FILM: killer of sheep: charlie burnett’s debut full length feature (it was his MFA thesis submission at UCLA). raw, rambling, unstructured, filmed neorealismo style in watts in the 1970’s with mostly friends and acquaintances. it is one of the most nuanced portrayals of black american life anywhere on film. must see.

PHOTOGRAPHY: flickr set: hip hop culture. more hip hop “baby pictures” taken by ricky “mr. wiggles” flores in the bronx circa 1984. it all looked so innocent in those days before crack, NWA, bling and “puff daddy”. Correction: Ricky Flores and Mr. Wiggles are not the same person, per Mr. Flores himself (thanks!)

MUSIC: The Roots “Rising Up” ft. Wale & Chrisette Michelle. more go go flavored goodness. 23 year old olubowale “wale” folarin who reps DMV (DC, MD, VA) via Nigeria (parents) features on the first single from the roots new album “rising down” which drops 4/29.

MAGAZINES: shook magazine: possible successor to the late, great global underground music magazine straight no chaser, the passing of which is much lamented here at casa forota. shook even sports the same experimental (sometimes unreadable) typography/design style.

Benetton puts the spotlight on entrepreneurial Africa. Its global communication campaign for 2008 promotes the Birima micro-credit programme in Senegal, a co-operative credit society founded by the Senegalese singer Youssou N’Dour. The programme will also receive financial support from Benetton Group. Africa Works - the slogan of the campaign developed by Fabrica - will appear on billboards and in the press throughout the world, from February 2008. It features Senegalese workers who have used micro loans to start small, productive businesses. Photographer James Mollison portrays them with the tools of their trade against a neutral background. They include, amongst others, a fisherman, a decorator, a musician, a jewellery-maker, a farmer, a tailor, two textile sellers and a boxer. These everyday people become tangible symbols of an Africa that uses the dignity of work to fight poverty, promote equitable development, maximise its resources and take back responsibility for creating its future.

africa works brings together positive social change (birima’s microcredit program), and the power of celebrity/media to focus attention (youssou n’dour and benetton). those are fascinating topics on their own but what intrigues me most are the unique “street studio” portraits by photographer james mollison of the senegalese who are beneficiaries of birima’s program.

“if i can’t bring subjects to my studio, i will take my studio to the subjects”. this is the concept behind the “street studio”. most famously, richard avedon took a large format camera and his trademark white background around the american west and came back with photographs of working class americans that de-glamorized the common perception of the “cowboy” west. clay enos and stefan ghufkvin [quicktime movie] set out to photograph as many new yorkers as possible in a year with their new york 000 project and captured the bewildering variety and individuality of the people who walk the streets of the city’s 5 boroughs.

james mollison’s street studio. from africa works microcredit site

hauling a studio-style camera, lights, reflectors and backgrounds into the field and the process/performance that is a portrait session removes a portrait subject out of the everyday. in the process the subject working with or against the photographer makes a decision on how to be portrayed, in a way a quick portrait taken with a portable camera in a natural environment doesn’t. the process also removes context/background and heightens what is captured (the farmer’s muddy feet above, for e.g.). a body of work developed this way over time enables a photographer to deeply examine and present a subject matter, hopefully illuminating a social truth about the individual or some group that that person represents. august sander who created the epic “people of the 20th century” a series of over 600 portraits of individual germans is the grandaddy of all field portraitists. his work is still unequaled as both a monumental social document about germany in the early 20th century and a work of art that generations of photographers still emulate.

i started this blog mostly because i was (am) dissatisfied with what kinds of pictures i was taking and did not know how to progress beyond taking what i now call “pretty pictures”. it was (is) part of a process of looking inward and outward to find a way to grow into taking pictures of social relevance/truth both to myself individually and as an african. what mollison’s africa works images do is to offer a glimpse of a way forward for me, to make images that are both art and social document. as we kenyans try to find some kind of national identity, what better time would there be to trudge photography equipment around the country putting together a social document of kenyans now, and then trudge right back around again with a giant exhibition of those photographs so that we kenyans can gaze on each other and understand a thing or two about our collective condition.

screenshot of New York Times slideshow of flow: studio museum of harlem

Afropolitanism is the modish tag for new work made by young African artists both in and outside Africa. What unites the artists is a shared view of Africa, less as a place than as a concept; a cultural force. This idea, or something like it, lies behind “Flow” at the Studio Museum in Harlem, a fine-textured survey of 20 artists who, with a few exceptions, were born in Africa after 1970 but who now live in Europe or the United States.

i checked out the exhibition last weekend. the works stand on their own as contemporary art that happens to address african themes and subject matter, which frees the work from the “ethnic” connotation that would otherwise diminish its relevance beyond africa. highlights include mustafa maluka’s post-modern, urban/pop culture inspired paintings, as well “lolo” veleko’s landmark street portraits of jo’burg fashionistas”beauty is in the eye of the beholder“.

if you are in the NYC area or plan to be, take that trip uptown. this is a must-see art show.

Santogold: L.E.S. Artistes eagerly awaiting “post-black”, MIA/Spank Rock pal santi white’s album when it drops later this month. pictures from the santogold/gnarls barkely show 4/10/08

WALE!!!: back in the go go Olubowale Akintimehin “wale” DC-raised son of nigerian immigrants rocks the live instrument, percussive flava of DC go go. one of rolling stone’s artists to watch

Brick & Lace: Love is Wicked soundtrack to my visit in kenya when i was there in early march. it was all over the radio and i all matatus in tao.

Ali Kiba: Nakusihi Mrembo edgier (american?) sounding bongo flava although with the same melodic, swa lyrical flow that i really like about tanzanian urban music.

Z Anto feat Pingu: Binti Kiziwi soundtrack of our mombasa trip. memorable as there was an ongoing conversation on what a binti kiziwi is amongst we who are kiswahili-challenged (clue: check out the video).

screenshot of landing page of hector mediavilla’s photo essay on ZoneZero web site

Stunning photo essay The Congolose Sape by hector mediavilla. back in the day, it was easy to spot a congolose man on the streets in nairobi. they were fashionable and elegant in a way we kenyans just weren’t. we loved to contrast them with the stereotype of the rich kikuyu farmer with muddy safari boots and suit jacket with the funky hems that turned inward, pockets bulging with papers and money.

i now know that their style was influenced by the sapeurs of congo brazzaville whose style, elegance and manners were then popularized in congo kinshasa and eventually all over east and central africa by papa wemba (and other congolese musicians) who sang about them and emulated their fashion sense.

from mediavilla’s statement:

Sape is French slang for “dressing with class”. The French often use the expression “il est bien sape” to talk about a sharp dressed man. The term “sapeur” is a new African word that refers to someone that is dressed with great elegance.

However, the Congolese sapeurs are not only concerned about elegance, but also with good manners, politeness and morality. Generally, they only dress up on weekends and special occasions. Designer brands of suits and accessories are a big deal to Sapeurs. Complete attire can cost up to 1500 euros, although ironically, many of them don have a job. To get the whole outfit that can get them the sought-after prestige can take several years. Most of them start up with suits borrowed from established sapeurs that initiate them in the secrets of the Sape.The Congolese Sape, except for very rare exceptions, is a man thing, which sometimes is inherited whereas most of the times is acquired by choice.

see also: brief history of les sapeurs on sapeur supreme papa wemba’s site. it shows how the sape style started out as imitation of parisian style and elegance and a desire to escape congo mentally and physically. it was driven underground and became a rebellious fashion expression by the youth in the 70’s in response to mobutu sese seko’s repressive “authenticity” decree that changed congo to zaire, rochereau to tabu ley and banned the wearing of imported/western clothing styles.

more:
photos: sapeure shot by liz johnson-artur in paris. here is the fader article [PDF], where johnson-artur’s images appeared.
documentary: today the sapeur perspective has evolved to more of a competitive, brand worshipping form of expression somewhat like the hip hop bling scene as highlighted by a 2003 documentary the importance of being elegant.

[congolese sapes link via verve photo]