LIFESTYLE - The African Mirror

Mar

25

2021

Thebe Magugu featured at NYC’s MET Museum

BEAUTY AND FASHION

MPHO RANTAO THEBE Magugu’s success continues to shine in the global fashion spotlight. The South African fashion designer announced on his Instagram that one of his pieces, ‘Girl Seeks Girl‘ from his Autumn/Winter ‘18 HOME ECONOMICS collection, had been selected to be displayed in New York City. Magugu made history with one of his fashion pieces being acquired by the prestigious Costume Institute at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (Commonly known as The MET). The award-winning designer explained in his post that ‘Girl Seeks Girl’ was a collaborative piece created by him and artist Phathu Nembwili, who…

Mar

23

2021

By The African Mirror

Siya and Rachel Kolisi recreate their wedding photo

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER SOUTH African rugby captain Siya Kolisi had fans swooning and cheering with his and Rachel Kolisi’s message of love. Kolisi posted an image on Instagram of the couple posing in front of a warehouse and recreating their kiss from their wedding ceremony four years ago. The couple married in Cape Town when Kolisi was still playing for the Stormers. He captioned the romantic image: “I do Again and Again! You may kiss the bride @thatcapetownkid @fombrand." View this post on Instagram A post shared by Siya Kolisi (@siya_kolisi_the_bear) His fans quickly took to the comment to share…

Mar

24

2021

By The African Mirror

Why Grammy win marks ‘big moment’ for African music

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

ALEXIS AKWAGYIRAM and ANGELA UKOMADU MODERN African music is altering perceptions of the continent as part of a global cultural shift that marks a "big moment", Nigerian music artist Burna Boy told Reuters after hailing his first Grammy award. Burna Boy was awarded a Grammy for the Best Global Music Album this month for 'Twice As Tall' which was released last year. He is part of a generation of Nigerian music artists, which include Wizkid and Davido, that has enjoyed global success in recent years as proponents of the Afrobeats sound. The African genre is now almost as likely to…

Mar

31

2021

By The African Mirror

Lukhanyo Mdingi semi-finalist for LVMH 2021

BEAUTY AND FASHION

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER LVMH have shortlisted another South African designer for their 2021 award for a third straight year. Lukhanyo Mdingi has been named as a semi-finalist for the prestigious 2021 fashion prize that has assisted many successful fashion designers to create longevity brands that are worn across the world, including Jaquemus; Virgil Abloh, Grace Wales Bonner and Kozaburo Akasaka. Previous winners of the LVMH prize from South Africa include 2019 winner Thebe Magugu, and 2020 winner Sindiso Khumalo, who shared the award with seven other designers from across the world. Previous winners Thebe Magugu (left) and Sindiso Khumalo (right).…

Mar

31

2021

By The African Mirror

Usher’s moves to amapiano drives fans crazy

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER USHER has lit up social media with his crazy dance moves to amapiano. The 'Yeah' singer went viral on Twitter and Instagram when South African fans noticed that the singer’s post on Instagram featured a popular amapiano song called ‘Sponono’ by DJs Kabza De Small and Maphorisa. The video showed Usher dressed in a vibrant Versace outfit while dancing to ‘Sponono’ for a magazine shoot for European fashion magazine L’Officiel Hommes Italia. Amapiano is a hybrid of deep house, jazz and lounge music characterized by high-pitched piano melodies, percussions, Kwaito bassline and low tempo 90s South African…

Mar

29

2021

By The African Mirror

Nawal El Saadawi: Egypt’s grand novelist, physician and global activist

LITERATURE

EGYPTIAN novelist, physician, sociologist and global activist Nawal El Saadawi died on 21 March 2021 at the age of 89. The author of more than 50 books, she told me in one of our many interviews, in 2007, that she self-identified as an African from Egypt, not from the Middle East … I am not from the third world. There is one world, that is a racist, capitalist economic world. I became a feminist when I was a child – when I started to ask questions to become aware that women are oppressed and feel discrimination. ADELE NEWSON-HORST, Morgan State…

Mar

26

2021

By The African Mirror

Artist tackles politics, pandemic with paint

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

NELLIE PEYTON and NGOUDA DIONE WHEN Senegal erupted in violent protests this month over perceived injustice and inequality, artist Omar Ba was tackling the issues in his own way, with paint on canvas. "What the youth are doing in the streets is the same thing I'm doing in my studio," said Ba, stepping in black paint and making footprints on a new canvas in his airy workspace outside the capital, Dakar. Ba, one of Senegal's best-known contemporary artists, has often used his art to make political statements. A current exhibit at the Galerie Templon in Brussels, 'Anomalies', critiques power-hungry leaders…

Jul

24

2020

By The African Mirror

Dennis Brutus: South African literary giant who was reluctant to tell his life story

LITERATURE

TYRONE AUGUST, Research fellow, Stellenbosch University THIS is an edited extract from a new biography about Dennis Brutus, the anti-apartheid activist, poet and author. Brutus died in 2009. The extract records Brutus’s reluctance to write about his life when he was still alive. But as Tyrone August, author of the biography, writes, it was inevitable that his life story would eventually be told: “Brutus’s life is woven far too deeply into the fabric of the recent history of South Africa.” Dennis Brutus, the South African poet and veteran anti-apartheid activist, lived in Port Elizabeth, in the Eastern Cape, during the…

Jul

22

2020

By The African Mirror

Book Review | The ANC Spy Bible

LITERATURE

JOVIAL RANTAO It’s very rare that an intelligence operative - past or present - unmasks themselves and unveils the going-ons in the dark, cloak and dagger lives of spies. Veteran intelligence operative and political activist Mo Shaik has done this and did it with insight and grace. Shaik’s memoir - The ANC Spy Bible - reads like a true spy thriller, full of intrigue, espionage and the dangers associated with the underground life in intelligence. It is rich in detail about his individual involvement in the ANC intelligence structures and their role in the struggle against apartheid. The book traces…

Jul

18

2020

By The African Mirror

Linton Kwesi Johnson gave poetry back to the people

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

PERCY ZVOMUYA The dub poet Linton Kwesi Johnson, this year’s recipient of the PEN Pinter Prize, is the third consecutive black winner of the gong instituted in memory of Nobel-winning playwright Harold Pinter. Johnson, popularly known as LKJ, follows in the wake of British poet Lemn Sissay (2019) and Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (2018). It’s no exaggeration that LKJ, who went to Britain from Jamaica at the age of 11 to follow his mother, part of the Windrush generation, did more than most to make black “cool” in Britain and beyond. In his music and poetry, he not only…