Inside: Archives
Tail of a Blue Bird by Nii Ayikwei Parkes
The success of Alexander McCall Smith’s lady detective series suggests that there is an African market for detective fiction, and Tail of the Blue Bird sets the genre in the west of the continent. The Ghanaian novel follows Kayo (a forensic pathologist) from Accra into the village of Sonokrom to undertake an investigation. The novel’s [...]
Tags: Black Writing & Poetry, featureInside: Archives
What’s in a name? Jazz musician Soweto Kinch talks to Catch a Vibe
Soweto – a Johannesburg area that made the world pay attention to the issues South Africans were facing at the time. In 1976 Soweto witnessed its people stand up against Apartheid and change the way the government was dictating things. Two years on and the name of such a revolutionary town was given to jazz [...]
Tags: feature, MusicInside: Archives
Romuald Hazoume: “The issue for African art is not whether people say it’s good or bad, it’s when they don’t say anything”
Interview with Romuald Hazoume, one of Africa’s most internationally acclaimed artists
Tags: Arts & Fashion, featureInside: Archives
A Good Day to be Black and Sexy: The uncensored interview
The bfm Film Festival opens this Friday (6 Nov – 10 Nov). And while all eyes are on Chris Rock’s Good Hair, there is another film that got the Editor of Catch a Vibe enthralled: A Good Day to be Black and Sexy. And independent black film for grown- ups, that picture black love in ways we’ve seldom seen.
Tags: Black Films, featureInside: Archives
The real spirit of reggae?
This exploration of reggae was obviously made by someone who is passionate about the music. French director Jérôme Laperrousaz has had a 25-year love affair with Jamaica, and he wants to share this with the world. The approach he has taken with this documentary, however, means he is unlikely to produce many converts. The film [...]
Tags: Black Films, featureInside: Archives
Interview with Pauline Malefane
Pauline Malefane is a woman of many talents. The award-winning actress, screenwriter, opera singer and musical director was last seen in London in 2007/8 as part of Isango Portobello Theatre Company’s The Magic Flute. She is back in London with a lead role in The Mysteries.
Tags: Black Theatre, featureInside: Archives
Review of the 2009 London African Music Festival (12 & 13 Sep 2009)
As the gloomy autumn sets in, the London African Music Festival at the Southbank Centre will bring some reminiscing of summer with an array of sounds: from the sensuous sax by cutie YolanDa Brown, to the exquisite harmonies of gospel group The Yoruba Women’s Choir, and the chilled vibe of nu soul group Hil St Soul led by Zambian Hilary Mwelwa.
Tags: feature, MusicInside: Archives
‘I’m interested in the ways cloth, especially in African societies, is representative of personality and identity’
Nnenna Okore is an internationally acclaimed artist from Nnsukka, Southern Nigeria and studied there with El Anatsui – (renowned for his beautiful large-scale drapes from bottle-tops). She gained her masters in Ohio and now lectures in Chicago and distilled her art in USA through the deep impression the wasteful society made on her. She sculpts [...]
Tags: Arts & Fashion, featureInside: Archives
Nneka: “I’m no longer at ease with the situation”
Fresh from winning a well-deserved MOBO Award for best African Artist, Nneka is performing at ULU on 4 November. To celebrate this well-deserved accolade, we dug into our Vault to bring up this interview, done back in November ’07. [Win tickets to Nneka's gig on Wed 4 Nov] Victim Of Truth is not an obvious [...]
Tags: feature, Music
