LIFESTYLE - The African Mirror

Mar

16

2023

This cowhorn luxury jewellery brand with a Bugandan name is going global

BEAUTY AND FASHION

CHARLES WACHIRA, BIRD STORY AGENCY WHAT would a vice president at SC Johnson Business School at Cornell University in the United States, an interior design ambassador in New York, and an associate professor at America's first research university, have in common? Wamwari Waichungo is Vice President for Global Safety Assessment and Regulatory Affairs at SC Johnson, Patti Carpenter is based in New York City and is global trend ambassador for Maison et Objet, a prominent French trade fair for interior design, while Marlene Williams is Associate Professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. The answer is that despite…

Feb

18

2023

By The African Mirror

Jean-Paul Zé Bella: the cunning Cameroonian soldier who became a global music legend

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

ONE of Cameroon’s most influential music stars – Jean-Paul Zé Bella – passed away on 15 January at the age of 71 after a battle against cancer. The singer and drummer was a founding member of the band Zangalewa and performed with it until he retired from the military. Part of the texture of Cameroonian popular culture, he continued making music until he fell ill. He lived an extraordinary life, from starting out as a lowly soldier to shaping the global hit song Waka Waka. We asked media studies professor Lyombe Eko to tell us more. Author LYOMBE EKO, Professor…

Mar

15

2023

By The African Mirror

The healing work of the social circus, Tamba Africa

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

TATENDA KANENGONI/ BIRD STORY AGENCY THE Tamba Africa Social Circus crew take turns applying paint strokes on each other's faces. When this is done, they huddle up, clasp each other's hands and bow their heads. Troupe leader, Tinotenda Makamure, looks each of them in the eye, carefully enunciating the words, "Remember who we are, where we come from, and what we are about to do." The circus is at the Madsoc Theatre in Lilongwe, Malawi, where in a few moments, they will walk out on stage to a fully packed auditorium to perform a healing dance chronicling the pain, sorrows…

Mar

14

2023

By The African Mirror

Costa Titch: the rising white South African rap star who embraced black hip-hop culture

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

RISING 28-year-old South African dancer and rapper Costa Titch (born Costa Tsobanoglou) died after collapsing on stage on 11 March while performing in Johannesburg. Costa Titch entered the entertainment world as a dancer with Cassper Nyovest, another South African hip-hop megastar, before trying his luck as a rapper, often dabbling in the country’s amapiano dance music genre. He had a huge hit with his track Big Flexa and was destined to shine bright on the country’s music scene. Author SANYA OSHA, Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Humanities in Africa, University of Cape Town Being white, Nelspruit-born Costa Titch brought new…

Mar

12

2023

By The African Mirror

Traditional wrestling in Senegal – much more than a sport, it keeps culture alive

LIFESTYLE

TRADITIONAL wrestling plays an important role in much of Senegalese society and is one of the country’s national sports. Traditional wrestling is mostly practised in rural areas where it’s not just a sport, it has a profound social and cultural role. It’s being overshadowed by a very popular, modern professional wrestling. A synthesis of boxing and traditional wrestling, these matches are massive social events. Author OUSMANE BA, chercheur, Université Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar It’s particularly important within the Joola community, in southern Senegal, and the Serer community in central Senegal. Together these communities make up about 18% of the…

Feb

16

2023

By The African Mirror

Invisible Trillions review: global capitalism operates beyond the rule of law and threatens democracy

LITERATURE

SECRECY has become as important for corporations as transparent and taxable profits used to be, according to Raymond W. Baker in his new book Invisible Trillions. Global capitalism, he argues, operates beyond the rule of law. This contributes to extreme inequality that threatens liberal democracy. Author JOHN J STREMLAU, Honorary Professor of International Relations, University of the Witwatersrand Deals in the financial secrecy system account for half of global economic operations. This is far beyond illicit transfers of funds through corporate under-pricing and overpricing of exports and imports, or the drug and other criminal networks 50 years ago. Tax havens,…

Feb

08

2023

By The African Mirror

New film Under the Hanging Tree examines how Namibia’s genocide lives on today

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

UNDER the Hanging Tree is a new film written, directed and produced by Perivi Katjavivi, a young, up-and-coming Namibian filmmaker. Despite two decades of gradual growth in the fledgling Namibian film industry, only about 20 features have been produced by the southern African country so far. Katjavivi’s efforts at writing, directing and producing are to be lauded. Under the Hangman’s Tree is his third feature and it premiered in the official selection of the prestigious International Film Festival Rotterdam. Katjavivi’s films offer political themes that reveal the dark underbelly of Namibian society. His narratives expose the devastating effects of colonialism,…

Mar

09

2023

By The African Mirror

Sex, intimacy and black middle-class Christianity in South Africa – a difficult history

LITERATURE

A new book, Convening Black Intimacy, explores the history of Christianity, gender and precolonial marriage and sex traditions in South Africa in the late 1800s and early 1900s. To conduct her study, historian Natasha Erlank drew on court records of cases of seduction, church records, anthropological texts, and many sources from black authors, including black newspapers and novels as well as songs sung by black women. What is clear is that black South Africans had loving, intimate relationships that they fought hard to maintain under the destruction brought about by colonialism and apartheid. We asked her more about her fascinating…

Mar

08

2023

By The African Mirror

Dance Me to the End of Time: South African film on death is a powerful celebration of life

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

IN her 2021 documentary Dance Me to the End of Time, South African filmmaker and educator Melanie Chait has produced a truly great film. Not only for the breadth of themes it broaches – from cancer to green activism, from lesbian love to arts therapy – but also for the intensity with which she deals with these themes. Author GIBSON NCUBE, Lecturer, Stellenbosch University One of the hallmarks of a great film is its ability to transport audiences; to hold their undivided attention and evoke deep emotions in them. The documentary does this, as it pieces together four years of…

Mar

06

2023

By The African Mirror

Chris Rock unleashes on Will Smith and wife Jada a year after Oscars slap

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

LISA RICHWINE A year after he was slapped on stage at the Academy Awards, Chris Rock hammered Will Smith and his wife in a comedy special streamed live around the world, joking that he enjoyed seeing the actor beaten in his latest film. Live on Netflix on Saturday from the Hippodrome Theatre in Baltimore, Rock said he had been watching slavery drama "Emancipation" just to see Smith "get whooped," cheering "hit him again" and "you missed a spot." In March 2022, Smith walked onto the Oscars stage and slapped Rock's face after the comedian made a joke about the appearance of…