LIFESTYLE - The African Mirror

Mar

22

2023

Calm Down: how a Nigerian singer and a Cameroonian dancer inspired a powerful protest in Iran

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

ON 8 March 2023, five teenage girls uploaded on social media a video of themselves performing the Calm Down Dance Challenge. This is the choreography for the first verse of the Afrobeats hit Calm Down by Nigerian singer Rema (Divine Ikubor). Author ANANYA JAHANARA KABIR, Professor of English Literature, King's College London The girls were following people across the world who’ve made this dance challenge go viral for over a year by uploading videos of themselves dancing to it. With one difference, though: they were dancing in Iran, where it is forbidden to dance in public, especially without the mandatory…

Mar

21

2023

By The African Mirror

Gloria Bosman was more than a South African jazz vocalist, she was a guiding light

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

THE immediate public reaction to the death of Gloria Bosman from a short respiratory illness on 14 March 2023 was shocked disbelief. The multiple award-winning South African jazz vocalist, composer and teacher was only 50. She had just launched a new album, Live, her first in a dozen years, and was on the eve of a promotional tour. Author GWEN ANSELL, Associate of the Gordon Institute for Business Science, University of Pretoria Warm tributes followed, from family, friends and industry colleagues, and from a whole generation of singers for whom – directly and indirectly – she had served as a…

Mar

16

2023

By The African Mirror

Walid Kilonzi is telling the African story with virtual reality

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

BIRD STORY AGENCY YOU find yourself on the second highest peak in eastern Kenya, in the thick of the Iveti forest, with its famed cedar and pine trees. Near the top of a rise, you come upon the famous 'miti muonza', the seven trees that have stood there for over eight decades. With a move of your head, you leave the forest and are transported to the inside of a workshop, where woodcarvers are busy at work. After appreciating the finished bags, baskets, wood, and stone carving designs on display at the over-50-year-old Wamunyu Handcrafts, you can choose to go…

Mar

16

2023

By The African Mirror

The true taste of Chamarel: Colours, flavours, music and history

LIFESTYLE

JACQUES ACHILLES FOR BIRD STORY AGENCY WHEN we hear Mauritius, we imagine clear warm coloured blue turquoise waters and endless white beaches—a true picture, of course, but an incomplete one. The country has much more to offer. The true Mauritian experience possibly lies on the road to Chamarel. Located halfway between the upper lands and the coastal region and surrounded by rivers, mountains, forests, sugar cane and pineapple fields is Chamarel- a village in the southwestern part of Mauritius. Unlike many Mauritian villages, which sacrificed their cultures and structures at the altar of 'responding to tourists' needs,' Chamarel refused to…

Mar

16

2023

By The African Mirror

In conversation with National Geographic’s Vice President, Storytelling: On Africans telling African conservation stories

LIFESTYLE

BIRD STORY AGENCY IN 2017, two South African National Geographic Explorers and filmmakers, Noel Kok and Pragna Parsotam-Kok created the Nature, Environment and Wildlife Filmmakers (NEWF), which empowers Africa's next generation of storytellers to promote conservation through film. "We are building an army of young, inspired producers, directors, cinematographers, composers, and writers all across Africa, focusing on storytelling in environment and wildlife. The reason we are doing this to meet the opportunities that exist within the industry for our fellows to become part of the crews, so the stories of Africa are told from the perspective of Africans," said Noel…

Mar

02

2023

By The African Mirror

From Chinua Achebe to Toyin Falola – 5 essential books Nigeria’s new president should read

LITERATURE

NOT many African political leaders are known to have publicly declared their love of reading. US President Barack Obama popularised the idea of a recommended reading list and he still shares his annual choice. Author OLAYINKA OYEGBILE, Journalist and Communications scholar, Trinity University, Lagos As a communications scholar and a book reviewer, I made a short list of essential reads for Nigeria’s new president. My selection of books is based on what a new president needs to know when he takes the reins of a deeply divided and disillusioned country. Nigeria has many problems. Disunity deepened under the Muhammadu Buhari…

Mar

01

2023

By The African Mirror

How a vegan restaurant in Senegal is finding its footing in a meat-and fish-loving country

LIFESTYLE, FOOD

MARIA KNODT, BIRD STORY AGENCY FRESHLY painted on the front of a bright, yellow-and-green building nestled between several restaurants on Pointe des Almadies, the westernmost point of the African continent, is the slogan 'The Future is Green', The sign is large enough to be read from far down the Pointe - which offers stunning views of the Atlantic Ocean - ensuring patrons can easily find their way to Senegal's first and only fully vegan restaurant, Casa Teranga. Staff at the restaurant serve customers five to six vegan dishes, daily. These include local specialities like Mafe and Yassa. But instead of…

Feb

25

2023

By The African Mirror

Nigeria elections: the surprising influence of Afrobeats music on politics

LIFESTYLE, ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

IN the run-up to Nigeria’s February 2023 elections, the country’s younger generation has mobilised to demand change and redefine the political landscape – and music has been pivotal. Despite being dismissed by several political commentators, Nigeria’s younger generations have shifted the former two-party liberal electoral democratic competition between the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) and the prominent People’s Democratic Party (PDP). This is due to their overwhelming support for Labour Party candidate, Peter Obi. Author EKA IKPE, Reader, Development Economics in Africa and Director, African Leadership Centre, King's College London The use of music in campaigning for these elections shows…

Feb

25

2023

By The African Mirror

South African rapper AKA’s murder video went viral – it shouldn’t have

LIFESTYLE, ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

IN the days after the killing of rapper Kiernan Jarryd Forbe, known as AKA, and his friend Tebello “Tibz” Motoane, the murders kept playing out on social media. Again and again, leaked CCTV footage of the two being gunned down was viewed and shared – some 490,000 times in the version of just one Twitter account. Author FRANZ KRÜGER, Associate researcher, University of the Witwatersrand The explosive viral spread of the grainy but dramatic footage shows the limits of mainstream media ethics. Beyond the reach of press and broadcast codes and complaints mechanisms, social media platforms are driven by algorithms…

Feb

21

2023

By The African Mirror

Fences: August Wilson’s play powerfully affirms the value and struggles of black life

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

FENCES, a creative examination of a black family’s experience, is one of the most frequently performed plays in the US. It was first developed in 1983 by celebrated African American dramatist August Wilson, becoming a successful Broadway production in 1987. Wilson was born in 1945 in a poor district of Pittsburgh; he died in 2005. A pathbreaking force in shaping African American drama, he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for both Fences (1987) and The Piano Lesson (1990). Fences became an acclaimed Hollywood film in 2016. Author MERLE A. WILLIAMS, Professor Emerita of English and Research Associate of the African…