LIFESTYLE - The African Mirror

Feb

19

2021

Rising star Blue Ivy Carter steals show

BEAUTY AND FASHION

MPHO RANTAO BLUE Ivy Carter has stolen the spotlight from her mother Beyoncé. Ahead of the near release of Beyoncé’s third collection with Adidas, nine-year-old Blue Ivy appeared in one of Ivy Park’s latest video campaign for her mother’s #icypark collection - a capsule of looks inspired by the icy winter slopes of the northern hemisphere. Blue Ivy appeared alongside her mother in two outfits, the print outer jacket and sweats and dancing and swinging her silk pressed hair in a printed brown cropped jacket with brown faux leather pants and trainers while wearing a mask. Blue Ivy and rapper…

Jul

31

2021

By The African Mirror

S.Africa’s Ster-Kinekor bets on drive-in cinema under the stars

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

NQOBILE DLUDLA UNDER the stars of the South African night, the movie-goers who used to throng a cinema among the shops of Johannesburg's Sandton City mall, have since the pandemic watched the latest releases from a big screen in a rooftop car park. Drive-in movies are enjoying a revival in many parts of the world, but for South Africa, the stakes are higher because of a slow COVID-19 vaccine rollout that makes a return to normality especially hard and leaves more businesses facing the risk of closure. Ster-Kinekor, Africa's largest cinema group, is betting on the format to win back…

Jul

30

2021

By The African Mirror

Adichie and Emezi: ignore the noise, pay attention to the conversation

LITERATURE

THE recent media furore surrounding the “feud” between the celebrated Nigeria-born African diaspora writers Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Akwaeke Emezi conflates issues too easily. ARETHA PHIRI, Associate Professor, Department of Literary Studies in English, Rhodes University The very public disagreement began when Adichie presented her views on transgender women – or transwomen – in an interview in 2017. Rather than affirm their status as women, Adichie stated that “transwomen are transwomen”. Emezi, once mentored by Adichie, responded with hurt and anger amid accusations that Adichie is transphobic – prejudiced against transgender people. The latest public disagreement between them on the…

Jul

30

2021

By The African Mirror

Ola Rotimi: the enduring influence of a Nigerian theatre giant

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

TWENTY years after his death, the Nigerian dramatist Ola Rotimi is attracting renewed interest. San Diego State University hosted a webinar in April 2021 where the affection and reverence for the playwright were clear. Another webinar was held in his honour in August 2020 at Bowen University in Nigeria. SANYA OSHA, Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Humanities in Africa, University of Cape Town The appeal of Rotimi’s theatrical practice and vision is that they are based on his infectious humanism, conviviality and reciprocity. The playwright, director and scholar was born in Sapele, Nigeria, in 1938 and passed away in 2000.…

Feb

18

2021

By The African Mirror

Rihanna faces backlash over Hindu goddess disrespect

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER RIHANNA has been called out by the Hindu community online over an image that the singer posted on Instagram, which shows her culturally appropriating a sacred Hindu god. Rihanna posted a topless image of herself wearing silk shorts from her Savage x Fenty lingerie line and jewellery which included a beaded necklace that falls between her bust, showing the small sculpture of the elephant-headed Hindu god of beginnings, Lord Ganesha (also called Ganesh). View this post on Instagram A post shared by badgalriri (@badgalriri) As a caption, she wrote: "when @popcaanmusic said 'me nuh wan ya wear…

Feb

18

2021

By The African Mirror

Angelina Jolie covers March edition of Vogue UK

BEAUTY AND FASHION

MPHO RANTAO ANGELINA Jolie graces the covers of British Vogue in an effortless manner, ageing finely as she posed in a Dior trench coat with one of her scripts in her hand during a photo shoot that was done at her Los Angeles home. Jolie is posed on two covers shot by Craig McDean, wearing a Max Mara trench coat and skirt with Ralph Lauren shoes on the first, and wearing matching black turtleneck and pants with ballet flats while surrounded by her dogs on the second cover. Angelina Jolie’s first cover. Picture: Instagram/Vogueuk Styled and interviewed by the magazine's…

Jul

29

2021

By The African Mirror

The story of an African children’s book that explains the science of skin colour

LITERATURE

SKIN We Are In is a landmark South African book for children (and grown-ups) on the subject of skin colour. Published in 2018, it was co-authored by an artist and a scientist, both South African luminaries – the author Sindiwe Magona and the anthropologist and palaeobiologist Nina Jablonski. Here they talk about how – and why – the book came about. NINA G. JABLONSKI, Evan Pugh University Professor of Anthropology, Penn State I had found, in the course of my work, that people knew its social significance, but they didn’t understand it. Many were convinced that there was a genetic…

Feb

16

2021

By The African Mirror

Celebrity Somizi good for business

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER A collaboration with mega South African influencer and celebrity Somizi Mhlongo-Motaung has become an instant boost to the business of entrepreneur Theo Baloyi, the brains behind the local shoe brand Bathu. Barely 24 hours after the launch of a specially designed shoe for Somizi - BathuXSomizi - Bathu sold over 30 pairs. The buyers were Somizi’s friends. And the celebrity took to social media to celebrate the purchase. “Friends like this are a blessing … two of my close friends just bought 30 and 10 pairs of my #bathuxsomizi pairs for their staff members... at full price...sneakers…

Feb

16

2021

By The African Mirror

Aliens in Lagos: sci-fi novel Lagoon offers a bold new future

LITERATURE

IN his satirical essay How to Write About Africa, the late Kenyan writer and journalist Binyavanga Wainaina advocated for a rethinking of clichéd and stereotypical representations of the continent. Wainaina was in favour of looking beyond the despair that has plagued and continues to plague Africa. GIBSON NCUBE, Associate Professor, University of Zimbabwe African science fiction is a literary genre which tries to imagine utopic futures of the continent. Nigerian-American novelist Nnedi Okorafor calls her brand of sci-fi “Africanfuturism”. She explains in her blog that Africanfuturism is “concerned with visions of the future” and that “it’s less concerned with ‘what…

Jul

27

2021

By The African Mirror

Building an art gallery in the midst of war in Zimbabwe

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

AFTER being disenchanted with his work as a detective inspector in Rhodesia’s British South Africa Police, Derek Huggins quit his job and in 1975 decided to open an art gallery. The venture, Gallery Delta, is now an important institution in Zimbabwe’s art history. His partner and collaborator was his wife, Helen Lieros, a talented artist in her own right. In a documentary, Art for Art’s Sake: The Story of Gallery Delta, released in June 2020, Huggins explained: While we knew that a tiny gallery of three rooms in the midst of conflict and war and sanctions would not make a…