February 14, 2023
Africa: What Is Mondiacult? 6 Take-Aways From the World's Biggest Cultural Policy Gathering
Culture's status in global society got a major boost in 2022 when it was recommended to become its own sustainable development goal. This happened at the Unesco World Conference on… Read more »
February 10, 2023
Africa: Dungeons & Dragons Licence Changes Threaten the Fan Community the Game Relies Upon - Legal Expert Explains
Dungeons & Dragons has a longstanding appeal as a role-playing game - or as some players prefer to call it, a storytelling medium. But retaining users in the face of… Read more »
February 12, 2023
South Africa: AKA - Slain Rapper Was a Once-in-a-Generation Pop Culture Sensation
AKA, South Africa's most recognisable name in hip-hop, was gunned down - with his friend, celebrity chef Tebello 'Tibz' Motsoane - outside a restaurant along Durban's popular night… Read more »
February 10, 2023
South Africa: Radio in South Africa Turns 100 - and Collides With Podcasting and Streaming
This year marks 100 years since radio was introduced in South Africa, through "the first experimental broadcast at the Railway Headquarters in Johannesburg" on 18 December 1923. Read more »
February 07, 2023
Africa: W.E.B. Du Bois, Black History Month and the Importance of African American Studies
The opening days of Black History Month 2023 have coincided with controversy about the teaching and broader meaning of African American studies. Read more »
February 06, 2023
Egypt: Archaeologists Have Discovered a Mummy Wrapped in Gold - Here's What It Tells Us About Ancient Egyptian Beliefs
In January 2023, a group of archaeologists excavating tombs in the ancient necropolis of Saqqara, near Cairo, discovered the mummified remains of a man named Hekashepes, who lived… Read more »
February 07, 2023
Africa: Beyoncé Is Going On a World Tour. Why She Shouldn't Ignore Africa
Beyoncé announced her highly anticipated Renaissance World Tour on the first day of Black History Month - an annual observance in the US that honours the African diaspora.… Read more »
February 03, 2023
East Africa: The Incredible Story of How East African Culture Shaped the Music of a State in India
The term Siddi refers to Afro-Indians - Africans who mixed with Indians through marriage and relationships. Africans crossed the Indian Ocean and arrived in India during the 1200s,… Read more »
February 02, 2023
South Africa: Travelling While Black - 7 South African Travelogues You Should Read
Travel writing in Africa is often associated with colonial ventures of the past or white adventure pursuits of today. But Africans themselves have long produced captivating travel… Read more »
February 01, 2023
Benin: Angelique Kidjo - the Diva From Benin Could Win a Record Sixth Grammy Award
Angelique Kidjo, the energetic singer-songwriter and activist from the Republic of Benin, represents a rare African phenomenon. Read more »
January 31, 2023
Namibia: New Film Under the Hanging Tree Examines How Namibia's Genocide Lives On Today
Under the Hanging Tree is a new film written, directed and produced by Perivi Katjavivi, a young, up-and-coming Namibian filmmaker. Read more »
Senegal: Ousmane Sembène At 100 - a Guide to the Life and Work of the 'Father of African Cinema'
The impact of filmmaker Ousmane Sembène's work should not be understated. His films, made in the neorealist style, were concerned with working-class people and tended to use… Read more »
January 26, 2023
Kenya: A Major New Exhibition in Nairobi Reveals the History of East African Art Traditions
Mwili, Akili na Roho (Body, Mind and Spirit) - on in Nairobi, Kenya - is a major international exhibition presenting east African painters who are key players in the modernist art… Read more »
January 24, 2023
Zimbabwe: Stella Chiweshe - Zimbabwe's Mbira Queen, Rebel Music Star and Pioneer
Stella Rambisai Chiweshe, affectionately known in Zimbabwe as "the queen of mbira" or "Ambuya (grandmother) Chiweshe", passed away on 20 January 2023. Read more »
South Africa: Non-Racial South Africa - Book Shows Debate On Nation Building Is Still Relevant Today
There has been much comment recently on the lack of representation of minorities in the leadership structures of South Africa's governing party, the African National Congress… Read more »
January 12, 2023
Africa: ChatGPT, Dall-E 2 and the Collapse of the Creative Process
In 2022, OpenAI - one of the world's leading artificial intelligence research laboratories - released the text generator ChatGPT and the image generator DALL-E 2. While both… Read more »
January 20, 2023
South Africa: Ernest Cole - South Africa's Most Famous Photobook Has Been Republished After 55 Years
Photographer Ernest Cole was born in 1940 in the Pretoria township of Eersterust, just before apartheid was formally introduced in South Africa in 1948. Read more »
January 18, 2023
Nigeria: Who Invented Jollof Rice? Senegal Beats Ghana and Nigeria to the Title
The authorship - and therefore origins - of Jollof rice (called Ceebu jën in Senegal according to the Wolof spelling) is the subject of a spicy debate between West African… Read more »
Eswatini: Regina Twala Was a Towering Intellectual and Activist in Eswatini - but She Was Erased From History
Born in South Africa and exiled to neighbouring Eswatini, Regina Twala was one of southern Africa's most important intellectuals: a pioneering writer, academic, political activist… Read more »
January 13, 2023
South Africa: Madosini, a South African National Treasure Whose Music Kept a Rich History Alive
Renowned African musician, songwriter and storyteller Latozi "Madosini" Mphahleni passed away late in 2022. The cultural and indigenous music activist, who laughed as often as she… Read more »
January 12, 2023
Africa: New Statue Celebrates Malawi Pan-Africanist the World Forgot
Samson Kambalu is a Malawian conceptual artist, writer and academic, whose sculpture Antelope was installed on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square in London in September 2022. Read more »
January 10, 2023
Senegal: Ousmane Sembène at 100 - a Tribute to Senegal's 'Father of African Cinema'
1 January 2023 marked the centenary of the birth of Ousmane Sembène, the Senegalese novelist and filmmaker hailed as the "father of African cinema". Over the course of five… Read more »
January 03, 2023
Africa: Kick Up Your Heels - Ballroom Dancing Offers Benefits to the Aging Brain and Could Help Stave Off Dementia
The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work. Read more »
December 27, 2022
Africa: Afrobeats in 2022 - Global Mobility, Election Songs, Placemaking Albums - and Tems
More than Nollywood films, Afrobeats is arguably Nigeria's strongest cultural export since the turn of the millennium. It is a hugely dynamic music category that incorporates a… Read more »
December 15, 2022
Benin: Benin Is Building a Theme Park to Remember Slavery - Is History Up for Sale?
The Marina Project is a vast memorial and tourist complex under construction in Ouidah, a coastal town in the Republic of Benin in West Africa. The country hopes to market itself… Read more »