I recently had the chance to sit down with Congolese-Belgian MC, Baloji during his visit to New York City. Here’s what transpired.
Interview: Baloji
May 11, 2012 By Leave a Comment
The adventures of Tintin in the Land of the Law
April 30, 2012 By 3 Comments
Guest Post by Jogchum Vrielink
“Tintin,” the brainchild of the late Belgian cartoonist Georges Remi (better known as Hergé) is experiencing new and exciting adventures these days. Not just in the cinema, but in Belgian courts as well. A Brussels court has rejected the suit of a Congolese student and a minority organization to obtain a ban on the comic book ‘Tintin in the Congo.’ The main conclusions about the case: One, despite this outcome, the reasoning of the court jeopardizes free speech. And two, as regards the applicants: offensive as the comic may be, their recourse to the law is both misdirected and counterproductive. [Read more...]
The geo-branding war
April 30, 2012 By 17 Comments
Geo-branding is a serious thing. It is particularly serious when people from other geographic areas decide to brand your geographical area and the people in it, the way they see fit and the way that fits their purposes. No other country, region or continent, I’d argue, suffers from other peoples’ nonsense as much as the continent of Africa. Actually, the reason why people generally and casually talk about Africa as one place is because of what Nigerian-American author C. P. Eze refers to as “their geo-branding war”. [Read more...]
Parisian Africa: The artistic intersections of the Métropole
April 24, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Guest Post by Lara N. Dotson-Renta
Paris has always been renowned for its culture and support of the arts. Yet, as France has grown into an ever more pluralistic society, the traditional image of what constitutes art in France must evolve as well. Younger generations of artists, many immigrants of African origin, are now reconfiguring the arts in France on their own terms. Their artistic production embodies experiences of travel and adaptation via the integration of the cultures and traditions of their respective countries of origins along with aesthetic and quotidian experiences that reflect daily life in France. Particularly in the realm of music and film, the blending of African tradition with French popular culture and youth genres has fostered a vibrant arts scene that, while initially seen as of/from the margins of both society and the arts scene, is actually renewing ‘mainstream’ culture in dramatic ways. You just have to scan the pop music featured in Hinda Talhaoui’s Paris is a Continent Series on AIAC. One proponent of this new artistic vision is Alain Kasanda (Apkass), a Franco-Congolese musician, spoken word artist, and founder of the O’rigines Foundation and the Ghett’Out Francophone Film Festival. I interviewed Alain at the Trinity College International Hip-Hop Festival held in Hartford, CT, in March earlier this year. [Read more...]
Tomorrow’s Marching Band
March 22, 2012 By Leave a Comment
In the DRC, city life isn’t foremost defined by the image of the child soldier (contrary to what some campaigns would have you believe) but rather by that of the street child. Seen by many as a superfluous presence, a residue or a waste, street children become easy victims of gossip and accusations while at the same time, as a relatively new phenomenon, they are also hard to explain (children weren’t always used as scapegoats for families falling apart let alone considered as the cause of personal illnesses), ultimately turning into something of a danger and a threat that, according to all too many citizens, needs to be dealt with and ideally removed from the stuttering and improvisational city logics. [Read more...]
Fabrice Muamba and English football
March 20, 2012 By 1 Comment
British football isn’t known for its compassion, and it’s already been an explosive season of racist slurs and handshakes denied. But the recent collapse of Fabrice Muamba, a midfielder for Bolton Wanderers, has shown a different side to both the professional football world, and its supporters, hoping for the recovery of a young player that everyone agrees is ‘a genuine, warm boy’. [Read more...]
Undocumented Spanish News
March 19, 2012 By 2 Comments
Only three months have passed since the triumph of the conservative government in Spain. The economic crisis and labor reform have been key themes in the national and international press, with headlines about debt, the climbing unemployment rate (the highest in Europe) and the charges of corruption levied against businessmen and members of the government. Immigration policy, in the meantime, has been forgotten. Far behind us are the days when we would wake up to reports of undocumented immigrants jumping the barriers cordoning off Morocco from Ceuta and Melilla — two of the most heavily trafficked crossing points between Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa — or of makeshift boats washing up on the coast of Andalucía or the beaches of the Canary Islands.
Music Break. Gasandji
March 5, 2012 By Leave a Comment
DRC born, France based Gasandji‘s “Na lingui yo.”
Black Bazar
March 3, 2012 By 4 Comments
Alain Mabanckou’s 2009 novel Black Bazar spoke successfully to and about the African diaspora in France, their daily hustle, fashion, style and language. All through the eyes of the Congolese migrant nicknamed ‘Fessologue’, sapeur and pub philosopher, and arguably the author’s alter ego. As a follow-up to the novel, Mabanckou now has produced an ambitious music album (“trying to change the way in which African music is perceived,” he says) with Congolese musicians Modogo Abarambwa and Sam Tshintu. Other contributing artists come from Cuba, Colombia, Cameroon, the DRC, Congo-Brazzaville and Senegal. The above music video shows us what to expect (and Mabanckou gets his cameo).
