Africalia

Brett Bailey Exhibit B

chantal — Wed, 09 May 2012 13:28:05 +0000

A mindgrabbing kick in the hut; a gutwrenching intellectual uppercut . First 15 minutes of waiting room in silent numbers; then half an hour of violent esthetics, a dozen tableaux vivants on colonial history.

Historic bookmarks from late nineteenth to early 20th century, mirrored with a couple contemporary interculturealities. From Leopold II in the Congo and other feats in our colonial history, over a war memorial in genocide terms on the Herero and Nama people from German South-West Africa’s (now Namibia), to contemporary “found objects”.

There’s no escaping the piercing eyes of the life statues. This more than anything makes Exhibit B an indictment against a worldview from our recent Western history. Saartjie Baartman stands mighty as a revolving ballerina in a glass cage. A mountain of rubber casts of severed hands provides a dragon of a metaphor for the greed of colonial gain. Two pigmies hunters amongst museum displays of antelope heads, maps and skeletons. Skulls clean-shaven by use of glass shards, a scandalous image rebutting the damning discourse on civilization of yore. The bedroom of a sergeant-major holds a chained slave for a local companion. She eyes the audience through a mirror, a look as penetrating as the clicks singing of four nama black heads under pictures of 3 decapitated chiefs.

If the historic references to some of the obscurest pages in our colonial history won’t grab you by the gut, then the contemporaries certainly will. The Nama choir is flanked by a contemporary Adam and Eve, 2 frightened young asylum seekers displayed as found objects, a metaphor for Europe’s inadequate migration policies. Across to the other end of this abandoned gothic church, sits Semira Adamu, deportee gone martyr, chained and gagged on a throne of an altar. This expo is a broken language experience with the past and present tense of our actions. How to dream up future prosperity viewing our past burdened present? Facing the dialogue is the only available deontological ally, the only refreshment possible, with the highest regard to the human rights race with the planet.

exhibitB on KFDA.be

Sammy Baloji

chantal — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 10:23:41 +0000

The photographer Sammy Baloji gains the price Spiegel 2012

Award ceremony of the ‘Spiegelprijs 2012‘

The yearly ‘Spiegelprijs’ – named after the photographer Patrick De Spiegelaere, who died at a very young age – awards outstanding and innovative initiatives that contribute to a realistic representation of Africa. What is our view of Africa? Is our image clouded by our colonial past? Due to fear or ignorance? How obstinate are stereotypes like the one of the African who is always smiling?

Creative Congo Creative Africa

chantal — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 12:46:49 +0000

CREATIVE CONGO CREATIVE AFRICA
MERCREDI 18 AVRIL 2012 – 9H > 13H

L’ATELIER « CREATIVE CONGO CREATIVE AFRICA » A POUR OBJECTIF D’INFORMER LES ACTEURS DE L’AUDIOVISUEL ET DE LA CULTURE SUR CES DIFFÉRENTS PROGRAMMES ET DE LES ORIENTER DANS LEURS DÉMARCHES ET PROJETS COOPÉRATION.

‘DÉVELOPPEMENT DURABLE’, ‘CYCLE DE PROJET’, ‘CULTURE FACTEUR DE DÉVELOPPEMENT’, UN NOUVEAU VOCABLE A FAIT IRRUPTION DANS LE QUOTIDIEN DES INSTITUTIONS DE COOPÉRATION CULTURELLE.
LA COMMISSION EUROPÉENNE, LE SECRÉTARIAT ACP, LES ACTEURS FÉDÉRAUX ET RÉGIONAUX DU ROYAUME DE BELGIQUE CONTINUENT À RÉPONDRE AUX DÉFIS LANCÉS PAR LES OBJECTIFS DU MILLÉNAIRE POUR LE DÉVELOPPEMENT PAR LEURS PROGRAMMES DE COFINANCEMENT DES SECTEURS DE L’AUDIOVISUEL ET DE LA CULTURE POUR DES PROJETS DE COOPÉRATION NORD-SUD & SUD-SUD.

Lieu :
Théâtre de Poche 1a Chemin du gymnase [Bois de la Cambre]
B-1000 Bruxelles – Belgique

Réservations : Comocongo : Mabiala Mbeka – mabiala.mbeka@skynet.be
Tel. +32 473 13 27 70

Site : www.wix.com/comocongo/consulting

Kupenga Kwa Hamlet

chantal — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 09:24:56 +0000

Shakespeare in Zimbabwe
We 11 apr 2012, 20:30

Shakespeare in Zimbabwe
In ‘Kupenga Kwa Hamlet’ (‘the Madness of Hamlet’) Denton Chikura and Tonderai Munyevu bring their own interpretation of one of Shakespeare’s most important works. In the pre-colonial Zimbabwe, where the hereafter and the present co-excist, live two young men. The one is Hamlet, a prince, who is told during his arrival at home that his father is killed. The other is Leartes who becomes the plaything of the new leader. Two actors, two stage-props and the merging of two cultures, is enough to deapen the character of two classic figures.
Spoken in English, without subtitles.

Credits:
• From and with: Denton Chikura en Tonderai Munyevu
• Director: Arne Pohlmeier
• Production: Two Gents Productions

More info can be found on our site.

Address :
Wereldculturencentrum Zuiderpershuis
Timmerwerfstraat 40 – 2000 Antwerpen
tel: 03/242.81.10 – fax: 03/248.06.30

An international arts centre
The Zuiderpershuis World Culture Centre is an arts centre and offers a permanent platform to artists from all over the world. We especially emphasize the cultural exchange between South-North-South and the artistic communication between different communities and cultures.
From September until June, our audience can expect a large, high quality, non-profit artistic programme. The music, dance, theatre, literature, expo and residential projects that’s on offer will range from topical and contemporary to traditional and everything in between.
The Zuiderpershuis site is a renovated industrial-archaeological monument dating from the nineteenth century. It was designed by Ernest Dieltiens in 1883 in the spirit of the Flemish renaissance. It was one of the eight hydraulic stations which provided energy to the harbour. The local hydraulic power station for the port has been transformed into an international (multi)cultural power centre for the public. It is nice to stay in its foyer.
The Zuiderpershuis: an international oasis where you and the world can feel at home… Enjoy it!

Shop

chantal — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 15:12:27 +0000

Product categories

Yande Codou

chantal — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 11:47:41 +0000

La cantatrice Yande Codou Sène était un des derniers mohicans de la poésie polyphonique sérère. « Yande Codou, la griotte de Senghor » porte un regard intime sur une Diva qui a traversé l’histoire du Sénégal au côté de l’un de ses plus grands mythes, le Président Poète Léopold Sédar Senghor. Une histoire douce et amère sur la grandeur, la gloire et le déclin.

Zwelidumile

chantal — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 11:32:20 +0000

In 1968, South African visual artist Dumile Feni went into exile, leaving behind his pregnant wife. Days before his planned homecoming in 1991, Feni died suddenly en tragically. Alongside his daughter, Marriam Diale, this documentary attempts to reclaim a man who was lost to his country by inviting those who knew him to paint a portrait of the man and his life on three continents. Through their accounts we find that Feni’s essence as a humanbeing will forever remain elusive, multiple and complex as his exceptional work. Zwelidumile explores the impact of exile on families and restores Feni to his rightful place in South African art.

Directed by Ramadan Suleman / Written & Produced by Bhekizizwe Peterson, Ramadan Suleman
Box with 2 DVD : DVD 1. Zwelidumile (English, French, Dutch) DVD.2 interviews “Please dont’ kill me I am just a poor musician” (a film by Dumile Feni) – Gallery – Photographs
Duration : 115 minutes

Bembeya Jazz

chantal — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 11:21:24 +0000

A portrait of the mythical band Bembeya Jazz, which contributed to the heyday of Sekou Touré’s cultural revolution in Guinea. Created in 1961 in the heart of the rainforest, Bembeya Jazz rapidly became modern Africa’s greatest orchestra. 50 years later, immerse yourself in the history of a legend that livers on!

Mavambu

chantal — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 10:39:56 +0000

Freddy Tsimba is an artist who roams the places where people live and die in Congo (DRC), collecting the scrap metal that is the raw material for his art. “I risk my neck to make my sculptures, and you can’t put a price on that. I’ve picked up ten thousand cartridges in difficult conditions, but how many are still left? Tonnes! And they bear the tragic history of my country.”

DoKu

chantal — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 10:12:03 +0000

Africalia Productions [DoKu]

Initiated by Mirko Popovitch

- “Sur les traces du Bembeya Jazz” by Abdoulaye Diallo (Burkina, 52’, 2007), a Semfilms co-production

- Yandé Codou, la griotte de Senghor by Angèle Diabang Brener (Senegal 52’, 2008), a Karoninka co-production

- Zwelidumile by Ramadan Suleman (South Africa, 60’, 2008), a Native At large Ltd co-production

- Mavambuby Rosine Mbakam and Mirko Popovitch (Cameroon-Belgium, 26’, 2011), a Kabola films (RDC) co-production

Africalia Productions [DoKu] is a collection of documentaries each of which offers an African filmmaker’s view on the artists and creative, aesthetic and innovative trends that are making waves in Africa today and fostering positive identities. These documentaries serve as reference points for the younger generations and constitute a major challenge which plays a crucial and highly meaningful role at the heart of the global village.