Once upon a time, I met a girl in a Lagos nightclub. She was a dancer. Her body was slim but spritely; her steps were lithe and nimble. Her laughter was like Lagos traffic at 4PM on a Monday, and when she wasn’t weaving gestures through the air, between the spindly fingers of her right hand dangled a thin Benson & Hedges, while the other was loosely draped over the armrest of the sofa. Later that night, in more intimate settings, I got to know she was a resident at The Shrine, one of Fela’s...
Once upon a time, I met a girl in a Lagos nightclub. She was a dancer. Her body was slim but spritely; her steps were lithe and nimble. Her laughter was...
We’re thrilled to announce that the Board of our foundation has secured the vital, energetic and committed input of four new members. We welcome Ayò Adéné , a Public Health expert, writer and regular contributor to our magazine, Angelique Mbundu , artistic director of the iAfrica Filmfestival and managing partner in Mbundu International, Maria Kint , consultant in arts & culture and former anti-apartheid activist and Dr. Margriet van der Waal , professor by special appointment of South African...
We’re thrilled to announce that the Board of our foundation has secured the vital, energetic and committed input of four new members. We welcome Ayò...
The winner of the 2018 Principal Prince Claus Award transfers hairdressers, immigrants and ‘bornfrees’ from Johannesburg to Lagos Photo. The Market Photo Workshop was established in the final years of apartheid to make visual literacy and the craft of photography available to all population groups. At a time when the movement of black people was severely restricted, renowned South African photographer David Goldblatt (1930-2018) set up the Market Photo Workshop to provide photographic training and...
The winner of the 2018 Principal Prince Claus Award transfers hairdressers, immigrants and ‘bornfrees’ from Johannesburg to Lagos Photo. The Market Photo...
‘Zij is een vreemd land’ van de Eritrees-Ethiopische schrijver Saleh Addonia maakt deel uit van deze prachtige selectie van proza en poëzie. Annelies Verbeke, die met de Liberiaans-Nederlandse schrijver Vamba Sherif, de bundel samenstelde, vertelt in een introductie hoe schrijver Sulaiman Addonia haar op het ‘onheilspellende’ verhaal van zijn broer attendeerde. “Toen ik hem over het Afrika-nummer van Terras vertelde, wees Sulaiman me enthousiast op Lei è un altro paese , de verhalenbundel van zijn...
‘Zij is een vreemd land’ van de Eritrees-Ethiopische schrijver Saleh Addonia maakt deel uit van deze prachtige selectie van proza en poëzie. Annelies...
The success of the film Black Panther was a sensation and also made the star of the Nigerian-American science fiction author Nnedi Okorafor rise. She writes for Marvel comic books, on which the film was based, and is working on a story-line with the elite corps of female fighters of the fictional kingdom of Wakanda in the leading role. Recently, at the Aké Arts and Book Festival in the Nigerian metropolis of Lagos, Okorafor stated: “It is really a Hollywood film, but I see it as the beginning of...
The success of the film Black Panther was a sensation and also made the star of the Nigerian-American science fiction author Nnedi Okorafor rise. She...
Your project, The Network, is a behind-the-scenes look at the Ugandan Nation Broadcasting Services (NBS). Did you encounter any resistance in turning your camera onto the cameras, or behind the cameras? Stuart: “No, I didn’t. I started interning with NBS in 2017 and I developed my project idea while working in the Digital Marketing department of the station, so I was a part of the team and everyone already knew me. My face and my presence as a photographer was familiar to my colleagues and they...
Your project, The Network, is a behind-the-scenes look at the Ugandan Nation Broadcasting Services (NBS). Did you encounter any resistance in turning...
With marches and rallies, sports boycotts and sanctions many Australians once participated in the international solidarity movement against Apartheid. An exhibition in Cape Town showcases a history more relevant than ever. There was excitement and huge support. There were challenges and failures. One needed a long breath before succeeding and winning the hearts and minds of many people. As in many countries in the Western world, racism is deeply rooted in Australian society. But when activists rose...
With marches and rallies, sports boycotts and sanctions many Australians once participated in the international solidarity movement against Apartheid. An...
The system of racial segregation in South Africa wasn’t simply black and white. There were more categories and subdivisions. In 1951, the Apartheid authorities issued Proclamation 73. It categorised Indians as a subdivision of people racialised as coloured. This further complicates the assigning of racial categories under the white minority regime. Inspired by their own family histories, Zara Julius and Chandra Frank set out to collect family photographs of everyday, lived experience. These are...
The system of racial segregation in South Africa wasn’t simply black and white. There were more categories and subdivisions. In 1951, the Apartheid...
Meet Adam Belarouchia, current resident at the Thami Mnyele Studio in Amsterdam. This young artist from Morocco has received awards since his studies at the Institute of Fine Arts in Tetouan. Image: © Adam Belarouchia For his work Ana hna (I am here) he received the Grand Prix Aïcha de l’Animation . Adam continued to study the comic and animation track in Tetouan. His views on education and the urban culture of Morocco are visible in his final examination: a short comic book about a boy who tried...
Meet Adam Belarouchia, current resident at the Thami Mnyele Studio in Amsterdam. This young artist from Morocco has received awards since his studies at...
T-shirts, donated by international do-gooders, feature in Roxo’s exhibitions The Hands that Feed You and Objects in Transit . How do the t-shirts illustrate the relationship between Africa and countries with 'interests' in Africa that your work interrogates? The t-shirts are sourced and selected from ‘informal’ markets in Maputo. Locally, the t-shirts are called 'Calamidades' — directly translated from Portuguese as ‘Calamities’ given that they have come to represent the humanitarian aid agencies...
T-shirts, donated by international do-gooders, feature in Roxo’s exhibitions The Hands that Feed You and Objects in Transit . How do the t-shirts...
The first time I questioned gender norms, was watching Dame Julie Andrews as she switched roles in 'Victor, Victoria'. I must have been about 8 years old, and more than the movie itself, what I remember was having my heart in my mouth, and hoping, for her sake, she wouldn’t get found out. Today feminism is in its fourth global wave, and its #metoo iteration is the most powerful social agenda of our time. Its leading voices in the West have won landmark victories against sexual harassment and...
The first time I questioned gender norms, was watching Dame Julie Andrews as she switched roles in 'Victor, Victoria'. I must have been about 8 years...
In her book In Praise of Blood , Canadian author Judi Rever controversially claims that not one, but two genocides were committed in Rwanda in 1994.[1] The first genocide nearly wiped out the Tutsi minority. A second one, secretly committed by the Tutsi dominated Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), allegedly targeted the Hutu majority. It’s a sensational story, but how well does it fit with reality? How well researched is it? Smokescreen Although Rever’s book is promoted as a ground-breaking piece of...
In her book In Praise of Blood , Canadian author Judi Rever controversially claims that not one, but two genocides were committed in Rwanda in 1994.[1]...
It was the good old days, and I was a small boy smothered by the smorgasbord of sensations symbolic of the age of wonder. Then one evening, as Mum and I sat watching Frank Olize's Newsline on NTA, his guest spoke about herbs, and said she had found we could even drink our own urine, because it contains vital natural ingredients for our immunity. And, to prove her point, she had a bottle of her own urine, and there on live TV, she took a sip. "Ewww!" Mummy said. I just opened my eyes like an...
It was the good old days, and I was a small boy smothered by the smorgasbord of sensations symbolic of the age of wonder. Then one evening, as Mum and I...
The Contemporary African Photography Prize is open for entries to its eighth edition. The prize is directed at photographers whose work engages with the African continent or its diaspora. The five winning entries will be showcased in a series of exhibitions produced in collaboration with major photography festivals in Africa and the rest of the world with the aim of raising the profile of African photography. The CAP Prize aims to raise the profile of African photography within the arts and to...
The Contemporary African Photography Prize is open for entries to its eighth edition. The prize is directed at photographers whose work engages with the...
Kirina is a poetic narrative on the genesis of a new world. Serge Aimé Coulibaly has taken metaphors for the human condition found in the mythical story of the Battle of Kirina and turned them into a choreography in which he invites us to reflect. While unfolding this story from the collective memory of West Africa, he makes us think about movements, absurdity, the feeling of abandonment, the search for meaning and the promise of new horizons. Kirina was the place where Sundiata Keita defeated the...
Kirina is a poetic narrative on the genesis of a new world. Serge Aimé Coulibaly has taken metaphors for the human condition found in the mythical story...
Resolution — MA Moving Image is a two-year master programme committed to the future of the moving image. It is the sequel to current Temporary Programme Shadow Channel: Film, Design and Propaganda (2017-2019). In a period of two years, you will meet a multitude of artists, academics and activists, working at the intersection of film, music, art, video games and direct action. Previous tutors of Shadow Channel have been amongst others artists Rana Hamadeh, Maryam Monalisa Gharavi and Mark Leckey,...
Resolution — MA Moving Image is a two-year master programme committed to the future of the moving image. It is the sequel to current Temporary Programme...
The latest issue of the Johannesburg Review of Books brings you, amongst many others: Bongani Madondo, Rustum Kozai, Lebohang Mojapelo, Troy Onyango, Victor Dlamini, Niq Mhlongo, Eben Venter, Guy Tillim and Efemia Chela. In this issue, in a world exclusive, we’re pleased to announce the longlisted stories for the 2018 Short Story Day Africa Prize. This year’s prize theme is ‘Hotel Africa’, with SSDA seeking ‘innovative short fiction set in the rooms, the passages, the bars and the lobbies of hotels...
The latest issue of the Johannesburg Review of Books brings you, amongst many others: Bongani Madondo, Rustum Kozai, Lebohang Mojapelo, Troy Onyango,...
She is one of the driving forces behind the country’s and continent’s literary renaissance. “Lola Shoneyin’s light and ironic touch exposes not only the rotten innards of Baba Segi’s polygamous household in this cleverly plotted story; it also shows how women not educated or semi-literate, women in contemporary Nigeria can be as restricted, controlled and damaged by men – be they fathers, husbands, uncles, rapists – as they’ve never been”. This is what Cassava Republic, Nigeria’s leading publishing...
She is one of the driving forces behind the country’s and continent’s literary renaissance. “Lola Shoneyin’s light and ironic touch exposes not only the...
For five years, Ben Krewinkel has been building an ever growing collection of 20th century African photobooks. The 500 to 550 titles in his possession reflect the changing visual representation of the continent. Krewinkel’s collection is visible online; he is also working on a book. At what point did you realise you were starting a collection? I’ve been collecting photobooks for a long time now. The first two photobooks in my collection were Black Child by the South African photographer Peter...
For five years, Ben Krewinkel has been building an ever growing collection of 20th century African photobooks. The 500 to 550 titles in his possession...
Three images. That’s all I’d seen of Santu Mofokeng’s work before now. So when I rushed to FOAM, the Amsterdam based photography museum, I felt quite unprepared. What I knew was that he was a South African and that he shot in black and white. That was about it. However, the fact that Mofokeng was given a solo exhibition at FOAM raised my expectations. I joined a guided tour by curators Hilde Haest (FOAM) and Joshua Chuang (based in New York) who has lately worked closely together with Mofokeng....
Three images. That’s all I’d seen of Santu Mofokeng’s work before now. So when I rushed to FOAM, the Amsterdam based photography museum, I felt quite...
[Dutch text below] There was a time when African intellectuals, living primarily in France, felt it was necessary to respond to the overwhelming avalanche of philosophy, history, and other systems that continued to emphasize white superiority. Led by the poets Leopold Seda Senghor, Aimé Césaire and Léon Damas, they came up with an appropriate answer: Negritude, or being black. What better way to combat racism and deep rooted convictions than by using the same means as the oppressor? "Naked woman,...
[Dutch text below] There was a time when African intellectuals, living primarily in France, felt it was necessary to respond to the overwhelming...
