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]
Creole. The result of the collision of Africa and Europe. In music, that collision has created what John Ryle called the soundtrack of modernity, which links the Swedish middle-aged man who loves Miles Davis with the Japanese youth who wants to be a b-boy. The result of that collision along with the almighty dollar now form part of the DNA of this thing we call global culture.
Is it the need to reconcile the technological and the human, tradition vs. modernity, civilization vs. primitivism, the seemingly mutually exclusive past and present that gives the culture created by africans all over the diaspora its vitality (soul) and its universality? Whatever, but as the sampling of the media i have been consuming in the last couple of weeks shows, the results are always interesting.
screenshot of opening scene of “Basquiat“
Q (”Interviewer”): Do you consider yourself a painter or a Black painter?
A (Jean-Michel Basquiat): Oh, I use a lot of colors, not just black …. It’s more a Creole, you know … what I mean by Creole is that … it’s a mix of Africa and Europe … you know in much the same way an African in Haiti speaks French.
cover of “BEYOND DESIRE” exhibition catalog
Inherent in all desire is a measure of fantasy, which guides our eye and forms or deforms our image of the ‘other’. Here fashion is a superb gauge. It is accessible, driven by unlimited fantasy, free from any form of politically correct thinking, decorative and superficial, yet, at the same time, it is deeply rooted in our cultural and social subconscious. BEYOND DESIRE shows how two cultures can each adopt the visual language of the other as their own and how their respective longings are projected through fashion and clothing in their fantasy image of this ‘other’.
BEYOND DESIRE: INTRODUCTION by Kaat Debo
gnarls barkley: going on
the styling of this video is a kind of “DRUM/soweto” meets “london working class/punk” aesthetic. the look was actually inspired by an, um, inspired fashion spread created by brooklyn photographer clayton cubitt and stylist rene garza called lagos calling
there is an non-pixelated/cleaner version of the video here.
jorge ben: ponta de lanca africano
Jorge Ben drew from the sambas of the hillside slums of Rio de Janeiro and American rhythm and blues to create an original style. He created the most organic fusion of North and South American forms of African music. This affinity is being demonstrated again by the enormous popularity of rap music in the slums, and only in the slums, of Rio. Jorge Ben was also a highly original lyricist who combined street language with images drawn from African and Christian mythology and esoteric literature.
Arto Lindsay in liner notes for “Beleza Tropical”.
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]
this is not a political blog and i have been too disconnected from the political scene in kenya to comment intelligently on the current situation. yet i was captivated by these raw, loosely coherent pro-ODM youtube rants delivered before the elections by martin ngatia who is based in sweden. something in his voice/delivery points to a level of genuine disquiet (even among kikuyus) about the status quo that i was completely unaware of and have watched with horror lately in the media. the tone of the rants is somewhat strident, so YMMV.
the nation of kenya has unfinished business that has always been swept under under the rug all in the name of “moving on”. but i suspect it all the stuff under the rug (land reform, kikuyu-luo rivalry, murders of JM, Mboya, Ouko) bursts forth every once in a while wrapped up with more recent grievances (urban poverty). kenya needs to return to whatever normal means now, but it’s time to pull back that rug and as a nation start to grapple with the issues under there.
Dedan Kimathi Never Betrayed - Vote out Home Guards
Kill the Myth: All Kenyans Can Lead the Country
p.s.: love the matt drudge/classic reporter hat, trench coat. cool.
herewith, in no particular order some observations on ideas, trends, programs, music, magazines of note for 2007 here at casa forota, organized as a randomly ordered year end list.
print: the new african literary renaissance. as heralded in the bono-edited “africa” issue of vanity fair. personal highlights:
chimamanda adichie wrote about Biafra in 60’s nigeria so vividly one would have thought she lived through the time.
ishmael beah described the crushingly depressing experience of being a child soldier in liberia (somehow he managed to survive and transcend it). dinaw mengestu intimately described the dream-crushing experience of being an african immigrant/expat in washington DC [video] in a way a lot of us can relate.
music: east african urban music arrives: although i have limited exposure to music from home, i was quite impressed with collections like urban africa club and nomadic wax’s nomadic mixtape vol. 2 east african hip hop beatdown where music from artists like necessary noize, professor jay, peter miles, xplastaz and others highlighted the fact that east african music has reached a creative watershed where hip hop/dancehall + sheng + bongo flava = globally aware music that distances itself from the pejorative term ‘local music” that has hung over the imitative music available until quite recently.
ideas: the term “afropolitan” enters my lexicon. as described by author taiye tuakli-wosornu a nigerian-ghanaian writer based in New York City, an afropolitan has a hard time answering the question “where are you from?” why? they have lived in multiple places outside africa (boston, brixton, berlin), claim some part of the continent as home (metaphorically) but inhabit a physical/mental space that encompasses all the places they have lived.
print/web: quality africa-related lifestyle/entertaiment magazines online and off: colures, kitu kizuri, jamati, mimi magazine and pan-african clutch magazine all published to highlight the doings of afropolitans in the worlds of art, music, film, fashion, business. trace (now a fashion mag) and clam were there before, but they still best capture the cutting edge of this quintessentially 21st century experience.
music: global album of the year. migration/globalization are annihilating all kinds of cultural/racial/whatever barriers. with “kala“, maya arulpragasm just dives into it all, equally embracing bhangra, dancehall, africa, australia, digeridoos, hip hop, punk, bollywood, politics, guns, violence, boys to create an album that is a hallmark of the dizzyingly disorienting cultural times we now live in. personal highlight: “hussel” a collaboration with ghanaian/brit afrikan boy sounds to me like the de facto soundtrack for new (illegal) immigrants from everywhere hustling and grinding to get a foothold in their new homes, all while trying to evade deportation.
film: ousmane sembene RIP. [ny times registration req’d] the father of african cinema, all other african directors will be measured against him. he was driven by the insight that film was the most powerful method to convey education/entertainment to africans without the formal education to read books. one of the tragedies of his passing must be that his films commenting on post-colonial african society/politics (xala, moolade, faat kine) were never seen widely outside art movie houses in cities like new york and paris during his lifetime. i managed to catch xala at a recent sembene retrospective here in NYC. if you missed it, some of his films are available on netflix.
race/television: pbs’ brazil in black and white. overt racism is receding everywhere (”it never existed in brazil”, as they like to say). however, social/economic exclusion of black folks in brazil and elsewhere is as plain as day. but how to redress this inequality using policy when there has been generations of racial mixing with african descendants and the identification with “blackness” is sometimes a personal/cultural choice, versus a genetic one? relatedly: the debate in the US on a certain presidential candidate’s blackness.
art/museums: “eternal ancestors, the art of central african reliquary“. brilliant exhibit at the metropolitan museum in NYC that displays sculptural pieces that fired the imaginations of the early 20th century art avant garde (among them picasso). inspired by these innovative, expressive religious artifacts from central africa, these artists found a way to break modern art from its representational (renaissance) roots. the exhibit runs until march 2nd, 2008 go. see it.
year end approaches and with it the endless parade of lists marking the year’s best in this and that. not be left out i have created a list of lists from around the internets of the men and women of the african diaspora that inspire us or just inspire lust in us. will add to the list if i find any additional lists. enjoy.
clutch magazine: 12 black men to watch
mimi magazine: the hot 21
jamati online: top 10 sexiest african women
jamati online: top 10 sexiest african men
in a photo project called the black house photojournalist colin jones spent 3 years (1973 to 1976) in the harambee housing project in northern london. description of the project from a recent exhibition of the images:
This tall, dilapidated terraced house on a busy main street in Islington, had became a hostel for troubled young black men run by a charismatic Caribbean migrant, Brother Herman Edwards. The project was often visited by the police and always in strife with neighbours over too much noise and overcrowding. Many of the youths photographed embraced their portrayal in the media as iconic delinquents, reinforcing their status as outcasts. Never officially named The Black House, the building was given this name both by residents and by newspaper editors as an easy headline. At this time, the first generation of Afro-Caribean young people to be born in Britain were encountering problems with schooling, employment and the law – Jones’ photographs put a face to this news story.
via the last issue of straight no chaser
the last time i was home in 2003, i spent some time in dar es salaam. updating my photoblog was pretty challenging because of the limited access to the interwebs and the slooow uploads (i don’t believe there was access to anything faster than 56K anywhere at that time). so i am quite impressed to see the following photoblogs from tanzania; i appreciate the challenges and cost of taking and uploading images, unless things have changed significantly since i was there.
maggid mjengwa: street pictures in and around iringa, tz.
jiji la dar: streetscapes in dar es salaam, tz.
mwenye macho: arts/culture coverage from photographer bob sankofa.
bongo celebrity: tanzanian celebrity blog.
8020 fashions: blog highlighting muslim/secular local fashion and commentary on international celeb style.
swa was never my strong suit, and it has been too long since i read kiswahili on a regular basis. good thing i was at my computer alone at home as i had to mouth out the words on those blogs to process the text :/
rappin hood, one of brazil’s premier hip hop artists, states simply, “i’m black”. it seems an unremarkable assertion in a land where more than half of brazilians can claim african descent; where samba and capoeira have heavy doses of african influence. the largest population of african descendants outside africa lives in brazil. we all believe the mantra repeated, unchallenged, across latin america “there is no racism”. but after watching the latest episode of “wide angle” on PBS brazil in black and white, that turns out to be a profoundly complex statement. brazil is finally waking up to the realization that poverty in brazil has a color: that color is black. the government under luiz inacio lula da silva is trying to right that wrong by instituting affirmative action to get more blacks in colleges/universities and in the corporate world. but while the problem is clear, the solution isn’t; who is “black” in a country that is so racially mixed? how do you decide who is black, without creating arbitrary standards?
and this is not just a brazilian problem. a multimedia presentation from the miami herald “a rising voice: afro-latin americans” shows that things are changing all across latin america, as this most racially diverse region re-examines the notion of identity and its effect on social and economic equality.
racial identity and racism in latin america are quite different from the brand that i am familiar with that splits cleanly along the black/white divide and affects all on the wrong side of that line equally (badly). in africa or america you are black or white (which confuses some mixed race kids as they are neither). but in latin america being black is sometimes a choice; based on social/cultural factors as well as pigmentation. this means more nuanced definitions of darkness. to wit:
“To many Dominicans, to be black is to be Haitian. So dark-skinned Dominicans tend to describe themselves as any of the dozen or so racial categories that date back hundreds of years — Indian, burned Indian, dirty Indian, washed Indian, dark Indian, cinnamon, moreno or mulatto, but rarely negro.
The Dominican Republic is not the only nation with so many words to describe skin color. Asked in a 1976 census survey to describe their own complexions, Brazilians came up with 136 different terms, including café au lait, sunburned, morena, Malaysian woman, singed and “toasted.”"
whatever the labels, the resulting racism means that black people are overrepresented in the favelas and jails, and underrepresented in the corporate world, and in colleges/universities.
black latin americans are starting to re-assert their blackness/africanness. in addition to fighting for affirmative action afro-brazileiros, it includes doing things like preserving garifuna culture in honduras or activism to ensure land where quilombos or freed slave settlements were established are preserved as such.
“i’m black”. it’s a simple label, but it is a label that belies the the mind-boggling diversity of the people who claim it. also it doesn’t highlight the often conflicted relationship black people all over the diaspora have with that label and its connotations. i am most fascinated to see how public policy in places like brazil will be used to re-dress black racism and inequality.