Africa Is a Country

"… new trends in Africa and the Diaspora"

Africa Is a Country Podcast
African Five-a-Side Podcast

"… new trends in Africa and the Diaspora"

By
Tom Devriendt

At the margins of this year’s Art Basel (15-19 June) and curated by Christine Eyene, FOCUS11 presents a group of African artists in the city of Basel, Switzerland this weekend. The selected artists (“reflecting new trends in Africa and the Diaspora”) are Nirveda Alleck (above is “Suspended Thought,” a 2006 photocollage by Alleck), Natalie Mba Bikoro, Graeme Williams, Ato Malinda, Mohau Modisakeng, Jan-Henri Booyens, Steve Bandoma, Rowan Pybus, Ntando Cele, Vitshois Mwilambwe Bondo, Fabrice Wamba and Youssef Tabti (who is distributing this postcard all over the city these days). With the exception of two, all of the artists seem to reside in South Africa or Europe.

Further Reading

After the uprising

Years into Cameroon’s Anglophone conflict, the rebellion faces internal fractures, waning support, and military pressure—raising the question of what future, if any, lies ahead for Ambazonian aspirations.

In search of Saadia

Who was Saadia, and why has she been forgotten? A search for one woman’s story opens up bigger questions about race, migration, belonging, and the gaps history leaves behind.

Binti, revisited

More than two decades after its release, Lady Jaydee’s debut album still resonates—offering a window into Tanzanian pop, gender politics, and the sound of a generation coming into its own.

The bones beneath our feet

A powerful new documentary follows Evelyn Wanjugu Kimathi’s personal and political journey to recover her father’s remains—and to reckon with Kenya’s unfinished struggle for land, justice, and historical memory.

What comes after liberation?

In this wide-ranging conversation, the freedom fighter and former Constitutional Court justice Albie Sachs reflects on law, liberation, and the unfinished work of building a just South Africa.

The cost of care

In Africa’s migration economy, women’s labor fuels households abroad while their own needs are sidelined at home. What does freedom look like when care itself becomes a form of exile?

The memory keepers

A new documentary follows two women’s mission to decolonize Nairobi’s libraries, revealing how good intentions collide with bureaucracy, donor politics, and the ghosts of colonialism.

Making films against amnesia

The director of the Oscar-nominated film ‘Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat’ reflects on imperial violence, corporate warfare, and how cinema can disrupt the official record—and help us remember differently.