CULTURE & SOCIETY

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 …

His Royal Highness Céphas Kosi Olatidoye Bansah was recently crowned the Golden Winemaker 2022 in the city of Bad Dürkheim, the heartland of the wine-producing region of southwest Germany. The 74-year-old Ghanaian, who is the Togbe Ngoryifia of the Hohoe Gbi Traditional Area, Volta Region, was bestowed with the prestigious honour at a festive reception in the large council hall …

An event organised by the Nigerian diplomatic mission in Germany to celebrate the culture of Africa’s most populous country takes place on Saturday, 10 September in Frankfurt am Main. The Nigerian-German Cultural Carnival 2022 will showcase the country’s diverse cultural heritage and promote Nigeria as a place to visit and do business to Germans. The theme of the Carnival, which …

The 2022 Ghanaian Cultural Festival will feature music, diverse traditional dancing displays, food, drinks and a bazaar. A colourful parade of Germany-based chiefs and queens from various regions of Ghana will be a major highlight of the festival

What began in 1992 with a modest selection of "Films from West Africa" in Cologne's smallest cinema, the Filmpalette, has developed over three decades into Germany's most important and comprehensive presentation of contemporary filmmaking from all parts of Africa and its worldwide diaspora.

Artists get ideas for their works from what they see and experience around them through the process of socialisation. Others say they get these images from their dreams and from visits by the ancestral spirits while meditating.

Our contributing editor, Frank Stenner, pays tribute to one of Nigeria’s musical giants, Chief Stephen Osita Osadebe, fifteen years after his demise —–      “In my life and my creations,       I have tried to follow my destiny       which is my music.       That is my journey.       I live with the gift of God.”       [from Osita Osadebe: “Ana Masi Ife Uwa” (“Sound Time” 2001)] Chief …

If you are looking for an additional reason to spend the Christmas-New Year season in Ghana, here is one: Accra will host the biggest names and future stars in Afrobeats on 29-30 December. Afro Nation, which dubs itself as the world’s biggest Afrobeats festival, will move its giant stages from Portugal to the Black Star Square in Accra, where Ghana’s …

An event celebrating the culture of Africa’s most populous country will hold in the German city of Potsdam on Saturday, 13 August. Organised for the first time by Deutsche und Immigranten e.V., ‘WAZOBIA Nigerian Day 2022’ will feature, among others, music and dance performances, a fashion show, culinary specialities of Nigeria, an exhibition of products from Nigeria and a children’s …

The founder of Afrobeat died on 2 August 1997. On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of his death, The African Courier remembers Fela Anikulapo-Kuti – musician, crusader for social, economic and political justice, and Black emancipation. Our contributing editor, Robert Ajani*, discusses the life of the legend.  —————————————- The making of Fela Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, musician, Africanist, humanist and politician, …

" I think the film can contribute to people reflecting more on their own biases, on their own racism"

Ehizoya Golden Entertainment will once again showcase the Nigerian film industry in Frankfurt am Main at the 2022 Nollywood Film Festival Germany (NFFG). The Festival and its sister event, Nollywood Europe Golden Award (NEGA), holding from 29 to 31 July, will feature screenings of Nollywood films, panel discussions on issues surrounding the Nigerian film industry, music concerts and an award …

After a two-year break, the Adire Carnival returned with a bang to the Austrian capital city of Vienna this year. The festival celebrates Adire textile made in southwestern Nigeria by women who use a variety of resist-dyeing techniques. Oluyemi Ogundele* writes about the festival, its history and what it seeks to accomplish—— The Adire Carnival, a Nigerian cultural festival, was …

Germany and Nigeria have signed an agreement paving way for the return of the more than 1,100 valuable Benin Bronzes in the collections of German museums. These were looted from the Palace of the Oba of Benin some 125 years ago —- It was a historic moment on Friday, 1 July when Germany and Nigeria signed the ‘Joint Declaration on …

An agreement between the governments of Germany and Nigeria on the return of the Benin artefacts in German museums to Nigeria will be signed on Friday in Berlin. The historic signing of the ‘Joint Declaration on the Return of the Benin Bronzes and Bilateral Museum Cooperation between Germany and Nigeria’ is the culmination of years of agitation for the return …

Dayo Olomu, a London-based human capital development and business transformation strategist, writes on this year’s festival celebrating Nigeria’s adire cloth in the Austrian capital Vienna —– After a two-year break, the Adire Carnival returned with a bang to the Austrian capital city of Vienna on Saturday 25 June 2022. The festival celebrates Adire (Yoruba for tie and dye) textile is …

Our contributing editor, Tina Adomako, narrates her impressions of a prestigious concert featuring multiple award-winner Angélique Kidjo when she performed, accompanied by a full symphony orchestra, to a sold-out house in the western German city of Dortmund on Wednesday — I rush through the busy Brückstraße, where Dortmund shows itself in all its diversity, and arrive just in time at …