Colonial Fantasies

Just a sample: A "Heart of Darkness"-themed ship, Tarzan in South Africa and a travelogue on the Congo River.

DeWet Du Toit, the white South African living out a Hollywood-fantasy as a "real-life Tarzan" (Flickr).

The arts and culture site, Blackbookmag.com, reports that two British artists have built a “Heart of Darkness”-themed hotel in the shape of a steamboat on the roof of a Thames River arts center in London. It is named Roi des Belges (King of the Belgians). They charge between 120 and 185 pounds for singles or couples per night to stay in the hotel. “Inside, the cozy paddle steamboat is lined with timber, vintage books, and props that echo details from Conrad’s works, such as maps of Africa.”

Roi des Belges on the Thames.

Two days ago, The Guardian (of all publications) put up a travel piece with this introduction: “I was alone in the middle of deepest, darkest Congo. Worse still, I was being chased by eight angry tribesmen in two dugout canoes – and they were gaining on me.” We figured it must be a joke.

Then there’s DeWet Du Toit, who left South Africa to work as a security guard in Manchester, and returned to George, a coastal town in the Western Cape region of South Africa (where else?), where he lives out his fantasy as ‘the real Tarzan’, complete with promotional video, animals, black helpers and friendly news coverage (he wants to break into Hollywood like Charlize Theron and District 9). It is not the 1950s anywhere.

Further Reading

Procès et tribulations de Rokia Traoré

Détenue en Italie puis en Belgique pendant prèsde sept mois, la chanteuse malienne est engagée depuis 2019 dans une bataille judiciaire avec son ex-conjoint belge pour la garde de leur fille. Entre accusations d’abus et mandats d’arrêt, le feuilleton semble approcher de sa conclusion.

Requiem for a revolution

A sweeping, jazz-scored exploration of Cold War intrigue and African liberation, Johan Gimonprez’s ‘Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat’ lays bare the cultural and political battlegrounds where empires, artists, and freedom fighters clashed.

On Safari

On our year-end publishing break, we reflect on how 2024’s contradictions reveal a fractured world grappling with inequality, digital activism, and the blurred lines between action and spectacle.