[slideshow] From new work by Cape Town-based photographer Araminta de Clarmont. A photo series on ikrwala (young Xhosa initiates) posing in new clothes–symbolizing their status as “new men”–after returning from initiation school. De Clarmont photographed the young men, who all still attend high school, in the classrooms where they get a formal education: “… As […]
Does it sometimes seem like all technology and internet-related projects in and on Africa have to serve some grand purpose?
“Patience,” another track of the much anticipated “Distant Relatives” project. Nas and Damian Marley channels Amadou & Mariam’s “Sabali.” — Sean Jacobs
[vimeo=http://vimeo.com/10881896 w=500&h=281] Love this video and rapper Jalin Rose‘s flow. The sample is off Ski’s “24 Hour Karate School,” featuring Mos Def. It’s also called “Taxi.” — Sean Jacobs
Apparently on a Chicago TV station. Let’s hope this a spoof. Otherwise it explains this kind of thing and the kinds of rubbish being reported about the 2010 World Cup. Remember it’s controversial and it is in South America, which is a country. The people are brown and they play soccer, right? Via Deadspin. — […]
The very talented Ivorian artist Paul Sika (I’ve linked to Paul’s work last year on my old blog) has sent me an email about the publication of his new book, “At The Heart Of Me…” which is now available at Paul’s brand new Paul Sika Store. Here‘s a link the trailer for the project. Paul […]
It is still okay to create the most objectionable stereotypes about certain Africans and for it to be considered fine. This time: India.
The Belgian anthropologist Filip De Boeck (remember his excellent “Kinshasa: Tales of the Invisible City“) recently finished a thought-provoking documentary, “Cemetery State,” on Kinshasa’s largest burial grounds. Here’s a synopsis of the film from when it recently played at the London International Documentary Festival: In Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, children […]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GWdGfKXK3U&w=500&h=307] A 9-minute excerpt from a new short video documentary (20 minutes in all) about the South African artist Thando Mama. (The film is directed by German filmmakers Thorolf Lipp and Tobias Wendl. The bulk of Lipp and Wendl’s film work focuses on African subjects; check out their Youtube page.) If you’re unfamiliar with Mama’s […]
“… The Kibera slum in Nairobi is home to between 500,000 and 800,000, living in cramped conditions of almost 3,000 per hectare. In September 2009 the UN-supported relocation of its first inhabitants finally got going – several years late. At this rate the programme (projected cost $1.2bn) will take 1,170 years to complete.” Jean-Christophe Servant writing […]
Bok van Blerk's new music video mines familiar racist tropes of starving, diseased children in a war-torn African country saved by a blonde heroine and her white male companion.
The one about the black model we all love to hate and the white activist we all just love.