Born in a small township near Gondar in northwest Ethiopia, Yityish Aynaw recently became the latest Miss Israel. And then made some dumb comments about Ethiopian heritage and beauty. (“We have these chiseled faces. Everything is in the right place,” she said. “I never saw an Ethiopian who was stuck with some big nose.”) Which […]
Why does black characters in Dutch TV commercial plays some exaggerated version of someone from the colonies? Can "normal" black people not sell a product?
This weekend, Zimbabwe held a Constitutional referendum. And so Zimbabwe enjoyed yet another 15 seconds of international press attention. Turnout was reported as low. The public was as apathetic, uninformed, and/or disinterested. And the referendum was described as important, especially for women. According to some reports, ‘women’ knew that: “Some women’s rights groups have praised […]
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the New York African Film Festival. The Festival–from April 3rd to the 9th at Lincoln Center–is still the longest running, and probably most significant, African film festival in North America. (I’ve helped out on the festival in the past, so I’m biased.) It is worth remembering what the […]
Claudio Silva asked young Angolan photographer Indira Mateta to write down her thoughts about her favorite photographs and email it to him.
We hardly ever feature Brazilian music, and even less their take on Afrobeat. The above tune by the Abayomy Afrobeat Orchestra dates from last year, but the video’s new. Hope to see more from them. We’ve got 9 more videos lined up for you this week. Ugandan duo Radio & Weasel came up with this:
“Vers la forêt de nuages” (“To the cloud forest”) is a film by Robin Hunzinger, who tells a story about his Ivorian wife Aya and their son Tim (in the image above), travelling in Côte d’Ivoire to pay tribute to Aya’s father who recently passed way. The film intends to offer a portrait of and an “initiation” to […]
Ibrahima Touré’s feature film adaptation of Ly’s powerful novel, "Toiles d’araignées" (Spiders’ webs) may be what Mali needs now.
What did the Italian photographer, Gabriele Galimberti think he was going to achieve with his photo-series of children with their toys from around the world posing for him?
Malitia Malimob, rap music and the less glamorous stories of African migration to the United States.
The Dutch artist Ruud van Empel talks about his art, including his portrayal of black children as ideal types from middle class Dutch 1960s backgrounds.
Thierry Michell's portrait of Congolese businessman-governor-football club owner Moïse Katumbi is among a few new films at the Belgian Afrika Film Festival.
Guest Post by Robert Nathan They’re not your average musicians. Sons of West African griots and court musicians brought up in Washington DC and St. Louis, Weedie Braimah and Amadou Kouyate have straddled the Atlantic all their lives. Indoors, they assiduously studied the kora and the djembe under the guidance of their fathers — master […]
It’s quite a weekend for New York’s prodigal child. Hip-Hop, that burst of youthful energy that was put out into the universe 30 plus years ago is coming back home from several places at once. It’s arriving at a time when Rap music, in its birthplace, confusingly straddles the realms of hyper-capitalism, political activism, youth expression, marginalized’s […]
The Zimbabwean photographer, Nancy Mteki, picks her five favorite photographs and shares some words about how and where the images were made.
In "Searching for Sugar Man," Rodriguez the man feels more like an awkward prop in a story of white redemption rather than the star of his own movie.
I have been a little silent lately here on AIAC. I’m gonna start posting more, although perhaps in briefer form (do visit duttyartz.com to see some of what I’ve been up to recently). For now I leave you with the White Mandingos: While tapping into an Internet ethos which is totally unserious and trivializing (the […]
How does it feel to be an African asylum seeker in Europe.
There is nothing heroic about running a cushy, big-spending non-profit like Invisible Children that works hand-in-glove with the CIA and the US military.
Pretty much all of this week’s artist are regular guests on the blog. First up: Pitcho. Remember him. Second, lifted from his ‘Jama ko’ record, here’s a Mali-shot video for Bassekou Kouyate: