with tourists, are what led the bar and restaurant’s original owner to situate it right in the Indian Ocean canal that…

Feb

21

2024

By THOKO SIPUNGU

Women in South Africa’s armed struggle: new book records history at first hand

LITERATURE

SOUTH Africa’s young democracy was a culmination of years of sweat, blood and revolution against the apartheid regime. In the early 1960s, after decades of “non-violence” as a policy of resistance, the African National Congress (ANC) and Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) formed military wings to take the fight to the apartheid regime. THOKO SIPUNGU, Lecturer in Sociology, Rhodes University Based on the living record and popular discourse, it would be easy to assume that the struggle against apartheid was almost entirely the domain of men. But women played a crucial role – one which is only really coming to light…

Feb

20

2024

By The African Mirror

Nervous Conditions: on translating one of Zimbabwe’s most famous novels into Shona

LITERATURE

THE publishing journey of Zimbabwean writer and filmmaker Tsitsi Dangarembga’s Nervous Conditions wasn’t easy. Yet the novel is today considered by many as one of Africa’s 100 best books of the 20th century and is studied at universities around the world. TINASHE MUSHAKAVANHU, Junior Research Fellow, University of Oxford When she submitted the manuscript to publishing houses in Zimbabwe in the early 1980s, they all turned it down. Dangarembga felt at the time that it was “very difficult for men to accept the things that women write and want to write about: and the men (were) the publishers”. It was…

Feb

16

2024

By GBEMISOLA ESHO, BIRD STORY AGENCY

Omotunde Akiode is bringing joy to children. It’s what she always dreamed of

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

OMOTUNDE Akiode sits at her workstation in Lagos, appearing to doodle. To the occasional visitor, this may look like play but the result of the creative session will be a very real cartoon character, possibly for an acclaimed African cartoon series -- like Supa4. “I grew up watching Sesame Street, the Muppet show animations on television. I saw the vibrant colours, fluid movement, and captivating storytelling. It intrigued me, and I could not help but wonder how these enhancing worlds were created and dreaming of one day I could be the writer of those shows,” Akiode said. Akiode has always…

Feb

10

2024

By GIBSON NCUBE

Books: folklore and fantasy combine in Langabi, a supernatural historical epic from Zimbabwe

LITERATURE

IN 2023, award-winning Zimbabwean author Christopher Mlalazi published a new book, Langabi: Season of the Beast. He’s the author of novels like Running with Mother (2012), Dancing with Life: Tales from the Township (2012) and They are Coming (2014). His books grapple with diverse social and political issues in Zimbabwe. As a scholar of African literature, including speculative fiction, I have researched Mlalazi’s previous books, especially his depiction of the Gukurahundi Genocide in Zimbabwe. Langabi is a novel that draws on the storytelling of the Ndebele people to recount the tale of a young man who finds himself in a…