Issue # 11
Through the cracks
DeLovie Kwagala, winner of the East African Photography Award 2021.
DeLovie Kwagala is the winner of this year’s East African Photography Award. His series Through the Cracks depict intimate partner violence in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. Kwagala is a non-binary, queer, self-taught photographer and social activist from Kampala, Uganda, and currently based in Johannesburg, South Africa. In their words: ‘A queer project to be winning means the world to me. It means that our stories are finally being heard and our voices are finally being given a platform...
DeLovie Kwagala is the winner of this year’s East African Photography Award. His series Through the Cracks depict intimate partner violence in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. Kwagala is a non-binary, queer, self-taught photographer and social activist from Kampala, Uganda, and...
[* tekst in Nederlands onderaan ] This the story of a South African exile, black and lesbian, who who lived on in a Dutch solidarity campaign she started. After 35 years of solidarity the Tania Leon Study Fund comes to an end. Later, when we were past middle age and South Africa had changed into a gentle rainbow nation where the colour of your skin no longer determined where you could go, what you could become and who you could associate with, we would all live out our days in a communal house on a...
[* tekst in Nederlands onderaan ] This the story of a South African exile, black and lesbian, who who lived on in a Dutch solidarity campaign she started. After 35 years of solidarity the Tania Leon Study Fund comes to an end. Later, when we were past middle age and South Africa had...
An intense social struggle is under way between exploiters and exploited in many African countries. We should not be bystanders, nor should we think in terms of taking the side of “Africa versus the world.” We should engage with those who fight for justice in Africa, true self-determination and good governance.’ In the past year, ten muckrakers in eight African countries left no stone unturned in their investigations into cronyism, self-enrichment, and the undermining of service delivery. The...
An intense social struggle is under way between exploiters and exploited in many African countries. We should not be bystanders, nor should we think in terms of taking the side of “Africa versus the world.” We should engage with those who fight for justice in Africa, true...
African photographers on the continent or elsewhere beware: the 2022 edition of the annual Pride Photo Award is now open. This year’s theme focuses on those in the vibrantly diverse LGBTQIAP+ communities who deserve more visibility. ‘In the queer community, things are shifting’, the organisers write in this year’s call for entries. “Decades of emancipation (…) has improved the position of the white, cisgender lesbian and gay community. (...) However, what about other members of the LGBTQIA+...
African photographers on the continent or elsewhere beware: the 2022 edition of the annual Pride Photo Award is now open. This year’s theme focuses on those in the vibrantly diverse LGBTQIAP+ communities who deserve more visibility. ‘In the queer community, things are shifting’, the...
In his new book Insurgency and Counterinsurgency in South Africa Daniel L. Douek presents new evidence that the 1993 assassination of ANC and Communist Party leader Chris Hani cannot be attributed solely to two right wing extremists. There was a broader conspiracy linking the entire Apartheid security apparatus to the killing. A dramatic revelation emerged in early 1997 with the leak of an investigative report compiled by South Africa’s National Intelligence Agency (NIA). It described a broader...
In his new book Insurgency and Counterinsurgency in South Africa Daniel L. Douek presents new evidence that the 1993 assassination of ANC and Communist Party leader Chris Hani cannot be attributed solely to two right wing extremists. There was a broader conspiracy linking the entire...
Wat beweegt een mens om zich aan de sluiten bij een gewapende strijd in een ver land? In zijn boek De Koerier van Maputo gaat journalist Jenne Jan Holtland op zoek naar de geschiedenis van Klaas de Jonge, ‘een Nederlander in de Zuid-Afrikaanse revolutie’. Een voorpublicatie. Op mijn hotelkamer gaat de wekker iets voor zessen. Ik neem vlug een douche, rits mijn koffer dicht en loop naar beneden. Daar word ik opgewacht door Klaas de Jonge, de 81-jarige met wie ik naar zuidelijk Afrika ben gereisd...
Wat beweegt een mens om zich aan de sluiten bij een gewapende strijd in een ver land? In zijn boek De Koerier van Maputo gaat journalist Jenne Jan Holtland op zoek naar de geschiedenis van Klaas de Jonge, ‘een Nederlander in de Zuid-Afrikaanse revolutie’. Een voorpublicatie. Op mijn...
The novels of Abdulrazak Gurnah offer a running commentary and a skepticism toward the cultural politics of packaging African stories for global circulation and consumption. The news that Abdulrazak Gurnah had won the Nobel Prize for Literature was met with joy as well as surprise. The first black African author to receive the award since Wole Soyinka 35 years earlier, Gurnah is not entirely a familiar name among readers on the continent and much less so outside it. The announcement set off a...
The novels of Abdulrazak Gurnah offer a running commentary and a skepticism toward the cultural politics of packaging African stories for global circulation and consumption. The news that Abdulrazak Gurnah had won the Nobel Prize for Literature was met with joy as well as surprise....
This year’s winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature will be interviewed online by Ethiopian writer Maaza Mengiste at the upcoming edition of the Nigeria based Aké Festival. The event will take place on 30 October between 17h45 and 18h55 West-African Time. Read an excerpt from Gurnah novel Desertion here . Review of his latest novel After Life here . This year’s Aké Arts & Book Festival 2021 theme is 'Generational Discordance'. Dozens of online sessions with as many writers and opinionistas are...
This year’s winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature will be interviewed online by Ethiopian writer Maaza Mengiste at the upcoming edition of the Nigeria based Aké Festival. The event will take place on 30 October between 17h45 and 18h55 West-African Time. Read an excerpt from...
I Am Samuel , an LGBTQ+ documentary about a Kenyan man struggling with his sexuality, has been banned by the Kenya Film Classification Board. In a statement, the board described the film as 'a clear and deliberate attempt by the producer to promote same-sex marriage as an acceptable way of life'. The board went on to claim that the film was ‘demeaning of Christianity as two gay men in the film purport to conduct a religious marriage invoking the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit’, The...
I Am Samuel , an LGBTQ+ documentary about a Kenyan man struggling with his sexuality, has been banned by the Kenya Film Classification Board. In a statement, the board described the film as 'a clear and deliberate attempt by the producer to promote same-sex marriage as an acceptable...
If I had stayed in Sierra Leone, I would undoubtedly have become a doctor. And had I, like my father, been married to three women, had many children. I would have become a traditionalist, a profound believer in the Islamic faith and my life put wholly to the service of society. Like my father, I would no doubt have been a happy person who would find satisfaction in serving my people. But destiny had chosen for me a different direction. I moved from the WE to the I. Or say uprooted from A to B. My...
If I had stayed in Sierra Leone, I would undoubtedly have become a doctor. And had I, like my father, been married to three women, had many children. I would have become a traditionalist, a profound believer in the Islamic faith and my life put wholly to the service of society. Like...
Since 1996 the people in Kivu have not been in peace despite the presence of the so-called UN Peace Keeping Force MONUSCO (United Nations Organization Mission for the Stabilization of the Congo) and a great number of humanitarian organisations. Thousands of people have been killed, houses and other assets have been burned, and people have fled from their homes to more secure areas where they are suffering from malnutrition. The situation has worsened since 2014, particularly in North-Kivu where...
Since 1996 the people in Kivu have not been in peace despite the presence of the so-called UN Peace Keeping Force MONUSCO (United Nations Organization Mission for the Stabilization of the Congo) and a great number of humanitarian organisations. Thousands of people have been killed,...
18 – 25.10.21 Freedom Lectures | Susan Kigula, the woman who made the death penalty unconstitutional
While on death row in Uganda, Susan Kigula started law. On behalf of 418 inmates Kigula sued the state. In 2009, the countries’ Constitutional Court declared the death penalty unlawful. All cases were reviewed. Kigula was released in 2016. This year’s Freedom Lecture will be delivered by Kigula in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Leiden and Enschede. Kigula has been invited to visit the Netherlands by Amsterdam debate centre De Balie and artist/photographer Jan Banning. He is a friend of Kigula since 2011...
While on death row in Uganda, Susan Kigula started law. On behalf of 418 inmates Kigula sued the state. In 2009, the countries’ Constitutional Court declared the death penalty unlawful. All cases were reviewed. Kigula was released in 2016. This year’s Freedom Lecture will be...
Afrovibes x ZAM: how we made it – African artists center stage from De Balie TV on Vimeo . Like what you see? Support us in creating exceptional stories for change. Scan the QR code and become a friend of ZAM! * Forget about borders, visa restrictions and Fort Europe! Join us on Friday 8th of October for a special ZAM / Afrovibes festival programme. How We Made It – African Artists Centre Stage With hosts Ikenna Azuike & Ms Aba. Participating artists: Trixie Munyama, Lisette Ma Neza, Jelili Atiku...
Afrovibes x ZAM: how we made it – African artists center stage from De Balie TV on Vimeo . Like what you see? Support us in creating exceptional stories for change. Scan the QR code and become a friend of ZAM! * Forget about borders, visa restrictions and Fort Europe! Join us on...
On Sunday 5 September, the Nelson Mandela Memorial was unveiled in the South East district of Amsterdam. With over 170 nationalities, the South East is the most multicultural neighbourhood in the city. The creator of the work is South African artist Mohau Modisakeng. The memorial differs from all other Mandela monuments in the world. It is not a statue because, in the words of Modisakeng in an interview with Dutch daily Trouw 'a larger-than-life Mandela does not make one think'. His memorial...
On Sunday 5 September, the Nelson Mandela Memorial was unveiled in the South East district of Amsterdam. With over 170 nationalities, the South East is the most multicultural neighbourhood in the city. The creator of the work is South African artist Mohau Modisakeng. The memorial...
Reluctantly, South Africans are coming to terms with the fact that in the same way that no condition is permanent, no euphoria is permanent either. The innocence of the 1990s and early 2000s, when the country moved from apartheid to post-apartheid, has given way to a gnawing unease about the future of the democratic experiment. Two camps are emerging — there are those whose disenchantment expresses itself in the desire to burn everything, destroy everything, declaim everything. There are, on the...
Reluctantly, South Africans are coming to terms with the fact that in the same way that no condition is permanent, no euphoria is permanent either. The innocence of the 1990s and early 2000s, when the country moved from apartheid to post-apartheid, has given way to a gnawing unease...
#ImagineMandela – What is your ideal? Thursday 26.08.21, 17h30–20h00 | Livestream – In conversation with Mohau Modikaseng, creator of the Amsterdam Nelson Mandela Memorial. Venue: CBK Zuidoost, Anton de Komplein 120, Amsterdam. Video. Spoken Word. Debate. Drinks & Snacks. Organised by ZAM and CBK Zuidoost.
#ImagineMandela – What is your ideal? Thursday 26.08.21, 17h30–20h00 | Livestream – In conversation with Mohau Modikaseng, creator of the Amsterdam Nelson Mandela Memorial. Venue: CBK Zuidoost, Anton de Komplein 120, Amsterdam. Video. Spoken Word. Debate. Drinks & Snacks. Organised...
Ten African investigative journalists who participated in ZAM’s Kleptocracy Project look back on months of risks, hardship and revelations. Bettie Johnson-Mbayo’s worse moment came when she had to print a Freedom of Information request at a print shop in Monrovia, her Liberian hometown. ‘I live in a society where people are interrelated. The print shop owner could be related to a subject in my request’. At the time, Johnson-Mbayo was already receiving threats. Journalists have been killed before in...
Ten African investigative journalists who participated in ZAM’s Kleptocracy Project look back on months of risks, hardship and revelations. Bettie Johnson-Mbayo’s worse moment came when she had to print a Freedom of Information request at a print shop in Monrovia, her Liberian...
On June 12, Richard Kofi’s newest film, Imprenta , premiered online, streaming from Korzo Theatre in The Hague. The film forms part of the FluX programme series, where connection, movement, and conversation are central. Imprenta is a collaboration with choreographer and dancer Junadry Leocaria as well as filmmaker Conni Trommlitz and musician Ernest Guiraud Cissé. Richard Kofi is a member of the diaspora himself, having grown up in the Netherlands with Ghanian roots. He says he has always felt both...
On June 12, Richard Kofi’s newest film, Imprenta , premiered online, streaming from Korzo Theatre in The Hague. The film forms part of the FluX programme series, where connection, movement, and conversation are central. Imprenta is a collaboration with choreographer and dancer...
Essay – In the late 1990s, Kiza Magendane and his uncle left their native country of Congo to start a new life elsewhere. Kiza ended up in the Netherlands, his uncle in South Africa. Nineteen years later they meet in Pretoria. 'Kiza, the South African dream does not exist.' I have landed. After ten years of Europe, I set foot on the African continent again. The customs lady at Johannesburg airport wants to know everything about the reason for my visit. Patiently I show my travel document and the...
Essay – In the late 1990s, Kiza Magendane and his uncle left their native country of Congo to start a new life elsewhere. Kiza ended up in the Netherlands, his uncle in South Africa. Nineteen years later they meet in Pretoria. 'Kiza, the South African dream does not exist.' I have...
A vernacular attempt at a social anthropology of dogs across three countries: Nigeria, South Africa and Canada. I recently moved to a small, cynophilic Canadian city called Kelowna. The first home I visited in this city had a special sofa for dogs. It took me only a few days here to discover that people take their dogs to daycare and that dog doctors are well-to-do. In fact, holding funeral services for demised dogs, adopting stray dogs or financially rewarding lost dog finders are not uncommon...
A vernacular attempt at a social anthropology of dogs across three countries: Nigeria, South Africa and Canada. I recently moved to a small, cynophilic Canadian city called Kelowna. The first home I visited in this city had a special sofa for dogs. It took me only a few days here to...
In July 2021, Julie Kretzschmer and Jay Pather presented a three-day programme full of multimedia installations from the field of contemporary dance, performance and visual arts to conclude the Here Comes Africa, Africa 2020 in the La Friche Belle de Mai centre in Marseille. Before Julie Kretschmer—who specialises in making projects in the Arab world, including Algeria and develops new contemporary cultural programmes on the spot—and Jay Pather—curator of Afrovibes and Infecting the City...
In July 2021, Julie Kretzschmer and Jay Pather presented a three-day programme full of multimedia installations from the field of contemporary dance, performance and visual arts to conclude the Here Comes Africa, Africa 2020 in the La Friche Belle de Mai centre in Marseille. Before...
