Dutch photographer Andrea Stultiens met Ugandan Kaddu Wasswa in 2008 through his grandson, photographer Arthur Kisitu. Born in 1933, Wasswa played a role in his community as a teacher and social worker. These days, Wasswa is a farmer and an HIV/AIDS activist, running an NGO from his home in the Mokono District. Throughout his life Wasswa has been documenting his activities. He started building his archive around the time Uganda was seeking its independence, writing novels, plays and essays, taking and collecting photographs. Additionally, the personal archive contains letters and newspaper clippings, often with added commentary. Stultiens and Kisitu set out to explore Wasswa's fragmented collection. She took photographs of the documents to which she added her own and Kisitu’s photos which were taken during their meetings. The resulting book is a creative postcolonial archive where both the collectors and the collection often appear within the same frame, thus avoiding an all too easy critique that inevitably comes with an outsider’s interest in dusty colonial libraries. Flipping through the photographed archive of photographs (because that is essentially what it is) it is hard not to become as curious as the two photographers in their mapping of Wasswa’s life and, through him, Uganda’s age of independence: Here's a video in which Stultiens tells us a bit more about the work: http://vimeo.com/12058132

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPPYQaAJR5U&w=500&h=307&rel=0] South African DJ Hamma (former member of Brasse Vannie Kaap, these days "1/3rd of the dj collective known as Spindle Crew") will soon drop a first solo-album called "Ctrl-Alt-Del, A non-responsive project."*  The song in the video above, "Still got love," is a first single. Rhymes are by Reason Lebaka a.k.a. Reasonthemass. * With guest appearances by Jitsfinger, Tumi, Ej von Lyrik, HHP, Ben Sharpa, Zubz, and many more, I guess.--Tom Devriendt

Out My Window is a 360° online documentary and the first release from the HIGHRISE project, "a multi-year, cross-media project about vertical living around the globe". The project won this year's DocLab competition at the International Documentary Film Festival in Amsterdam. Of all the cities on the continent, there is (again) only Johannesburg here ("horror stories", hijacked buildings and a collapsed church roof), but this is too absorbing not to share it. - Tom Devriendt

Earlier this year, the Congolese government declared European development commissioner Karel De Gucht persona non grata because of comments he made to the European Parliament, stating that the weakness of the Congolese state meant that EU aid had limited impact. Kinshasa dubbed De Gucht’s comments as ‘racist, disrespectful and irresponsible,’ barring him from entering the DRC. This wasn’t the first time. Six years ago he had already been called a ‘Tintin minister’. We’re almost a year later. De Gucht has swapped portfolios, now being the European trade commissioner, and the Congolese government seems to have forgotten about their earlier ban. How do we know? Some days ago, De Gucht participated in a debate on the current state of play of the Economic Partnership Agreements at the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly in Kinshasa. This is how he was greeted by some street vendors: - Tom Devriendt

[vimeo=http://vimeo.com/16832669 w=500&h=281] In January 2010, the people behind Angola--Nos Trilhos da Independência have started collecting and recording personal memories and testimonies about Angola’s fight for independence. It’s a long-term project: they plan on digging for stories for the next five years. But it sure looks promising already as you can see above. They’re also keeping a diary, and you can participate: [vimeo=http://vimeo.com/16832402 w=500&h=281] --Tom Devriendt

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeIeE_sfFrw&w=500&h=307&rel=0] 2010 was supposed to be the year the European Union would come up with a 'uniform migration policy'. For now, it didn’t happen. Hailing from Sierra Leone, Bai Kamara Jr. has been living and playing in Brussels for some twenty years.--Tom Devriendt

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgAhDy41Vwk&w=500&h=307&rel=0] In this short video Portuguese singer Carmen Souza speaks about her third album "Protegid" (which she recorded with Theo Pas'cal), her Cape Verdean roots, the "Rabelados" (Creole for 'rebels', or, 'non-violent rebels of the Cape Verde Island', as they are known these days) and jazz pianist Horace Silver (himself born to a Cape Verdean father). Here's a great live recording of her playing "Song for my father": [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGZc2QEFm1A&w=500&h=307&rel=0] We like our jazz.--Tom Devriendt

Belgian cartoonist GAL turned 70 this year. The relations between Belgium and Congo haven't been absent in his work. (I provided some context below each cartoon.) Happy birthday, Gal. January 2001. Belgian foreign minister Louis Michel (he famously said, "King Leopold II was a true visionary for his time, a hero") criticizes the Austrian government, calling for a boycott of its ski resorts to protest the inclusion of Jörg Haider's Freedom Party in the coalition. He attends Laurent-Désiré Kabila's funeral a week later. February 2002. The Belgian parliamentary commission investigating the death of Patrice Lumumba finds that the Belgian government carried a "moral responsibility". Louis Michel apologizes to the Congolese people. No further legal action was taken. October 2004. Belgian foreign minister Karel De Gucht visits Congo where "I have met a lot of people and I wonder if they are the people to transform this country into a democracy and seriously manage it." Kinshasa is not amused, slamming the "Tintin minister". May 2008. Karel De Gucht reiterates his 2004 claims. "If pointing out to the Congolese politicians they have to make bigger efforts meant he was a neo-colonialist," he says, "then I am a convinced neo-colonialist". July 2008. Human Rights Watch reports that the peace accord fails to end the killing and raping of civilians in Eastern Congo. In Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe cracks down on the opposition. June 2010. Weeks after the murder of Congolese human rights activist Floribert Chebeya, King Albert II of Belgium attends the ceremonies in Kinshasa to mark the 50th anniversary of Congo's independence. - Tom Devriendt

The International Society for Human Rights's new campaign. Via Osocio.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ALDgQERlLw In 1987, two years before the Congolese grand maître Franco died (although never substantiated, it is widely believed because of AIDS), he released "Attention na Sida" (Beware of AIDS). Today's new generation of Congolese musicians hasn't forgotten. Préservons-nous.--Tom Devriendt

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WgjyU-xOG8 K.ommando Toxik's output has been prolific this year. See for example their Persona Non Grata or their appearance in the all-star videos Le Clip Kongolais and Bana Congo RD. "Afrika Star" is another single from their latest album. Shot in 'les 2 Congos' (Kinshasa and Brazzaville), it also features Mokobé and M'Passi.--Tom Devriendt.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wJOxcTdYuk Last month, Mali's trio SMOD (consisting of DJ Sam, Ousco and Donski) released a second single, Les Dirigeants Africains, taken from their new self-titled album. Sure, producer Manu Chao's stamp is all over it, but SMOD's lyrics and director Chris Macari* make up for that. And if you think DJ Sam looks a bit like Amadou or Mariam, you might very well be onto something... * If you've never heard of Chris Macari, then his 2003 short movie The Letter is a good place to start.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAibpGHesg4 We know Jacob Zuma can dance. But can Julius Malema, the future President of South Africa (ha!), dance? At least we we know that neither Malema or his colleagues at the ANC Youth League understand social media. Johannesburg's DJ Cleo throws Malema and social media both in the mix for this video. And gets away with White Economic Empowerment (W.E.E.) tendencies. * You get the bloody agent reference, right?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtE2sTIS9z4 If you have seen the 1987 movie La Vie est Belle (Life is Rosy), you probably remember the aspiring musician Kourou (played by Papa Wemba) getting himself in some trouble in this scene. Here, in the latest single Enfants du pays taken from the album Crise de Nègre, Pitcho and his man DJ Aral masterfully revisit Papa Wemba's featuring theme song. Shot in Kinshasa, the clip also introduces Fredy Massamba.--Tom Devriendt

[vodpod id=Video.4686469&w=500&h=411&fv=] Last week, Baloji played at Les Nuits Zébrées (Montpellier, France). Arte was there too. Thank you, Arte.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuHW3X5QKzY&w=500&h=300&rel=0]

"I well remember hearing my first Tinariwen songs. I was about five. After the death of my mother, my father was obliged to take me to live with my grown-up sister. One morning I was sitting in front of the house and this guy walked by singing a song by Inteyeden called ‘Imidiwan Kel Hoggar’ (‘My Friends the Hoggar People’). It went straight into my brain." (Ousmane Ag Mossa, lead singer of Tamikrest)

Tamikrest (from Northern Mali) recently toured Europe where they recorded this session for They Shoot Music - Don't They. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkmGBxcuoHs&w=500&h=300&rel=0] --Tom Devriendt

When sleepless I often find myself browsing through time and space, moving from Johannesburg's CBD to Ouagadougou’s boulangeries and back to Maputo’s fish market, watching the streets in Accra, Bamako and Cairo. Over at City One Minutes they’re steadily building a kaleidoscopic library of city lives - each life divided into twenty-four one minute portraits, each depicting one hour of the day. Every film is an impression of the city in which the artist lives or happens to be. And it’s not only African cities. Addictive. And you can join.

You probably know Belgian photographer Cedric Gerbehaye from his portrait of Laurent Nkunda. That 2007 picture was part of a broader story on Eastern Congo. Gerbehaye is a frequent visitor to the Congo. Many of the resulting pictures were collected and published in Congo in Limbo, including his most recent story on the Katanga mines. You’ll find the full Katanga copperbelt series here. Here and above are some highlights