February 24, 2023
South Africa: Murdered South African Rapper's Posthumous Album Is a Mixed Bag
Just weeks before being gunned down in what appeared to be a hit, the South African rapper AKA (Kiernan Forbes) had announced he was ready to release his new album, Mass Country.… Read more »
February 23, 2023
Nigeria: Nigeria Elections - the Surprising Influence of Afrobeats Music On Politics
In the run-up to Nigeria's February 2023 elections, the country's younger generation has mobilised to demand change and redefine the political landscape - and music has been… Read more »
South Africa: Pretty Yende, a South African Opera Star With a Voice That Shatters Glass Ceilings
It's been announced that South African opera star Pretty Yende will sing at King Charles III's coronation on 6 May in Westminster Abbey, London. The 37-year-old soprano was elated. Read more »
February 22, 2023
Africa: Rock Art As African History - What Religious Images Say About Identity, Survival and Change
To "read" the history of times before writing, scholars have traditionally used excavated evidence. Remains like dwellings, burials and pots can reveal a lot about how people lived… Read more »
February 16, 2023
Africa: Leo Frobenius Made African Rock Art Famous, but Is Tainted By Racism and a Lack of Understanding
Leo Frobenius was a largely self-taught German ethnologist (someone who studies societies and cultures) who undertook numerous expeditions. One of them, from 1928 to 1930, was to… Read more »
February 15, 2023
Africa: Invisible Trillions Book Review - Global Capitalism Operates Beyond Rule of Law, Threatens Democracy
Secrecy has become as important for corporations as transparent and taxable profits used to be, according to Raymond W. Baker in his new book Invisible Trillions. Global… Read more »
Cameroon: Jean-Paul Zé Bella - the Cunning Cameroonian Soldier Who Became a Global Music Legend
One of Cameroon's most influential music stars - Jean-Paul Zé Bella - passed away on 15 January at the age of 71 after a battle against cancer. The singer and drummer was a… Read more »
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 »