More than three decades after his death reggae icon Bob Marley’s music remains meaningful. It still has the potential to catalyse conversation not often had in the postcolonial world.
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Much of the recent commentary on Sino-African relations has a negative tone. But genuine cultural exchange holds the promise of mutual enrichment.
The making of South Africa’s Constitution took six long years. Now, 20 years later, the process of drawing up this revered document is being tainted with myth making.
Proponents of assisted suicide, such as emeritus archbishop Desmond Tutu, argue that as people have the right to live with dignity, they also have the right to die with dignity.
Spending time in prison for one’s political beliefs can be incredibly challenging. Those convictions can help you to survive those times.
Scholars of urban studies are acknowledging that the discipline is characterised by a fear of the dark and the night. But artists are giving us a creative language to engage with the darkness.
Ngugi wa Thiong'o is still regarded as one of Africa’s greatest living writers in spite of missing out so far on a literature Nobel.
Many talented African footballers follow the exodus to Europe’s football leagues. But many are stuck in the lower leagues, without the glory and wealth they dream of.
A new book on Buddhism in South Africa is more than a beautiful coffee table book. If Zen ever finds a foothold in Africa, the truths the book reveals could be seen as monumental.
Natural hair has become a political rallying point for women across the African diaspora. For these women, wearing natural hair is way to resist Eurocentric norms and “post-racial” political thought.
The centennial publication of Sol Plaatje’s seminal, ‘Native Life’ is a timely reminder of his estimation of intellectual work, in contrast to the current disparagement of ‘clever blacks’.
Wrestling is Senegal’s national sport. But the presence of an ethnic discourse within the sporting arena may well threaten the notion of the multi-ethnic nation state.
Kwaito music star Mandoza was an important symbolic figure in the post-apartheid cultural scene. His success and his refusal to relinquish his tsotsi identity redefined what kind of man could be respected in a free South African.
South African creative and cultural industries have taken some early steps to elevate women to leadership positions, but there is still some way to go.
It is more than just his music that has made Bruce Springsteen one of the world’s most influential rock stars. His progressive politics has made him the voice for many people around the world.
Music and politics have long been intertwined and political patronage can sometimes lead artists to self-censor. On the other hand, some musicians are just more interested in entertainment than politics.
Humans have invented many technologies to survive better – spears, pots, calculators, even language. With language, however, the raw material used to fashion the technology is the human body itself.
Sometimes album sleeves reveal little about the music. Instead they illuminate the society it came from, exposing unexpected stories of people, art forms and struggles.
September is celebrated as heritage month in South Africa. How to get it right? A revisit to a national newspaper’s decade-old, ambitious project is a good yardstick to use.
‘African Guernica’ is an incredibly powerful work of art in many ways, importantly filling that space between the visible and the visible.
Ghana’s Chale Wote festival’s main aim is to provide an alternative platform for the arts. It uses street arts to break creative boundaries and cultivate a wider audience for the arts in West Africa.
Hair has long been modified for aesthetic and other ends. But skewed power structures have meant that women, particularly women of colour, have borne the brunt of stereotyping and prejudice.
Watching sport is more than just an entertaining experience. As the 2016 Olympic Games again highlighted, it can enrich and improve our lives in many more complex ways.
TV talk and makeover shows have a preference for spectacle and conflict. But new collaborative models may be the future.
Togolese consumers are increasingly choosing Chinese replicas over ‘authentic’ Dutch wax prints. Their choice raises fundamental questions about the notion of intellectual property.