CULTURE & SOCIETY

From 19 to 29 September 2024, the Africa Film Festival Cologne (AFFK) will celebrate its 21st edition. This year’s festival promises an exceptional programme with 70 feature films, documentaries and short films that offer a compelling insight into the diverse realities of Africa. From compelling narratives to thought-provoking documentaries, each film reflects the depth and diversity of African and Afro-diasporic …

By Nefeli-Anna Tatsi Munich-based music producer and musician TonyB Gaskyani started the summer season by releasing his first personal EP “New Age”. The title is his fresh start into the German music industry. His EP marks the beginning of a transformation from successful beat maker and music-producer to solo musician and a performer. As a Nigerian born and raised artist, …

The 13th Afrika Festival Potsdam/Brandenburg at the weekend was a complete success – around 2,000 visitors flocked to Potsdam’s Luisenplatz (Luisen Square) on each of the two days of the festival. The festival kicked off on Friday with a lively and colourful street parade through the streets of Potsdam, featuring traditional African music, dance and costumes, showcasing the vibrant spirit …

Hi there, I’m Nesa. If you haven’t read the previous episodes, I advise you to stop reading. Go back, read them, and then come back. Don’t worry; I’ll be right here waiting for you. And if you’ve already read the previous episodes, buckle up, and let’s continue our journey. I would not call myself a DADA BEE (a Ghanaian colloquialism). …

Wole Soyinka, the literary giant and human rights icon, turns 90 on 13 July. Considering the gamut of his creative work as a dramatist, poet, novelist, essayist, memoirist and wordsmith, the emeritus professor of comparative literature could arguably be described as Africa’s greatest man of letters ever. In 1986, Soyinka became the first African to receive the Nobel Prize in …

For a continent whose merits have been overshadowed by wars, natural disasters, poverty and human displacements, the Nobel Prize for literature awarded to the Nigerian Wole Soyinka in 1986 must have come as a shock to those audiences with little knowledge of the presence of a wealth of contemporary African literatures. This shock could only be the result of years …

Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka turns 90 on 13 July. Femi Awoniyi and Michael Nnaji look at the life of the literary giant as a political and rights activist in the service of humanity. Born Oluwole Akinwande Soyinka on 13 July 1934 in Abeokuta, south-western Nigeria, this truly great man of many parts is often wrongly reduced to the Nobel Prize …

Hi again, Nesa here. Welcome back to the second episode of my journey. Today, we dive into my experience relocating from Ghana to Germany, a journey that redefined my path and taught me invaluable lessons about resilience, starting afresh, and seizing opportunities. To be honest, I never imagined I would settle in Germany. Born here but raised in Ghana, I …

ANNOUNCEMENT After some anxiety about the future of the African Music Festival, we are now all the more pleased to be able to present this year’s wonderful programme (1-4 August) under the motto “We are one”! Thanks to the great support of many people who donated, contributed to the crowd-funding campaign and took part in the benefit concerts, we were …

The Africa Centre London has rolled out an elaborate programme to celebrate the life of Wole Soyinka, the first African Nobel laureate in Literature (1986), to mark the Nigerian writer’s 90th birthday. From Friday, July 19 to Saturday, July 27, The Africa Centre will come alive with exhibitions, roundtables, film screenings, live music performances and poetry recitals to celebrate the …

In her new short autobiographic book, Cologne-based legal scholar and creative author Nesa narrates her story, of an African girl who was born in Germany but raised in the continent and now lives in the country of her birth. This is the first episode of Nesa’s chronicle Hi, I’m Nesa, and over the next ten weeks, I’ll be taking you …

Our contributing editor Tina Adomako reviews “Afrika in Mode. Luxus, Handwerk und textiles Erbe”, a new book written by Ghanaian designer Ken Kweku Nimo, in which African fashion designers narrate African fashion history. “African” fashion has found its way into the Western fashion world for over a hundred years. Even when Black people were downgraded as primitive, it was and …

The Association of Yoruba Progressive Community (AYPC) Bayern e.V. is celebrating the 10th anniversary of its founding. The group’s members are from the Yoruba-speaking areas of Nigeria living in the state of Bavaria and they support each other as well as promote their culture in Germany. Events commemorating the milestone commenced on 1 June in the Bavarian city of Munich …

The 2024 edition of the Yoruba (Nigeria) Cultural Festival takes place in Austria on 26-29 June. Organised by Egbe omo Oduduwa Austria, the festival, which holds annually in the capital city of Vienna, showcases the rich cultural heritage of the Yoruba people of Nigeria and promotes the country’s tourism potential. It also helps to foster friendly relations between Nigeria and …

In a new study, conducted by the QR Code Generator, a collaboration between Lady Gaga and Adele would be the most popular artist collaboration for fans.  Using data sourced from Music Metrics Vault and SongStats, the study identifies the artist collaborations that would cause the most frenzy amongst respective fans.   The monthly listeners, followers, total streams and playlist reach for …

The photographer and author Akinbode Akinbiyi (78) has been awarded the prestigious Hannah Höch Prize 2024 for his outstanding artistic life’s work. The prize, awarded by the Cultural Administration of the Berlin Senate since 1996, honours artists who live and work in Berlin and who stand out for their continuous artistic achievements. The prize is endowed with 25,000 euros and …

For the 13th year, Afrika Festival Potsdam/Brandenburg will display Africa’s cultural wealth in the eastern German city of Potsdam on 19-20 July. Featuring a wide-ranging programme that includes live concerts, dance performances, a fashion show, a bazaar and a street procession, the festival promises a fascinating journey through the rich culture and history of Africa. Under the motto ‘Sustainability of …

Nigerian Afrobeats superstar Young Jonn will perform live in Germany’s captial city of Berlin on Saturday, 8 June 2024. The Afro-pop producer, performer and composer, whose real name is John Saviours Udomboso, is one of the most recognisable names in the Nigerian musical scene. Young Jonn gained popularity with classic songs like “Mafo” by Naira Marley, “ShakitiBobo” and “Story for …

Dr Priscillia M. Manjoh, a Berlin-based author, has been bestowed with “The Mount Cameroon Literary Grand Prize 2023”. The Cameroon-born novelist impressed the jury with her novel Angri leading to her being chosen among the 40 nominees for the prestigious award. The national prize, under the patronage of the Association of Cameroonian Poets and Writers, was launched in 2022 and …

New data has revealed the most ‘TikTokable’ European cities, with Berlin and Hamburg making the top ten.  Using data sourced from Statista, marketing experts at Upbeat Agency analysed the number of views each European city had received on TikTok.  Barcelona is the most popular European city on TikTok, with 106.1 billion views. The cosmopolitan capital of Spain’s most popular tourist …