Inside: Archives
An Afropolitan Shopping Experience
Launched as a tribute to African Women’s Decade 2010 – 2020, the MsAfropolitan boutique celebrates the successes of African women in the diaspora, showcasing must-have fashion, jewellery, art and interior design collections all made by cosmopolitan African women. Each of the designers featured in the MsAfropolitan boutique has been chosen because they offer a unique [...]
Tags: Fashion, featureInside: Archives
Interview with Nigerian author Chika Unigwe
Would you wander around the red light district of Antwerp in a miniskirt and boots in the name of research? I thought not. I doubt I’d be brave enough to but that’s exactly what Chika Unigwe the Nigeria-born author of On Black Sisters’ Street did. We caught up with her to quiz her on her [...]
Tags: Black Writing & Poetry, featureInside: Archives
Theatre Review: blue/orange
Having first been produced at the National Theatre ten years ago, Tiata Fahodzi’s all female revival of blue/orange remains strikingly relevant. The characters, settings and themes of the play haven’t aged with time and the dramatic re-casting has simply lead to a fresh take on a literary classic. Juliet (Antoine) has been diagnosed with borderline [...]
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Such Great Heights: an interview with fashion designer Bunmi Koko
On 17 September 2010, Catch a Vibe attended Bunmi Koko’s Vauxhall Fashion Scout presentation as part of the off schedule London Fashion Week. This fine reverie of a show told the tale of an accomplished young woman with a seemingly super natural ability to conquer the attention of whatever room she would occupy. A mish-mash [...]
Tags: Fashion, featureInside: Archives
Fall Movie Preview
As the nights draw in and summer becomes a distant memory, a trip to the cinema with a big bucket of popcorn is the perfect medicine. Here’s your guide to what’s on offer this autumn. Takers Gritty heist movie with Idris Elba leading a group of high-class bank robbers, including Chris Brown. Their life of [...]
Tags: Black Films, featureInside: Archives
The Alvin Ailey Dance Company: America’s ‘Cultural Ambassador to the World’
“We have no more successful dance company today than the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre.” The New York Observer Recently celebrating its 50th anniversary, and here presenting a world premiere, America’s ‘Cultural Ambassador to the World’, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre returns to the UK for an eight-city national tour this autumn. The 31 [...]
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Black Books Review: Hair Power, Skin Revolution
Is Black beautiful? When faced with messages coming from the media and beauty industry that tell us that being black is not really beautiful unless it is packaged in the lightest shade of brown and accompanied by hair that lifts with the slightest puff of wind, it’s no surprise then that black and mixed-raced women [...]
Tags: Black Writing & Poetry, featureInside: City Guides
At the Heart of the Community: Brixton Village
In the heart of Brixton, partially concealed amidst the thriving commerce beneath the railway bridge, an oversized blue door announces the entrance to Brixton Village. Also known as Granville Arcade, Brixton Village is a sprawling indoor market that until late last year was slowly but certainly limping towards obsolescence. The property company managing the market [...]
Tags: Black Community, featureInside: Archives
Interview with actor Kobna Holdbrook-Smith
Fresh from rehearsing for the Young Vic’s forthcoming production of Pulitzer-prize winning playwright August Wilson ‘Joe Turner’s Come and Gone’, actor Kobna Holdbrook-Smith talks to Catch a Vibe about his career so far, staying versatile, why he’s such a fan of Wilson’s work and the prospect of working across the Atlantic. Catch a Vibe: How [...]
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Black Movies Review: Football Fables
In the last ten years African players have come to prominence in international football. The continent has always produced good players, but today Michael Essien, Sulli Muntari, Didier Drogba, Emmanuel Adebayor and others are household names. But the journey from their countries to the Premiership benches is not a simple one. Football Fables, the hour [...]
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An artist with a difference: Lizzie Emeh
Lizzie Emeh is a remarkable artist in more ways than one. Born with a learning disability, she was never expected to walk or talk. 32 years later, supported by arts organisation Heart and Soul, she is promoting her critically acclaimed first album. Lizzie shares her incredible journey with us. Can you describe in a few [...]
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Buppies: the complete web series
Catch up on this pioneering webseries produced by Tatyana Ali, little Ashley from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Ali also stars in the series, which centers on Quinci, the socialite daughter of a Hollywood celebrity. After losing her father and being dumped by her fiance, Quinci realizes that her inseparable friends are her only real [...]
Tags: Black Films, Black TV Series & Drama, featureInside: Archives
Yaaba Funk album review: Afrobeast
Afrobeast Yaaba Funk (Yaabaphone) Released 10.05.10 Highlife music originated in Ghana in the 1800s and enjoyed a golden age during the 1950s and 1960s. The defiant orchestra of talking drums, xylophones and calabash shakers layered with lutes, fiddles, penny whistles and all manner of small portable instruments provided the perfect soundtrack for a continent – [...]
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Yaaba Funk: Taking High Life into the 21st Century
“I say YAABA, you say-” “FUNK!” The resounding response reverberated off the walls, shouted by a charged crowd who hadreduced Brixton’s spacious The Rest is Noise wine bar to a standing-room-only venue. The spirited call out started with Richmond Kessie, percussionist and lead vocalist for the celebrated high life/afrobeat/funk band, Yaaba Funk. The band, renowned [...]
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“I put my music out myself” – Jesse Boykins III
Jesse Boykins III (JBIII) is an emerging force in contemporary soul music; he has trained under Bilal, performed alongside the likes of Chrisette Michele and Eric Roberson and is due to release his second LP Love Apparatus later this year. Jesse was in London recently headlining the Writer’s Block 2nd Anniversary show and Catch a [...]
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