February 2012
7 posts
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Behind the Rainbow
On the 10-minute drive from the border of downtown Johannesburg to The Bioscope (an independent cinema in one of the city’s revived arts districts), my friend and I were stopped at a police checkpoint. I noticed the driver of the truck in front of us hand the officer a wad of bills. My reaction was a sigh, hoping that we wouldn’t miss the film, knowing my friend wouldn’t pay a...
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“Zambia has an agenda. When you consider the fact that our boys died in 1993 off...”
– Dennis Liwewe - Zambian Football commentator. Reflecting on the 1993 crash of the plane carrying the Zambian team to the World Cup Qualifier off the coast of Gabon. Zambia will be playing in the Africa Cup of Nations finals on Sunday, in Gabon.
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“The inner-city of Johannesburg is undoubtedly at the forefront of the new South...”
– Johannesburg - Ten Ahead. by Gerald Garner p.6
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Insinuations and Laughs
Last week I arrived in Johannesburg. When people think of Joburg, good thoughts don’t generally come to mind. In many ways, the city is the epitome of “white flight” and most tourist itineraries leave the city off because it’s not terribly appealing to look at walls around homes, huge shopping malls and derelict business districts; especially when Cape Town happens to be one of the most gorgeous...
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Announcing African Lookbook →
January 2012
1 post
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Delicate Shades of Africa →
A story about new “African Fabrics” from the top of the line Dutch Fabric company, Vlisco.
December 2011
3 posts
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Facebook and Immigration. →
My first essay published in The Current is an encounter I had over the summer.
This is immigration. No more Ellis Island. No obvious estrangement. Possibly wait months or years to save money. Endure lines and frustration at an embassy where young State Department servants learn to block out the stories in order to see the statistics. Win a lottery for a residence permit and make a Facebook...
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Shonibare's Ship in a Bottle →
I had a unique chance to talk to the engineering firm behind Yinka Shonibare’s replica of Nelson’s Ship that has been in Trafalgar Square for the last year. Here’s the article via Cool Hunting!
HIV Nights
Today is World AIDS Day. December 1 is the annual date.
Though in the USA, HIV is no longer a death sentence, there is still no cure, no vaccine, and in many parts of the world, ARVs are still not available.
Phaswane Mpe, a South African writer, who passed away in 2004 wrote about the virus and its effects on the society around him. Here is a poem published in Words Gone Two Soon, edited by...
November 2011
5 posts
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New African Football Kits →
“Chris Hani, one of the first guerrillas who rose to be commander of Umkhonto we...”
– Albie Sachs
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Africa's Afrobeat Revolutionary 4th Generation... →
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African Photogs Overrun Paris Photo! →
October 2011
5 posts
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Baloji in Antwerp, Belgium
On Friday I finally got to see Baloji live. We chatted after the show…more on that soon. He has an album release and new videos on the way, so keep an eye on this “Afropean” guy.
Experiment →
I’m going to start tagging African things I find online in this weekly collage that you can follow. Comments always appreciated.
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Be the Cheese
I met Sebastian Lindstrom on a rainy night in NYC last spring. He brought me camel milk to taste from Nairobi and we chatted about the film that he, Alicia Sully and Phillippa Young have been working on. I recommend reading up on the What Took You So Long film projects and find out a bit more about camel milk!
The team is here in London this weekend to talk about their filmmaking in Africa and...
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Art and Eat →
Step into a Wagamama restaurant and you expect friendly service served alongside contemporary Asian dishes. U.K. visitors to the chain will now get a taste of nine emerging English artists too. Working with Moniker Projects, the new program goes by the name Art and Eat. With Moniker, Wagamama started…
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September 2011
1 post
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Crossing the Line →
A series of experimental audio guides asks listeners to discern the truth about art
August 2011
5 posts
“It’s just a slapstick comedy, with no message,” Mr. Uys said....”
– The Gods Must Be Crazy - A Truly International Hit - NYT - Movie Review - 1985
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“I recently spoke at a university where a student told me that it was such a...”
– Chimamanda Adichie. Talk
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Coca-Cola is always better in Africa
I’m really not sure if the man next to me is the one who hasn’t taken a shower in a week, or if the woman who walked down the aisle blew my own sweat into my olfactory. Looking out over the wing of the vintage McDonnell Douglas, the South African pilot doesn’t seem to mind the blistering sun as he walks across the runway for a smoke. I might want one too if after every landing, the engineers have...
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July 2011
19 posts
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A week in Impfondo
Tomorrow morning Prince and I are off on Canadian Air Congo to Impfondo. We hear it’s the only commercial flight there, so we’ll be there for a week to film testimonies about people who have worked with INCEF. Impfondo is a good example of the difficulty involved in travelling here. There is no road north to Impfondo from Brazzaville. Instead, to drive, you must go through Gabon,...
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“This is what a “fait divers” looks like:
Raoul G., of Ivry, an...”
– Describing “fait divers” or Small Fates - Teju Cole. [forthcoming title of a book]
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Why Congo?
Monday I arrived in Brazzaville, the capital of Republic of Congo on the west bank of the Congo River. If you’re familiar with colonial history or The Heart of Darkness (Conrad), you will have been acquainted with the Congo River. On the east bank is former Zaire and Léopoldville, now Kinshasa and Democratic Republic of Congo. To our southwest are a series of rapids that cannot be passed...
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Reading
1. Open City: A Novel, Teju Cole
An amazing review of Open City in The New Yorker.
2. The Things Around Your Neck, Chimamanda Adichie
3. One Day I Will Write About this Place, Binyavanga Wainaina
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How to travel
You begin with press credentials. Your visa says you’re a tourist, so don’t show any officials. Sure, it might be difficult to explain the abnormal amounts of camera equipment, but maybe you’re an avid hobbyist. No, the credentials might help you with the airline when you attempt to get your 40lb case of gear on board when the limit is 24lb. Or, if your checked luggage weighs too much, maybe...
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“Sitting to experience this film, The Last King of Scotland, I was prepared to be...”
– Teju Cole, Open City: A Novel
WatchHere is my second post for UNICEF, The Value of a Story.
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2011 Caine Prize Winner
It seems there may be something for Zimbabwe to smile about this morning. NoViolet Bulawayo, a Zimbabwean MFA graduate, fellow and Lecturer in English at Cornell University has won the 2011 Caine Prize For African Writing for the short story, Hitting Budapest.
We leave the woman standing there, taking pictures. Bastard stops at the corner of SADC and starts shouting insults at her, and I...
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WatchA short video of Shaggy at the Zanzibar International Film Festival.
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Our assignments
Last night I assigned Nicolas Kristof’s latest blog post to the students I’m working with. They came to our Budget Meeting today with a lot of neat story pitches, and took to heart the idea of portraying Africa positively.
Ideas for stories ranged from a traditional wedding to the fad of Converse shoes in Botswana, but it looks like the final ideas right now are:
Africa is not so...
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A journalist's coverage of Africa (Kristof)
Today is the first day that students at the Maru-a-Pula School in Gaborone, Botswana will be sitting down with me to start a storytelling workshop. I’m excited not only to see what will come of the 3 weeks of afternoons spent with the students but because of the article I plan to show them that came out over the weekend.
For a number of summers now, Nicholas Kristof of The New York Times...
“The “liminal” refers to the threshold: that which exists in an...”
– The concept of liminal may be pertinent to understanding South African Art. From Art South Africa vol 9 issue 4 page 65.
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“As a Briton who has lived and worked on this continent for 18 years, let me tell...”
– Chris Harrison. Africa and Indian Ocean chairman at Young and Rubicon Brands. Nairobi, Kenya. Quoted from Design Indaba Q2 2011 p46.
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My first post for UNICEF
UNICEF relaunched part of its website, Voices of Youth, and I was asked to help provide content from my travels this summer. Check out the first article I’ve submitted, Power of the moving image.
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CALL FOR SCRIPTS (Botswana)
It has surprised me over the years to run into so many people with a passion for the arts in Botswana. There is no shortage of amazing actors and creatives in Botswana, yet there haven’t been very many movie productions. A number of interested folks have come together, all with different backgrounds-from novices to Hollywood veterans-who are in Botswana, and we are searching for a project to...
June 2011
9 posts
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With My Own Two Wheels
Last year, Ian Wexler, who I met in 2007 at the Maine Workshops called. He was embarking on a trip around the world to shoot a documentary around the power of bicycles. Since a few of the project’s stops were in Africa, I did my best to answer a few of Ian’s questions. Clearly he didn’t need my help however. Check out the trailer on the project’s website, or try to see it...
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Week 1 through Instagram
If you’re an iPhone user and aren’t familiar with the Instagram App, check it out!
Ethiopian Airlines 777-200LR at Dulles Intl Airport.
Stonetown, Zanzibar, by air. Historic and stunning.
Old Fort, 17th Century venue for the Zanzibar International Film Festival.
Music venue at the Old Fort #ZIFF
The steepest stairs I’ve seen. Pyramid Hotel, Zanzibar.
#ZIFF...
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