Authority Stealing in Kenya
In pursuit of some scriptwriter talent, Billy Kahora discovers that academic mantras, conservative world views and hand-me down observations stunt a rendering of the true grit that must be lived to be imagined in a Nairobi noir. The cinema like the detective story, makes it possible to experience without danger all the excitement, passion and […]
Under the Caine Bridge
by Bwesigye bwa Mwesigire 2000 There are two rivers of Literature, so-called mainstream Literature (Euro-American), and the Other Literature (including African Literature), named after their histories. They come from Europe and America and the rest of the world, from two different histories. They come from swathes and swathes of land in countries with different names, […]
The Shifting Fortunes of a Performing Poet
Post-apartheid poetry and its makers have witnessed the commodification of the art in more ways than one. Now a veteran of the South African performance poetry scene, Vonani Bila notices his greying chin hairs, his fading allure and the fact that nothing exists outside the realm of exchange. He calls on the new generation of […]
Black Man in the White Suit
A Letter from Cape Town by Kiluanji Kia Henda. In 2008, the South African artist Ed Young invited me to take part in a three-month residence programme in Cape Town funded by two Swiss cultural institutions. I had been to South Africa twice – first to Johannesburg, where I had lived from1996 to 1998, during […]
The Institute
Cultural institutes are considered effective instruments in foreign policy for any nation-state that can afford them. Moses März exposes the workings behind the walls of a branch of Germany’s Goethe-Institut and the pitfalls involved in the business of exporting national culture. At about 7.30am the director is already in her office. Soon, a queue of […]