Twitter a while back: 'Robert Mugabe is old enough to be Muhammadu Buhari's father.' Robert Mugabe, 93, is campaigning to be reelected next year. He is "slurring his words and dozing off (just resting his eyes, a spokesman claimed)." He may still win. Wole Soyinka was right in 2011 when he described Mugabe as "still riding it out on his own wall, blotting out the horizon for others with his grossly inflated ego. As for Buhari, he has been in London for nearly 50 (take that in) uninterrupted days on the second of his "medical checkups" this year (the first was a month) and we're only in June. Word is he suffered a speech impairment. He can't speak. Meanwhile, Nigeria's economy is currently mired in a recession. As we said last week, this is about the north wanting to have its turn in the presidency. Nigerians be damned. Moving on. South Africa's ruling party, the ANC, is dominated by the Jacob Zuma-faction. He is close to the Guptas. They've captured the state and lining their pockets. They also have a media operation: a British PR agency, a TV channel, a newspaper, "opposition" research (basically "fake" news) and "paid twitter."  They are also cynically exploiting South Africa's class and race inequalities. "White monopoly capital" and "radical economic transformation" are their manifestos. The first is a real problem and the second is a worthy goal. The truth is the Gupta-Zuma'ites want neither of these. Instead, they've presided over a period in which black South Africans, the majority, have been subjected to high levels of state violence, broken schools and overcrowded hospitals. In the process, the Zuma-Gupta faction (and their boosters) have discredited left ideas in the public sphere and emboldened liberals and the right. As one economist told me: "Chris Malikane [a New School economic Ph.D. hired as a policy advisor by the Finance Minister] probably did serious damage to left economists wishing to make public interventions in South Africa." The same goes for the noises they're making about reforming the central bank (known as the Reserve Bank), as the country's public protector recently suggested. There are legitimate reasons to debate the role of central banks (see former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis's new memoir). Most South Africans can't wait for 2019. About time: South Africa's "Competition Commission has laid a charge against Rooibos Limited for its alleged abuse of the tea market." Did ECOWAS (the 15 member West African economic organization of states) forget about the occupation of Palestine when they welcomed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to their annual summit? We predicted this. "Can Africa prosecute international crimes?" A better question would have been: “Have African countries prosecuted international crimes?” Yes, the 2016 prosecution of Hissène Habré. As Sarah-Jane Koulen argues, "had the title been a research question, it would have been poorly formulated as it allows for a simply yes or no answer. In addition, it strikes me as indicative of a particular kind of evaluative paternalism that has come to operate within the discursive field of international criminal justice. An audience gathered in Europe to ask of Africa whether it can … Do what exactly? Measure up? Meet the standard? Contained within the question, lies an implicit presumption that the conclusion of the discussion could be ‘no’. This is not provocative. It is cynical and offensive." Read the rest here. Obligatory cultural reference: We don't like to judge movies by their trailers, but why can't I shake the feeling that the #BlackPanther teaser trailer reminds me of a mix of 'King Solomon's Mines' and 'Coming to America'? Basically, two sets of mutually reinforcing fantasies about Africa and Africans as backdrop for the morality tale of a comic. Not so fast, says one of my interlocutors:  "It has a "lost world" King Solomon's Mines look except Alan Quartermain is the villain and the natives are the heroes and not impressed and they definitely won't be mistaking any guys who played hobbits in other movies as gods which is to say it looks great." The new Tupac movie, "All Eyez on Me," is not just bad history and bad facts, it is also has bad politics. Speaking of excellent cultural criticism. Zadie Smith on the new film "Get Out," Dana Schutz and the empty debate (in the phrase of Huffington Post editor of chief Lydia Polgreen) on who owns black pain. And Michael Ebenazer Kwadjo Omari Owuo, Jr. does it again. All bullshit claims aside about Lavar Ball turning capitalism on its head (he is basically a mix of a showman, carnival barker--an old American tradition--who gets how US media culture and promotion works), he sounds like a great father. RIP Prodigy. "I’m only 19, but my mind is old" Eid Mubarak.

• HT: Doron Isaacs, Lydia Polgreen, R.L. Stephens, Kenichi Serino, Ben Fogel, Melusi Nkomo, Elnathan John, Sarah-Jane Koulen and Wendy Willems.

Art players and enthusiasts from around the world and down the street will coalesce at the Cape International Convention Centre 17-19 February for the latest staging of the Cape Town Art Fair. Now in its 5^th iteration, the fair’s gallery participation and audiences have grown as the global interest in African art has blossomed. This year’s fair, led by the celebrated curator Tumelo Mosaka, features an impressive lineup of contemporary art galleries from across the continent and beyond as well as art talks, creative publications, limited edition prints, large scale sculptures and new works from rising artists specially selected by Mosaka. To dive into the dynamics at play with the Cape Town Art Fair as a critical reorientation of the art world, Neelika Jayawardane and Zachary Rosen spoke to Mosaka about place, access, and the balance between the market and creativity.

Art Fairs have become a mainstay of the global art market, connecting the creative world with the commercial in one geographical and physical location, condensing that interaction and exchange into an intense few days. Art fairs were usually located in the geopolitical West; but in the past ten years, a few pioneering art professionals have created the space for fairs in the Global South. Gallery owners and collectors need to choose where to put their time and resources carefully, given that the art fair calendar spoils them for choice. How would you position Cape Town Art Fair (CTAF) within the larger scene of global art market events? 

The CTAF is well positioned. We’ve seen contemporary African artists becoming a lot more visible abroad and some fetching high prices. This has provided momentum and interest in what is happening in Africa. So CTAF in this regard is well placed to be the platform to showcase art from this part of the world and beyond.

Most art fairs have a reputation of being elite, exclusive spaces and Cape Town in particular has legacy of discrimination and displacement that continues to this day. How has Cape Town Art Fair responded to the challenge of accessibility for different audiences?

This continues to be a struggle as the legacy of exclusion is something that over time will be eradicated. However, we have to remain vigilant and address it as we go along. In this regard, we have planned several Walkabouts for visitors to walk through the fair with experts. As well as a Talks program, which presents scholars, critics, curators, collectors and gallerists to discuss issues related to the art market and cultural production. And finally we are working with community groups such as Lalela who will be running workshops for young people at the V & A Waterfront. These workshops are open to all ages and are free to the public. Also there will be a family guide available at the information desk to help navigate your way through the fair.

When curating an art fair experience how do you balance the pleasure of encountering creative work with the sales-driven reality of the art market?

This is one of the challenges you have to embrace, sometimes the most provocative work, is not easily marketable. So yes, between thinking creatively and understanding the context of where the work will be presented, you then have to make the decision whether this will work. There is no formula except to speculate on impact and value both culturally and economically.

How did you interest galleries from around the world, as well as African and South African galleries to take part in the Cape Town Art Fair?

On its 5^th edition, the fair has already established a certain reputation locally, and now given the broadening interest by overseas collectors, international galleries are beginning to sign on. I think working on this scale is about opening up and engaging the world and this means that we have to see ourselves as participating in global conversation.

International art fairs featuring works by artists of African heritage have become increasingly popular and the market for such works is expanding. Are audiences meaningfully engaging with the aesthetic qualities of the artwork…or do you see more collectors who are after a representative piece or two of “African Art” that elevate them socially, or as “investment pieces”?

I don’t think you can reduce it to one or two modes consuming the art from Africa. I think today we are seeing a lot of new collectors who want to learn more about art but are too intimidated as contemporary art is still seen as foreign element. I think for some institutional validation gives them security to buy but I’m also noticing that people want to live with the works and are responding to what interests them. This is very healthy because it means that public option doesn’t always determine which works are collected.

In what ways can we ensure that collecting art produced by African artists is not a passing trend? How can we rather build relationships for successive generations of collectors, curators and artists for fruitful, meaningful connections?

I think it’s through education not only through formal structures but also through access and exposure.

The new Museum of Contemporary Art Africa under construction right now is on people’s minds as it begins to cast its shadow on the Cape Town Waterfront. How do you think this new space will impact the art scene in Cape Town and beyond?

It is already doing that. People are already talking about it and waiting to see what it will bring. Internationally I hope it will be a space to see exciting works from abroad as well as facilitate cultural exchanges between here and elsewhere. The scale and focus on contemporary art has a great potential to affect not only Cape Town, but the continent as nothing like this exists anywhere on the continent.

As Curator, what is your larger curatorial vision for this fair?  What mark would you like to leave on the Cape Town Art Fair?

What I would like to see happening is Cape Town becoming the focal point for viewing contemporary African art. This does not happen over night but has to be a long-term goal that involves developing and nurturing relationships here and around the world.

For more information on CTAF, see here.  Africa is a Country is a partner of the Art Fair. 

For this weekend's music break, we'll have a second edition of "Songs from banned countries." This time we go to Somalia via Seattle -- which is a fitting connection because the judge who ordered Trump's country ban illegal is based in Seattle. So, in the spirit of The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit's opposition to Trump's xenophobic policy, we are proud to present Malitia MaliMob and their selection for "Songs from banned countries: Somalia edition." On this edition of "Songs from banned countries," we decided to give you the ins & outs of Somali music, culture and lifestyle. We, Malitia MaliMob, are Somali-Americans who fled a civil war, and came to Seattle where we became a product of our environment. The selection of songs we have chosen intertwine both cultures — something that might be seen as taboo by some in our community — however, even though we are now Americans, it is important for us to maintain the culture of the land where we were born. This past month, the administration of President Donald Trump decided that Somali people should not be allowed to enter the United States. In contrast to this regression, back home in Somalia our people have answered with progress. That is because this past Wednesday, February 8th, we elected our new President Mohamed Farmaajo. For the first time in nearly 30 years, Somali people have realized that we need each other more than ever, and that we have to work together for a better future for Somalia. In our selection of songs and videos, we included clips that show traditional music, as well as the rebuilding of infrastructure in Somalia. We want to show the beauty in our culture & what we have to offer the world. We want to show that contrary to what many people outside of Somalia perceive, our country is full of life. Somali National Anthem (somali museum) Malitia Malimob - "Perception" Somali infrastructure Malitia Malimob - "Physical World" DIRGAAX - "JIGJIGA Dhaanto" Malitia Malimob - "Wake up call" illkacase- "Isqabooji" K’naan - "Soobax" Malitia Malimob - "Mayflower" Malitia Malimob - "I am James Foley"

"... The stakes are very high: literally, survival of organized human society in any decent form," Noam Chomsky tells Brooklyn Rail, as the former British colony of the United States of America, inaugurates its 45th president. So, this weekend's Music Break goes out to our American family, who are set to face four years of struggle against a new set of rulers, led by "a mendacious and cathartic white president." The political decisions made in the nation with the largest military, some of the biggest corporations and the loudest media companies in the world, affect all of us. But let's not be too quick to panic. If American citizens are firm in their resistance, the regime will be checked by a balance of powers, precedent (we'd recommend some political history, e.g. Corey Robin and Stephen Skowronek) and law-making and enforcement regime that is spread between 50 semi-autonomous states (though the power these states enjoy, could see some of them--those governed by hard-right Republican Party politicians--introduce retrogressive laws around trade union organizing,  the minimum wage, abortion or gender rights). For starters, you can play these sounds to drown out the noise of Donald Trump's inauguration speech today. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLseDnIPw8h8KVbuVA9uwK00wEwdprbhcF Music Break No. 102 - Winter in America edition

With all the excitement around us joining Jacobin, we were a bit worried that the fundraising part might have gotten a lost in the shuffle. So with that we just wanted to make a reminder post for you to donate to Africa Is a Country! It will help us with our relaunch effort on the new platform covering operational costs, including paying up and coming African writers, photographers, and video makers, as well as expanding towards a print issue. Africa Is a Country still a truly independent media platform that has largely been volunteer run. Over the years we've made a lot of effort to keep the site free from ad driven content, and corporate sponsors. That can only continue with help from our dear readers! So please take some time to donate. You can do it by visiting this link: paypal.me/africasacountry -- or by sending a check to: Jacobin Foundation, 388 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn NY 11217 (including “Africa Is a Country” in the memo line if mailing in your contribution). Small donations can make a big impact! If you can only donate $5, $10, or $15 we would be grateful. Even more helpful would be to also share your favorite Africa is a Country article with a friend, and ask them to donate to support independent media! To sweeten the incentive to contribute, we've also reopened our T-shirt shop. So if you haven't gotten your's yet, from now until the end of the year you can head there to grab your Africa Is a Country logo T's!

 

How to mark the passing of Boutros Boutros-Ghali, former UN Secretary General and a major figure of late 20th Century global affairs? Perhaps by appraising the lessons to be learned from his life and work. The world in 2016 presents a set of problems distinct from those faced by Boutros-Ghali as the Cold War fizzled out in the early 1990s. He had hopes for a more just international order, hopes which were thwarted and cast aside, as the US and its NATO allies careered towards a new norm of “humanitarian intervention,” the unending, spreading wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the new migration crisis. So while his contribution to the international political landscape cannot exactly be appraised as a triumph, perhaps the lessons to be learned are from his dashed aspirations. With all of that in mind, we asked a few scholars in international relations to reflect on Boutros-Ghali’s life and career. Oumar Ba Boutros-Ghali – the first African to become UN Secretary General, started his tenure at a time of tumultuous world events that left the UN still incapable of creating an efficient organization for a new era. In 1992, the Berlin Wall had already fallen, the East-West divide had dissipated to the point of making it easier to pass UN Security Council resolutions, but the world also entered an era where complex humanitarian crises meant that peacekeeping operations meant no longer merely sending blue helmets to monitor cease-fires. These were the times of Boutros-Ghali. Somalia and the US response to it in 1993 pitted Boutros-Ghali against the Clinton administration. The following year, Rwanda revealed the extent to which inaction had paralyzed the UNSC, eager to issue mandates without appropriate resources.  For instance, as the Rwandan genocide was unfolding, the UN decided to reduce its presence from 2,500 to 200 troops, with the mandate of helping the parties negotiate to stop the killings. This failure certainly can’t be squarely imputed to Boutros-Ghali, but rather to the UNSC members. In 1995, Bosnia proved what everyone already knew: the UN was utterly incapable of delivering on its promise to preserve international security. Yet, Boutros-Ghali had the perfect profile to be UN Secretary General, if there ever was one: African, Arab, Christian, Francophile, seasoned diplomat, international law scholar. His ambitious 1992 Agenda for Peace provided a blueprint for UN reforms, to address the new challenges of the post-Cold War politics and conflicts. It called for a more robust peacekeeping force on standby, with wider mandates and responsibilities in not only preserving peace, but also creating it, where necessary. But it would soon be obvious that the powers to be were not interested in implementing such agenda. With the Clinton administration’s decision to bar him from serving a second term – and Madeleine Albright as the executioner of that decision – Boutros-Ghali left a UN that still struggled to draw a new blueprint for the 21st century. The man who wanted but failed to make the post of UN Secretary General more secretary than general later returned to the francophone world as the first Secretary General of the Organization Internationale de la Francohphonie. Lina Benabdallah That Boutros Boutros-Ghali’s legacy is tainted with major failures in humanitarian interventions is a mischaracterization of his role within the bigger picture. The pitfalls and disappointments of the post-Cold War United Nations should be placed within the context of larger issues that permeated that era. From a Western-centric perspective, the Cold War (not universally all that cold) was a success since no bullets were fired. From a non-Western perspective, conflicts such as the one in Somalia or Cambodia were direct echoes of the realpolitik going on between the two superpowers. Boutros Boutros-Ghali was the first UN secretary general of the post-Cold War global order and inherited a completely different organization. Was he set up for failure? In hindsight, it is clear that the UN’s transition from a Cold War sabbatical mode to a more proactive international role had to face a few bumps along the way. Boutros-Ghali walking into his term viewed the early 1990s not as a time to celebrate the end of the Cold War; but as the duty of the international ‘community’ to repair the damage done at the Cold War’s margins, in Africa (mainly). He writes in his book Unvanquished: a U.S.-U.N. Saga “I had been elected as Africa’s candidate to take “Africa’s turn” in the job of UN secretary-general. Because of this, (…) I committed myself to try to advance the cause of the continent.” In my view Boutros-Ghali treated the UN as a post-colonial body which was tasked to respond to issues primarily in the Global South, and specifically in Africa. He reiterated in several instances, controversially, that loss of life to conflicts in Europe and North America should not be valued more than those in Africa and Asia. He reportedly described the conflict in former Yugoslavia as “the war of the rich.” Needless to say such statements earned him heavy criticism. His stand with the ‘wretched of the Earth’ in the Global South was admired by many, but the existential dilemma of his organization and its financial dependence on U.S. congress tied his hands. For US secretary of state Madeleine Albright and the Clinton administration, Boutros-Ghali had taken a little too seriously his title as general (as in secretary-general) more than secretary. In any event, Boutros-Ghali’s provocation and pressure on the US to pay its dues to the UN did not bode well, and was one of the cards used against reelecting him for a second term, and contributed to his disenchantment with the institution. Yet, more controversy followed Boutros-Ghali’s legacy even long after his relationship with the UN. Recently, in an interview with Jeune Afrique, Boutros praised Egyptian president Al-Sissi as a selfless man who “only took over power because there was no other solutions,” adding that by doing so he “saved Egypt.” This support, and blunt denial of the existence of any political opposition in Egypt, earned Boutros-Ghali a lot of criticism at home and abroad as Al-Sissi’s regime has been denounced for severe violations of human and political rights. Muhammed Korany As we mourn the loss of Boutros Boutros Ghali. We should remember his tireless efforts to promote diplomacy as the beacon of light in the darkest times. He showed us that even when war seems unending, there is a path to light. It's important that even in the turbulent times that we live in today that we remember peace and prosperity are just over the horizon. We highly recommend checking out Vijay Prashad’s superb piece for The Hindu. Here’s an excerpt:

During his tenure at the UN, Boutros-Ghali laid out an Agenda for Peace (1992) and an Agenda for Development (1995). In the former, he argued for more robust UN action towards the sources of instability in the world. It was not enough to increase UN peacekeeping missions — to send out the blue helmets to police the world. That was merely a symptomatic approach to crisis. The UN needed to tackle the roots, to understand how the “sources of instability in the economic, social, humanitarian and ecological fields have become threats to peace and security.” To get beyond symptoms, Boutros-Ghali hoped to drive a new “agenda for development,” which would counter the tendency to allow unfettered corporate power to undermine the interests of the millions. Impoverishment created the conditions for insecurity. A secure world would require the human needs of the people to be taken seriously. Debt of the Third World had to be forgiven. No International Monetary Fund-driven recipe for growth should be forced on weak countries. “Success is far from certain,” he wrote of his agenda, which seems charming in light of what followed.

Boutros-Ghali warned, in 1992, “The powerful must resist the dual but opposite calls of unilateralism and isolationism if the United Nations is to succeed.” He had in mind the U.S., which believed that it need not heed the diversity of opinion in the world but could push its own parochial agenda in the name of globalisation. Boutros-Ghali went unheeded. In 1993, at a lunch with Madeleine Albright, the U.S. Ambassador to the UN, and with Warren Christopher, U.S. Secretary of State, he said, “Please allow me from time to time to differ publicly from U.S. policy.” He recalled that Ms. Albright and Christopher “looked at each other as though the fish I had served was rotten.” They said nothing. There was nothing to be said. The sensibility of the moment was that the Secretary-General of the UN needed to take his marching orders from the White House. The Americans do not want you merely to say “yes”, he would later say, but “yes, sir!”.