Culture

11 May 2018: Nakhane at the screening of ‘Ash is Purest White’ at the Cannes Film Festival. (Photograph by Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images for Kering)

Nakhane’s ‘New Brighton’ targets colonial relics

Pop music is the strongest vehicle for change, says the singer-songwriter from Port Elizabeth, who tells stories within stories disguised as metaphors.

By: Ernest Motsa
27 Feb 2019

Culture

27 February 2019: (From left) A man moves past Maurice Van Essche’s ‘Native Woman’ and Irma Stern’s ‘Bahutu Musicians’ and ‘Malay Bridesmaids’, on show at the All Your Faves are Problematic’ exhibition. (Photography by James Oatway)

An invitation to re-view at the Joburg Art Gallery

Others could benefit from the critical line JAG curator Khwezi Gule has taken in exhibiting artwork created in the colonial and apartheid eras.

By: Percy Zvomuya
27 Feb 2019

Culture

Chimbetu: Music to mourn Zimbabwe by

Sungura superstar Simon Chimbetu’s ‘Survival’ came out in 1997 when, to borrow and misuse the words of Yeats, “all changed, changed utterly, and a terrible ugliness was born”.

By: Percy Zvomuya
26 Feb 2019

Culture

1 February 2019: (Left to right) Adam Lennox, Tevin Musara, Mphumzi Nontshinga and Simphiwe Shabalala star in 'Sainthood', a theatrical piece about the not-so-secret lives of South Africa’s private-school boys. (Photograph by Barry Christianson)

Sainthood: Abused boys and how we got there

Tiisetso Mashifane wa Noni’s play goes behind the veil of secrecy at all-boys schools to interrogate the way masculinity is cultivated.

By: Faye Kabali-Kagwa
25 Feb 2019

Culture

24 November 2004: Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong performing at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, California, during the band’s ‘American Idiot’ tour. (Photograph by Tim Mosenfelder/Corbis via Getty Images)

Political Songs | American Idiot – Green Day

George W Bush is a ‘war criminal’ says punk rocker Billie Joe Armstrong, but he’s still ‘scratching the surface’ when it comes to Donald Trump.

By: Charles Leonard
22 Feb 2019

Culture

28 July 1962: In a show of China-Africa solidarity, Mao Zedong (right) chats to Ghanaian President Kwame Nkrumah at a meeting in Hangchow, China. (Photograph by Bettman/Contributor)

Text Messages | Paper tiger imperialism

Mao Zedong’s words from Bastille Day in 1956 may prove helpful in fending off imperialist oppression in Venezuela as the US attempts to pick up where Spain left off.

By: Darryl Accone
21 Feb 2019

Culture

MI Abaga, an elder of Nigerian rap, offers solutions to the issues of racism, self-hate and the competitive nature of rap on his new album. (Photograph by Anny Robert courtesy of Africori/Chocolate City)

MI Abaga: a study in self worth

The Nigerian rapper’s fifth album reflects not only on the state of hip-hop but also on the self.

By: Ernest Motsa
20 Feb 2019

Culture

7 February 2019: Busisiwe Lurayi takes the title role in ‘Nina Simone: Four Women’ at the Market Theatre.

Nina Simone returns: A review of ‘Four Women’

The singer-songwriter returns to Joburg in spirit for a production of ‘Nina Simone: Four Women’ at the Market Theatre, reworked for South African audiences.

By: Fezokuhle Mthonti
18 Feb 2019

Culture

6 April 2017: Sarah Jones speaks onstage at the 2017 DVF Awards at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City. (Photograph by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)

Political Songs | Your Revolution – Sarah Jones

Sarah Jones’s feminist takedown of misogynistic rap songs quoted other hip-hop artists’ lyrics and got banned. The irony was lost on the censors.

By: Charles Leonard
15 Feb 2019

Culture

5 November 2007: Harper Lee, Pulitzer Prize-winner and author of ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’, smiles before receiving the 2007 Presidential Medal of Freedom. (Photograph by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Text Messages | Writing for real readers

JD Salinger was a prolific writer though much of his work remains unpublished. But as with Harper Lee, the literary world has not been content to accept the status quo.

By: Darryl Accone
14 Feb 2019

Culture

30 January 2019: Bass player Patrick Mokoka, who lives in Eldorado Park, Johannesburg, was an integral part of historical South African band the Malopoets.

The Malopoets: ‘My way or the highway’ in Europe

When the Malopoets were invited to play in Europe, the band thought they were leaving behind the rules and restrictions of arbitrary authorities. The reality proved different.

By: Gwen Ansell
13 Feb 2019

Culture

Late 1970s: The Malopoets on stage, from left, Patrick Mokoka, Patrick Sefolosha and Samson Tshabalala. (Illustration by Judy Seidman)

The Malopoets: Mining the seam of people’s music

It’s almost 40 years since the Malopoets’ debut album disappeared, as apartheid and the music industry tried to erase their radicalism. Now we may finally have a chance to hear it.

By: Gwen Ansell
11 Feb 2019

Culture

18 April 1980: French singer Serge Gainsbourg clutches a pack of Gitanes and a lit cigarette of the same make during a portrait-taking session in Paris. (Photograph by Ulf Andersen/Getty Images)

Political Songs | Serge’s ‘scandalous’ battle hymn

Serge Gainsbourg subverted the French national anthem with reggae rhythms on ‘Aux Armes Et Cætera’, stirring up the nation and making a mint in the process.

By: Charles Leonard
8 Feb 2019

Culture

Gqom and the poetic: Talking to Sho Madjozi

The poet who became a gqom artist reveals her many names, what it is like to inhabit her musical persona and how she feels about South Africa’s poetry scene.

By: Koleka Putuma
8 Feb 2019

Culture

16 October 2012: Facilities at the Manus Island Regional Processing Facility in Papua New Guinea, used to detain refugees attempting to reach Australia by boat. (Photograph by the Australian Department of Immigration and Citizenship via Getty Images)

Text Messages | ‘A victory for humanity’

In a time when refugees are largely unwanted and unwelcome, asylum seeker Behrouz Boochani winning Australia’s top literary prize is an exquisite piece of social justice.

By: Darryl Accone
7 Feb 2019

Culture

Hip-hop and mental health

The new generation of hip-hop artists globally are opening up in their lyrics about their depression, addictions and suicidal thoughts.

By: Ernest Motsa
6 Feb 2019

Culture

Mabogo Percy More's Looking Through Philosophy in Black: Memoirs

Jazz in the townships

An extract from Mabogo More’s new memoir, which reflects on the life of the mind of a black philosopher during and after apartheid.

By: Mabogo Percy More
5 Feb 2019

Culture

30 January 2019: Lesego Semenya, also known as Les Da Chef, says “You don’t create memories in a restaurant.”

Chef democratises food by going back to basics

Lesego Semenya strips his recipes of artisanal phrases and snobbery to bring food back to the people.

By: Tseliso Monaheng
4 Feb 2019

Culture

25 May 2018: American musician Kamasi Washington on stage during a concert at the Astra in Berlin, Germany. (Photograph by Frank Hoensch/Redferns)

Political Songs | Punching into the zeitgeist

Kamasi Washington’s jazz is a salve for the political animal’s soul.

By: Charles Leonard
1 Feb 2019

Culture

25 May 1919: Vladimir Lenin addresses Red Army troops in Moscow's Red Square. (Photograph by Slava Katamidze Collection/Getty Images)

Text Messages | What would Lenin do?

Lenin’s views on banks and imperialism could have inspired some out-of-the-box thinking at two recent colloquiums to ‘form the basis of economic policy proposals’ for the future.

By: Darryl Accone
31 Jan 2019

Culture