Germany is set to return Namibia’s Stone Cross of Cape Cross, a key cultural artefact that was looted from the country during colonialism. German Minister of State for Media and Culture, Monica Gruetters, said that this was a “clear signal that we are committed to reappraising the colonial past”
Religious sensitivity has always been a difficult issue to navigate, even in the contemporary world. When it comes to the depiction of God, the whitewashing of the Almighty is not only historically false in the case of Jesus but creates an implicit cultural and historical bias in favour of one race.
Locks of hair belonging to the widely revered Ethiopian emperor Tewodros II will be repatriated after a request from Addis Ababa, the National Army Museum in the United Kingdom has announced.
Complicated beauty rituals are no longer a purely feminine preoccupation. The current male beauty standard demands a level of effort and curation that men have not been exposed to in the past. The pressure to attain this image ideal is even higher with social perceptions and stereotypes.
The youth of Africa today are positioned in an intermingling of cultural identities and there is a need to find a contemporary style that merges those identities. Black dandyism has helped curate an aesthetic that is well groomed, refined yet inclusive of African sensibilities. Most of all, it has ushered in the age of African gender fluid fashion.
Through the evolution of a Victorian-style dress culture, the Herero women of Namibia have held on to a piece of 19th century history to showcase pride in their identity and as a symbol of their troubled history.
At the root of the skin bleaching phenomenon is a psychological complex.
Kenyan actress Lupita Nyong’o has called out Grazia magazine for retouching her hair on the cover of their November edition. In a post she wrote: “I embrace my natural heritage and despite having grown up thinking light skin and straight, silky hair were the standards of beauty, I now know that my dark skin and kinky, coily hair are beautiful too.”
Molemo Kgomo launched Ntombenhle Dolls in 2005 when she recognized the need for a doll that could capture her culture and bring it to life for her daughter and generations to come. The dolls celebrate the heritage of various South African cultural groups as they are dressed in apparel representing the following 8 cultural groups: Zulu, Sotho, Pedi, Swazi, Ndebele, Venda, Tsonga and Xhosa.
For some in Cameroon, you are either Anglophone or Francophone, either a victim or a benefactor of linguistic privilege. However, for Monique Kwachou and other ‘citizens of the 11th region’ who straddle the linguistic divide, the last several months have been a period of considering the complex colonial legacy of their identity.
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