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Art / Culture in West Africa

  • Mali: ICC Orders Ex-Islamic Radical to Pay Damages for Destruction of Shrines

    MALI, 2017/08/18 The International Criminal Court has ordered an Islamic extremist to pay $3.2 million in restitution for destroying centuries-old religious shrines in Mali. Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi was convicted by the court last year for overseeing the destruction of nine mausoleums and a mosque door with pickaxes and bulldozers in the ancient city of Timbuktu, at the same time as extremists briefly seized control of northern Mali in 2012.

  • European Museums Plan Summit On Return of Benin Bronzes to Nigeria

    BENIN, 2017/08/18 A bronze sculpture of a cockerel that adorned a Cambridge University dining room is part a huge haul of looted antiquities that may presently be returned to Nigeria and neighbouring Benin Republic any minute at this time. The British Museum will take part in a European summit to discuss the return of art seized from the Benin Kingdom, presently part of southern Nigeria, by a British punitive expedition in 1897 as "reparations" next it defied the British Empire by imposing customs duties.

  • Africa: Crafting an African Victory for the World

    BOTSWANA, 2017/07/12 On May 25, 1963, Africans gathered in Addis Ababa to create the Organisation of African Unity, the precursor to today’s African Union. It stood tall in the minds of Africans who decided to unite for a common cause. It demonstrated our ability to set aside differences in order to make the world a better place. Presently, on 1 July 2017, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus of Ethiopia will stand at the helm of the the World Health Organisation with the ambition to reform, transform and make world health and agile partner of economic transformation for the world.

  • New king for Nigeria's Benin kingdom

    BENIN, 2016/10/30 Thousands of people gathered to witness the coronation of the new king of the Benin people in Southern Nigeria. The coronation of Oba Ewuare II carries on a royal tradition that has endured from around the 13th century until the British invasion hundreds of years later. The ancient Benin Kingdom was famous for its vast wealth, sophisticated urban design and intricate bronzes. Its ruler, the Oba does not wield any official powers in Nigeria, but has a great transaction of influence.

  • Long isolated, Africa’s Jewish ‘islands’ bridged by photographer’s lens

    JAPAN, 2016/07/25 The synagogues of emerging Jewish communities in Africa are often modest affairs at the end of bumpy dirt roads, communities which feel a historical or spiritual connection to Judaism, but are struggling to practice fully in their isolated conclaves. Judaism has always had a presence in North Africa, and later, in South Africa. But among this vast continent, dozens of new Jewish communities are beginning to reach out to the wider Jewish world. Some, like Ghana, believe they are historical descendants of Jewish traders in the Sahara. Others, in Uganda and Kenya, have felt a spiritual pull to Judaism. Photographer Jono David, 50, has attempted to capture intimate moments of small, emerging Jewish communities across Africa in 30 different nations and territories. An exhibition of some of those photos, The Children of Abraham and Sarah, is presently featured at Beit HaTfutsot, the Museum of the Jewish People, through December. It is part of an installation that as well includes Nina Pereg’s two videos, filmed at the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron, showing preparations to flip the holy site from a mosque to a synagogue and vice versa, during the two days each year at the same time as the whole complex is open to either Jews or Muslims.

  • Ivory Coast recreates its history with arts exhibition

    ABIDJAN, 2016/05/27 Often called the “jewel of West Africa,” Ivory Coast has been a model of economic prosperity and political stability compared to its other African nations since its independence in 1960. Indigenous graphic art traditions are found in abundance in the country, inclunding wood sculpting, weaving, pottery and mask making. The country recently held an exhibition under the theme: ‘Where are we headed to?’ to showcase the historical evolvement in Ivory Coast since independence.

  • Marrakech Biennale – The convergence point of art in Africa

    CASABLANCA, 2016/03/20 The event, first held in 2005, has this year drawn artists from the Arab world, the Mediterranean and sub-Saharan Africa.

  • Confucius Institute widens Chinese culture study in Ghana

    CHINA, 2015/09/29 The Confucius institute has made great strides since its establishment at the University of Ghana, Legon, some two years ago, spreading Chinese language and culture to Ghanaians from all walks of life. Being the initial of its kind in Ghana, the Institute has been working hard to fulfill obligations set by its headquarter - mainly to teach Chinese language proficiency, train Chinese language instructors and provide language resources and conduct language and cultural exchange activities between China and other nations.

  • Nigeria: Filmmaker Builds Bridges at Sundance Festival With Winning Short Film

    NIGERIA, 2015/02/04 Sundance Institute premiered the winners of a Short Film Challenge launched last time- an international shorts program designed to spark world conversation highlighting human ingenuity and the imaginative solutions real people are creating to overcome challenges such as extreme hunger and poverty. One of the winners of the Sundance Institute's Short Film Challenge - an international shorts program designed to spark world conversation highlighting human ingenuity and the imaginative solutions real people are creating to overcome challenges such as extreme hunger and poverty - is A Will Of Iron, directed by Seyi Fabunmi and Mobolaji Adeolu from Nigeria. A authentic life story of a homeless blacksmith living under the Third Mainland Bridge (the longest bridge in Africa) in Lagos for 15 years. A home he presently shares with his wife and baby. He speaks of his struggles, hopes, and dreams.

  • International institutions have begun using the spelling “Cabo Verde,”

    CAPE VERDE, 2014/02/13
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