Music, book and film reviews from the last 3 months
If you take a walk at sunset along the northeastern beach of Puerto Rico at the end of July, you can hear the sound of drums giving the welcome to nightfall. Groups of black people get together in front of their houses or under coconut trees ready to dance to the rhythm of the drums.…
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Her sixth album, Mawja, returns to traditional sounds, reconnecting the Western Saharan artist with the stories and rhythms of her family. And to the struggle of the women and people of this land of conflict. Aziza Brahim was born in 1976 in the Hammada of Tindouf, a Sahara Desert plateau in western Algeria nicknamed “the…
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When the flocks of the carmine bee-eater arrive in the Zambezi Valley, at the height of the dry season, the bush is tinged with the red colour of its feathers, brushing the arid colours of the winter landscape with renewed brilliance. It is already the middle of September, and the dry season is coming to…
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In traditional Africa, dance is more than entertainment. It is a celebration of life. This is why, watching Africans dance can give a clue of both their core values and main economic activities. It even gives insight into the geography of their land and the history of their tribe. Cattle keepers dance jumping. These are…
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The music of the Amazones d’Afrique, a collective of female musicians started in Mali in 2014, is powerful, blending wide-ranging melodies, pan-African styles, gritty pop and an exuberant stage presence. It is impossible to stop listening to them, not to be overwhelmed by the pop rhythms, by the electro-futuristic sounds combined with the traditional. But…
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June 24th marks one of Peru’s main holidays: Inti Raymi, in the Quechua language, which means “Festival of the Sun”. It is the most important cultural event in Cusco, which was the capital of the empire. The Inca Pacha Kutiq (1418-71) founded the Inca Empire. In the Quechua language, Inca means ‘lord’, ‘king’, ‘monarch’, ‘emperor’…
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A cultural institution representing the Acholi chiefs. Their rules for society today. The Acholi are a Luo-speaking group of people living in the Northern Uganda, and they are believed to have migrated from Bahr el Ghazal in South Sudan. By about 1,000 AD. Starting in the late seventeenth Century. Ker Kwaro Acholi is a cultural…
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Akas pygmy men spend a lot of time with their children. The attention and affection they show them, as well as the way they bring them up, are unique. Economic and environmental challenges, however, threaten the way of life of these people. The afternoon sun slips behind the tall trees that populate the Dja River…
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In recent years the inhabitants of this northern city have witnessed the birth of innovative cultural institutions that challenged conventions and brought contemporary arts closer to local communities. Travelling from Accra to Tamale is like going to another country. The language, habits and geography itself are very different, similar to those of the Sahelian countries.…
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The two ethnic groups of the Agni-Baulé in Ivory Coast have developed a particular cosmogony, a ritual and social system that deserves interest and sometimes admiration. Through legends, the Agni-Baule explain their origin. With a population of over 27.5 million, Côte d’Ivoire has around sixty ethnic groups. The Agni – Baulé belong to the large…
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The marriage of the Kabaka of Buganda renews his royal status. We look at how the king goes through this process. The Buganda Kingdom of the Baganda tribe, which is known to be the largest and most powerful traditional kingdom, is found in Central Uganda. Buganda Kingdom was founded in the 13th Century under the…
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Malagasy music is a rainbow of vivid colours, cheerful and full of rhythm. A mix of traditional folk and modern sounds, it is all there to be heard and experienced. Madagascar is a land both complicated and wonderful. Inhabited since 2000 BC. by a people coming from Indonesia, it was discovered by the Portuguese in…
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Activists Nonhle Mbuthuma and Sinegugu Zukulu have stopped destructive seismic testing for oil and gas off South Africa’s Eastern Cape, in an area known as…
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Kaya was the most beautiful girl in the village. All the boys courted her, each bringing her small gifts. There were so many invitations from her…
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While the country is in the grip of a serious economic crisis, in the oasis city of Tozeur, the OxyJeunes youth Centre focuses on schooling and…
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