Africa > Art / Culture

Art / Culture in Africa

  • How Tanzania Helped Soften Unesco Resolution in Favour of Israel

    ISRAEL, 2016/11/02 Tanzania was instrumental in helping the Israel to thwart the harsher Unesco resolution that sought to deny the Jewish national any historical ties to the Temple Mount. Unesco's World Heritage Committee (WHC) last Wednesday approved a resolution on the status of conservation of the Old City of Jerusalem, inclunding the Temple Mount. The resolution was part of Unesco's sustained efforts to try to reaffirm Jerusalem's placement on the inventory of endangered World Heritage Sites. But the sensitivities brought about by the contested status of East Jerusalem have always complicated matters.
  • 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.
  • Kenya's first Mr and Miss Albinism crowned

    KENYA, 2016/10/30 Young persons living with albinism in Kenya on Friday participated in the initial Mister and Miss Albinism in the capital Nairobi to demystify their condition. The Kenyan Albinism Society organised the pageant to celebrate ten years of its existence and to show the beauty in persons living with albinism inclunding to do away with stigma associated with the medical condition.
  • 'South Africa the art of a nation' exhibition in London

    SOUTH AFRICA, 2016/10/30  
  • Tunisia: 27th Carthage film festival

    TUNISIA, 2016/10/30 It is the opening ceremony of the 27 th Carthage Film Festival (JCC) in Tunisia, a warm festive that always speaks of its time. The festival which as well marks its 15th anniversary is reserved for Arab filmmakers and Africans, a period of showcasing major culture in Tunisia. “It is the twenty-seventh edition, but we are as well celebrating the 15th anniversary. And the number is as well a return of memory. A return on how the Carthage Film Festival have seen better and worse days in term of cinematography in the Arab African region’” said Brahim letaief, Director Carthage film festival.
  • Wayde van Niekerk of South Africa zips to world record in 400m

    SOUTH AFRICA, 2016/08/18 Bursting out of the blocks in Lane 8, Wayde van Niekerk of South Africa did not see an extra runner during all Olympic 400-meter final. He didn’t need to. His only real competition was the clock.
  • 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.
  • Morocco and China are urged to strengthen their centuries-old cultural relations,

    CHINA, 2016/05/12 As two major civilizations, Morocco and China are urged to strengthen their centuries-old cultural relations, as a growing number of Moroccans are seeking to learn Mandarin and discover the great Chinese civilization, said Liu Hui, Chinese Director of Confucius Institute at Mohammed V University in Rabat. Today, all teaching staff at the Confucius Institute is Chinese, but it will any minute at this time be reinforced next delivering Mandarin diplomas to Moroccan students and enabling them to teach the language in Morocco, Hui added. The Chinese academic said that Moroccan students show a particular aptitude for learning foreign languages, noting that learning Mandarin is not easy given that this language is based on symbols, not letters.
  • 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.