His art was there, but artist Sammy Baloji was missing at an otherwise spectacular exhibit in London. A travelling case full of fake diamond-studded watches, paintings of city life in Abidjan, masks made of petrol cans and West African textiles bearing the silhouettes of ‘missing’ girls, were part of a spectacular selection of contemporary art at the art fair held in London’s Somerset House. The impressive event was only marred by the absence of Congolese photographer Sammy Baloji , who had not...
His art was there, but artist Sammy Baloji was missing at an otherwise spectacular exhibit in London. A travelling case full of fake diamond-studded...
A survey shows that South African whites are ahead of the Dutch in the ‘blackface’ debate. With the legacy of apartheid still hanging over their heads and generally still a privileged minority, South African whites are often seen as one of the worlds’ more ‘racist’ population groups. But when it comes to the ‘blackface’ debate, they are much more aware of its racial context than, for example, the white population of the Netherlands, where an overwhelming majority still defends the ‘Black Pete’...
A survey shows that South African whites are ahead of the Dutch in the ‘blackface’ debate. With the legacy of apartheid still hanging over their heads...
African investigative journalists navigate unchartered waters, often between rocks and other hard places. African investigative journalists have it rough. Much unloved they are by the powers that be. Not so much because they are sent to jail, or attacked, or killed, though that happens too. No, the biggest and most widespread problem is not being able to actually do your job. For starters, they can close your media house. The Premium Times team in Nigeria faced bankruptcy when the government told...
African investigative journalists navigate unchartered waters, often between rocks and other hard places. African investigative journalists have it...
There is a reason why Babah Tarawally’s mother in Sierra Leone ( read the full story in our ZAM Report ) immediately believed that Ebola was the ‘white man’s virus,’ developed by white scientists to attack ‘poor Africans’. But that reason is not that she is superstitious. Yes, she believes in witchcraft. Many poor people in countries where powerful forces beyond their control continuously affect their lives do. Powerlessness and belief in magic are connected: ask anybody who, desperate to fight...
There is a reason why Babah Tarawally’s mother in Sierra Leone ( read the full story in our ZAM Report ) immediately believed that Ebola was the ‘white...
A new ZAM exhibition was launched during an encounter last Friday of South African filmmakers and producers in the basement of the Dutch Cultural Media Fund. This get-together was organized by ZAM together with Dutch Indies, the South African Documentary Filmmakers Association and Afrovibes . The South African documentary industry has grown substantially over the past two decades of democracy. The attendance of a delegation of makers and producers from this country at the annual International...
A new ZAM exhibition was launched during an encounter last Friday of South African filmmakers and producers in the basement of the Dutch Cultural Media...
Journalists went undercover to expose quack doctors who defraud, kill and maim their patients - and to make an urgent appeal to African governments. Quack ‘doctors’ roam free in many African countries. Their victims are those who can’t afford the expensive clinics frequented by the elite, predominantly among them desperate girls and women seeking outlawed abortions. Two investigative journalists, Anas Aremeyaw Anas (Ghana) and Rosemary Nwaebuni (Nigeria) went undercover to expose the quackery...
Journalists went undercover to expose quack doctors who defraud, kill and maim their patients - and to make an urgent appeal to African governments....
Many people attended the Amsterdam launch of Zanele Muholi's book Faces and Phases on Tuesday 9 December, a last-minute-ZAM Newsroom organised in five days. Muholi visited The Netherlands for the 2014 Prince Claus Prize Ceremony a day later on December 10, attended by the Dutch Royal Family and the Minister of Trade & Aid. Faces and Phases 2006-14 is a powerful collection portraits taken over the past eight years. It's an extensive archive of black lesbians and trans men in South Africa and beyond...
Many people attended the Amsterdam launch of Zanele Muholi's book Faces and Phases on Tuesday 9 December, a last-minute-ZAM Newsroom organised in five...
The special ZAM issue on Nelson Mandela was handed out to all students at Open Schoolgemeenschap Bijlmer , the Netherlands on 10 December. Through the edition the students will learn about Mandela, his legacy and matters related thereto. Besides Open Schoolgemeenschap Bijlmer , also two other schools in Amsterdam Zuidoost received copies. ZAM thanks Mark 't Hart at Graon and the caretakers at OSB for a smooth logistics operation. Click here and here for some impressions of the special edition. You...
The special ZAM issue on Nelson Mandela was handed out to all students at Open Schoolgemeenschap Bijlmer , the Netherlands on 10 December. Through the...
A country starts reflecting on itself Now that Mandela is gone, he is once again with us. It has always been like that. Even in prison, the world and his people only imagined him. Johny Clegg’s song "Asimbonanga' literally means "we have not seen you." After prison, South Africa saw him only for nine years, between his release in 1990 and his retirement as president in 1999, when he said "don’t call me , I'll call you." For the rest, his orphaned nation had to make do with images, words, dreams....
A country starts reflecting on itself Now that Mandela is gone, he is once again with us. It has always been like that. Even in prison, the world and his...
Join ZAM, the movement. Build solidarity. Your support is crucial. ZAM's articles and perspectives are reaching increasing audiences. They are sourced from and produced in close cooperation with ZAM's network of African investigative journalists, artists and other 'troublemakers'. Our publications -the online ZAM Chronicle, print editions and exhibitions- offer insights and inspire action. ZAM works through the support of a growing constituency. Join us and click here to donate!
Join ZAM, the movement. Build solidarity. Your support is crucial. ZAM's articles and perspectives are reaching increasing audiences. They are sourced...
Nigerian music legend, saxophonist and songwriter Orlando Julius teamed up with UK psychedelic jazz collective the Heliocentrics. On January 31, 2015 they enter the stage of Jazz club BIRD in Rotterdam, the Netherlands during their European tour. Their collaborative album, Jaiyede Afro , which was released in September, is an unlikely combination of classical afrobeat and modern funky jazz. Listen to the joyous album opener "Buje Buje" below. Few artists have been more crucial to the invention and...
Nigerian music legend, saxophonist and songwriter Orlando Julius teamed up with UK psychedelic jazz collective the Heliocentrics. On January 31, 2015...
A white journalist goes out to investigate Ebola in Sierra Leone Travelling on an airplane never failed to amaze her. Well, only if she managed to get a seat by the window, which she did on the Brussels Airways Airbus A330. Anja Brink’s curiosity surpassed that of a hawk; that bird of prey that detects its victim from afar and then dives to catch it. She carried the same deep eyes but hers were blue as the sky. As she watched the approach to Lungi from the window of the airplane, she saw school...
A white journalist goes out to investigate Ebola in Sierra Leone Travelling on an airplane never failed to amaze her. Well, only if she managed to get a...
The winners of tickets to the Orlando Julius with the Heliocentrics concert are: J. van Kronenburg B. Pijpkes Venue: BIRD in Rotterdam, the Netherlands Date and time: Saturday 31 January. Doors: 20:00, opening act: Convoi Exceptional. Winners are also notified by email. Didn't win this time? Just keep an eye on our website and Facebook , ZAM regularly posts giveaways. Watch video: Orlando Julius with the Heliocentrics - Buje Buje.
The winners of tickets to the Orlando Julius with the Heliocentrics concert are: J. van Kronenburg B. Pijpkes Venue: BIRD in Rotterdam, the Netherlands...
A white journalist goes out to investigate Ebola in Sierra Leone Travelling on an airplane never failed to amaze her. Well, only if she managed to get a seat by the window, which she did on the Brussels Airways Airbus A330. Anja Brink’s curiosity surpassed that of a hawk; that bird of prey that detects its victim from afar and then dives to catch it. She carried the same deep eyes but hers were blue as the sky. As she watched the approach to Lungi from the window of the airplane, she saw school...
A white journalist goes out to investigate Ebola in Sierra Leone Travelling on an airplane never failed to amaze her. Well, only if she managed to get a...
“We don’t see things as they are; we see them as we are.” It was said by author Anais Nin in mid-sixties France, but it serves well as a motto for Hillie de Rooij’s photographs which are, ostensibly, all about Africa. Or are they? De Rooij plays, she says, with the expectations and frames of the viewer when it comes to images of ‘Africa’. “Part of my family is Namibian and I often spent time there when I was a child. I was always surprised at the confusion with which fellow ‘Western’ people...
“We don’t see things as they are; we see them as we are.” It was said by author Anais Nin in mid-sixties France, but it serves well as a motto for Hillie...
They defraud, kill and maim their patients Quack ‘doctors’ roam free in many African countries. Their victims are those who can’t afford the expensive clinics frequented by the elite, predominantly among them desperate girls and women seeking outlawed abortions. Two investigative journalists, Anas Aremeyaw Anas (Ghana) and Rosemary Nwaebuni (Nigeria) went undercover to expose the quackery killing fields and to place the problem squarely on the agenda of African governments. A ‘J’Accuse’ from the...
They defraud, kill and maim their patients Quack ‘doctors’ roam free in many African countries. Their victims are those who can’t afford the expensive...
Nigeria | Some of Ahmad Salkida's childhood friends are now with Boko Haram When Ahmad Salkida writes of the ‘Tears of Maiduguri’ , the stronghold of Boko Haram in Nigeria, he means his own tears. Because Salkida is from Maiduguri. As a Christian kid in de eighties of the last century, he climbed mango trees with his Muslim friends. When they performed their ritual ablutions, he helped them wash. In turn, they patiently waited for him when he was at church on Sundays. Now, some of the boys he used...
Nigeria | Some of Ahmad Salkida's childhood friends are now with Boko Haram When Ahmad Salkida writes of the ‘Tears of Maiduguri’ , the stronghold of...
The movie ‘Timbuktu’, that deals with fundamentalist terror, deserves the Oscar. ‘Timbuktu, Le chagrin des oiseaux ‘ (‘the sadness of birds’) by Mauritanian-born and Mali-raised Abderrahmane Sissako (53), is a superb film about the kidnapping of a society by Islamic fundamentalism. It also has a high degree of urgency. The story takes place in northern Mali, not long after June 2012, when the radical Islamic group Al-Qaida au Maghreb Islamique (AQMI) and Ansar Eddine chased the Tuareg independence...
The movie ‘Timbuktu’, that deals with fundamentalist terror, deserves the Oscar. ‘Timbuktu, Le chagrin des oiseaux ‘ (‘the sadness of birds’) by...
One day after the Charlie Hebdo attacks Paris, Boko Haram went on a rampage in Baga, northern Nigeria, and killed around a thousand people. For days and weeks afterwards, international social and ‘formal’ media were abuzz with a ‘black lives matter’ hashtag. Why had ‘the world’, that had come out so strongly to condemn the Paris attack, said nothing about ‘Baga’? Was this because, to most people in ‘the West’, black lives really didn’t matter so much? In a way, all the attention that this...
One day after the Charlie Hebdo attacks Paris, Boko Haram went on a rampage in Baga, northern Nigeria, and killed around a thousand people. For days and...
Dulcie September and Anton Lubowski Clive Derby-Lewis, co-conspirator in the murder of South African freedom struggle hero Chris Hani in 1993, was once again denied parole, for the third time, in January this year. Whilst Chris Hani's family and many old friends and comrades applaud the decision to 'let him rot', some ask how much Derby-Lewis actually knew about the murder. One of these voices is Evelyn Groenink, who investigated the Chris Hani murder case -and several others- for years. Her...
Dulcie September and Anton Lubowski Clive Derby-Lewis, co-conspirator in the murder of South African freedom struggle hero Chris Hani in 1993, was once...
Investigative journalists in southern Africa can often not investigate the state, since there isn’t any. The man standing in the thin shade of a traffic sign in the blazing midday sun explains why poaching rhinos is not such a bad thing. “It’s our living. Some people in my village have big and expensive houses because of hunting. Poaching bosses have started trucking and construction companies with the money they made. Some city councillors’ houses and municipal offices have been funded by them.”...
Investigative journalists in southern Africa can often not investigate the state, since there isn’t any. The man standing in the thin shade of a traffic...
