CULTURE & SOCIETY

Five years after the release of ‘Luyando’, Zimbabwe’s most celebrated musical export have returned with their long-awaited follow-up album ‘Tusona: Tracings in the Sand’, released on 7 July by Munich-based Outhere records. Like anywhere in the world Africa’s musical output has become more and more producer based. Mokoomba, however, are the living proof that Africa’s great guitar band heritage is …

The Theatre Arts and Motion Pictures Practitioners Association of Nigeria (TAMPAN) will launch its German branch on 26-27 May in the city of Kassel. Among others, the Executive Council of the group will be unveiled and its programme of activities in Germany will be presented during the 2-day event, which will also feature a networking session and discussions on business …

The biggest African festival in Germany’s federal capital is 10 years old this year and its organisers have rolled out a programme to celebrate the anniversary in a big way. In addition to the Kenako Africa Festival on Berlin’s Alexanderplatz (20 – 30 July 2023), there will also be a Kenako Kids Festival (27 June – 2 July 2023) in …

This year’s season of African music and culture in Germany is taking shape. Here are the Top Festivals you don’t want to miss before summer ends in 2023:———————————- Africa Festival Würzburg 26 – 29 May / Würzburg The International Africa Festival has been existing since 1989 and is the largest and oldest festival for African music and culture in Europe. …

Ade Bantu (right) and Harry Belafonte/Photo: Courtesy of Ade Bantu Tributes are being paid across the world to the African-American entertainer and rights icon Harry Belafonte, who died in New York on Tuesday at the age of 96. Ade Bantu, the Afro-German musician and rights activist who once met Belafonte, has penned a moving tribute to the Black singer, actor …

The 14th edition of Arab Film Festival Berlin (ALFILM), taking place from 26 April to 2 May 2023, offers a programme that is more diverse than ever with over 43 feature films, documentaries and short films. The festival presents films from across the Arab world, from Casablanca to Damascus, via Algiers, Tunis, Cairo, Gaza, Jaffa and Beirut. The Guest of …

Vienna-born artist Rose May Alaba is set to make waves in the African music scene with her latest single set to drop on 28 April. The talented singer, who is the younger sister of football sensation David Alaba, grew up in Austria, surrounded by different genres of music, but it was her Nigerian roots that eventually caught her attention. She …

Multiple award-winner Angélique Kidjo has added another title to her laurels. The African singer won the 2023 Polar Music Prize, often called the Nobel Prize of Music, on Tuesday. She was honoured with the award alongside Britain’s Chris Blackwell, founder of Island Records, and Estonian composer Arvo Part. The Polar Music Prize is an annual Swedish international award founded in …

The accompanying single cover, by award-winning Ghanaian satirical artist Bright Tetteh Ackwerh–depicting the main presidential candidates (of the recently concluded presidential elections) wining and dining together, while the struggling masses gather around them begging for alms BANTU, a band based in Lagos, Nigeria, has dropped a new music “Wayo And Division” to warn citizens of Africa’s most populous country against …

Dr Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Chairman/CEO, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) has rejoiced with a Nigerian woman, Tracy Eboigbodin, who won the ‘MasterChef Italia’, an international Cooking Contest, in Italy recently. In a statement issued in Abuja by the Commission’s Head of Media and Public Relations, Abdur-Rahman Balogun, Ms Dabiri-Erewa described Eboigbodin’s victory as well-deserved and a product of hard work and …

BonelliErede, a leading international law firm, and Italia Africa Business Week (IABW), a commercial and business forum whose goal is to facilitate sharing economic, commercial and financial knowledge between Africa and Italy, recently held a webinar on the restitution of cultural property to African states. It was the latest in a series of webinars organised by BonelliErede and focused on: …

Anteneh Defabachew came to Germany as a refugee from Ethiopia. Today, he has become a star cook, working for one of the prestigeous hotels in Germany. His autobiography of how he overcame his humble beginnings to achieving fame in Germany was launched recently in Nuremberg. Here’s a report of the event by Netsi Berhane Anteneh Defabachew displays his book/Photo: Anteneh …

From 8–13 November, ‘Afrikamera – Latest Cinema from Africa’ presents, among others, a selection of current feature, documentary and short films dealing with issues of migration and life in the African diaspora. Among the films to be screened at the film festival, which has been holding in Berlin since 2008, is Fati’s Choice of the Ghanaian filmmaker Fatimah Dadzie. It …

Tip No. 2BE YOU! YOU are one-of-a-kind. YOU are the most amazing invention of all inventions. In a world where the only constant thing is change, YOU are the only thing that remains unchanged. As for your DNA, the hereditary material that is peculiar to each person and each person alone? Even that is unique. Not even the mother who …

Introduction:Living authentically is the most significant value we can add to our lives. It is akin to celebrating Christmas, or any of your other favourite holidays, every day, complete with a one-of-a-kind, lovingly wrapped present.But authenticity takes courage: the courage to be unapologetically YOU. The 12 Tips in Who are you, if you are not YOU? (If you are an …

Lagos-based Africana Couture with the opening of its new classy outlet in Abidjan has made a significant statement of intent of taking the lead in the propagation of African fashion on a global scale The merry sound of clinking glasses, hearty laughter and afrobeats music permeated the cool September evening at Rue Marconi Zone 4, a posh business district in …

Wode Maya, Ghana’s first YouTuber to hit over a million subscribers, is leading the vlogging crusade for a better African image and he’s making a fortune to boot /Photo: © Wode Maya Africa is more than poor and starving, the vloggers are saying. And they show a reality far away from the stereotype. Stunning holiday spots, beautiful housing estates, entrepreneurs …

A collection of the looted artefacts from the old Benin kingdom of today’s Nigeria, famously called Benin Bronzes, are currently being exhibited at the Humboldt Forum, a sprawling museum dedicated to history, art and culture, in Berlin. They are a part of the artefacts, comprising sculptures and reliefs made of bronze and brass as well as works made of ivory, …

With a wide-ranging programme including live concerts, dance performances, a fashion show, a bazaar and a street procession, Afrika Festival Potsdam/Brandenburg holds on 9-10 September in Potsdam. Taking place at its traditional venue, at the popular Luisenplatz in the city centre, the festival will feature performances by, among other artists, Tomi Taiwo, Afropean Vibration, Prince Aladeogo, Asamoah, Miss Fee, Wandera …

Meta, the company that owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, among other products and services, has announced the launch of ‘Creators of Tomorrow‘, a new campaign  that celebrates emerging talents from around the world who are inspiring a new movement of creative content online. The campaign spotlights creators in Sub-Saharan Africa from East Africa, Southern Africa and Francophone Africa. The selected …