Philippa Ndisi-Herrmann, a photographer and filmmaker working in her hometown, Nairobi, is our latest guest for our series where we ask photographers to pick their favorite shots from their own portfolio . She was born in Bonn, Germany, in 1985 with German and Kenyan parents. In April 2011, The Sundance Institute exhibited a selection of her work at MoCADA (Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Art) in New York City. Philippa has recently begun a new documentary project, “We Want Development,” and is working towards her first feature film, “Two Princes.” First up she explains her approach to photography:
My favorite photographs N°3: Philippa Ndisi-Herrmann
May 23, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Post-Script: Germany’s Colonial Legacy
April 17, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Hamid Dabashi (@Lewis Gropp)
The recent controversy around Günter Grass’s criticisms of Germany’s arms trade with Israel is an interesting post-script to the Namibian genocide controversy. The Nobel prize-winning author has written a poem – called ‘What needs to be said’ – which argues that historical guilt is the reason for the sale of arms to Israel, a monstrous form of reparation for the Nazi genocide. As with the government response to Namibian claims for an official acknowledgement of the genocide, this controversy suggests Germany’s post-war guilt is being channelled in the wrong direction. The poem has elicited a spectrum of furious response, from a ban on travel to Israel (which you can’t imagine will dismay the elderly poet), to condemnations within his own country, and seems to have opened up new debates around the responsibilities of post-imperial countries. [Read more...]
19th New York African Film Festival: “The Education of Auma Obama”
April 13, 2012 By 2 Comments
Republican Party propaganda wants to paint President Barack Obama’s Kenyan family as alien to America. In this propaganda Kenyans are reduced to anti-American zealots. The propaganda especially play up refer to his father Barack Hussein Obama Snr’s supposed “anti-colonial” and left-wing biases. (What is conveniently forgotten is that Obama Snr. is a product of elite American education–he studied economics at Harvard.) Yet the strongest impression one gets from the Obama family in director Branwen Okpako’s beautiful, and substantive documentary of Obama’s half sister, Auma Obama, is how familiar and American (including some of the values Republicans proffer of hard work and guile), the Obamas are. At the same time it is clear that Obama’s strengths–his intellectual sharpness, charisma and drive, can be traced to this branch of his family. These qualities seem present especially in Obama’s father and sister Auma. (Barack and Auma Obama’s grandfather Hussein Onyango, a colonial cook, freedom fighter and oral historian, also emerges as a key influence.)
Germany’s Namibian Legacy
April 10, 2012 By 6 Comments
So the Bundestag have once again refused to acknowledge that the systematic murders of four ethnic groups in Namibia between 1904 and 1908 wasn’t genocide. Late last month, March 22, the German parliament debated a motion proposed by the Left party to officially recognise the genocide which took place in Namibia between 1904 and 1908. The Namibian confirmed that the motion has been overturned. It is not a coincidence that in a review of Sebastian Conrad’s book German Colonialism: A Short History, Richard J. Evans notes that evidence of this history can be seen in present-day Namibia: “If you go to Windhoek in Namibia, you can still pick up a copy of the Allgemeine Zeitung, a newspaper which caters for the remaining German-speaking residents of the town. … In Tanzania, you can stay in the lakeside town of Wiedhafen. If you’re a businessman wanting to bulk buy palm oil in Cameroon, the Woermann plantations are still the place to go. In eastern Ghana, German-style buildings that once belonged to the colony of Togo are now advertised as tourist attractions.” (London Review of Books) German colonialism in Africa, obscured by the comparatively more substantial colonies of other European countries and numerically superior crimes of the Nazi genocide, occupies a diminished place in German national guilt.
Azonto Germany
February 23, 2012 By Leave a Comment
So apparently there’s more to the Ghana-Germany connection than the Boateng boys. I think the above Azonto rave in Hamburg this past January is proof of that. It’s perhaps an illustration of some of the points we were trying to make about diverse histories and orientations of African pop, the diaspora, and its international dissemination. If anything it is an illustration of the speed with which culture travels now.
From Nairobi to Berlin
September 22, 2011 By 3 Comments
Over the last two years, the NRBLN – BLNRB project has brought together German and Kenyan musicians, resulting in the eclectic album BLNRB – Welcome to the Madhouse. They’ve now also uploaded this video for the track ‘Msoto Millions’ by Jahcoozi (featuring dancehall collective Ukoo Flani). Follow the project on their blog — they’re promising to put up more videos for the other songs on the album soon.
Music Break / Y’akoto
August 9, 2011 By 1 Comment
German-Ghanian singer Y’akoto’s biography on her website made me look up the meaning of the word “hegira” — a beautiful word, but maybe not the best translation of the original German ‘Suche’, as in: “search” (for herself). Great track, and a nice video. Live recordings show her playing with the Mighty Embassy Ensemble, Blitz The Ambassador’s backing band. That makes perfect sense.
Via Kweligee.
Music Break
April 25, 2011 By Leave a Comment
The video “Niemand” [No One] by German singer, Joy Denalane (featuring her husband Max Herre) off her new album “Maureen,” which is set for release next month.
Via Afro-Europe
I’m Gonna Dance
February 19, 2011 By 3 Comments
No more “Down on My Knees.” Nigerian-German singer Ayo‘s new–well at least one month old–single of her upcoming March 2011 release, “Billie-Eve,” is all empowerment.
