The annual season of African music and culture in Germany is in full swing. Here are the Top Festivals you don’t want to miss before summer ends: ———————————- Afrika-Festival Stuttgart 12 – 14 July / Stuttgart, Erwin-Schöttle Platz Music, Fashion Show, Workshop, Film, Market, Culinary Pleasures etc, On stage we show you what Africa has to offer in music, …
Read More »Casting Call for Africa Fashion Week Amsterdam 2018
Organisers of the Africa Fashion Week Amsterdam (AFWA) have opened the casting call for the 2018 event, which will be held on 21 January. Casting calls are similar to job interviews. Runway model castings are normally held in a space that allows each model to walk prior to being chosen for a fashion show. It also involves a short interview …
Read More »Book: How colonisation drives today’s African migration to Europe
As I write this article, 49 migrants, mostly Africans, are stranded at sea. They had been rescued in the Mediterranean by the humanitarian organisation Sea Watch about two weeks ago but no European country is ready to allow the migrants to disembark at its port. Last year, about 112,000 migrants found their way irregularly through the Mediterranean to Europe while …
Read More »Can Netflix lift Nollywood to new global heights?
Distribution of Nigerian movies on Netflix started around 2015. Alessandro Jedlowski, a scholar at the Free University of Brussels, Belgium, takes a look at the global streaming giant’s intervention in the Nigerian film industry and predicts what long-term impact this could have on the worldwide marketing of Nollywood. Global streaming service Netflix set its eyes a few years ago on …
Read More »Berlin demonstrators demand return of Benin artworks to Nigeria
A few number of activists turned out on a cold and raining Saturday in Berlin for a public demonstration for the return to Nigeria of Benin artworks in German museums. Even though hundreds of protesters were expected to participate in the action, the low turnout did not dampen the enthusiasm of the activists. They say the demonstration, which was held …
Read More »First-ever African Christmas Market opens in Berlin
Main features of the Christmas season in Germany are the charming fairs that decorate the country during this time of year. From traditional handicrafts and quirky ornaments to tasty local delicacies and sweet-scented mulled wine (Glühwein), there’s absolutely nothing you can’t find in a German Christmas market. This year Berlin will host the first “Afro-Lux Christmas Market” on 8-9 December. …
Read More »World’s largest Museum dedicated to Black Civilisations opens in Dakar
A new museum dedicated to the art and culture of people of African descent opened in Dakar Thursday (6 December). It was the realization of a 1966 dream of Senegal’s founding president, Léopold Sédar Senghor to exhibit in one space the richness of Black civilizations and history. Declaring the Museum of Black Civilizations (Musée des civilisations noires) open, Senegal’s President …
Read More »Demonstration in Berlin for return of stolen Benin artworks to Nigeria
Hundreds of activists are expected to turn out in Berlin on Saturday, 8 December for a public demonstration for the return to Nigeria of Benin artworks in German museums. British forces raided and destroyed Benin City in today’s Nigeria about 120 years ago. They looted thousands of invaluable works of art from the burnt down royal palace and sold it …
Read More »Reggae added to UNESCO’s Cultural Heritage List
The UN cultural agency has recognised reggae as an intangible cultural heritage worth protecting for its “contribution to international discourse on issues of injustice, resistance, love and humanity underscores the dynamics of the element as being at once cerebral, socio-political, sensual and spiritual”. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has recognised reggae music as a cultural treasure …
Read More »Femi Kuti, son Omorinmade dazzle Berlin in memorable concert
On Saturday, 17 November, the Afrobeat star, Femi Kuti and his Positive Force band performed at the Young African Art Market (YAAM) in East Berlin. Our Contributing Editor, Michael Nnaji witnessed the event and reports on the high and low points of the memory night. Femi Kuti and his Positive Force band raised the temperature of the Berlin audience on …
Read More »Femi Kuti to rock Berlin and present new album
Femi Kuti and his band, the Positive Force, will rock the German capital city on Saturday 17 November in what organisers have promised will be a show to remember. The eldest son of Afrobeat pioneer Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, who started his musical career in the band of his father “Egypt 80”, will be performing live in Berlin for the first time …
Read More »Gents Club Berlin celebrates first anniversary in style
Gents Club Berlin celebrated its first anniversary with a big get-together in the German capital city on Saturday, 3 November. Members of the socio-cultural-humanitarian association and their families joined by invited guests turned out in beautiful, colourful attires to mark the first birthday of the club, founded by a group of Nigerians. It was an evening of good music, supplied …
Read More »Bloggers connecting the African community in Europe meet in Berlin
A community of African bloggers is slowly emerging in Germany with a growing number of bloggers who share their personal experiences for others to learn from, creating a veritable platform for information exchange. A Berlin meeting brought them together for the first time last Friday. Femi Awoniyi reports. African bloggers gathered in Berlin on 2 November for the first Afro-Bloggers …
Read More »Afro-Bloggers Convention to hold in Berlin
Bloggers from across Africa and its Diaspora will gather in Berlin on 2 November for the first “Afro-Bloggers Convention”. The event, organised by Afrobizgermany.com, an online platform that projects the Black community in Germany to the outside world, is aimed at bringing Afro-bloggers together to discuss “The impact of blogging in our community”. The one-day event features discussions, workshops and …
Read More »Film festival shines spotlight on Horn of Africa in Berlin
‘AFRIKAMERA – Latest Cinema from Africa’ presents, from 13 – 18 November, a selection of current feature and documentary films from the Horn of Africa, a region associated more with political, social and military conflicts than its cinema culture. The fact is however that the cinema can look back on a long tradition in the region. Ethiopia was the first …
Read More »1.5 million bi-national couples in Germany
Marrying across nations and cultures is a growing trend in Germany as new official figures show that the number of bi-national couples in the country has doubled since 1996. As reported by the Federal Statistical Office on Friday (21 September), 1.5 million bi-national couples, where one partner has German and the other a foreign nationality, are currently living together in …
Read More »Ghana to host 2018 All Africa Music Awards in November
Ghana has accepted to host the 5th All Africa Music Awards (AFRIMA) between Wednesday, November 21 and Saturday, November 24 in Accra. It will be hosted in partnership with the African Union Commission (AUC) and the International Committee of AFRIMA. The host country rights acceptance was conducted on Tuesday at a media announcement at the Kempinski Hotel Gold Coast City, …
Read More »Controversial Nigerian scholar to talk about African literature in Berlin
Professor Pius Adesanmi, director of the Institute of African Studies at Carleton University in Canada, will participate at a public discussion on African literature in Berlin on 26 September. The event, organised by the literary agency InterKontinental, will take place in Literaturhaus Berlin. Adesanmi is well known for his often satiric writings, focusing on the absurd in the Nigerian social …
Read More »Film on how Gambian activists ousted Jammeh premieres in London
Former Gambian president, Yahya Jammeh, may have left office over a year now but news about him still command a lot of attention. Jammeh in a recently-leaked tape talks of staging a comeback to the country he ruled for over two decades until January 2017. His mothers’ death this week in exile and the subsequent repatriation of her remains to …
Read More »9 African Festivals to end the Summer in Germany
The annual summer season of African music and culture in Germany has been in full swing since April. Here are 9 Top Festivals, holding from now until the end of summer, promising an unforgettable experience: —————————————— 1st Gnaoua Festival Berlin 16 – 18 August / Berlin, Werkstatt der Kulturen Concerts | Exhibitions | Talk | Workshop | Master Class | …
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