African literary prizes are slowly becoming more relevant and richer, thanks to writers organising on the continent.
Arts and Culture
Arts and Culture Meet Ofentse Pitse, the first black South African women to own and conduct an all-black orchestra
27-year-old Ofentse Pitse is the first black South African woman to conduct and own an all-black orchestra. Her 40-piece symphony orchestra contributes to shedding light on African composers and propelling young black youth to excellence.
Arts and Culture Kipchoge and Muhammad crowned World Athletes of the Year
Kenyan marathon maestro Eliud Kipchoge and American track and field star Dalilah Muhammad have been named World Athletics’ male and female athletes of the year. Kipchoge clinched the award which he also won last year following an impressive season.
Arts and Culture Calls to use Nigerian languages at school are going unheard
Schools are still not using Nigerian languages to teach students.
Arts and Culture The Open Society Foundations pledges $15m towards recovery of looted African heritage
The Open Society Foundations founded by billionaire and philanthropist George Soros has pledged $15 million over four years to initiatives aimed at repatriating looted cultural objects to African countries.
Arts and Culture Burna Boy receives his first-ever Grammy nomination
Nigerian Afro-fusion star Burna Boy has received his first-ever Grammy nomination for his acclaimed album African Giant. Other Africans with a chance to win a Grammy include three-time Grammy winner Angelique Kidjo, and South African comedian Trevor Noah, nominated in the Best Comedy Album category.
Arts and Culture France returns El Hadj Omar Tall’s sword to Senegal
France has returned to Senegal for a period of five years a sword which belonged to 19th Century Islamic and anti-colonial leader Omar Saidou Tall. Senegal’s President Macky Sall said this restitution of the sword, a “symbol of the resistance of a great scholar” “opens a new era”.
Arts and Culture From Africa to Peckham: how we decolonise culture by rehumanising people
Art, outreach and fieldwork can help reframe Britain’s imperial past, by re-humanising the people subjected to anthropological ‘colonial science’.
Arts and Culture Skeletons and closets: How one university reburied the dead
When the University of Cape Town discovered skeletons in its archive that had been unethically obtained and used, they set about restoring justice to the bones and the community they came from.