Noah Schmitt
It’s a new dawn. It’s a new day at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW) in Berlin. And O Quilombismo, new director Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung’s inaugural exhibition, feels good. How do you create a space free from domination, where unfamiliar cultures can see, hear, and meet one another as equals? Especially if the ground you stand on is marred by imperial and colonial ideology? The HKW’s re-opening exhibition O Quilombismo: Of Resisting and Insisting. Of Flight as Fight. Of Other Democratic... It’s a new dawn. It’s a new day at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW) in Berlin. And O Quilombismo, new director Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung’s...
ZAM Reporter
Movies that Matter is pleased to announce the next edition of Cinema without Borders in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. The five-day workshop programme on how to organise a human rights film festival or mobile cinema project will take place from December 10 – December 14, 2023. We will bring together starting and more experienced film festival professionals from West Africa. Participants will gain practical knowledge and get fresh ideas and possibilities to strengthen their network. By exchanging... Movies that Matter is pleased to announce the next edition of Cinema without Borders in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. The five-day workshop programme on how...
Issam Larkat (text and images)
The Casbah of Algiers, the formidable citadel and its surrounding traditional quarter, is a testament to Algeria's rich history and an architectural marvel of immense cultural significance. It needs to be saved from falling apart. In 1992, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee declared the Casbah of Algiers a World Cultural Heritage site, acknowledging its remarkable remnants, including the citadel itself, ancient mosques, Ottoman-style palaces, and a traditional urban structure that resonates with a... The Casbah of Algiers, the formidable citadel and its surrounding traditional quarter, is a testament to Algeria's rich history and an architectural...
ZAM Reporter
Understanding Black queer liberation through photography. This exhibition presents the works of DeLovie Kwagala, Daniel Obasi, Keren Lasme, Nella Ngingo and Stephen Tayo - photographers from Kampala, Lagos, New, York, Abidjan and Amsterdam. The event aims to initiate a nuanced conversation about the imagery of Black queer communities in Africa and the diaspora. The exhibition is curated by Musoke Nalwoga (c) cyborgtruffel and organised by Motormond, an Amsterdam-bases non for profit art space.... Understanding Black queer liberation through photography. This exhibition presents the works of DeLovie Kwagala, Daniel Obasi, Keren Lasme, Nella Ngingo...
ZAM Reporter
A new exhibition at the Tate Modern celebrates the dynamic landscape of photography across the African continent and intends to “reclaim the continent’s histories and reimagine its place in the world.” Since the invention of photography in the 19th century, Africa has been broadly defined by Western images of its cultures and traditions. During the colonial period, photography was used as a tool to construct the representation of African societies through a Eurocentric lens. Challenging these... A new exhibition at the Tate Modern celebrates the dynamic landscape of photography across the African continent and intends to “reclaim the continent’s...
ZAM Reporter
The winning projects of the CAP Prize were announced on 7 July 2023 during the opening week of Les Rencontres de la Photographie in Arles, France. This year marks the 12th edition of the prize. The jury of twenty photography industry professionals selected these exciting and thoughtful series by photographers engaging with the African continent and its diaspora. The awarded stories, in alphabetical order, are: Hond (2023) by Nadia Ettwein “ I was told my mother threw me away like a dog – I’ve never... The winning projects of the CAP Prize were announced on 7 July 2023 during the opening week of Les Rencontres de la Photographie in Arles, France. This...
ZAM Reporter
In June and July, two special works from the ZAM Art Collection are on view. The Amsterdam Zuid-Afrika Huis is kindly hosting the works by Anton Corbyn & Berend Strik (Mandela Landscape) and patricia kaersenhout (Ode to Winnie. A Portrait of Love & Revolution). The right to sell an edition of signed and numbered prints with some of the most imaginative fighters for justice in South Africa were kindly donated to ZAM, as a gesture of appreciation for the organisation’s efforts to tell another, urgent... In June and July, two special works from the ZAM Art Collection are on view. The Amsterdam Zuid-Afrika Huis is kindly hosting the works by Anton Corbyn &...
ZAM Reporter
In a new exhibition, the South African visual activist Zanele Muholi honours the 21 teenagers who lost their lives in the Enyobeni Tavern tragedy, one year ago in East London. "I could only imagine the number of blankets and the mothers whose bodies were covered with blankets simply because they were mourning the death of their children," said acclaimed SA artist Zanele Muholi at their new exhibition at Southern Guild in Cape Town. The Enyobeni Tavern is a two-storey building located in Scenery... In a new exhibition, the South African visual activist Zanele Muholi honours the 21 teenagers who lost their lives in the Enyobeni Tavern tragedy, one...
ZAM Reporter
From Amsterdam to Middelburg to Utrecht to Amersfoort and onwards. Sites of Memory continues to take the hidden and under-represented stories of a shared cultural heritage of the Netherlands and the former colonies to the streets. Friday, June 16 was the première of the first ever performances from the groups’s latest performance series, Free to be Free. Starting from Amersfoort’s Sint Aegtenkapel and ending at the Koppelpoort, the public was taken on a journey through space and time to unravel... From Amsterdam to Middelburg to Utrecht to Amersfoort and onwards. Sites of Memory continues to take the hidden and under-represented stories of a shared...
Aimie Eliot
At Kyotographie, the International Photography Festival in Kyoto which takes place yearly since 2013 in April and May, this year's African section is dedicated to the work of Joana Choumali. The Ivorian visual artist, the recipient of the Pictet Prize in 2019, presents two series, Kyoto-Abidjan and Alba'hian , with embroidery as a red thread connecting her work. The same smell of dried fish. When the photographer Joana Choumali entered for the first time one of the stalls of Demachi Masugata... At Kyotographie, the International Photography Festival in Kyoto which takes place yearly since 2013 in April and May, this year's African section is...
Ala Kheir and Anna Kućma
Khartoum-based photographer Ala Kheir has found shelter at his parents' place in Omdurman, northwest of the capital city. “Surviving,” he said, when we asked him what he is busy with. A brief WhatsApp interview. On your website, there is a quote from Diane Arbus which reads: “Photography is a kind of virtual reality, and it helps if you can create the illusion of being in an interesting world.” How do you reconcile today’s reality with the world we see in your photographs? Khartoum has always been... Khartoum-based photographer Ala Kheir has found shelter at his parents' place in Omdurman, northwest of the capital city. “Surviving,” he said, when we...
Nyoxani Mazive
Knight in Shining Armour , a new exhibition at CBK Zuidoost in Amsterdam, reappropriates what was once appropriated by suppression and the white gaze. And it’s playful. The ground looks like a chess board, with its black and white tiles surrounded by blue walls that carry the art that claims back the images and the narratives once stolen by colonialists, enslavers, suppressors and those who continue to perpetuate those images and narratives. Reappropriating the appropriated, Knights in Shining... Knight in Shining Armour , a new exhibition at CBK Zuidoost in Amsterdam, reappropriates what was once appropriated by suppression and the white gaze....
ZAM Reporter
Knights in Shining Armour (reappropriating the appropriated) is a bold exhibition about re-appropriation, humour as an 'armour' and art as trauma therapy. It opens on May 11th at 6 pm with a talk moderated by Noraly Beyer, between curator Claudio Ritfeld and director general of Culture and Media, Barbera Wolfensberger. From 7 pm creative collective The Gang is Beautiful takes over with music, fashion and drinks. Is there room in the art for a sense of humour, satire or comedy when it comes to... Knights in Shining Armour (reappropriating the appropriated) is a bold exhibition about re-appropriation, humour as an 'armour' and art as trauma...
ZAM Reporter
Artist Renzo Martens, together with the artists’ collective Cercle d’Art des Travailleurs de Plantation Congolaise (CATPC) and curator Hicham Khalidi, will be providing the Dutch entry for the 60th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia in 2024. Khalidi and Martens’ proposal is to involve CATPC in the Dutch entry. An extensive international committee has advised the Mondriaan Fund board to further develop this idea into an internationally relevant presentation. The joint plan by... Artist Renzo Martens, together with the artists’ collective Cercle d’Art des Travailleurs de Plantation Congolaise (CATPC) and curator Hicham Khalidi,...
Carol Kagezi
In Uganda, many of us have for years now become passive about climate change and issues regarding the protection of the environment. Perhaps it is the lack of finger-numbing cold or throat-drying heat, that has us imagining that climate change is a them problem, and not so much an us problem. We have continuously turned a deaf ear to calls from environmentalists when parts of one of the biggest local animal habitats, Mabira Forest, are cut down for commercialization, and, quick to suggest patchy... In Uganda, many of us have for years now become passive about climate change and issues regarding the protection of the environment. Perhaps it is the...
Babah Tarawally
Dutch theatre-maker and visual artist, Dries Verhoeven, explores a Western audience’s fear of African refugee influx and birth explosion. By bringing Kininso Koncepts, a Lagos-based Nigerian storytelling and performance company, onto a Dutch stage, perceptions of how ‘we’ see ‘them’ are turned around. A live video connection takes us to Lagos, Nigeria. A city by night with more than 15 million inhabitants seems deserted except for a lone man walking the street – as if he is an occupation force.... Dutch theatre-maker and visual artist, Dries Verhoeven, explores a Western audience’s fear of African refugee influx and birth explosion. By bringing...
ZAm Reporter
Curated by Aindrea Emelife, the exhibition surveys the legacy of Black Women in visual culture. Fetishized in colonial-era caricatures, reclaimed in the present-day rich complexity of Black womanhood. The San Francisco Museum of the African Diaspora hosts this exhibition by 18 artists (of numerous nationalities and with birth years spanning 1942 to 1997). What a celebration of Black beauty, an investigation into the many faces of Black femininity and the shaping of Black women in the public... Curated by Aindrea Emelife, the exhibition surveys the legacy of Black Women in visual culture. Fetishized in colonial-era caricatures, reclaimed in the...
Ananya Janahara Kabir
On 8 March 2023, five teenage girls uploaded on social media a video of themselves performing the Calm Down Dance Challenge . This is the choreography for the first verse of the Afrobeats hit Calm Down by Nigerian singer Rema (Divine Ikubor). The girls were following people across the world who’ve made this dance challenge go viral for over a year by uploading videos of themselves dancing to it. With one difference, though: they were dancing in Iran, where it is forbidden to dance in public,... On 8 March 2023, five teenage girls uploaded on social media a video of themselves performing the Calm Down Dance Challenge . This is the choreography...
ZAM Reporter
“Does South Africa have what it takes to reinvent itself?” In this documentary, Sifiso Khanyile presents an inquiry into the country’s socio-political conditions 27 years after the official demise of apartheid. Studio ZAM will host a special screening of Khanyile’s groundbreaking documentary on Wednesday 19 April 2023 . Venue: Studio ZAM, Tussen de Bogen 66, Amsterdam Time: 20h00 (Studio open from 19h30) Q & A: An online conversation with the filmmaker after the screening RSVP to... “Does South Africa have what it takes to reinvent itself?” In this documentary, Sifiso Khanyile presents an inquiry into the country’s socio-political...
ZAM Reporter
Amsterdam film theatre Kriterion will host the award-winning film about love and resistance in the final years of British colonial rule in Zanzibar. The special screening is organised by Africadelic in collaboration with African Architecture Matters. The film will be introduced by Elisabeth Hesemans, who was involved as an actor trainer in the production of the film, and Franka van Marrewijk, who lives and works in Dar es Salaam and is a member of African Architecture Matters, an organisation... Amsterdam film theatre Kriterion will host the award-winning film about love and resistance in the final years of British colonial rule in Zanzibar. The...
bird story agency
With record revenue growth of over 34%, Africa was the fastest-growing market for the global music industry in 2022. The viral nature of African tunes is not only creating a broader audience for African artists but also unleashing an unprecedented revenue boom. The fastest-growing market region in 2022 was Sub-Saharan Africa, according to a new report. Growth in the region, which recorded a 34.7% rise in music sales, was largely driven by a booming music market in South Africa, where sales were up... With record revenue growth of over 34%, Africa was the fastest-growing market for the global music industry in 2022. The viral nature of African tunes is...