ZAM Reporter
In an upcoming solo exhibition, Dutch-Surinamese visual artist patricia kaersenhout (1966) continues her exciting journey into the forgotten stories of women of colour. Firstly, there is Le Retour Des Femmes Colibri, a new film featuring the histories of Josephine Baker, Suzanne Césaire, Christiane Diop, Frida Kahlo and Paulette and Jeanne Nardal. Most of these women are far from forgotten but less well remembered are their crucial roles within the Négritude movement, an important organisation of... In an upcoming solo exhibition, Dutch-Surinamese visual artist patricia kaersenhout (1966) continues her exciting journey into the forgotten stories of...
ZAM Reporter
The festival opens with JUWAA, a film by Congolese filmmaker Nganji Mutiri. Shot in Belgium and the DRC, Juwaa is a subtly powerful drama portraying African characters with a complexity rarely seen on screen. An award-winning artist born in Bukavu and currently living in Belgium, Mutiri works in theatre, film, poetry and photography and is always looking for connections and perspectives between the special and the universal. JUWAA is his first feature film as a writer and director. Each year, a... The festival opens with JUWAA, a film by Congolese filmmaker Nganji Mutiri. Shot in Belgium and the DRC, Juwaa is a subtly powerful drama portraying...
ZAM Reporter
The 19th edition of Afrovibes presents the first solo exhibition of graphic designer, artist and activist Sindiso Nyoni. His work fits perfectly into the wider festival, whose packed schedule of more than 15 theatre productions from 10 countries explores the synergy between rapture and rupture. A poster featuring South African jazz legend Hugh Masekela holding his trumpet like a weapon sets the tone for Sindiso Nyoni's exhibition Riot by Design. There is wit, but there’s also a dedication to art as... The 19th edition of Afrovibes presents the first solo exhibition of graphic designer, artist and activist Sindiso Nyoni. His work fits perfectly into the...
ZAM Reporter
Huge amounts of capital were accumulated through colonial trade. So what happened to it? How many generations of families have benefited from these terrible histories, and at the expense of what and who? Returning the Gaze is the latest site-specific performance by Amsterdam-based Sites of Memory . It's about whose voice is heard, ignored or acknowledged, whose face is seen, or erased and covered up. The dominant gaze, often white, versus the suppressed perspective from which colonial history is... Huge amounts of capital were accumulated through colonial trade. So what happened to it? How many generations of families have benefited from these...
ZAM Reporter
Senegalese film director and screenwriter Alain Gomis, Moroccan visual artist Hassan Darsi and Egyptian architectural engineer May al-Ibrashi are among the six winners of the Prince Claus Impact Awards, which were announced on Tuesday September 6 2022. Other winners include Brazilian indigenous leader, poet and writer Ailton Krenak, Cuban performing artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, and Argentinian writer, poet and activist Maria Medrano. The Awards recognise artists, creatives and inspirational... Senegalese film director and screenwriter Alain Gomis, Moroccan visual artist Hassan Darsi and Egyptian architectural engineer May al-Ibrashi are among...
ZAM Reporter
Movies that Matter’s Cinema without Borders new edition will take place from 28 November – 1 December, 2022 in Nairobi, Kenya. This multi-day interactive workshop programme for film festival organisers aims to strengthen new human rights film festivals and enhance the sustainability of existing festivals. In addition to connecting with like-minded festivals, sharing ideas and building new networks, participants get inspired and assisted. Deadline for applications : Sunday 11 September at midnight... Movies that Matter’s Cinema without Borders new edition will take place from 28 November – 1 December, 2022 in Nairobi, Kenya. This multi-day interactive...
ZAM Reporter
85 artists participate in a city-wide exhibition in Saint-Raphaël in France celebrating the 60th anniversary of Algerian independence. To celebrate the 60 years of the Evian Accords and the Independence of Algeria, eight historic buildings in the city of Saint-Raphaël, France, has been chosen by Simone Dibo-Cohen, directrice of UMAN in Nice. The city gave Dibo-Cohen carte blanche to display works by 85 artists of all ages and from all over the world, united under the theme of “Exodes”. The result... 85 artists participate in a city-wide exhibition in Saint-Raphaël in France celebrating the 60th anniversary of Algerian independence. To celebrate the...
ZAM Reporter
In his first solo exhibition in the Netherlands, artist Moshekwa Langa (1975, South Africa) turns his eyes towards the county of his birth, and especially to his hometown of Bakenberg in Limpopo province, which did not appear on official maps during the apartheid era. Langa makes drawings, collages, photographs, paintings, videos and installations. His personal history is a common thread in all his work. He grew up in South Africa in the era of apartheid – the system of racial separation that... In his first solo exhibition in the Netherlands, artist Moshekwa Langa (1975, South Africa) turns his eyes towards the county of his birth, and...
Alexander Tempel
As a collaboration between Afrovibes & ZAM, the upcoming Afrovibes Festival will host an exhibition with the works of artist and designer Sindiso Nyoni. Nyoni is a self-taught Zimbabwean artist who also works as a contemporary illustrator, activist, street artist, and multidisciplinary graphic designer. He has collaborated on projects that have won two Cannes Lions Awards. His work has been exhibited in the Guggenheim Bilbao, The Vitra Design Museum, The Museum of Modern Art in Mexico City and... As a collaboration between Afrovibes & ZAM, the upcoming Afrovibes Festival will host an exhibition with the works of artist and designer Sindiso Nyoni....
Seth Onyango, bird story agency
Thanks to the growing economies and population of Africa, the needs of the continent's built environment are offering architects a unique opportunity to influence how the cities of the future look and feel. Here are some examples of a new wave of inspiring African architects and architecture. When Diébédo Francis Kéré was handed the Pritzker Prize on May 27, the moment was of far more significance than an African-born architect winning the world's most prestigious architecture prize for the first... Thanks to the growing economies and population of Africa, the needs of the continent's built environment are offering architects a unique opportunity to...
ZAM Reporter
Inspired by Fela Kuti, 31 artists from 11 countries explore the power of art as a transmitter for social change. ‘Our histories never unfold in isolation. We cannot truly tell what we consider to be our own histories without knowing the other stories. And often we discover that those other stories are actually our own stories.’ These words, by African-American activist and academic Angela Davis, accompany a statement by Princess Ayoola and Jana Terblanche, the curators of a new group exhibition... Inspired by Fela Kuti, 31 artists from 11 countries explore the power of art as a transmitter for social change. ‘Our histories never unfold in...
Aimie Eliot
While institutions continue to drag their feet over returning looted heritage to Africa, Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) are bringing art home, one digital scan at a time. Standing in front of the Benin bronzes in the British Museum room, Chidi Nwaubani uses a LIDAR scanner to scan the artefacts one by one. The scanner is an advanced scanning technology used to generate high resolution three-dimensional digital models, but Chidi is neither an archaeologist nor a restorer from the museum. Instead, the... While institutions continue to drag their feet over returning looted heritage to Africa, Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) are bringing art home, one digital...
Anna Kućma
In recent decades North Korean-made monuments have been unveiled in many African countries, honouring independence leaders and celebrating an African Renaissance. The South Korean photographer and filmmaker Che Onejoon has been documenting the monuments and the histories around them, their cultural significance and the relationships that they symbolize between two continents. The outcomes of his long-term exploration were recently published in a book titled International Friendship. The Gifts from... In recent decades North Korean-made monuments have been unveiled in many African countries, honouring independence leaders and celebrating an African...
Bart Luirink
The new South African director of the Prince Claus Fund wants to create a self-sustaining ecosystem of the arts. Coming from a musical family of 21 and growing up with his mother at his granny’s place in Mamelodi, Pretoria, Marcus Tebogo Desando was not encouraged to be a quiet child. “The quieter you are, the more they forget you’re there.” So, you have to fight for your own space, which is what he did. Enter the school choir, then the church choir. Desando would eventually become a professional... The new South African director of the Prince Claus Fund wants to create a self-sustaining ecosystem of the arts. Coming from a musical family of 21 and...
Eyerusaleam Kassahun, Steven W. Thomas
For most outsiders, modern Ethiopian cinema means Haile Gerima and Salem Mekuria. But others, in addition to these, made its rich cinema history. In December 2019, film connoisseurs in Ethiopia received a rare treat when the Addis Ababa Cinema Houses Administration Enterprise arranged a festival to showcase some of the classic Ethiopian movies made between 1964 and 1992. These films had been largely inaccessible to filmgoers, filmmakers, instructors, and students, for decades. The last time any of... For most outsiders, modern Ethiopian cinema means Haile Gerima and Salem Mekuria. But others, in addition to these, made its rich cinema history. In...
ZAM Reporter
Ketikoti, which in the Surinamese language Sranantongo means “the chain is broken”, is officially called the Day of Freedom (Dag der Vrijheden). It commemorates the abolition of slavery in Surinam and the Dutch Antilles in 1863. July 1st is celebrated as a national commemoration day in the Netherlands. If you are in or near Amsterdam and would like to join the Ketikoti celebrations, here are some of the activities that ZAM recommends: Returning the Gaze Sites of Memory: Based on a drawing of... Ketikoti, which in the Surinamese language Sranantongo means “the chain is broken”, is officially called the Day of Freedom (Dag der Vrijheden). It...
ZAM Reporter
Studio ZAM hosted Marcus Tebogo Desando, the newly appointed director of the Prince Claus Fund, on June 30th 2022. The programme was moderated by Augustina Austin aka Ms. Aba. You can watch the conversation again here : Studio ZAM hosted Marcus Tebogo Desando, the newly appointed director of the Prince Claus Fund, on June 30th 2022. The programme was moderated by...
ZAM Reporter
If you’re lucky enough to find yourself on the sunny streets of Amsterdam this summer, there are some treats in store! Two new exhibitions featuring work by African photographers await you, each exploring radically different visions of the world. Huis Marseille plays host to The Beauty of the World so Heavy, a group exhibition in which four photographers with very diverse practices explore the sharpness and softness of earthly existence. This show marks the European debut of South African... If you’re lucky enough to find yourself on the sunny streets of Amsterdam this summer, there are some treats in store! Two new exhibitions featuring work...
Charl Landvreugd
The South African artist and winner of the 2021 ABN AMRO Kunstprijs is actively participating in this process of re-shaping a world away from capitalist spaces where Afro-pessimism rules. In today’s climate, and with the recent research outcomes around this bank’s colonial past, Neo’s work is a timely response. A response in which his work provides an image of Blackness which is reflected in itself rather than in the gaze of whiteness. Let us therefore, in Neo’s words, thank God and the gods that... The South African artist and winner of the 2021 ABN AMRO Kunstprijs is actively participating in this process of re-shaping a world away from capitalist...
ZAM Reporter
Op een vroege ochtend in Lagos ziet Femke van Zeijl een waterreservoir rakelings langs haar raam naar beneden storten. Dit incident en vooral de nasleep ervan brengen direct aan het licht hoezeer het dagelijks leven in deze miljoenenstad verschilt van leven in de Nederlandse maatschappij. Terwijl van Zeijl nog zit te bedenken welke gemeentelijke dienst ze moet bellen, hebben haar buren al minstens twee oplossingen bedacht en zijn ze aan de uitvoering ervan begonnen. De doe-het-zelf maatschappij... Op een vroege ochtend in Lagos ziet Femke van Zeijl een waterreservoir rakelings langs haar raam naar beneden storten. Dit incident en vooral de nasleep...
ZAM Reporter
A South African arts administrator and artist has taken over the reins at the Dutch Prince Claus Fund. As a “driving force in the development of young South African artists and aspiring artistic entrepreneurs," the new director of the Prince Claus Fund is, in the words of chairman Ila Kasim, "the embodiment of the spirit" of her organisation. It is up to Desando to lead the fund into the future. Central to this is the development of individual artists in different phases of their professional... A South African arts administrator and artist has taken over the reins at the Dutch Prince Claus Fund. As a “driving force in the development of young...