I have been a little silent lately here on AIAC. I’m gonna start posting more, although perhaps in briefer form (do visit duttyartz.com to see some of what I’ve been up to recently). For now I leave you with the White Mandingos:

While tapping into an Internet ethos which is totally unserious and trivializing (the Internet has turned us all punk?), there’s a maturity (introspection? sense of history?) in this that is lacking in most of the popular younger artists’ output (at least in my mind), making this better than 99% of American music released today. If you disagree, meet me in the comments section.

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.

Rebuilding Algeria’s oceans

Grassroots activists and marine scientists in Algeria are building artificial reefs to restore biodiversity and sustain fishing communities, but scaling up requires more than passion—it needs institutional support and political will.