[slideshow] Our man in Brussels, Tom de Vriendt, sent on information on some Africa-themed exhibitions on this summer (till the end of August) in that city. It’s all part of “The Summer of Photography,” which the organizers describe as “… a program that includes some 30 exhibitions, colloquia, workshops, and other photographic events all over […]

I saw this ad on TV a few times during my recent trip down to South Africa. The commercial, for South African beer Hansa Pilsener, riffs on the South African government’s Black Economic Empowerment policy, which far from creating opportunities for small businesspeople, have increasingly resulted in a few rich, politically connected billionaires, white owned […]

Despite its high cheesiness quotient and half of the teams featured in the video already out of the running, I still love this World Cup ad by Australian TV channel, SBS. If that’s too uncool for you, you’d probably prefer this compilation by French newpaper, Le Monde, of 32 musical hits from every country that […]

[vimeo=http://vimeo.com/13010025 w=500&h=307] Ghana’s Black Stars was on a run to make history–to become the first African team to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup–until they were hustled by Uruguayan gamesmanship. Here, Ghana’s Ambassador to the Republic of Brooklyn, Blitz, backed by a big band, gives proper thanks for the team’s efforts. — Sean Jacobs

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m32pplDyPlo&w=500&h=307&rel=0] My friend, Wendy Willems, former Londoner now teaching media studies at Wits University, pointed me to the music of part-Londoner, part-Zimbabwean Tinashe. This is the single “Saved,” of his debut album out in early August. Below is a recent video interview Tinashe did with culture blog, Afripop:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1bVpbu8bXQ&w=500&h=307&rel=] The largest African country in the world just crashed out of the quarterfinals of the 2010 World Cup. Don’t worry Brazil, you’ll always have Antonio Carlos Jobim.

While reviewing this week’s film, Out of Africa (1985), for our series Africa on Film, I wondered what I would write about. Many people have bones to pick with this film but I was unable to distinguish what they were. The grandiose sets of colonial Kenya in the early part of the 20th century are […]

Tomorrow Ghana will try to the impossible: become the first African nation to go to the semi-finals of the World Cup.  Two African countries came close, but failed: Cameroon in 1990 (in a thrilling match with England determined by dodgy refereeing) and Senegal in 2002 (against Turkey). But Ghana seems to the real thing. But […]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrvzEbrf8Ow&w=500&h=307&rel=0] Master musician Dudu Pukwana, he played the  saxophone, who was part of a great generation of South African jazz musicians (I blogged about them a few days ago), died on this day in 1990. An appropriate time to post this clip, above, that appear  to be from a documentary about the Blue Notes, the […]