LIFESTYLE - The African Mirror

Dec

10

2020

Cellist Yo-Yo Ma offers ‘Songs of Comfort and Hope’ in duo album

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

ALICIA POWELL CELLIST Yo-Yo Ma and pianist Kathryn Stott have teamed up for the third time in "Songs of Comfort and Hope," dedicated to all the people who are going through tough times around the world. The album, coming out on Friday, starts by acknowledging the Black Lives Matter movement with "Ol' Man River." Other tracks include "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," "Moscow Nights," "Waltzing Matilda," and the South African lullaby, "Thula Baba." "All of these songs have specific meaning for people in different places," Ma said, noting that the coronavirus pandemic had been a global experience. "We're hoping that this…

Sep

23

2021

By The African Mirror

Book Review | Black and feminist in SA

LITERATURE

SINDI-LEIGH MCBRIDE SURFACING: On Being Black and Feminist in South Africa is a radiant presentation of the diversity of being a Black woman in South Africa. The book is aglow with the radical possibilities of art, activism and critical theory – easily illuminating diverse intellectual spaces, from divinity and dance to photography and philosophy. Ainhehi Edoro accurately described Surfacing as an “immersive experience” and “feminist utopia”, but it is also so much more than that – offering groundbreaking work. The editors – feminist theorist Desiree Lewis of the University of the Western Cape and poet and feminist scholar Gabeba Baderoon, who is based at Penn State University…

Dec

07

2020

By The African Mirror

Master KG wins ‘Best International Song’ award in France

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

MPHO RANTAO SOUTH AFRICAN hitmaker Master KG has added another award to his trophy case. Master KG has won the ‘Best International Song’ award at France’s NRJ Music Awards for his viral hit song ‘Jerusalema’. He beat out the USA’s Nicki Minaj, Jason Derulo, Black Eyed Peas and Britain’s Dua Lipa for the French award. The Limpopo-born South African DJ made the announcement on his Twitter account, thanking his fans and the NRJ for the achievement. https://twitter.com/masterkgsa/status/1335489212590796800 On the same weekend he also walked away with the Founder’s Recognition award at the 2020 South African Traditional Music Awards, for his…

Sep

21

2021

By The African Mirror

Healing through the written word

LITERATURE

TIYESE JERANJI, BIRD PICKING up the phone, Haroldene Tshienda greets with an infectious laugh. She is excited. Recently nominated for a continental award, she's about to collect an outfit she'll be wearing to an award ceremony in Johannesburg. This is a big deal for Tshienda and not just because of the recognition of her work. “I’m so excited because I will be flying out to Jo’burg to fetch 30 awards for me and the other authors that I have published. I will also perform there and announce the children’s awards,” she said of the event. Tshienda is not only a…

Dec

18

2020

By The African Mirror

In its portrayal of women, the classic South African novel Mhudi was ahead of its time

LITERATURE

SOLOMON T. Plaatje was born in 1876 and was one of the founding members of South Africa’s current ruling party, the African National Congress. JENNY BOZENA DU PREEZ, Nelson Mandela University He was a politician, intellectual, journalist and author of the seminal Native Life in South Africa. He was also a writer of fiction. His first and only novel, Mhudi, was written in 1920 and published a decade later. Despite being the first novel by a Black South African in English, it had little impact on the literary landscape of the country at the time. However, over the past century,…

Sep

20

2021

By The African Mirror

Nigeria to have its own ‘The Real Housewives’ reality series

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER THE ever-so-popular award-winning reality television series is making its way to the Nigerian capital for a new instalment of ‘The Real Housewives of Lagos’. Distributed internationally by NBCUniversal Formats, a division of Universal Studio Group, The Real Housewives of Lagos (RHOL) will be the first Nigerian instalment of the franchise, making it the third adaptation in Africa after The Real Housewives of Durban (RHOD) and The Real Housewives of Johannesburg (RHOJ). “We’ve seen audiences across Africa devour The Real Housewives of Johannesburg and The Real Housewives of Durban,” says Candice Fangueiro, Showmax’s head of content. The cast…

Jan

30

2021

By The African Mirror

Remembering Sibongile Khumalo, South Africa’s divine diva

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

CHRISTINE LUCIA, Extraordinary Professor, Stellenbosch University THE passing of Sibongile Khumalo at the far, far too young age of 63 was a body blow. Sibongile epitomised ‘the new South Africa’, as it was born and as it matured. She sang in every style – from Carmen to UShaka – with equal accuracy, generosity and joie de vivre, making everything ‘popular’ to millions of people without ever sacrificing vocal or musical professionalism. This was one of her greatest gifts, that she made a place for everyone with her voice, a golden, melting voice that made all, young and old, rich and…

Jan

29

2021

By The African Mirror

Iconic actress Cicely Tyson dies at 96

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER ELECTRIFYING Hollywood actress Cicely Tyson has died. Her death has sent a shockwave through the world of arts, as tributes pour in for the iconic actress, who portrayed roles that shattered the stereotypes of Hollywood-written black stories. Tyson’s manager, Larry Thompson, said working with the actress was a huge honour and blessing. “I have managed Miss Tyson’s career for over 40 years, and each year was a privilege and blessing,” Thompson said in a statement. “Cicely thought of her new memoir as a Christmas tree decorated with all the ornaments of her personal and professional life. Today…

Sep

15

2021

By The African Mirror

MET Gala 2021 presents: the dazzling and the bland

BEAUTY AND FASHION

MPHO RANTAO AFTER a year break due to the covid-19 pandemic, the MET Gala, society’s most anticipated social fashion event of the year, returned to New York’s Metropolitan Museum with one of their most ambiguous themes yet - ‘In America: A Lexicon of Fashion Part 1’. The 2021 edition of the gala evening was met with a mixture of haute dressed-to-the-nines; social-cultural movement themes; old Hollywood glamour. There were reimaginings of iconic American imagery, old Hollywood glamour and reimaginings of iconic American imagery like the Wild West. There were also risque barely-there looks; underwhelming and absent faces with whom fans…

Jan

29

2021

By The African Mirror

The joy of Steve McQueen’s ‘Small Axe’

LITERATURE

FRANTZ Fanon observed that in white-dominated societies, reason has a nasty habit of taking flight whenever Blacks enter the room. He joined WEB Du Bois in an additional observation: in societies saturated with the malediction of white supremacy, a form of double consciousness is imposed on the people once referred to as “negroes” and then “blacks”. That perspective involved Blacks seeing themselves from the negative gaze and rationalisations of anti-Black hatred. From that point of view, what were Blacks but, in Du Bois’ words, “problems”? Yet, Du Bois later learned that the resilience of a people in whose shoes most whites wouldn’t last a…