Sounding the Horn on Reconstruction
The role of art and literature in countries of the Horn of Africa was up for discussion among some distinguished Somali, Ethiopian and Sudanese writers who attended Kwani? Litfest 2012 in Nairobi. Kate Hampton was there and sent this report. The absence of moderator, Yusuf Hassan, was on the minds of many who attended ‘Conversations […]
Quiet No more
Paul Goldsmith traces the sonics of Islam in Kenya and questions if a shifting consciousness among the country’s marginalised Muslims is the result of an increasingly politicised faith or the opportunistic agendas of local and multinational forces? Islam is not a noisy religion. Acoustically, the five calls to prayer, the rhythmic drone of Quranic recitation, […]
Queenstown
By Sandile Dikeni The grass in Queenstown was pink in 1996. Or, at least, so it seemed to Antjie Krog, one bright winter morning after days of dark skies when a feeble footed sun tried, in vain – to pierce obstinate clouds that shrouded the small Eastern Cape town. Queenstown was dark for most of […]
A Brief History of Monuments
By Stacy Hardy Abbasid Caliph Abu Ja’far al-Mansur, the founder of the ancient city of Baghdad, conceived of his new seat of government as a vast, walled, circular fortification. Before it was erected, Caliph ordered his army of labourers to dig a trench along the intended city’s circular foundations. Oil was poured into the trench and set alight. Caliph watched the […]
Season’s Greetings
By Rayyane Tabet On the morning of 1 December 1960, thousands of employees working for the Trans-Arabian Pipeline Company received a greeting card inside the envelope that contained their pay cheque. On the front, big bold letters announced the coming holidays and wished them “Seasonʼs Greetings”. The message on the back read: “From another plane […]