Issue # 07
Re-imagining the real meaning of Ubuntu
North Korean statutes, South African philosophies and 'Guantanamo' in Malawi
The new South African director of the Prince Claus Fund wants to create a self-sustaining ecosystem of the arts. Coming from a musical family of 21 and growing up with his mother at his granny’s place in Mamelodi, Pretoria, Marcus Tebogo Desando was not encouraged to be a quiet child. “The quieter you are, the more they forget you’re there.” So, you have to fight for your own space, which is what he did. Enter the school choir, then the church choir. Desando would eventually become a professional...
The new South African director of the Prince Claus Fund wants to create a self-sustaining ecosystem of the arts. Coming from a musical family of 21 and growing up with his mother at his granny’s place in Mamelodi, Pretoria, Marcus Tebogo Desando was not encouraged to be a quiet...
Just as Black people have been dispossessed of their land, Ubuntu has been dispossessed of its deeply radical demands for ethical historical and social relations among people, Panashe Chigumadzi argues. Under a 1986 newsletter headline, ‘Ubuntu, Abantu, Abelungu’, Black Sash, the anti-apartheid organisation founded as the vanguard of white liberal women’s opposition in South Africa, reported surprising findings from a white fieldworker in their programme against forced land removals – Black people...
Just as Black people have been dispossessed of their land, Ubuntu has been dispossessed of its deeply radical demands for ethical historical and social relations among people, Panashe Chigumadzi argues. Under a 1986 newsletter headline, ‘Ubuntu, Abantu, Abelungu’, Black Sash, the...
In recent decades North Korean-made monuments have been unveiled in many African countries, honouring independence leaders and celebrating an African Renaissance. The South Korean photographer and filmmaker Che Onejoon has been documenting the monuments and the histories around them, their cultural significance and the relationships that they symbolize between two continents. The outcomes of his long-term exploration were recently published in a book titled International Friendship. The Gifts from...
In recent decades North Korean-made monuments have been unveiled in many African countries, honouring independence leaders and celebrating an African Renaissance. The South Korean photographer and filmmaker Che Onejoon has been documenting the monuments and the histories around...
Not every civil servant in Malawi is corrupt- many just want to do their job and be paid. But rot within Malawi’s state systems makes honesty very difficult. How ‘the cartels’ protect their grip on power. As a van with ‘Central Medical Stores’ written on its side in bold text arrives at the health centre in Nsanje, the southernmost district in Malawi, residents quickly surround it. They are surprised, because actual deliveries of health supplies to the area are a rarity. But disappointment quickly...
Not every civil servant in Malawi is corrupt- many just want to do their job and be paid. But rot within Malawi’s state systems makes honesty very difficult. How ‘the cartels’ protect their grip on power. As a van with ‘Central Medical Stores’ written on its side in bold text...
Award-winning Liberian journalist and ZAM network reporter Bettie Johnson-Mbayo and her husband Dr Moses Mbayo were recently assaulted by a group of men working for Marvin Cole, a Representative in the Liberian government. The attack was a punishment for parking their vehicle near his driveway. The couple and four friends had still been inside the car on the roadside at the time, on their way to pay their respects to a local family who had suffered a bereavement. But rather than take action against...
Award-winning Liberian journalist and ZAM network reporter Bettie Johnson-Mbayo and her husband Dr Moses Mbayo were recently assaulted by a group of men working for Marvin Cole, a Representative in the Liberian government. The attack was a punishment for parking their vehicle near...
After the flames that gutted the Jagger Library at the University of Cape Town (UCT) on 18 April 2021 were finally extinguished, the archives were thought to be lost. The Reading Room, where researchers could study some of the rare African books available from the short-loans desk, had been completely destroyed. It was a devastating loss of archival material, much of it irreplaceable. But in the days after the fire, the basements that housed the archives and parts of the African Studies collection...
After the flames that gutted the Jagger Library at the University of Cape Town (UCT) on 18 April 2021 were finally extinguished, the archives were thought to be lost. The Reading Room, where researchers could study some of the rare African books available from the short-loans desk,...
For most outsiders, modern Ethiopian cinema means Haile Gerima and Salem Mekuria. But others, in addition to these, made its rich cinema history. In December 2019, film connoisseurs in Ethiopia received a rare treat when the Addis Ababa Cinema Houses Administration Enterprise arranged a festival to showcase some of the classic Ethiopian movies made between 1964 and 1992. These films had been largely inaccessible to filmgoers, filmmakers, instructors, and students, for decades. The last time any of...
For most outsiders, modern Ethiopian cinema means Haile Gerima and Salem Mekuria. But others, in addition to these, made its rich cinema history. In December 2019, film connoisseurs in Ethiopia received a rare treat when the Addis Ababa Cinema Houses Administration Enterprise...
Studio ZAM hosted Marcus Tebogo Desando, the newly appointed director of the Prince Claus Fund, on June 30th 2022. The programme was moderated by Augustina Austin aka Ms. Aba. You can watch the conversation again here :
Studio ZAM hosted Marcus Tebogo Desando, the newly appointed director of the Prince Claus Fund, on June 30th 2022. The programme was moderated by Augustina Austin aka Ms. Aba. You can watch the conversation again here :
This year marks my fourth time serving as a member of the panel judging the annual Contemporary African Photography (CAP) Prize. Every year it offers my fellow jurors and I a unique opportunity to engage with a dazzling array of photography from and about the continent, spanning all styles and disciplines. But the judging structure is designed in such a way - we submit our ratings privately and they are totalled up - that even the judges do not know the final winners until they are announced. This...
This year marks my fourth time serving as a member of the panel judging the annual Contemporary African Photography (CAP) Prize. Every year it offers my fellow jurors and I a unique opportunity to engage with a dazzling array of photography from and about the continent, spanning all...
Hosted by Musawenkosi Cabe, Radio New Frame unearths the roots of Afrikaans - once the ‘language of the White oppressor’ - and focuses on contemporary Black Afrikaans. The programme also tackles the misconception that Nelson Mandela rejected the use of violence in the struggle against Apartheid. A new book reconstructs his role as commander-in-chief of Umkhonto weSizwe and its war against Africa’s strongest army. Listen here. New Frame is one of our favourite not-for-profit social justice media...
Hosted by Musawenkosi Cabe, Radio New Frame unearths the roots of Afrikaans - once the ‘language of the White oppressor’ - and focuses on contemporary Black Afrikaans. The programme also tackles the misconception that Nelson Mandela rejected the use of violence in the struggle...
After a two-year hiatus, the Amsterdam Cinedans Festival returns with a very special edition. Opening on June 22, 2022, the state-of-the-art international dance film presents a wide range of productions, and on Saturday 25 June the works of black choreographers, companies and dancers will be celebrated at an event titled ‘Black Dance Matters’. The programme brings you reflection of diversity in dance and society and features relevant documentaries and a shorts programme, followed by a discussion...
After a two-year hiatus, the Amsterdam Cinedans Festival returns with a very special edition. Opening on June 22, 2022, the state-of-the-art international dance film presents a wide range of productions, and on Saturday 25 June the works of black choreographers, companies and...
“If I were to ask the many Global Northerners filling my home continent questions about who they are, where they’re from or what they’re doing there, I would be ashamed of my pettiness.” “No human desires another to wallow in guilt. That would be selfish. An expression of guilt does not delete the past.” The 2022 ZAM Nelson Mandela Lecture, given by Kenyan writer Yvonne Owuor on February 6th 2022 at the International Theatre Amsterdam. Price €5,95 + shipping (Netherlands €3, Europe/International...
“If I were to ask the many Global Northerners filling my home continent questions about who they are, where they’re from or what they’re doing there, I would be ashamed of my pettiness.” “No human desires another to wallow in guilt. That would be selfish. An expression of guilt does...
The story of a government that fails to help cattle herders, an army that fails to fight bandits, a train that fails to safely get from A to B, and the bandits who benefit from this mess. Any passenger trying to travel between Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, and Kaduna, the northern region’s hub about 200 kilometres away, comes away with the impression that the loose bands of thugs locally known as ‘bandits’ are now more powerful than Nigeria’s government and army. For a long time, making the journey by...
The story of a government that fails to help cattle herders, an army that fails to fight bandits, a train that fails to safely get from A to B, and the bandits who benefit from this mess. Any passenger trying to travel between Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, and Kaduna, the northern...
Op een vroege ochtend in Lagos ziet Femke van Zeijl een waterreservoir rakelings langs haar raam naar beneden storten. Dit incident en vooral de nasleep ervan brengen direct aan het licht hoezeer het dagelijks leven in deze miljoenenstad verschilt van leven in de Nederlandse maatschappij. Terwijl van Zeijl nog zit te bedenken welke gemeentelijke dienst ze moet bellen, hebben haar buren al minstens twee oplossingen bedacht en zijn ze aan de uitvoering ervan begonnen. De doe-het-zelf maatschappij...
Op een vroege ochtend in Lagos ziet Femke van Zeijl een waterreservoir rakelings langs haar raam naar beneden storten. Dit incident en vooral de nasleep ervan brengen direct aan het licht hoezeer het dagelijks leven in deze miljoenenstad verschilt van leven in de Nederlandse...
If you’re lucky enough to find yourself on the sunny streets of Amsterdam this summer, there are some treats in store! Two new exhibitions featuring work by African photographers await you, each exploring radically different visions of the world. Huis Marseille plays host to The Beauty of the World so Heavy, a group exhibition in which four photographers with very diverse practices explore the sharpness and softness of earthly existence. This show marks the European debut of South African...
If you’re lucky enough to find yourself on the sunny streets of Amsterdam this summer, there are some treats in store! Two new exhibitions featuring work by African photographers await you, each exploring radically different visions of the world. Huis Marseille plays host to The...
A new BBC Africa Eye/BBC Eye investigation reveals children in Africa are being exploited to make personalised videos, including racist content, for sale on Chinese websites and social media. Watch their shocking report here:
A new BBC Africa Eye/BBC Eye investigation reveals children in Africa are being exploited to make personalised videos, including racist content, for sale on Chinese websites and social media. Watch their shocking report here:
The South African artist and winner of the 2021 ABN AMRO Kunstprijs is actively participating in this process of re-shaping a world away from capitalist spaces where Afro-pessimism rules. In today’s climate, and with the recent research outcomes around this bank’s colonial past, Neo’s work is a timely response. A response in which his work provides an image of Blackness which is reflected in itself rather than in the gaze of whiteness. Let us therefore, in Neo’s words, thank God and the gods that...
The South African artist and winner of the 2021 ABN AMRO Kunstprijs is actively participating in this process of re-shaping a world away from capitalist spaces where Afro-pessimism rules. In today’s climate, and with the recent research outcomes around this bank’s colonial past,...
This year's celebration of Africa Day brings you five days of music, talks, club nights, films and networking both online and in real life In a unique collaboration between Omek, Amsterdam’s home for the global bicultural community, and Africadelic, celebraters of all things Afrodisaporic, this event will centre around Africa Day, which marks the foundation of the Organisation of African Unity. Though Africa Day has been celebrated every year since May 25th 1963, its recognition varies...
This year's celebration of Africa Day brings you five days of music, talks, club nights, films and networking both online and in real life In a unique collaboration between Omek, Amsterdam’s home for the global bicultural community, and Africadelic, celebraters of all things...
African photography is rarely exhibited in Japan. For the past ten years Kyotographie , the largest international photography festival in the archipelago, has been doing its best to reverse this underrepresentation and reveal the continent’s talents in Japan. For a month, until last weekend, Prince Gyasi’s pictures flew over the heads of shoppers in an old-school shopping arcade in the centre of Kyoto, the former imperial capital of Japan. The young Ghanaian artist took the pictures at his local...
African photography is rarely exhibited in Japan. For the past ten years Kyotographie , the largest international photography festival in the archipelago, has been doing its best to reverse this underrepresentation and reveal the continent’s talents in Japan. For a month, until last...
Two exhibitions, one in Cape Town and the other 8000 kilometres away in Amsterdam, showcase the works of South African artist Neo Matloga, winner of the 2021 ABN AMRO Art Award. Déjà Vu, Neo Matloga’s first solo exhibition in Cape Town, opened earlier this month at Stevenson Gallery. In this exhibition, Matloga moves away from the cinematic, interconnected narratives that characterised his previ-ous bodies of work. Instead, the artist’s new works are individual scenes that herald a new chapter of...
Two exhibitions, one in Cape Town and the other 8000 kilometres away in Amsterdam, showcase the works of South African artist Neo Matloga, winner of the 2021 ABN AMRO Art Award. Déjà Vu, Neo Matloga’s first solo exhibition in Cape Town, opened earlier this month at Stevenson...
April 6th used to be a public holiday in Apartheid South Africa. It was supposed to be the day that Jan Van Riebeeck arrived in South Africa in 1652 as the chief colonial administrator of the Dutch East India Company’s new colonial settlement to settle what is now Cape Town. Who of my generation does not know this? It was drilled into all our minds at primary (read: elementary) school. And even if we were not lucky enough to go to school, the mythology certainly did not pass us by. The version of...
April 6th used to be a public holiday in Apartheid South Africa. It was supposed to be the day that Jan Van Riebeeck arrived in South Africa in 1652 as the chief colonial administrator of the Dutch East India Company’s new colonial settlement to settle what is now Cape Town. Who of...
