Venantia Otto was announced as the winner of the the 2006 Nokia Face of Africa competition. The Namibian-born Venantia beat out the other 10 finalists from all over Africa and was announced as the winner of the US$150,000 prize modeling contract courtesy Elite Model Management – which has represented models such as Cindy Crawford, Tyra Banks, Iman, and Naomi Campbell. Venantia hopes to take New York by storm when she begins her tenure with one of the world’s biggest and boldest agencies. The Nokia Face of Africa 2006 Final was broadcast to over 40 African countries.
Trend Alert: Celebrities “help” Africans
A couple of posts ago I commented on Gwyneth Paltrow’s recent ad for the Keep a Child Alive organization. Though there was a lot of talk going around about the sincereity of the ad and even some good parodies, it seems the New York Times, in true hype fashion, has taken the ball and run with it. This weekend the Times ran an article titled “Into Africa” speculating on the trendy-ness of Americans’ – celebrity and otherwise – interest in Africa. The article was a dis-jointed analysis of why “saving” Africa is suddenly a new trend. While I feel the interest in the continent can be a good thing, I know that this particular type of interest can only hurt efforts to change the continent’s problems. Yet again, those who have a warped sense of self and belonging, have turned to the poor Africans to validate their existence. Lindsey Lohan? Madonna? Alyssa Milano? Give me a break!!! When issues relating to Africa are sensationalized without follow-up or perspective, the result can cause more harm than good. Africa has a lot of problems but none of these “celebrities” are able to put it in the perspective it needs. What’s the sense in installing an irrigation system in Ethiopia on your summer break if there’s no one to maintain it when you leave for your freshman year at Harvard? I’m not against celebrities lending their voice where needed, but anyone who will develop an interest in “helping” Africa because Lindsey Lohan says so is only going to make things worse. Africa may need a lot of things, but random acts of blindness is not one of them.
Songstress Goapele Receives Activism Award
For those who don’t know, get familiar with this songstress. Goapele (the name means ‘to move forward’ in Sitswana, a South African language) has been doing her thing for a while both on the music and political front.
“The Bay area-based Ella Baker Center for Human Rights will honor neo soul singer Goapele with its first ever “Human Rights Cultural Hero Award” next month.
Known almost as much for her political activism as for her smooth voice and groove-driven music, the singer will accept the award on September 12 during the Center’s 10th Anniversary Celebration, “Tribute to the Dream.†– Vibe
Can hip hop change Africa?
While many hip-hop fans in the US have started feeling that hip hop is dead, it’s becoming clearer that there is a totally different sentiment in other countries. A major reason for the pessimistic feeling of the US hip hop fans is the commercialization of hip hop culture and the preference for rap which, without the other hip hop elements (graffiti, breakdancing, dj-ing etc), loses all reference and meaning. Gone are the days when there was a balanced view of urban life through hip hop. As major media outlets have welcomed/accepted the art form many US artists have have become comfortable and have lost their focus. The hijacking of the rap element of hip-hop culture has resulted in corporations like Viacom (MTV, VH1) creating a rap culture which has no purpose and looks outside of itself for direction.
But take a trip to any major African country like Senegal and Kenya and you’ll find the music as it once was in the USA. Because of the newness of the music form to Africa and the growing accessibility of it, hip hop is now the voice of the new generation of Africans. What is amazing about the music is how the youth have begun to adapt and use it as a vehicle to change the world around them. More than an entertainment form hip hop is now the standard among young people and as they become more empowered, they put it in song. The accessibility of technologies like video, internet and mobile phones have provided them with the resources they need to connect to one another in real time and develop a unified voice. With all the problems that ail the continent the youth are attempting to make the much needed changes themselves.
I attended a forum last week at The Rotunda Gallery (Brooklyn, NY) put together by my friend Ben of Nomadic Wax records about this particular subject. The conversation was an excellent one with a panel featuring MC’s Chosan (Sierra Leone), Saba Saba aka Krazy Native (Uganda) and poet and activist Toni Blackman. What became evident through the discussion was that the African hip hop movement is a potent one which sees community and social issues as it’s focal point. African hip hop artists are taking the blueprint of US groups like Public Enemy, Eric B. and Rakim, and even Tupac Shakur mixing it with national pride and using it to push their community forward. A recent Reuters article discusses how Senegalese rappers have been able to influence government in the past. Whether by inspiring others or taking the reigns themselves, the artists are hopeful for a new Africa. But the question is will the art form survive the corporate and governmental assaults? I would hope so
Info:Spine Magazine
Branding Africa for 2010
Before the 2006 World Cup was over, many people had already shifted their focus to the 2010 World Cup which will be held in South Africa. With Puma sponsoring the African teams this year and Ghana making a great attempt to reach the finals, no-one can deny Africa’s shift to the spotlight. In 2010 the world will be watching as our leaders try are-branding of Africa. Long looked at as the “dark continent” the upcoming World Cup has forced Africa’s leaders to consider the immense opportunities which come with such an international event. Whatever happens 2010 will be a defining moment for the continent.
African woman European standards
For the past few years I’ve been reading a lot about a talented Kenyan-born artist named Wangechi Mutu. Ms Mutu’s art “explores the contradictions of female and cultural identity and makes reference to colonial history, contemporary African politics and the international fashion industry”.
Having seen images of her work I can see what all the fuss is about. At first the images are intentionally awkward and grotesque; taking a closer look you see a butt here, an eye there, a headline somewhere else, which points to the deeper imagery. Piecing together magazine imagery with painted surfaces and found materials Wangechi Mutu is able to create satirical scenes of her take on “a European preference to physique that has been inflicted on and adapted by Africans, resulting in both social hierarchy and genocide”. Still in her early 30’s Ms. Mutu is heralded one of the best young artists. Coming from a solo show at the San Francisco MoMA, Wangechi Mutu’s works will go on display May 12 – June 17, 2006 at the Sikkema Jenkins & Co gallery and at Salon 94 May 21 – July 7, 2006.
African Film Festival returns to New York
The African Film Festival returns to New York for it’s 13th installment. This year’s theme, Africa in Transition Today, explores contemporary African issues like the effects of war, personal tales of displacement, the HIV/AIDS plague, and the search for reconciliation The Festival will spotlight a wide array of U.S. premieres of internationally-acclaimed films, including Drum starring Taye Diggs from South African director Zola Maseko, which screened at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival, and the U.S. premiere of U-Carmen eKhayelitsha, an exquisite adaptation of Bizet’s opera “Carmen†that won the Berlin Film Festival’s Golden Bear Award. Other highlights include the first-ever section spotlighting filmmakers from the Maghreb and a program of short films from South Africa that explores issues of sexuality and gender. The month-long event is co-presented by the African Film Festival, Inc. (AFF) and the Film Society at Lincoln Center.
13th Annual New York African Film Festival
When: Wed 4.26 – Mon 5.29
Where: Various locations
Price: $5-10
Schedule: http://www.africanfilmny.org
Liberian wins Environmental Award
For those who were wondering about Google’s latest logo, this past Saturday marked Earth Day 2006. In commemoration of Earth Day and to promote environmental awareness worldwide, The Goldman Environmental Prize will be awarded today in a ceremony in San Francisco. One of the six recipients this year is Silas Kpanan’Ayoung Siakor (36), a Liberian environmentalist who exposed evidence that Liberian President Charles Taylor used the profits of unchecked, rampant logging to pay the costs of a brutal 14-year civil war that left 150,000 people dead. At great personal risk, Siakor collected extremely hard-to-get evidence of falsified logging records, illegal logging practices and associated human rights abuses. He passed the evidence to the United Nations Security Council, which then banned the export of Liberian timber. Fearing for his life Mr. Siakor left Liberia for a period of exile spent in several neighboring countries.
With international sanctions on timber exports set to be lifted in June, Mr. Siakor continues fighting powerful forces that want to tap into Liberia’s forests as a source of income. As director of the Sustainable Development Institute (SDI), in January he published a report outlining the sort of reforms he feels need to be carried out in order to protect the long term future of Liberia’s forests and the wildlife that depends upon them.
The Goldman Environmental Prize is the world’s largest prize honoring grassroots environmentalist. Described as “the Nobel Prize for grassroots environmentalism” the prize provides International recognition, worldwide visibility, and financial support of $125,000 to the winners to pursue their vision of a renewed and protected environment. After the San Francisco ceremony today at the Opera House, the Prize winners will travel to Washington D.C. for an awards ceremony and events at the National Press Club, on Capitol Hill and at the Brookings Institute with political, policy and environmental leaders.
Info: BBC
Actor Don Cheadle documents Uganda’s “Night Commuters”
In May of 2005, Academy Award-nominated actor Don Cheadle (Crash, Ocean’s Eleven, Traffic, Boogie Nights) traveled with his family to Kampala, Uganda to attend a charity screening of his award-winning film Hotel Rwanda. The screening was held to raise money for a group of children called the “night commuters”. They are called “night commuters” because every night they must flee their homes seeking refuge in large camps in the cities to keep from being kidnapped, dragged into the bush and ultimately forced to fight against the Ugandan government for the rebel Lords Resistance Army.
The Cheadles and a group of filmmakers traveled 5 hours outside the capital to the town of Gulu to see for themselves how these kids and their families are forced to live. Filmmaker and longtime ABC News producer Rick Wilkinson documented what they found in a 24-minute short called Journey Into Sunset. The documentary examines the lives and experiences of several of these boys and girls. Some of them have been able to avoid being kidnapped. Others who weren’t so lucky. They lived or died at the will and whim of their captors. They were forced to fight. And some committed horrible atrocities.
“Journey Into Sunset” will premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in NYC on April 26, where both Mr. Wilkinson and producer John Prendergast will be present for a Q&A. The film will also be screening at the Boston Film Festival, and the Atlanta Film Festival in June. Rick Wilkinson is a 4-time Emmy Award winner who has traveled the world, covering many of the pivotal news events as a producer for ABC television’s Nightline.
Info: Boing Boing
Indie Rock group and Nigerian frontman begin tour
Having won the Short List with his band TV on the Radio in 2004, Nigerian renaissance man Tunde Adebimpe is about to have another great year. His 2004 album, Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes, earned his band praise from artists as diverse as Morrissey, Mos Def and Trent Reznor. But this was not Adebimpe’s first time in the spotlight. His first brush with fame came with his lead role in the 2001 romantic comedy Jump Tomorrow. Jump Tomorrow starred Adebimpe as George, a young Nigerian man on the verge of being in an arranged marriage who suddenly questions his situation after an encounter with a stunning Latin woman, who is also about to be married. The film won several awards and was a critics’ favorite. Following Jump Tomorrow, the NYU film school graduate landed himself a stint at MTV (Celebrity Deathmatch) and got directorial accolades for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ debut video “Pin”TV”. His friendship with roommate Dave Sitek, who was also producing the Yeah Yeah Yeahs at the time, led to the formation of TV on the Radio. In 2001 they released their debut cd titled Young Liars on the Touch and Go label. But it was 2004’s Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes that catapulted the trio (with band mate Kyp Malone as an addition) to stardom.
Since their debut, Adebimpe and TV on the Radio have left indie label Touch and Go for the majors at Interscope (also home of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs). Their new cd, tentatively titled Return to Cookie Mountain, is “a collection of hypnotic, shape-shifting tunes” that has already earned raves from David Bowie whom they have also been collaborating with. You can see the Nigerian Brooklynite on tour in the US as he promotes the new TV on the Radio album due out this summer.
Check out Tunde Adebimpe with TV on the Radio in the video for their song “Staring at the Sun” from their album Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes.