_CULTURE SLIDER

Ethiopian-American writer Meron Hadero has been awarded the 2021 AKO Caine Prize for African Writing for her short story ‘The Street Sweep’, published in ZYZZYVA (2018). This is the first time an Ethiopian writer has won the Prize since its inception in 2000. The Chair of the AKO Caine Prize Judging Panel, Goretti Kyomuhendo, Founder and Director of the African …

Spurred by the obvious lack of quality children’s books for kids of African descent growing up in the diapora, authors have been striving for several years to fill the yawning gap. Berlin-based Nigerian journalist and writer Lolade Adewuyi has now made a very rich addition to the growing library for African children. His The Lost Little Masquerade is a story …

Lovers of African literature congregated in Berlin for the African Book Festival Berlin on 16 – 17 July 2021 to celebrate writing from the Continent and its Diaspora. The festival, first held in 2017, continues to go from strength to strength. Although this year’s event had a Lusophonic slant to it, celebrating, in the main, Literature and Music from Portugal, …

Nigeria’s Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, on Saturday said the Federal Government will be responsible for taking possession of the 1,130 Benin bronzes to be returned by Germany. “The Federal Government is aware of the widely reported controversy on who will take possession of the Benin bronzes when they are returned from Germany,” Mr Mohammed said on Saturday …

The 18th Africa Film Festival Cologne holds from 16 – 26 September 2021. A main focus of the biannual festival is the effects of digitalisation on everyday life, social interaction, economy, ecology and politics in African countries. —– The effects of digitalisation on everyday life, social interaction, economy, ecology and politics are now central themes in films from African countries. …

Nigerian singing legend Olanrewaju Abdul-Ganiu Fasasi, more famously known as Sound Sultan, has died. The rapper, singer, songwriter, actor, comedian and recording artist, who is regarded as one of the pacesetters of modern hip hop music in Nigeria, died on Sunday, 11 July in the US of throat cancer. He was 44. Tributes continue to be paid to the artist. …

Nigeria has officially proposed to the German government to return all the Benin artefacts in Germany, which has agreed to repatriate hundreds of antiquities which were looted from the Benin Kingdom in 1897, within a period of one year. Nigeria’s Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, made the proposal during a round-table with German museum directors and government …

A powerful Nigerian delegation visited Berlin on Wednesday, 7 July 2021, to pursue the return of the famous Benin bronze heads and other cultural artefacts that were pillaged from that country in the 19th Century during a punitive expedition of the British Army. Led by Information and Culture Minister, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the delegation included Mr Godwin Obaseki, the Governor …

The international committee of the All African Music Awards (Afrima) has announced the 2021 event calendar at the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, marking the opening of Afrima 2021. This year’s calendar features a lineup of undertakings and events that would take place between 20 June and 21 November 2021. Speaking on behalf of the African Union, the …

The annual African Book Festival Berlin holds on 16-17 July. The festival, which was held for the first time in 2018, brings together the best-known authors and artists from Africa and its diaspora for lectures, discussions, readings, interviews, concerts, theatre and spoken word performances. Each year, the festival goes far beyond the mere presentation of new books and authors, as …

The Zimbabwean author and filmmaker Tsitsi Dangarembga has been named the recipient of the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade 2021. The Prize honours personalities who have contributed to the realisation of the idea of peace in literature, science or art. “In her films, she addresses problems that arise from the clash between tradition and modernity,” explained Karin Schmidt-Friderichs, …

IPA invites project proposals to nurture Africa’s reading culture ‘beyond the classroom’ in 2022-2023 USD 200,000 for the best ideas to get more Africans reaching for a book GENEVA, Switzerland, 1 June, 2021 -/African Media Agency(AMA)/- The International Publishers Association (IPA) will today begin accepting proposals for projects to develop reading culture beyond the classroom in Africa, with grants from …

Clothes are important to us humans in our daily activities as they do far more than covering our nakedness. Clothing and dress as a social activity and obligation show our sex, profession, social status/class, and are symbols of communication, have aesthetic value, indicates one’s nobility, shows one’s ethnic or other identities, protect from the environment etc. We give impressions and …

Creative fashion designers, fashion bloggers, jewellery makers, make-up artists, models, fashion brands and influencers from across the globe will gather virtually at the ‘Fashion Major Event’ on 29 May. The creatives will showcase their designs and discuss the post-Covid world for fashion at the online exhibition-fair-conference themed Your Fashion Sense. The pandemic has changed the way we live, work and …

The German-Nigerian gospel singer Joyce Ejiogu-Schmeer is sending a powerful message to sceptics with her new book. Trapped in the Dark is the first of a planned series of autobiographical accounts of the life of the song writer, recording and performing artist. Trapped in the Dark dwells on her childhood and adolescence in her native Nigeria, covering her time in …

A new book, written by the German-Nigerian gospel singer and which dwells on how to overcome difficult phases of life, will be launched on 16 May. Here’s what you should know about the book —– Trapped in the Dark is a real life story book written by the German-Nigerian gospel song writer, recording and performing artist, Joyce Ejiogu-Schmeer. She has …

The artefacts are mostly from the British looting of the ancient Kingdom of Benin in the 19th century. Now German museums have now agreed to return the art treasures to Nigeria following years of demands for restitution —- German museums are to return the art treasures of the Benin bronzes considered as looted property to Nigeria next year. This was …

Nigerian Afrobeats superstar David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido, has hit 20 million followers on Instagram. The multiple-award wining musician is now the most followed African artiste on the Facebook-owned photo and video sharing social networking service. As of January 2021, the most followed person on Instagram is Portuguese professional footballer Cristiano Ronaldo with over 275 million followers. Davido also recently …

Jules Shungu Wembadio Pene Kikumba (14 June 1949 – 24 April 2016) It was a terrible shock for the African and international music world when news about Papa Wemba’s passing away circulated around the globe on 24 April 2016. More so as it happened when he was in full swing during a performance at a festival in Abidjan on the night …

Nigerian feature film ‘Eyimofe’ has been selected for the 50th anniversary edition of the New Directors/New Films Festival in New York. The movie follows factory worker technician Mofe, played by Jude Akuwudike, and Hairdresser Rosa, played by Temi Ami-Williams, on their quest for what they hope will be a better life on foreign shores. However, things take a sudden shift …