Stories about Arts & Culture from June, 2022
Bulgarian culinary traditions as a way to restore cultural memory: Granny's forgotten dishes in the village of Antimovo
Local cuisine in a Bulgarian village near Danube river blends Vlahian and Bulgarian traditions, providing attractions for domestic tourists as well as those coming from neighboring Romania and Serbia.
Why gender dissent and queer sci-fi can challenge surveillance: An interview with artist Shu Lea Cheang
Cyberpunk artist Shu Lea Cheang explores the issues of surveillance through the prism of queer activism, sexual dissident history and data art installation to challenge the public's acceptance of control.
Bulgarian culinary traditions as a way to restore cultural memory: Grandma's unforgettable tarhana
Eastern influences are evident in the cuisine of South East Bulgaria, near the borders of Turkey and Greece. Temenuzhka Mateva promotes tarhana pastry based on recreated recipe of her grandma.
Bulgarian culinary traditions as a way to restore cultural memory: wild herbs
Three women from different corners of Bulgaria have something in common: they believe their vocation is to preserve the local heritage of culinary traditions as part of a collective identity.
Celebrating the Kenyan poet, Grandmaster Masese who preserved the Abagusii culture through poetry and song
Grandmaster Masese's eponymous album released in December 2021 on Digital, CD, and Vinyl, is the first LP album of Obokano music to be produced since 1972.
The Africa Film Festival gives cosmopolitan Trinidad & Tobago a chance to reshape its own world view
Festival director Asha Lovelace says that the themes, techniques and approach of African films can help inform how local filmmakers tell their own stories.
Nigerian highlife music scene gets a makeover by two brother duos
Umu Obiligbo maintained the original Igbo highlife style, while the Cavemen have modernized it. Both groups have transformed highlife with an originality that resonates with young people.
Amanat anthology: Women writers from Kazakhstan make their voices heard in English
Women writers from Kazakhstan seldom get their voices heard in English, but a new anthology in translation, called Amanat, opens the door for anglophone readers to an often ignored literature.
How Flavour and Phyno pioneered the revival of Nigeria's Igbo highlife music
Flavour revolutionized highlife by adapting it for dancing in nightclubs and parties. Phyno successfully fused hip-hop and pop into highlife with such finesse.
Four years on: Saudi's movie market is of humble local productions, massive sales and censorships
Four years after Saudi overturned a four-decade ban on cinemas as part of "a reform package", many ask how tolerant officials really are to diversity amidst tight censorships.
Celestine Ukwu: the Nigerian philosopher-musician who left his mark on Igbo highlife
Celestine Ukwu’s soulful songs contemplated and portrayed complicated experiences that were deeply rooted in his Igbo identity.
How Nigeria’s Igbo highlife music provided hope after a devastating civil war
The Oriental Brothers provided hope after the civil war. The 80s witnessed the revival of ‘egwu ekpili’. Later, Bright Chimezie’s impressive ‘legwork’ live performances popularized Igbo highlife through the 90s.
The pioneers of Nigeria's Igbo highlife music
Highlife gained popularity in southwestern cosmopolitan Lagos and was transformed in eastern Nigeria. By incorporating Igbo traditional folklore style, they created the Igbo highlife that now enjoys global appeal.
Barbadian novelist George Lamming, a leading writer of the Caribbean colonial experience, dies at 94
"A #Caribbean giant has left us only physically. George #Lamming will always be a part of us."
The history of music in Lagos, Nigeria: 1980s to the 2000s
Nightlife disappeared during military dictatorship, with music collectives singing on radio and a cheap imitation of American raps. Currently, individual artists with prodigious talents have revived the music scene.
The history of music in Lagos, Nigeria: from colonial times to the 1970s
Lagos, Nigeria’s cultural capital has always been a cosmopolitan city. A place where music and culture are in constant collision.
Meet the new generation of Kenyan women sparking a vinyl resurgence in Africa
Since music listeners have pivoted toward digital streaming platforms, Maia is one of the few artists who views vinyl records as more than just a novelty.
