In Tsitsi Dangarembga's new novel, nominated for the 2020 International Booker Prize, shame and rage reign before the main character comes to terms with herself. All is not well with Tambudzai, the protagonist of Tsitsi Dangarembga’s novel, This Mournable Body , a title inspired by the work of Teju Cole, Unmournable Bodies . We find Tambudzai or Tambu, in short, jobless in present day Harare, Zimbabwe. The novel is an extension of the seminal debut novel Nervous Conditions (1988), but the Tamba of...
In Tsitsi Dangarembga's new novel, nominated for the 2020 International Booker Prize, shame and rage reign before the main character comes to terms with...
Feeling at home in both worlds without denying oneself. The migrants odyssey is the guiding theme through this year's edition. The festival opens with the feature film Yao . This heart-warming travel movie brings a Franco-Senegalese author back to Senegal, where he will promote his new book. The encounter with a spirited 13-year-old fan leads to a journey through Senegal and brings the author into contact with the country that is also his country of origin, but which he hardly knows yet. A...
Feeling at home in both worlds without denying oneself. The migrants odyssey is the guiding theme through this year's edition. The festival opens with...
West African Portraiture from Independence into the 21st Century. Meet Rachid Bissiriou, Sanlé Sory, Leonce Raphal Agbodjélou and others. This show 'brings together the work of some of the region’s most important photographers', The Guardian wrote in an positive review of the newly opened exhibition. Check out the catalogue with the works of all participating photographers here . More info about the exhibition here .
West African Portraiture from Independence into the 21st Century. Meet Rachid Bissiriou, Sanlé Sory, Leonce Raphal Agbodjélou and others. This show...
The desolation of an abandoned mining camp that serves as the backdrop for a Passion Play with an all-African cast. The life stories of Angolan war veterans, who are the main actors in the film. The theme: betrayal. More precisely: the betrayal by one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, of Jesus Christ, about to be executed by the Romans who had colonised the Middle East, where the story takes place. Alright, I probably lost you there. Allow me to continue and it will all make sense towards the end....
The desolation of an abandoned mining camp that serves as the backdrop for a Passion Play with an all-African cast. The life stories of Angolan war...
Tales of a salt farmer and a people reinventing and adapting through coronavirus have caught the eye of this year's Ugandan and Kenyan winners. Peter Tera and Odhiambo were chosen by an international jury, composed of photography professionals. Another jury judged the works of young photographers making Monica Ahairwebyona (Uganda) this year's winner of the Young Photographer Award. In the weeks to come, ZAM will highlight some of the works of this year's winners on our website as well on our...
Tales of a salt farmer and a people reinventing and adapting through coronavirus have caught the eye of this year's Ugandan and Kenyan winners. Peter...
South African photographer Sabelo Mlangeni discovered the House of Allure almost by coincidence. He was in Lagos working with the intention to do a story on a celebrity transgender woman. She never answered his calls and messages. Mlangeni had to look for another story and researched the local area. Then he was told about a safehouse that offered refuge to members of the LGBTIQ+ community. Mlangeni spent two months in the House of Allure, building an intimate relationship with its inhabitants. The...
South African photographer Sabelo Mlangeni discovered the House of Allure almost by coincidence. He was in Lagos working with the intention to do a story...
What happens when governmental tasks like detention and rehabilitation are taken over by uncontrolled international corporations? This dangerous phenomenon is often started by governments trying to cut costs. Prison for Profit, follows investigative journalist Ruth Hopkins and the lives of former prisoners and prison warders from South Africa’s Mangaung private prison, which is run by the controversial private security firm G4S, a British multi-billion company active on a world-wide scale. Now in...
What happens when governmental tasks like detention and rehabilitation are taken over by uncontrolled international corporations? This dangerous...
The #Jerusalemadancechallenge will enter history as the global COVID-19 crisis’ unprecedented, contemporary African-inspired symbol of hope. Yet the Angolan origins of this viral trend, and the reason behind Jerusalema ’s explosive popularity, are barely touched upon by the international media. In February 2020, Os Fenómenos do Semba [The Semba Phenomena] posted a video under the hashtag #jerusalemadancechallenge. I remember the mix of intense joy and longing I felt listening to Jerusalema’s...
The #Jerusalemadancechallenge will enter history as the global COVID-19 crisis’ unprecedented, contemporary African-inspired symbol of hope. Yet the...
Michael Schmidt’s Death Flights uncovers one of the darkest chapters of Apartheid oppression. The fear of communism. In the seventies and eighties of last century, the elimination of ‘evil communism’ was key to the politics of dictators like Pinochet in Chile and Videla in Argentina. It had no limits, thousands of opponents of their rule disappeared completely. It is well known fact that, in spite of a lot of international protest, these generals always had a comfortable nights rest since they...
Michael Schmidt’s Death Flights uncovers one of the darkest chapters of Apartheid oppression. The fear of communism. In the seventies and eighties of...
We are standing in solidarity with African changemakers. Highlighting their stories and insights. Building a world beyond them and us. Join the movement! Meet Aisha Yesufu. She is one of the leaders of a rapidly growing protest movement in Nigeria. Young people want an end to structural police violence, abuse of power and corruption. Yesufu is fighting for a just future. "Don't put any ethnic or religious labels on me," she says. "Those are landmines." It’s not only Nigeria. Elsewhere on the...
We are standing in solidarity with African changemakers. Highlighting their stories and insights. Building a world beyond them and us. Join the movement!...
Nok terracottas are proof that an ancient civilisation once existed in Nigeria. Now they are at the centre of a multi-million dollar, globe-spanning underground industry. Nigeria loses out. Outside it has become night. In front of the windows of one of Abuja’s grandest hotels, the pool shines turquoise blue. Finally, the phone rings. It is the hotel’s front desk, announcing a guest. The man who comes into the room, hours late for the scheduled appointment, is named Umaru Potiskum. He is an art...
Nok terracottas are proof that an ancient civilisation once existed in Nigeria. Now they are at the centre of a multi-million dollar, globe-spanning...
Exploitation and imagination in the works of this year’s principal winner of the Prince Claus Award. It was at boarding school that Ibrahim Mahama's interest in art was aroused. ‘We had a lot of time to draw and the teachers made us curious about art and aesthetics’. But it was his training at the Painting and Sculpture department of the Kwame Nkrumah University for Science and Technology in Ghana that laid the foundation for the artistry that has earned him the prestigious 2020 Prince Claus Award...
Exploitation and imagination in the works of this year’s principal winner of the Prince Claus Award. It was at boarding school that Ibrahim Mahama's...
30 philosophers challenging the traditional western canon. Inspired by UNESCO’s implementation of World Philosophy Day, illustrator Saskia Pfaetzer and writer Marian van Enckevort went on a journey of discovery. They were not hampered by any rules of categorisation. And here it is: an impressive showcase of thinkers from today and long ago, from the African continent and elsewhere. Anton Wilhelm Ano (Ghana), Pauline Jidenu Houtondji (Ivory Coast), Cornel West (USA), Paulo Freire (Brasil), Achille...
30 philosophers challenging the traditional western canon. Inspired by UNESCO’s implementation of World Philosophy Day, illustrator Saskia Pfaetzer and...
In the past, black portraiture has tended towards fanciful depictions that have little semblance to the lived experiences of Black and Brown bodies, from the African continent and beyond. In the past, black portraiture has tended towards fanciful depictions that have little semblance to the lived experiences of Black and Brown bodies, from the African continent and beyond. Liminality in Infinite Space , an exhibition at the Lagos’ based African Artists Foundation moves away from exaggerated...
In the past, black portraiture has tended towards fanciful depictions that have little semblance to the lived experiences of Black and Brown bodies, from...
Stilspraak is a richly illustrated and beautifully executed monograph on the work of the internationally renowned South African artist Strijdom van der Merwe. In the beginning, variasie met foto (2016). Namibië According to author Carina van der Walt, a South African poet and literary expert who also developed into an art journalist after moving to the Netherlands in 2007, land art is still a relatively unknown phenomenon, at least in South Africa. Land art originated in the 1960s: the flower power...
Stilspraak is a richly illustrated and beautifully executed monograph on the work of the internationally renowned South African artist Strijdom van der...
Stilspraak is een rijk geïllustreerde en fraai uitgevoerde monografie over het werk van de internationaal gerenommeerde Zuid-Afrikaanse landkunstenaar Strijdom van der Merwe. In the beginning, variasie met foto (2016). Namibië Volgens schrijfster Carina van der Walt, een Zuid-Afrikaanse dichteres en letterkundige die zich na haar verhuizing naar Nederland in 2007 eveneens tot kunstjournalist heeft ontwikkeld, is landkunst een nog relatief onbekend fenomeen, in elk geval in Zuid-Afrika. Landkunst is...
Stilspraak is een rijk geïllustreerde en fraai uitgevoerde monografie over het werk van de internationaal gerenommeerde Zuid-Afrikaanse landkunstenaar...
At its 446th birthday, Leiden University (Netherlands) will honour a great fighter for justice and self-determination. Graça Machel, born in 1945 in Gaza Province, Portuguese East Africa (Mozambique today), speaks to many people’s imaginations. From 1973, after studying German in Lisbon, she became a teacher and joined the Mozambican struggle for independence. After liberation in 1975, Machel, a member of Frelimo, was appointed Minister of Education and Culture. In that same year she married former...
At its 446th birthday, Leiden University (Netherlands) will honour a great fighter for justice and self-determination. Graça Machel, born in 1945 in Gaza...
The struggle for freedom of expression is key to the outstanding work of this Zimbabwean novelist, poet, play write and filmmaker. ‘For the past sixteen years, PEN International has given the PEN Award for Freedom of Expression at the opening ceremony of the Winternachten Festival in The Hague’, says PEN International President, Jennifer Clement. ‘With the active participation of Netherlands PEN and the PEN Emergency Fund, the award honours writers who have been persecuted for their work and...
The struggle for freedom of expression is key to the outstanding work of this Zimbabwean novelist, poet, play write and filmmaker. ‘For the past sixteen...
A death sentence for the rank and file of poaching syndicates in southern Africa is inhuman and unconstitutional. In late November 2020, the Mail and Guardian reported that the Botswana Defence Force shot and killed four alleged poachers fishing along the Chobe river. Reports have since emerged stating that none of the fishermen were armed, and one of them may have been killed only after he was arrested. The incident has brought to the fore the controversial “shoot to kill” policy in place to curb...
A death sentence for the rank and file of poaching syndicates in southern Africa is inhuman and unconstitutional. In late November 2020, the Mail and...
While his music was political, he did not want to be a ‘state composer’. Music is not a zero sum game with only one ‘best’. But if you seek to name one musician whose life embodies the South African people’s struggle for a national culture, it must be trombonist, composer and cultural activist Jonas Mosa Gwangwa , who was born on 19 October 1937 in Orlando East, Johannesburg, and died on 23 January 2021 in Johannesburg aged 83. Through 65 years on stage, Gwangwa’s playing contributed to every genre...
While his music was political, he did not want to be a ‘state composer’. Music is not a zero sum game with only one ‘best’. But if you seek to name one...
Here's a digital publication hailing Kenya's emerging designers, illustrators, writers, stylists and photographers coming together in times of COVID-19. WAUZINE, that takes its name from ‘Wau’ — Nairobi slang for ‘Wow’, is an online magazine set up in 2020 to showcase and celebrate the work of young creatives. The magazine has had three editions so far: The first, Neighbourhood, travels across Kenya's capital to explore its cultural landscape. A fashion story by creative director Sunny Dolat, a...
Here's a digital publication hailing Kenya's emerging designers, illustrators, writers, stylists and photographers coming together in times of COVID-19....
