BLK JKS: “Mzabalazo” live at Harriet’s Alter Ego in Brooklyn

Toyi toyi fight music meets indie rock. i STILL regret missing this live set when they played in the county of Kings back in April, looks like a magical music moment. Now someone just needs to tell me what “zabalaza” means. [via the BLK JKS blog]

GO SEE:: speaking of loud guitars, the 4th annual afro-punk festival kicks off on july 4th weekend, with film, music, art and skating at BAM, and Fort Greene park nearby.

GO SEE: Santogold is a huge deal here at casa forota; currently debating whether to brave the crush of hipsters and catch her live when she performs at Central Park Summerstage on 7/20.

relatedly: Kenya Rock Film Festival Journal: blog spotlighting the small, embryonic rock music scene in kenya.

* with apologies to Greg Tate, from this must read essay on advancing age, YouTube and black rock.

Africa issue of French web magazine purpose

French online magazine purpose has a great Africa issue, which features the work of African photographers, not just photographs of Africa. There is some new (to me) studio work from Malick Sidibe (the man seems to have a bottomless archive) and vintage photography from Nigeria. Personal favorite: Sidi Sidibe’s “Modeles”, pictures of the work of tailors in Bamako, catalog style.

[via Exposure Compensation]

Photojournalist Olivier Jobard documented the 6-month epic trek of a 23-year old Cameroonian named Kingsley, who’s “mission” was to make it to Europe to make a better life for himself and his family. Interesting perspective in that Jobard and Kingsley travelled together; Jobard providing the “eyes” to complement Kingsley’s narration. Check out the boat that they used to try to cross the Atlantic and you know how determined (desperate?) Kingsley and his fellow migrants were to reach their destination, or more importantly leave their current hopeless state.

NOUS COEUR OBAMA: Article on the resurrection of black pride and negritude in France in the wake of the rise and rise of Barack Obama.

BLACK IS BEAUTIFUL: Provoked by the paucity of black models (and other models of color) on the runways and in the ads of haute couturiers, Italian Vogue has decided to feature only black models in their July issue. From the article:

Under its editor, Franca Sozzani, Italian Vogue has gained a reputation for being more about art and ideas than commerce. Ms. Sozzani also doesn’t mind controversy.

She said that, as an Italian, she has been intrigued by the American presidential race and Mr. Obama, which was one source of inspiration when she and Mr. Meisel began discussing, in February, the idea of an all-black issue. Also, she was aware of the lack of diversity on the runways in recent years and the debate it fueled last fall in New York, where Bethann Hardison, a former model who ran a successful agency, held two panel discussions on the topic.

Slide show of images from article here.

TRAINSPOTTING: spotted this Candace Feit image, especially the black borders with the dual “v” notches on the left frame that indicate they were taken with a Hasselblad medium format FILM camera. Yes, film is not dead yet, digital supremacy notwithstanding.

Detail of “Chemises” by Malick Sidibe

Malick Sidibe: ” … Sometimes I think that youth, dancing and joy are the only things that really matter in life. Don’t you think? After that, it’s all downhill. Those times were truly, truly joyful.”
Michelle Lamuniere: “Do you think any of that had to do with Mali winning its independence from France in 1960?”
Malick Sidibe: “Yes it did have to do with independence, but not necessarily colonial independence. There was another kind of independence, too. By 1956, Afro-Cuban music had hit Africa, along with European music, and that allowed young people to experience a new kind of freedom. Before, things were more traditional, it was impossible for a young man and a young woman to even go near each other, let alone speak to another. Girls weren’t allowed out of the house in skirts. No way! So they wore pagnes over their miniskirts. When they got to the party, they would take off their pagnes and dance. You have to understand what a big deal it was to be able to dance with a girl …. for us this freedom was a totally new thing, so we got really excited.”

Malick Sidibe interviewed for “Ready to Wear” (pp. 132 to 159), in Issue 88 (Vol 10 No. 4) of Transition.

SEE ALSO:

Screenshot of West African mysteries image series on African Images web site.

West African mysteries. [via african imagery]

Screenshot of Jurgen Schadeberg’s image series on African Images web site

Jurgen Schadeberg - South Africa in the 50’s [via african imagery]

A sampling of images by (largely) non-Africa born photographers. They are technically/aesthetically beautiful, and despite the outsider status of the photographers, they work hard to portray authenticity and dignity in their subjects (unlike the more ubiquitous “disaster porn” taken in disaster/war areas). It would interesting to see how different the images would look if they made by an insider with the same technical skill.

Screenshot of Julien Oppenheim’s image series on African Images web site

French photographer Julien Oppenheim [via African Imagery]

Screenshot of Claudio Rasano’s web site

Swiss photographer Claudio Rasano’s essays in South Africa including powertown, shades of skin, kakamas [via Conscientious]

Screen shot: school girl, Joakim Eskilden
Dane Joakim Eskildsen’s photo essay iChickenMoon

screenshot of denis chapoullie’s web site

Denis Chapoullie - South Africa, 98-99 [via African Imagery]