LIFESTYLE - The African Mirror

Nov

23

2023

bird’s TenX Series: 10 Top African Female Afrobeats Stars

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

FEMALE artists are a major driver of the Afrobeats phenomenon, producing some of the top singles and collaborations that rank as the most-streamed Afrobeats hits, both on the continent and abroad. Their global recognition is aided by wins and mentions in the world's top music and entertainment awards. Afrobeats emerged in the late 1960s and primarily involved the fusion of a variety of West African music genres such as juju, highlife, fuji and Yoruba vocals, rhythms, and instrumentals. During this period, the music grew mostly on the continent and was primarily associated with two West African countries: Nigeria and Ghana.…

Nov

21

2023

By The African Mirror

Henri Lopes, the prime minister of Congo who became a famous novelist: behind the power of his writing

LITERATURE

“ON the other bank … that is where Henri Lopes now rests,” wrote novelist and journalist Nicolas Michel in a beautiful tribute to mark the passing of the celebrated Congolese author. It’s a reference, of course, to Lopes’ 1992 novel Sur l'autre Rive (On the Other Bank). JUDITH SINANGA-OHLMANN, Professor of French language, French and Francophone Literature, University of Windsor Indeed, how can we not imagine Lopes as the character Andélé from his 1990 novel Le Chercheur d’Afriques (The Researcher of Africa), who describes himself as a man “born between the waters”. Lopes, born to mixed ancestry, was a writer…

Nov

21

2023

By The African Mirror

Nkoli: The Vogue Opera – the making of a musical about a queer liberation activist in South Africa

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

THE history of South Africa’s struggle against apartheid (separatist white minority rule) is taught only through the broadest of brushstrokes in the country’s schools. So might music be a way to bring the story of one anti-apartheid activist alive for a new generation? And when that activist is a Black gay man, Simon Nkoli (1957-1998), how do you reclaim his story from the stereotypes all of those labels potentially carry? GWEN ANSELL, Associate of the Gordon Institute for Business Science, University of Pretoria Those were the challenges facing South African composer Philip Miller when he began work on what became…

Nov

18

2023

By BONFACE ORUCHO, BIRD STORY AGENCY

Ethiopian artist scores a second record art sale

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

ETHIOPIAN artist Julie Mehretu has yet again set a new record for an African-born artist's highest sale price for a painting at auction. According to Art Newspaper, Mehretu’s work, ‘'Walkers with the Dawn and Morning', sold for US$10.38 million at the Now Evening Auction in New York on November 15. Sotheby’s auction website describes 'Walkers with the Dawn and Morning' as "an expansive celebration of black perseverance post-Hurricane Katrina, swirling with dense layers, choreographed linework, and hints of bright colour in a deep, tonal sea.” According to Lucius Elliot, the head of the Now Evening Sale Auction, the painting possesses…

Nov

15

2023

By BONFACE ORUCHO, BIRD STORY AGENCY

Afrobeats dominate the 2024 GRAMMY nominations

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

NIGERIAN artists are taking the spotlight in the upcoming 2024 GRAMMYs, dominating the inaugural 'Best African Music Performance' category. The new category, announced in August, is one of three new category additions aimed at making the GRAMMY Awards process "more fair, transparent and accurate," according to Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. An uproar over unfair allocations of spots in past awards for African artists compelled the inclusion of this category. The new category has seen household names in the Afrobeats world dominate nominations for what is set to be a historical award. Asake, known for his charismatic stage presence,…

Nov

13

2023

By DANIEL TROTTA

SZA tops Grammy nominations in a year made for women and ‘Barbie’

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

VERSATILE recording artist SZA led this year's Grammy Award nominations with nine, coming in ahead of industry heavyweights Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus and Billie Eilish, in a year made for women artists and the movie blockbuster "Barbie." The winners will be announced at the awards ceremony on February 4. The 34-year-old SZA, born Solána Imani Rowe, snagged nominations for album of the year with "SOS" and record of the year and song of the year for "Kill Bill," while being shortlisted in multiple genres including pop, melodic rap and both progressive and traditional R&B. The song "Kill Bill," also nominated…

Nov

13

2023

By BIRD STORY AGENCY

Video: Award-winning sculptor gives modern voice to a tradition of Great Zimbabwe

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT, MULTIMEDIA

ARMED with a small hammer and chisel, Dominic Benhura – a renowned Zimbabwean stone sculptor – meticulously carves a towering figure of a life-size animal from a piece of serpentine stone. As he chisels delicately, bits and pieces of sharp greyish stone fragments fall off to the ground, and a figure of a bison slowly takes shape. For him, sculpture is the ultimate reflection of physical reality, and one does not need to be a connoisseur to appreciate his dynamic art. "I started sculpting when I was four or five years [old] whilst moulding clay while herding cattle. But with…

Nov

12

2023

By SETH ONYANGO AND BONFACE ORUCHO, BIRD STORY AGENCY

Africa’s creatives converge in Nairobi

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

NAIROBI'S skies, a canvas of moody grays, occasionally part to let the sun toss a warming glance at the vibrant city below. This is the backdrop for a gathering of some of the continent’s most creative minds as Nairobi this week hosted the inaugural Africa No Filter Summit. Here, journalists, content creators, filmmakers, and a kaleidoscope of creatives convened armed with the power of multiple approaches seeking to drive alternative narratives seeking to redefine Africa's global image. Themed #AsWeAre, the summit was more than an event; rather, a movement celebrating the rich, nuanced stories of Africa. According to Moky Makura,…

Nov

11

2023

By The African Mirror

Nyege Nyege music festival in Uganda continues despite terror warnings – and with less pressure from morality police

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

FIRST staged in 2015, the globally touted Nyege Nyege Festival in Uganda is an annual four-day dance party featuring hundreds of deejays. It’s also a major tourism drawcard that caters to 15,000-odd lovers of electronic dance music. However, Nyege Nyege is most often in the headlines for creating controversy. Last year the event, the first after a three-year break due to COVID-19, nearly didn’t happen. Uganda’s parliament banned it – and not for the first time – on the grounds that it promoted “sexual immorality”. Eventually, the prime minister gave it the go-ahead. This year the festival, being held at…

Nov

11

2023

By The African Mirror

Kora: in search of the origins of west Africa’s famed stringed musical instrument

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

“HOW come we’ve never heard of this beautiful instrument until now?” This was posted by a first-year college student to my world music course discussion board recently. He voiced what many of his peers probably felt after watching the extraordinary documentary Ballaké Sissoko, Kora Tales. The film, available for free online, follows Sissoko, a world-class musical artist, from his home in Bamako, Mali to a sacred well and baobab tree in The Gambia on the Atlantic coast. In the film, the award-winning Sissoko revisits his childhood homeland and traces the origins of the instrument that became his destiny. ERIC CHARRY,…