The divine message of ‘Good News From Africa’
Abdullah Ibrahim and Johnny Dyani’s 1973 album was the realisation of a journey in music and spirituality, combining Islamic and Xhosa influences to create something unique.
Culture
South African history, through Rashid Lombard’s lens
The struggle photojournalist, activist and jazz photographer has given UWC custody of his archive, with plans to digitise it and start an accessible photography centre.
The spirit of ‘Tshona!’ endures
Pat Matshikiza and Kippie Moeketsi’s four-track project got to the heart of the 1970s’ defiance that produced it, appealing to listeners of popular music and jazz.
The sputnik moments that launched Thabiso Tsotetsi
The pioneering producer and sound engineer played a large part in altering the course of South African hip-hop with his contributions to both kwaito and motswako.
Somi takes on Miriam Makeba’s mantle
The musician’s new album displays an intimate awareness of the icon’s life and legacy, demonstrating a deft and delicate handling of not only Mama Africa’s music but her politics, too.
To Mama Africa with love
Grammy-nominated musician Somi launched her new album reimagining Miriam Makeba with a live performance that amplified the work made in honour of the late activist and musician.
Art transforms waste, space and people in Brixton
Waste Not Want Not, a new exhibition at Shade Artist Studio, tells the story of a street, a suburb and the powerful possibilities of space.
Wits Art Museum focuses on a year of women
Representivity, inclusivity and accessibility can’t be tick-box exercises if the world of art and museums has any hope of actual transformation and sustained relevance.
‘Moya’ weaves a narrative in movement and song
Artistic collaborators Gregory Maqoma and Simphiwe Dana joined forces once again for Moya, a spiritually themed performance at the Joburg Theatre.
A Friday of ‘bonds and burning’
Would that Good Friday were the catalyst for a coming together in Ukraine, as Father Yánaros implores in The Fratricides.
The courage and catharsis of Tracey Rose
The artist’s retrospective, Shooting Down Babylon, presents a wide-ranging body of work that demands both quiet contemplation and a macabre sense of humour.
Intifada 1987: The story of a rare Palestinian album
A rare recording featuring Palestinian artist Riad Awwad and poet Mahmoud Darwish has resurfaced, found amid a collection of 12 000 old cassette tapes in the West Bank.
Reabetswe Moeti’s justice will be televised
The filmmaker continues to craft stories that confront abuses of power in South Africa. She also advocates for better working conditions for women in the entertainment industry.
Book Review | CA Davids’ mission against forgetting
The writer’s second novel takes on memory, drawing together disparate threads across continents and epochs to construct a story with humanity at its heart.
The weight and want of Noviolet Bulawayo’s ‘Glory’
After a profoundly successful debut, Noviolet Bulawayo’s second novel – which began as non-fiction – leaves realism for allegory to confront the Zimbabwean present.
‘The Batman’ and vigilantism in pop culture
In the latest film, the dark knight’s revenge fantasies are exposed as unhinged, as his foes no longer only hide under bridges but also brazenly roam the corridors of power.
Ukraine, from pea to matchbox
In Text Messages this week, Mikhail Bulgakov proves prescient about Russia’s war in Ukraine in his posthumous 1966 novel The Master and Margarita.
The political is personal for Sam Fender
The British artist’s latest album reflects the self-awareness that he has developed in the past decade, as he refuses to succumb to despair on Seventeen Going Under.
Imarhan’s ‘Aboogi’ finally brings Tuareg blues home
The Algerian band’s latest album was recorded in Tamanrasset, a city of great significance for the Tuaregs that finally boasts its own professional recording studio.
‘ISoweto Book Café isondeza izincwadi kubantu’
Le ndawo eseZondi yasungulwa nguThami Mazibuko kanti ingumtapo wolwazi, igumbi lokufundela iphinde ibe yilapho umphakathi uthola khona ulwazi lokufunda nokubhala. Yakhelwe ukusiza zonke izigaba zomphakathi.
The reclusive Gayl Jones re-emerges
Reflecting on the hidden figure that altered the course of African American Literature, who has returned to the literary scene with her novel Palmares and two upcoming books.