Book Launch: A Renegade Called Simphiwe by Prof. Pumla Dineo Gqola, Sept. 13 2013 @ BIEA

by with No Comment books

Date: Friday September 13, 2013
Venue: British Institute in Eastern Africa, Laikipia Road, Kileleshwa
Time: 10.30 am
Entry: Free

For more information and to RSVP please contact seminars@biea.ac.uk or Sinoxolo Neo Musangi at neo.musangi@biea.ac.uk

There is an idealised model of (Black) femininity in post-apartheid South Africa.
On the surface, she embodies the transformational promise of a new South Africa: a radical departure from apartheid stereotypes, she is an articulate, independent, ambitious woman with increasing control over her public and financial life. However, closer analysis of this model femininity, “the new South African woman”, reveals much about the workings of white supremacist heteropatriachal capitalist control and policing of women in contemporary South Africa. Building on the illustration and analysis of this woman, the paper will make an argument for urgent need to amplify the place of renegades in post-apartheid South Africa, using a few examples, including those discussed in this book – A Renegade Called Simiphiwe.

About
Prof. Pumla Dineo Gqola is Associate Professor of African Literary and Gender studies at the University of the Witwatersrand. She is author of What is slavery to me? Postcolonial/Slave memory in post-apartheid South Africa (Wits Press, 2010) and A renegade called Simphiwe (MFBooks Joburg/Jacana, 2013).

Her research and teaching is on African feminisms and sexualities, slave memory in African and diasporic literatures and gendered Blackness. She is also editor of Regarding Winnie: feminism, race and nation in global representations of Winnie Madikizela Mandela (forthcoming with Cassava republic).

She holds MA degrees from the Universities of Cape Town (SA) and Warwick (UK) and a DPhil in Postcolonial Studies from the University of Munich, Germany.

British Council Kenya

Writing Workshop by Kwani Trust, Granta & British Council, Jun. 19-21 2013 @ British Council Kenya

by with No Comment booksWorkshop

British Council Kenya
BC Nairobi will host a literary week and fiction writers workshop

Dates: June 19, 2013 to June 23, 2013
Venue: BC Nairobi
For more info visit: Kwani?

Kwani Trust and British Council Kenya will collaborate with Granta UK to host a week of literary events in Nairobi between 19th-23rd June 2013. The joint literary programming week will include a launch of the latest Granta issue, ‘Best of Young British Novelists 4’; a three-day fiction-writing workshop; a lecture by the visiting writers from Granta, UK-based Somali Writer, Nadifa Mohamed and British Writer Adam Foulds, at Daystar University; and a 2013 elections evening symposium based on related work by Kwani Trust.

15 selected emerging Kenyan writers will join visiting writers from Uganda, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Malawi and Nigeria for the workshop and other literary events.

Regional British Council offices have partnered with literary organisations from South Africa, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Nigeria and Uganda to select a writer from each of the countries to attend the fiction workshop, along with a corresponding Literature Programmers’ workshop with participants from the countries above.

Blankets and Wine Dela

Blankets & Wine XLIV, Jun. 2 2013 @ Carnivore

by with 2 Comments concertseventsfashionfestivaloutdoor eventsparties

Blankets and Wine Dela
Pack your picnic baskets, wine, blankets and join the 44th edition of Blankets & Wine. On stage at this edition of East Africa’s premier music festival will be the ambient Prisca Ajwang, the jaunty Dela, the undiluted Alsarah from Sudan and the phenomenal 2013 double South African Music Awards winner, Zahara from South Africa.

Date: June 2, 2013
Venue: Carnivore Grounds
Time: from 1 – 9pm
Tickets: Gate Kshs 2000, Advance Kshs 1500
Children between 5 to 12 years pay 500 Ksh. and free for children under 5

Fresh out of Sauti Academy’s magnificent music factory, Prisca makes her big stage debut as part of Blankets & Wine’s promise to deliver fresh talent every month.

Our 2nd act, US based Sudanese singer Alsarah promises a unique treat with her ethno-urban flavour.

On her second Blankets & Wine appearance since her 2010 debut, Dela returns with new material from her soon to be completed new album.

2013 double South Africa Music Award (SAMA) winner Zahara winds up our amazing lineup bringing on board her acclaimed sound and a slew of chart topping singles and platinum selling albums. Zahara’s highly anticipated performance will be a sure delight for young and old music lovers alike.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0N5gwLnQeBw] This edition will host the first ever Blankets & Wine Craft Fair with over a dozen Kenyan artists and designers showcasing and selling their locally made crafts at the event.

Blankets & Wine will also be commemorating the June 5th world Environment Day under the theme ‘Think.Eat.Save’ as part of Blankets & Wine’s ongoing ‘Up-Cycling’ project geared towards Reducing, Recycling and Reusing waste and environmental pollution.

Searching for Sugar Man

European Film Festival: Searching for Sugar Man, May 13, 19 & 23 2013 @ Alliance

by with No Comment Documentariesscreenings

Searching for Sugar Man
Venue: Alliance Francaise
Tickets: Kshs 50

Screening Dates & Time
May 13, 2013 at 5.30 pm
May 19, 2013 at 5.30 pm
May 23, 2013 at 7.30 pm
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDw7OqVBT-w]

Searching for Sugar Man tells the incredible true story of Rodriguez, the greatest ’70s rock icon who never was. Discovered in a Detroit bar in the late ’60s by two celebrated producers struck by his soulful melodies and prophetic lyrics, they recorded an album which they believed would secure his reputation as the greatest recording artist of his generation. In fact, the album bombed and the singer disappeared into obscurity amid rumors of a gruesome on-stage suicide. But a bootleg recording found its way into apartheid South Africa and, over the next two decades, he became a phenomenon. The film follows the story of two South African fans who set out to find out what really happened to their hero. Their investigation leads them to a story more extraordinary than any of the existing myths about the artist known as Rodriguez. — (C) Sony Pictures Classics

Winner of the 2013 Oscar for Best Documentary & BAFTA Film Award for Best Documentary

Talent Campus Durban

Call for Application: 6th Talent Campus Durban –South Africa, by Apr.1 2013

by with One Comment call for entries

Talent Campus Durban
Applications are open for 2013… The deadline is the 1st April. To apply create a profile and complete the on-line application here…

About
Talent Campus Durban is a 5-day intensive programme that runs during the Durban International Film Festival.

Talent Campus Durban seeks to provide selected participants with an opportunity to meet with international industry professionals and experts in various aspects of the film making business through participations in a 5-day programme of master classes, workshops and industry networking events.

For more info visit their Facebook Page

Sauti za Busara

Out of Town: 10th Sauti za Busara Festival, Feb. 14-17 2013 @ Old Fort in Zanzibar

by with 2 Comments concertsDocumentariesfestivalmoviesscreenings

Sauti za Busara
Dates: February 14-17, 2013
Venue: Old Fort in Zanzibar
Festival Tickets*: EA Residents US $29, International Visitors US $109
Programme: Festival Timetable

*Festival admission prices vary with citizeship. Find full info here

The Festival
The festival will celebrate a lifetime achievement of bringing together artists and audiences from around Africa and beyond with enriching cultural experiences, promoting cultural diversity and social development for the past 10 years.
Sauti za Busara is an annual music event in East Africa and widely known as ‘the friendliest festival on the planet’. This edition will feature 200 musicians: more than twenty five groups from East Africa and beyond; acoustic and electric, upcoming and established – all performing live.

The Old Fort will host three nights of non-stop live music, with the main programme continuing Friday through Sunday with performances from 5pm until 1am.

The festival also features African Music Films: documentaries, music videos and live concert footage, all focused on promoting the richness and diversity of African music as screened in the amphitheatre of the Old Fort.

Headline Artist Cheikh Lo – Senegal
Headline artist for the 10th edition of Sauti za Busara is internationally acclaimed Baye Fall artist Cheikh Lo from Senegal. A superb singer and songwriter as well as a distinctive guitarist, percussionist and drummer he has personalized and distilled a variety of influences from West and Central Africa, to create a style that is uniquely his own.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5DEvuFWxxo] To celebrate ten years of Sauti za Busara, the festival showcases “Best of the Best”; audience favourites of past years including Tanzania’s DDC Mlimani Park Orchestra.

Zanzibar’s Culture Musical Club will also showcase at the 10th edition and they remain the most prolific and successful taarab orchestra from East Africa.

Other main acts include Khaira Arby (Mali), Comrade Fatso and Chabvondoka (Zimbabwe), Atongo Zimba (Ghana), N’Faly Kouyaté (Guinea), Nathalie Natiembe (Reunion), Nawal & Les Femmes de la Lune (Comoros/Mayotte), Wazimbo (Mozambique), The Moreira Project (Mozambique/South Africa), Owiny Sigoma Band (Kenya/UK), Mokoomba (Zimbabwe), Msafiri Zawose & Sauti Band (Tanzania), Mani Martin (Rwanda), Burkina Electric (Burkina Faso/USA), Lumumba Theatre Group (Tanzania), Sousou & Maher Cissoko (Senegal/Sweden), Super Maya Baikoko (Tanzania), Peter Msechu (Tanzania) and many more.

Networking Space
Sauti za Busara will continue to host the Movers & Shakers networking forum for local and visiting arts professionals. This networking space facilitates discussions, exchange and development of ideas on the creative industries in the East African region and beyond.

Fringe Events
It’s not just the festival that puts on a show; the local community is encouraged to take part by hosting Busara Xtra fringe events. These include traditional ngoma drum and dance, fashion shows, dhow races, open-mic sessions, after-parties and performances of Zanzibar’s oldest taarab orchestras as arranged by the local community.

For More Information: www.busaramusic.org

ADAD deluxe edition

Free Album Download: A Dollar a day – deluxe edition

by with No Comment free music

ADAD deluxe edition

on 12th of January 2012 A Dollar a daywas released, as a collaboration between Maisha yetu and Dexstraw Studio. It is a Pan-African collaborative music project that featured artists from Kenya,SA,Zim,Zambia,Bots,Naija and the States just to mention but a few.  Now 12007 free downloads down the line, here’s our appreciation for showing us so much support. To all our fans,critiques,supporters music,art lovers,sponsors we present to you an end-year musical bonus of two albums  for your christmas package. Download it, enjoy it and share it with other hip-hop fans worldwide!

This is a continued effort of collaboration between Kenya  and South Africa in empowering young people to use their talent. To encourage Sub-Saharan African youth to to view themselves as a resource and not a marginalized community.