LIFESTYLE - The African Mirror

Mar

30

2026

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

27

2026

By STACEY KAKEA, BIRD STORY AGENCY

How a “Digital Chef” is changing the culinary game

FOOD

THE heavy, sweet scent of marinated chicken sizzling on a barbecue grill signals the start of the MeatUp Fest in Limuru, Kenya. At the centre of a spiral of smoke is 27-year-old Sarah Sandra, known to thousands of her digital followers as “Chef Sandie Burnie." She moves with practised focus, religiously coating each piece of meat with the precision of someone who knows that in the world of "low and slow" barbecue, patience is the ultimate ingredient. Sandra isn’t wearing the starched white apron of a high-end kitchen, nor is she waiting for any head chef’s orders. Instead, she is…

Mar

27

2026

By BARBARA BOSWELL

Diana Ferrus: the South African poet whose words reclaimed history

LIFESTYLE

SOUTH African poet, storyteller, publisher, editor and activist Diana Ferrus (1953-2026) received a provincial funeral when she passed on 30 January. Ferrus came to embody the resilience of women writing about identity and belonging in the face of colonial oppression and of apartheid (white minority rule) in her country. Barbara Boswell is an author and feminist literary scholar who researches black women writers in South Africa and has published a number of peer-reviewed articles on Ferrus’s poetry. We asked her to share her insights about her friend. Who was Diana Ferrus? Diana Ferrus was a writer and cultural icon who…

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

17

2026

By MIKI FLOCKEMANN

Memory is not to be trusted: a South African memoir traces the search for a family secret

LITERATURE

SOUTH AFRICAN-BORN literary scholar Dennis Walder recently published an evocative life story called Amid the Alien Corn: A Son’s Memoir. In it, he tracks how, even as a child, he became aware that his mother Ruth was withholding something of herself and her past from him. This disquiet comes to a head after her death. The book paints a rich and entertaining description of Walder’s childhood and young adulthood. He grew up near Cape Town in the 1940s and 1950s with his Namibian-born, German-speaking mother and estranged Swiss-born father. But, as you read, this shifts to a single-minded quest to…

Mar

16

2026

By The African Mirror

The voice that would not be silenced

CULTURE

DAWN had not yet broken over the lagoon villages of southern Ivory Coast when the drum spoke. Its voice - a low, rolling thunder that radiated outward through the tall grass, through sleeping households, through the morning mist - was not music. It was an alarm. It was a command. It was, depending on the moment, a matter of life and death. For the Atchan people, indigenous to what the French would later name Côte d'Ivoire, the Djidji Ayokwè - the Panther-Lion - was never merely an instrument. Stretching more than three metres in length and weighing nearly 400 kilograms,…

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…