Vital Signs, the critically acclaimed pandemic album by Zimbabwean jazz innovator Vee Mukarati, masterfully negotiates the lockdown dilemma of being relevant to your time while staying true to your art. Mukarati swings, meditates and sings on mortality, precarity and alienation on an album that is, at once, deeply personal, richly Zimbabwean and unmistakably global. The Switzerland-based artist discusses navigating the challenges of lockdown creativity in this exclusive interview with This Is Africa.
Music
Arts, Culture and Sport Is’xaxa: How to do it for the culture — while trying to stay alive
How a collaborative music project spanning three countries over two continents was made in the depths of a global pandemic.
Arts, Culture and Sport Making music in northern Nigeria during a pandemic
As the cultural landscape rapidly changes in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, musicians and producers across northern Nigeria have creatively employed various strategies to continue making music. With little government support, musicians have had to creatively adapt and embrace new digital opportunities to survive.
Arts, Culture and Sport Hip hop and Pan Africanism: from Blitz the Ambassador to Beyoncé
The increased migration of Africans and the global growth of hip hop culture has seen a dynamic new generation of Pan Africanism emerge.
Arts, Culture and Sport Remembering Sibongile Khumalo, South Africa’s divine diva
She was a vocalist who sang in every style – from Carmen to UShaka – with equal mastery, popularising classical forms and epitomising ‘the new South Africa’.
Arts, Culture and Sport Jonas Gwangwa embodied South Africa’s struggle for a national culture
The revered trombonist, composer and cultural activist never wished to be ‘the state composer’ but remained political until the end, in service of the people.
Arts, Culture and Sport Protest music, state violence and power of people platforms
Burna Boy’s critical single “20 10 20” highlights the emancipatory triad of protest art, people power movements and social media. Young African protesters are using their own platforms to undermine the coordinated abuses of state violence and censorship.
Arts, Culture and Sport Connected states of Africa – Creatives look beyond national lockdowns
The Covid-19 pandemic interrupted dynamic Pan-African movements and efforts but artists are regrouping to pursue new opportunities enabled by the internet. Digitally and financially inclusive models are the next step to empower citizens and creatives, circumventing various existing restrictions.
Arts, Culture and Sport “African leaders are not thinking right” – Thomas Mapfumo
The 2020 African Crossroads headliner Thomas Mapfumo addressed African unity and decolonial sonics in a stellar musical performance largely drawn from his wide and high-octane collection.