In Tanzania, music is played everywhere: on crowded, colorful streets, in dala dalas (minibus taxis), and in roadside bars, which serve grilled corn and roasted pistachios. Tanzanians even walk as if they are dancing.
This passion for music comes from the tribes. In this country, with a population of 50 million people, there are more than 120 of them and all of them have different traditional instruments, tunes, and songs. In the cosmopolitan Dar es Salaam, you can hear almost all of them: from the melodies played on the ilimba, an instrument of the Gogo tribe from central Tanzania, to taarab music, akin to sung poetry, and popular in Zanzibar.
Yet the younger generation prefers bongo flava, a local version of hip hop. And the local stars are more and more inspired by their American idols; they imitate their music, gestures and clothing style. No wonder that older musicians fear that, in a few decades, Tanzanians may no longer be able to make traditional instruments or even play on them.
<div id="attachment_32641" style="width: 435px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-32641" class=" wp-image-32641" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Music-in-Tanzania_Myriam-Meloni_08-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="425" height="283" />Hilary More, lead singer of the Cocodo band from dar es Salaam (Photo by Myriam Meloni)</div>
In colonial times, traditional music and dancing encouraged resistance. Today, artists are encouraging resistance against growing western influences to save their rich tradition.
Seventy-two-year-old Warema Chacha is a well-known litungu player, a stringed instrument of the Kurya tribe from north-western Tanzania. The older he gets, the more determined he is to pass on his knowledge and love for music to younger generations.
<blockquote>&#8220;I often tell young people that it&#8217;s important to value your own culture, because in this way you can know yourself better. You won&#8217;t know it by playing bongo flava,&#8221; he says at his house in Bagamoyo, 60 kilometers from Dar es Salaam.</blockquote>
&#8220;Many times when you don&#8217;t appreciate your own things they can disappear. If someone comes to me, I can help and teach him to play the instrument, even making him one for free,&#8221; he adds showing a self-made litungu.
<div id="attachment_32642" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-32642" class="size-medium wp-image-32642" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Music-in-Tanzania_Myriam-Meloni_10-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" />An ilimba, a traditional instrument of the Gogo tribe from Tanzania. The Zawose family use it during performances. (Photo by Myriam Meloni)</div>
He has already encouraged his grandson Ally, who plays on the African drums in a popular band Ze Spirits, to also take litungu lessons.
&#8220;The litungu is not well known and we are the only ones who can save it from disappearing and introduce it to the world because we are close to Chacha, who knows everything about this instrument,&#8221; says 21-year-old Sajaly Sharif, Ally&#8217;s friend from the band that plays afro-fusion, a mix of traditional and modern music. “This can also be a good marketing strategy for us. Like most bands, we also play the guitar, but if you go to America or Europe, you&#8217;ll find people who do it better. We can be the kings of the litungu though. And thanks to this, people may be more interested in our music,” he adds.
Chacha is also teaching young musicians that music is not only for entertainment. His songs encourage people to vote in elections and warn against malaria or AIDS.
&#8220;What is most important is its educational role and the message it carries,&#8221; he says.
Music is also an important element of national identity. In 1964, when President Julius Nyerere united Zanzibar and the mainland Tanganyika to form Tanzania, traditional art gained more significance. His government used the performances of traditional artists from different tribes to break down ethnic differences in the young nation. Chacha joined the national troupe of traditional musicians as a teenager, and played in the group on the litungu for over 36 years.
<div id="attachment_32643" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-32643" class="size-medium wp-image-32643" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Music-in-Tanzania_Myriam-Meloni_15-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" />A modern guitar and a traditional African drum, belonging to the Cocodo band. (Photo by Myriam Meloni)</div>
The Bagamoyo College of Art, near Chacha&#8217;s house, was founded in 1981 as a training ground for the national troupes. Today, it is one of a few places where people can learn real traditional music. The conditions for learning are something from a dream: classes take place just a stone&#8217;s throw from the Indian Ocean and the sound of the waves can be heard from the rooms.
&#8220;Students are increasingly interested in tribal instruments, because they don&#8217;t want to lose their culture. It is now fashionable to combine traditional and modern rhythms,&#8221; says Maulid Mohamed Saleman, a teacher at the Bagamoyo school.
He inherited his musical talent from his parents.
&#8220;My mother was a dancer, and my father a musician and a village leader. When he wanted to meet with his people, he called them by banging on the drums. Sometimes I wonder how he would have reacted if he had had the chance to listen to young people mixing the sound of the drums with modern guitars,&#8221; Saleman says with a smile.
“In the beginning my family thought that I had lost my mind,” says 34-year-old Msafiri Zawose, son of the late traditional musician Hukwe Zawose who played on the ilimba (an instrument made from wood and thin metal plates) and gained international recognition thanks to his collaboration with the British singer Peter Gabriel. “But now they like my music. It sounds different from my father&#8217;s music, but still it&#8217;s a traditional melody,” he says at his house in Bagamoyo.
<div id="attachment_32644" style="width: 478px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-32644" class=" wp-image-32644" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Music-in-Tanzania_Myriam-Meloni_09-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="468" height="312" />Msafiri Zawose, son of the late traditional musician Hukwe Zawose, performs with his family at their house in Bagamoyo</div>
Msafiri has already recorded a few albums, and performed in many countries, including the United States.
Yet some older musicians are a little afraid of the consequences of mixing the styles.
<blockquote>“In 20 to 30 years there will be no pure traditional music. But I think it&#8217;s worth paying this price if we save traditional melodies and instruments from disappearing,” says 74-year-old Makame Faki, a famous taarab musician from Zanzibar.</blockquote>
On a hot Saturday night in Nafasi Art Space, a fashionable cultural center in Dar es Salaam, a crowd of young people dance to the music of Ze Spirits. They are drinking local Kilimanjaro beer and eating popcorn.
“Traditional music will evolve but not die. Tanzanians have this music in their genes,&#8221; says Rebecca Corey, the director of Nafasi and a co-founder of the Tanzanian Heritage Project, a cultural initiative whose aim is to record traditional musicians, like Chacha.
<div id="attachment_32645" style="width: 483px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-32645" class=" wp-image-32645" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Music-in-Tanzania_Myriam-Meloni_01-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="473" height="315" />A man playing the saxophone at the Dhow Countries Music Academy in Zanzibar</div>
Chacha has also recently performed on stage at Nafasi Art Space with his grandson and his band. Sometimes, he even listens to bongo flava songs. He admits that some of them are not so bad, but he doesn&#8217;t understand why artists dress the way they do.
“Wearing trousers below the waist is not our tradition, wearing glasses is common for CIA agents so that people cannot see their eyes. Sometimes they wear women&#8217;s glasses and think it&#8217;s fine, and sometimes clothes for women and earrings. I pray to God to help them,&#8221; he says, trying to hold back laughter.
However, he might be able to forget about their outfits if they start to take litungu lessons.
“In the end, hip hop sounds almost like the Kurya tribe heroic recitation,” he adds with a smile.
&#8211; Written by Monika Rebala, Photos by Myriam Meloni
This project has been funded by the European Journalism Centre (EJC) via its Innovation in Development Reporting Grant Programme.

‘My Family Thought I Had Lost My Mind’

These are the words from the chorus of Uber dadi, a hip-hop song written for Uber by Fuzile Nhlapo, one of thousands of Uber drivers across Africa.
On a hot afternoon in Johannesburg, Nhlapo walks into our offices in Sandton and, like most taxi drivers, he’s talkative and has many stories to tell.
He grew up singing in a boys’ choir in high school, in Tweeling, in eastern Free State. His love for music grew. After matriculating he moved to the Vaal to seek greener pastures.
“I had to hustle. My first job when I came to Vaal was as a storeman at a supermarket, then I became a merchandiser and then got a modelling job in Bloemfontein,” says Nhlapo.
The 30-year-old rapper did a series of studies, eventually earning a certificate in media studies, marketing and sports administration, before working for the South African Football Association (Safa).
In 2008, luck was on his side, when a friend didn’t pitch for work at Safa. The company offered him the job instead.
“I did sports administration and coaching courses. I was responsible for the Northern Cape regions until after the World Cup in 2010 and then I was without a job again,” he says.
Nhlapo desperately wanted to be an entrepreneur in music. He got his foot in the door by landing a job as a marketer at South African producer, Arthur Mafokate’s production company. Here, he got to learn the music industry.
“I was searching for a job but I was ready to go for my passion. It happened that I met Chomee, Arthur’s artist and we exchanged contacts. I then got Arthur’s number from his website and called him, I approached him as a groupie, but I knew I had a mission to work for him. But then one day Chomee called me and said Arthur was looking for a marketer.”
He applied and got the job.
“What I can tell you about Arthur is that he’s a great mentor. He hired me for a marketing job but taught me the ins and outs of entertainment. He played a big role in my entertainment career,” says Nhlapo.
He left to start his company, Black Excellence, with the aim to produce his own music. This wasn’t easy.
“I decided to open my own company, thinking that now I’m groomed enough, I can do this. I obviously made a premature decision and money was wasted because there were other aspects of business I didn’t take into consideration. I ended up getting deep into debt.”
He had to sell his car to pay off his debts.
“I was penniless and unemployed. A friend then got me a job as a merchandiser again, [but] I was not making enough money, I decided to quit.”
He ended up washing dishes at a Chinese restaurant for a small pay. Here, he met his future wife, from Zambia, who worked as a cashier.
Because life was hard in Johannesburg they returned to Tweeling.
“I was at home and someone called me and asked if I had a professional driving permit and license, and she said there’s a job for a shuttle driver and host at Emerald Resort &amp; Casino.”
He had to use his last penny to return to Johannesburg. While working at the casino, he heard, by word of mouth, about Uber, a technology company connecting riders with drivers, through a smartphone app. Nhlapo says being a part of the Uber network gives him the opportunity to be the CEO of his own cab.
“I started to research Uber and after a few weeks a cousin called to tell me about a guy who wants a driver. Since then, I have never been this happy and financially secure,” he says.
Nhlapo says he joined Uber because he could work according to his own schedule. It has also afforded him the chance to connect with people in a way that neither of his other jobs really had.
“There is more to Uber than transporting people from A to B. It gives us the chance to network and acknowledge other cultures because as black people we only know of our culture,” he says.
He jokingly says his communication skills have also improved, especially his English. He’s planning to release three songs; a hip-hop song for Uber and others, Kwaito and house.
“I’m mostly gonna play the songs in the car because I also want our riders to enjoy it,” he says.
This ambitious lad believes his songs will top the charts.
He says Oliver Mtukudzi is his favorite African musician. Like Mtukudzi, Nhlapo loves playing the guitar.
Unlike Mtukudzi, you can summon Nhlapo with an app.

Rapping On A Rough Road

The tiger has always played a part in our collective consciousness, often interpreted as a symbol of power, strength and beauty. In Hindu culture, the tiger is revered as the sacred vehicle of Durga, the warrior goddess.
And I had the opportunity to come face-to-face with this mighty animal on a recent trip through the forests of central India where a majority of them still roam.
I arrived at the Bandhavgarh National Park (BNP), in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, by plane from New Delhi, landing in Jabalpur and then by car to the park; a journey of 600 miles to visit the home of an animal that has existed for two million years.
Known to have evolved from the saber-toothed cat that lived 32 million years ago, tigers have spread from their original home in China and evolved into many subspecies including the Royal Bengal Tiger of India. The BNP was the hunting preserve of the rulers of the state in the 1800s and has hosted many hunters from the British Raj; it has documented killings of over 350 cats by one particular hunter during his five-year posting in India. At the close of the 19th century, when Rudyard Kipling penned The Jungle Book, some 50,000 to 100,000 tigers were thought to roam the Indian subcontinent.
The tiger once ranged widely across Asia, from Anatolian Turkey in the west to Kamchatka, in the eastern coast of Russia; over the past 100 years tigers have disappeared from southwest and central Asia. According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), tigers inhabit less than 6% of their historic range with a 42% decline since 2006. Breeding populations of tigers are currently found in eight range states: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, Russia, and Thailand.
Since 1900, the number of tigers in the wild has shrunk from an estimated 100,000 to as few as 3,200. WWF is working toward a bold but achievable goal to double the number of tigers in the wild by 2022, the next Year of the Tiger. A 2015 news report reveals healthy population increases in all ranges in south and central India.
Strictly-managed and controlled jeep safaris are the only way one can encounter these magnificent animals in their natural habitat. My first encounter on my trip was with a mother and her three grown cubs that paced majestically through the sal tree forest, disappearing often into the high grass that grows after the monsoons.
This was the beginning of a four-day, 32-hour photographic ‘hunt’ for these animals. Sighting and photographing seven of them was not easy since they are primarily active in the wee hours, returning after a hunt, or during dusk before a hunt. Being solitary animals and effectively camouflaged, tracking them is one of the great joys and challenges of wildlife photography.
BNP allows a maximum of 32 jeeps per day in two four-hour windows. This capacity control was established by Project Tiger, an Indian initiative to protect the tigers. The park has a huge variety of mammals such as black bears, antelopes, deer, reptiles including crocodiles and snakes, and over 350 species of birds.
At 6AM on a cold morning, I was filled with excitement when I spotted a young male tiger, looking tired and hungry after an unsuccessful night of hunting. He approached my jeep from 600 feet away, oblivious to my presence and walked within a few feet marking his territory along the way.
Tigers need to kill 60-75 large prey animals per year. They are opportunistic predators, however, their diet includes birds, fish, rodents, insects, amphibians and reptiles in addition to other mammals such as primates and porcupines. Tigers can also take ungulate prey much larger than themselves, including the water buffalo, Indian bison, small elephants and on occasion even rhinos. Bandhavgarh boasts all of the above animals except the rhino and elephant which are distributed further north in Chitwan Park near the border with Nepal, another known tiger range.
On my last evening, after patiently waiting near a waterhole for two hours, I was rewarded with a large male tiger emerging from the bamboo thicket to drink water barely 15 feet away. His majesty made for some amazing pictures. I left Bandhavgarh and my lovely lodge with a heavy heart knowing that this tiger could be the victim of poachers any time.
National Geographic reports that it is rarely poor locals who are poaching the tigers – it’s organized gangs.
“Tigers are part of a massive wildlife trade that’s run by sophisticated international crime syndicates, the same trade that’s wiping out elephants, rhinos and so many other species. It’s a $19-billion-a-year business,” quotes the magazine.
These majestic cats are being slaughtered across India and the entire Southeast Asian range, mostly for their bones and magnificent pelts. Smuggled into China for use in expensive traditional tonics, tiger bones are thought to impart the animal’s great energy and strength. In addition, across their entire distribution, tigers face unrelenting pressure from retaliatory killings by farmers and habitat loss. They are forced to compete for space with an ever-growing human population.
Alas, in the end, it would seem their fate is no different from their fierce, feline and equally-famous cousin – the African lion.

DSC_4935

Tracking India’s Feisty Feline

Two 11-year-olds, one from Madagascar, the other from Angola, go to class together in a French school in Niger. That may have been their first lesson in diversity.
But if their paths crossed then, in the years following their respective departures to Paris and Montreal, they crossed again, before they finally settled in Brussels and formed a company together.
Urban and culturally-aware, Andrianina Sidibé and Cláudia Pita-Grós, both 36 today, can best be described as ‘Afropolitans’, a word first used by West African writer Taiye Selasi who explained it as “Africans of the world”.
It is to this world that Sidibé and Pita-Grós want to commit Africa, doing what they both know best: fashion. Their clothing company MeyNö, born out of the contraction of Niamey, Niger’s capital city, where they first met, and Noah, Sidibé’s son and Pita-Grós’ godchild, was founded to promote African print and home-grown talent, in the process sharing a rich tapestry of cross-cultural experiences. The handmade clutches and accessories they fashion are testament to their ethos.
“We grew up in Africa; our wish is to make our continent shine by its know-how and richness,” they chorus.
Their company is based in France and they have an online store. Sidibé and Pita-Grós share more thoughts on Africa and its future in fashion:
How did the partnership come about?
Since we were young we were both passionate about fashion; and as we grew up, we both knew that one day we would have to make our contribution, in our own way, to make Africa famous all over the world for its greatness and know-how in different fields.
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Why African print?
We believe that our fabrics and prints are one of the riches we have in common all over the continent. Each country and region has its fabric (wax, bogolan, bazin, kente, capulana) and we wanted to glorify this part of our culture.
While African fabrics often serve as inspiration for foreign fashion collections, we wanted to create our own brand with a mix of these fabrics together with other materials mostly coming from different African countries and, most of all, 100% made in Africa.
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What is the current state of Africa’s fashion industry?
South Africa, Ethiopia and Nigeria certainly play the leading role. There’s a fashion industry for sure. Locally-known, most of this industry is still composed of tailors that do custom-made rather than prêt-à-porter (ready-to-wear), whereas on the international level, so many designers are nowadays well-known all over the world, such as Marianne Fassler (South African) and Shade Thomas-Fahm (Nigerian). We also have strong fashion actors such as first Dr Precious [Motsepe] and also Adama Paris (from Senegal) who have created famous events in Africa like the Dakar Fashion Week, Johannesburg and Cape Town fashion weeks, Fashion Africa, and we also have Brazza Fashion Night, that have widely contributed in building African fashion’s worldwide fame.
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There has been a lot of push, particularly from South Africa&#8217;s fashion industry, to break into the international markets, such as the United States. Is this attainable?
It is true that particularly since Dr Precious has created the fashion weeks in South Africa, the push to break into the international markets have been obvious. We can say the goal was undoubtedly attained when we see worldwide famous artistes such as Solange Knowles and Beyoncé or Rihanna wear clothes with African prints. We don’t think it is vital, but of course we cannot deny that it helps us make people aware that we have a lot of richness in our countries: raw materials, know-how and overall our people.
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What type of investments will boost the industry?
We think that investments in training, mechanization and processing of raw material such as cotton should be reinforced.
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How can policy help?
Africa faces political challenges such as market integrations and infrastructure [transport fees are incredibly high whether by air or by sea, because of the taxes and the lack of proactive policies that would favor employment]. In consequence, some companies would rather buy material from China than from a neighbor. In our case, the materials used to manufacture our products come mainly from African countries (DRC, Nigeria, Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast) and routing between those different countries is not always easy. Transportation between Burkina Faso and DRC, for instance, must pass through France, which generates significant costs and lengthening delays.
Government funding for fashion students to start their collections, travel to fashion shows and exhibit their collections is one of the ways in which new policies could help accelerate the growth. We have also noticed that some local craftsmen find difficulties in buying their engines and other equipment. As a result, despite their obvious talent, they struggle to live off their know-how and passion.
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What is the role of young people in this trade?
Creativity! The ‘inventivité’ (ingenuity) of some young artistes, designers or musicians has no boundaries. Just by looking at people’s style in the streets of cities like Kinshasa or Luanda, you realize how creative younger generations may be; and demanding too. It forces the industry to renew itself over and over again.

INNA

Cut  From The Same Cloth

David Adjaye, the renowned architect born in Tanzania to Ghanaian parents, has been busy. He is leading the design team behind the Smithsonian’s $500-million National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington D.C. He is also the frontrunner to design Barack Obama’s presidential library in Chicago. These two buildings will be the most high-profile pieces of more than a decade of work.
Although Adjaye’s work, which focuses heavily on historical cultures, is spread all over the world, it can now be appreciated, by many. He recently released his latest book, David Adjaye: Form, Heft, Material, which was published to complement his exhibition at the Haus der Kunst museum in Munich. In September, it was extended to Chicago.
“It is the most comprehensive survey of my work to date. The concept of the book was to offer an insight into current projects within the context of the trajectory of my work over the past 15 years, and framed within a broad social, cultural and historical discourse,” says Adjaye.
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The discourse to which Adjaye refers has informed his multiculturalist work across every continent, and has led to projects that have placed Adjaye as one of the most distinguished architects in the world.
Adjaye’s work has shifted to public architecture.
“I think that design can provide a critical inquiry into social responsibility and civic consciousness.”
Despite this shift, Adjaye maintains a certain audacity to his work; the kind of trait that can only make a building indelible to the most discerning eye. His work surpasses the mediocrity of simply fulfilling the mere function of shelter. Adjaye is more of an artist than an architect. His work is often as much of a visual sculpture as a constructional design.
“I have always sought to cross creative platforms, collaborating with artists and designers from different disciplines and focusing on the creative discourse surrounding the act of making things. It is the dialogue – the cultural intersection – which excites me.”
Adjaye has also been embraced by the world of politics. He was commissioned by Obama to lead the design of the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Such a responsibility has not been taken lightly. Adjaye describes it as “a career defining project.” The monument, in Washington D.C.’s National Mall, has been built to commemorate the momentous milestones in African American history.
“It is an incredibly exciting project and it has been a real honor to be involved in the creation of this monumental building,” he says.
Like most of the museums the architect has designed, the National Museum will be as iconic as the exhibitions inside it. It is  to open to the public in early 2016. The timing of the building’s inaugural opening could not be more perfect; Obama’s term is coming to a close, and racial antipathy continues to plague the country.
“My hope is that the museum will transcend the uneasy fact of racial tension through an open exploration of history, culture and society – thereby addressing profound aspects of the human condition and the positive value inherent in creating a forum for multiple interpretations of America’s history and demography, however uncomfortable those may be.”
Adjaye has a different hope for Africa – a continent often riddled with political instability that threatens to derail progress made in the private and public sector.
“Politics can hinder development. The four-year electoral window is often at odds with urban and infrastructure projects which can require a decade of political commitment. Nevertheless, [I] am excited about all of my work in Africa.”
A few of the projects that Adjaye has been working on across the continent include; a luxury concept store in Lagos called Alara, a school campus and residential project in Accra, building the headquarters of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in Dakar, residential projects in Johannesburg, and a hospital in Rwanda.
Over the last few years, Adjaye has collaborated with Propertuity to develop one of the Johannesburg CBD’s many timeworn buildings in the Maboneng Precinct – Hallmark House. The area is undergoing urban changes, with many buildings being redeveloped and perhaps gentrified.
“The project is a dramatic transformation of a former commercial building into apartments and cultural facilities in Johannesburg’s CBD. Its proximity to the already vibrant Maboneng district will mean that it will extend this extraordinary new city quarter.”
The inspiration behind Hallmark House’s transformation has been driven by the same principles Adjaye places on all of his work. His designs are often a reflection of social, historical and environmental context. In the case of his work in Maboneng, the design of the residential building was inspired by what Adjaye lauds as “an icon of the Joburg city skyline”. The 66-meter-high structure, initially designed in the 1970s by Greg Cohen, was built to house a burgeoning diamond polishing company.
Adjaye is a firm believer that the story of a city is written in its buildings. Johannesburg reflects the complex challenges of its past.
“Johannesburg, sadly, is one of the few cities in the world that has a specific spatial architecture that is born from division,” he says.
Such a landscape does not wean Adjaye away from the potential possibilities awaiting this historically rich part of Johannesburg, but rather encourages an admiration of the city.
“Johannesburg is the most cosmopolitan city I have visited in Africa. You see in its buildings a story of a tragic past but also a city that is being very intentional about confronting its history and seeking ways to move forward.”
Adjaye dismisses the idea that his work has a clear and definitive aesthetic.
“I am part of a generation of architects which has moved away from the idea of a signature.”
He does, however, pull much of his inspiration from the continent.
“I draw from Africa, but I also draw from many other things. That’s what architects do – we are planetary creatures.”
Adjaye adds that all of his projects have been memorable.
“Each one is part of a curve, a critical piece of a narrative that is still unfolding.”
This is a story that will bring many more milestones for the successful architect on a mission in Africa.

The Brain of Africa more of an artist  than an architect

The São José-Paquete de Africa had been at sea for over three weeks when, just off Cape Town’s treacherous coastline, it was overcome by a bellowing storm. As gusty winds yanked at its sails, storey-high waves pushed the vessel closer to shore.
Captain Manuel João from Portugal refused to give in, after all was just a few sea miles away from Table Bay. The plan was to anchor there, stock up on food, water and other supplies, and sail on to Brazil to offload his precious cargo: 500 men, women and children from southeast Africa, packed like sardines in the dank belly of his ship. After delivering his load, João would return to Mozambique for a fresh shipment.
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Mother Nature decided otherwise. On December 27, 1794, the São José smashed against razor-sharp rocks, 100 meters off present-day Clifton, an affluent suburb of Cape Town. The vessel disintegrated into matchwood and sank to the bottom of the Atlantic – taking 212 slaves with it. Those who survived were captured and sold into bondage in the Cape, possibly to recoup the damages.
The São José was soon to be forgotten, until sports divers stumbled upon her remains in the 1980s – after which the ship ended up in the archives as the Van Schuylenberg. This Dutch merchant vessel had gone down off the Cape coast in the 1750s.
In 2011, South African marine archaeologist, Jaco Boshoff, came across an account by João, in which he described how the ship had left Lisbon on April 27, 1794, to purchase slaves from Mozambique. On the 24th day of the voyage to Table Bay, for an interim supply stop before crossing the Atlantic, the ship was overcome by bad weather and sank.
More information has since emerged from the archives in Portugal and Mozambique, as well as the bottom of the Atlantic, which suggested that the wreck off Clifton was everything except a Dutch merchant vessel. So, in 2014, the partners of the Slave Wrecks Projects – which includes Iziko Museums of South Africa, the South African Heritage Resources Agency, and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington DC – began unearthing what was left of the wreckage.
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“We found iron ballast blocks, which were often used to stabilize slave ships. Human cargo tends to move around and is therefore more unstable than dead weight, hence the blocks,” says Paul Tichmann, curator of the Iziko Slave Lodge, a museum in Cape Town.
He adds that Portuguese archival documents confirmed that the São José had loaded iron ballast before departing for Mozambique.
“We also found slave shackles, copper nails, and sheathing,” he says. “Tests have indicated that these date back to the 1790s. The timber remains we have found, was proven to be a type of Mozambican hardwood, also dating back to that particular time.”
Unearthing whatever was left of the São José was not easy.
“It is a very difficult area for diving. The waters are very turbulent, with strong currents. One of the divers described it as working in a washing machine. There were times, they could only dive three days per month,” says Tichmann.
The discovery of the ship – which was announced in June – has been hailed as an extraordinary find, making headlines around the world. It is one the few transatlantic slave ship wrecks ever recovered.
The São José’s significance goes beyond that, says Patrick Harries, who has been studying the role of the Cape of Good Hope in the transatlantic slave trade for decades. The wreck, he says, has once again proven that the Cape – generally known as a refreshment stop for ordinary merchant ships – was an important service spot for slave vessels en route to the Americas.
“It served as such from the mid-1700s to 1834, when the trading and owning of slaves was abolished in all British territories,” he says, adding that slave ships anchoring in Table Bay were transporting slaves who had embarked in Mozambique, southern Tanzania, and Madagascar.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-3996" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/no.-no.-Slave-Certificate-1829-202x300.jpg" alt="" width="202" height="300" />
“Many were brought to the coast after being captured in the deep interior, for instance where Zambia and Malawi are now,” Harries says.
“They were then loaded onto ships in Mozambique, which would then sail to Table Bay to refuel prior to sailing on to their final destination. Close to half a million slaves were taken from southeast Africa.”
While supplying slave ships with wood, food and water, thus making a profit out of the transatlantic trade, Cape Town also absorbed some of these slaves.
“Generally speaking, a ship owner would sell 10 percent of his slaves in Table Bay to pay for the fuel and supplies,” Harries says. “They would end up working on farms.”
While the Dutch shipped East Africans into the Cape, they didn’t play much of a role in the transatlantic slave trade. The trade in humans from southeast Africa to the New World started under the French in the 1770s.
“The French had been using African slave labour since the early 1700s to keep the sugar plantations on Reunion Island and Mauritius going. They started transporting East Africans across the Atlantic upon realizing that they were worth more in Saint-Domingue than in Reunion,” says Harries.
Situated in the Caribbean, Saint-Domingue used to be the sugar capital of the world.
“Sugar was the petrol of those days, making it the jewel of the French empire,” says Harries.
The tide turned in 1791, when slaves in Saint-Domingue staged an uprising and took control, renaming the region Haiti. This put an end to the French East African slave trade.
Like their French counterparts, Portuguese and Brazilian slave ships stopped in Table Bay for supplies before crossing the Atlantic.
“Particularly the months between October and March, known as the slave season, were busy. There could be as many as three ships in Table Bay, each carrying 300 to 400 slaves,” says Harries.
Cape Town continued to service slave ships until December 1, 1834, the year the trading and owning of slaves was outlawed. This prohibited any slave ship from anchoring in Table Bay and put an end to the Cape’s transatlantic slavery role. This didn’t end the influx of cheap African labor into the Cape.
“In 1834, the Brits had granted themselves the right to hunt down any slave ship within their waters. The slaves on board these captured vessels were brought to British controlled territories, the Cape included. Here, these so-called ‘Prize Negroes’ were sold on as apprentices, for up to 14 years,” says Tichmann.
The ‘Prize Negroes’ were often worse off than slaves.
“Apprentices were a prized and expensive commodity. Those who bought apprentices felt they had to get the most out of them as long as they could legally have them. Conditions were therefore very harsh. They would not get paid. It was another form of slavery, really. This happened until the 1880s if I am not mistaken,” says Tichmann.
Records show that 3,000 to 4,000 ‘Prize Negroes’ were imported into the Cape, on top of the previously mentioned 63,000 African, Asian and Indian slaves.
Both Tichmann and Harries hope that the São José discovery will trigger a greater level of awareness around Cape Town’s role in the slave trade.
“South Africa always thought it was safe from that particular history, but in fact, the transatlantic trade in Africans is very much part of it,” Harries says. “It is important that people in the Western Cape acknowledge this. A large part of its population, after all, are descendents from these African slaves. Their ancestors survived a month in a slave ship, and experienced the most awful conditions imaginable. We need to remember,” says Harries.

A Ghost Ship That tells a tale of misery

There are few fashion events in the world solely celebrating the rich tapestry of talent in Africa. The Africa Fashion Show Geneva (AFSG), an annual event held in the beautiful Swiss city, celebrates the continent’s history and diversity, in turn helping change the way the world perceives Africa.
This year, the show, in its third edition, held in June at the Mandarin Oriental, Geneva, was a feast for the senses.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-30620" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/Etita-La-Diva_Nigeria-200x300.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="300" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Etita-La-Diva_Nigeria-200x300.jpg 200w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Etita-La-Diva_Nigeria-300x450.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Etita-La-Diva_Nigeria-600x900.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Etita-La-Diva_Nigeria-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Etita-La-Diva_Nigeria-683x1024.jpg 683w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Etita-La-Diva_Nigeria.jpg 682w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px" /> <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-30619" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/by-Julius-Reuben_EXN1245-200x300.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="300" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/by-Julius-Reuben_EXN1245-200x300.jpg 200w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/by-Julius-Reuben_EXN1245-300x450.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/by-Julius-Reuben_EXN1245-600x900.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/by-Julius-Reuben_EXN1245-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/by-Julius-Reuben_EXN1245.jpg 682w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px" /> <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-30618" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/bodhisattva-south-africa-200x300.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="300" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/bodhisattva-south-africa-200x300.jpg 200w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/bodhisattva-south-africa-300x450.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/bodhisattva-south-africa-600x900.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/bodhisattva-south-africa-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/bodhisattva-south-africa-683x1024.jpg 683w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/bodhisattva-south-africa.jpg 682w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px" />
The models sashayed the ramp in vibrant colors to the beat of African drums receiving a rapturous applause.
The night was indeed a celebration of Africa, its fashion, people, culture and cuisine.
Tayo Ayinla Omotola, Nigerian and the founder of AFSG, who has lived and worked in Geneva for over eight years for the Africa Progress Panel chaired by Kofi Annan (former United Nations’ Secretary-General), is very clear the show is to promote cultural exchange across borders and encourage a positive narrative about the continent.
“I wanted to showcase positive African stories through fashion and in doing so highlight Africa’s creativity, which contributes to its economic development but with potential to do so even more,” says Omotola, who aims to eventually create a greater awareness of the untapped potential of the African fashion industry to spur socioeconomic development on the continent.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-30617" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/Afrokulcha-South-Africa-200x300.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="300" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Afrokulcha-South-Africa-200x300.jpg 200w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Afrokulcha-South-Africa-300x450.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Afrokulcha-South-Africa-600x900.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Afrokulcha-South-Africa-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Afrokulcha-South-Africa-683x1024.jpg 683w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Afrokulcha-South-Africa.jpg 682w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px" /> <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-30614" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/Pistis-Ghana1-200x300.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="300" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Pistis-Ghana1-200x300.jpg 200w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Pistis-Ghana1-300x450.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Pistis-Ghana1-600x900.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Pistis-Ghana1-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Pistis-Ghana1-683x1024.jpg 683w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Pistis-Ghana1.jpg 682w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px" /> <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-30613" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/Pistis-Ghana-200x300.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="300" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Pistis-Ghana-200x300.jpg 200w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Pistis-Ghana-300x450.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Pistis-Ghana-600x900.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Pistis-Ghana-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Pistis-Ghana-683x1024.jpg 683w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Pistis-Ghana.jpg 682w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px" />
South African designer Nonkululeko Magi, the founder of Afrokulcha who started her fashion business two years ago, was at the event too, to gain exposure in an international market. She showcased Africa’s current threads and trends.
“It’s time to showcase African talent. The time is now. Africa is rising,” says Magi. Cape Town designer Yumnaa Firfirey of Bodhisattva, agrees: “Fashion does have the power to transform lives. We need to unleash that potential.”
Africa’s creative industry can’t agree more.

The-Closet_India

An African Summer In The Alps

Class, culture and sheer opulence are hallmarks of an urban Nigerian wedding. Lagos is emerging a wedding planner’s playground. Every weekend sees one or the other wedding convoy making its grand sojourn through the city.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-29748 alignleft" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/c57907c076cb3533fdee4d24678e019d-291x300.jpg" alt="" width="291" height="300" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/c57907c076cb3533fdee4d24678e019d-291x300.jpg 291w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/c57907c076cb3533fdee4d24678e019d-300x309.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/c57907c076cb3533fdee4d24678e019d-600x618.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/c57907c076cb3533fdee4d24678e019d.jpg 617w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 291px) 100vw, 291px" />
But destination weddings are the order of the day. Be it Mauritius, Cape Town or Dubai, the venues are getting more creative, and the event planners boast busy calendars, globe-trotting from one exotic venue to another. All they ask for is a meaty budget.
Mati Gono is a London-based wedding planner specializing in premium and tailor-made wedding experiences for her clients. The clientele of her events company, Just as Planned, is 85% elite Nigerian. Her specialty is organizing the A to Z of lavish nuptials.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-29747 alignleft" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/223A3795-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/223A3795-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/223A3795-600x400.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/223A3795-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/223A3795-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/223A3795.jpg 1023w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
“Nigerian weddings are very colorful, opulent and there is never a dull moment. They are full of culture and the family is usually the focus. So whether there is the traditional breaking of the Kola nut, an opening prayer, or a live band, Nigerian weddings are full of character and the guests really come out to celebrate the couple getting married,” says Gono.
Gono, who recently planned a $161,000 Nigerian wedding, is accustomed to the lofty expectations of her clients.
“On one of our most demanding weddings to date, we had to ensure the service and hospitality was 110%, due to the types of guests we had attending. The logistics were a little challenging [it was a wedding in central London] but I like a challenge and we pulled it off.”
Attending the wedding were high-profile guests, including the bride’s brother, Nigerian footballer Victor Chinedu Anichebe, who plays for West Bromwich Albion, and US reality TV star Angela Simmons.
The traditional aspects of a Nigerian wedding involve color, culture and identity. Cloth merchants who sell traditional fabrics experience year-round boom – the grander the nuptials, the more expensive and richer the fabric.
Glamorous designer gowns – as many as three – are a must. As is music. Best-selling artists and live bands are flown in from across the world to perform. In addition is the use of newer trends in technology and media. The runup to the wedding is given enough coverage on social media: hash tags are de rigeur.
“The couple use it to inform their guests as this enables friends and family to share their special day with the world,” says Gono.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-29749 alignleft" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/223A3784-200x300.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="300" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/223A3784-200x300.jpg 200w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/223A3784-300x450.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/223A3784-600x900.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/223A3784-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/223A3784-683x1024.jpg 683w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/223A3784.jpg 682w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px" />
Another trend is the unique chandelier wedding cake. It’s one of the many wow elements of a wedding, says Gono. From venues that cost £50,000, centerpieces and decorations that cost £5,000, to catering at £10,675, it is all about flashing the cash. Gono has been fully involved in the business of weddings, and already has bookings for the new year. But she has always had a love for event planning. The very first wedding she planned and executed successfully was in 2007, and there was no looking back. She started her company in 2011.
“It was a natural calling. It all started with coordinating a few events for friends and family and it grew from there,” says Gono, as she animatedly prepares for her next overseas trip looking for an even more exciting destination for another lucky bride and groom.

IMG_6526

The Wedding Cake  As Chandelier?

I don’t speak English well,” confesses Aya Konan at the other end of the line. The long-distance conversation does no justice to her well-known effervescent personality. To most Ivorians, she is as famous as their country itself.
Yet, it’s not often that one gets to speak to a designer from Côte d’Ivoire, that beautiful West African country where people speak better French than English.
From her interrupted, reluctant rendition of the English language, you realize that Konan’s real expression is her art form. That her medium is metal, and she is a master story-teller when she works with it.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-29691" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/46_17-199x300.jpg" alt="" width="199" height="300" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/46_17-199x300.jpg 199w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/46_17-300x451.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/46_17.jpg 377w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 199px) 100vw, 199px" />
Konan’s life has been a confluence of French and African culture. Her father is Ivorian and her mother French, specifically Alsatian. Born in France, Konan grew up in Côte d’Ivoire from the age of five and left her country again for her studies at the age of 18. By then, she had already dabbled in design. Attending fashion shows as a child, she had seen women wearing only European jewelry. She was determined to change that.
Konan acquired a degree as a computer technician to “please her parents”, but her interest lay in the creative arts. She returned after 12 years to Côte d’Ivoire to craft modern jewelry infusing African traditions. Her inspiration is ancient Akan jewelry and the royal courts, which she aptly captures in her Makeda line of jewelry. Today, she sells wearable art and home décor to clients around the world.
An ardent admirer of Maya Angelou and Miriam Makeba, Konan is a mother of three, married to an architect. She speaks from her home in Abidjan about creativity, Côte d’Ivoire and women in Africa:
&nbsp;
Why is Akan art an inspiration?
I am very inspired by the clothing and jewelry of the ancient Akan royal courts in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire.
&nbsp;
What medium do you mostly work with?
I work with metals imported from France to respect international standards. After the conception of a masterpiece on metal, I add beads, rhinestones and shells.
Who is your target audience?
My initial target market was ladies over 30 who dressed in traditional African fabrics. Today, I have a line targeted at a younger clientele. My daughters have inspired me. There are accessories, bags, belts, T-shirts etc. I am very careful to be competitive about the prices, to reach as many people as possible, but Makeda is still a premium product.
&nbsp;
How big is your business?
Makeda gathers several activities. The structure has grown and the most important division is Makeda Deco, which has our highest turnover. It produces decorations for events such as weddings and galas. I love everything that is creative. We have a decoration shop where we provide everything for an event such as flowers, rhinestones nd chocolate candles.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-29690" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/34_24-199x300.jpg" alt="" width="199" height="300" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/34_24-199x300.jpg 199w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/34_24-300x451.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/34_24.jpg 377w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 199px) 100vw, 199px" />
Where do you retail at the moment?
I opened my first shop in the Place des Victoires in Paris in 1994; at that time, I was manufacturing my jewelry in Paris. Then in 1997, I decided to go back to Africa where I mounted a foundry to be self-sufficient in the production. Later, I opened a showroom and then a few years later a large shop.
&nbsp;
How are female creative entrepreneurs viewed in Africa and the rest of the world?
I think the female entrepreneur has her place just like a man. In fact, I have never considered the question in those terms because I never felt a barrier because I am a woman. That could be the advantage of a creative profession. These are trades where only creativity and emotion count. Dreaming and creating dreams are most important in my line of work.
&nbsp;
In terms of creativity, what sets Côte d’Ivoire apart from the rest of Africa?
My answer is biased because I love my country. Creativity is everywhere in the city, at every intersection, and in even the most remote towns and villages. Ivorians create all the time and even in the most absurd and most terrible ways, as during the post-election violence that hit our country. Many have painted and, particularly, sung on the theme of the crisis. This is a country which is very open to art of all types. So, everything is possible.
&nbsp;
What is the future of women
in Africa?
For me, women play an important role in Africa; they are very enterprising as they are often the pillars of their families. In Côte d’Ivoire, for instance, it is thanks to women that food markets are supplied. I have daughters, and I admire how their generation evolves with tremendous confidence and grand ambitions. I am confident about the future of women.
&nbsp;
What is life like in Côte d’Ivoire?
Life is very nice, as long as there is no political unrest of course, as in many African countries. Abidjan is a city where attitudes are changing and there is tremendous potential in many industries. Cultural life is becoming increasingly important and you see all sorts of occupations, just like you do in large Western cities. Fashion plays a very important role here.

32_32

French Notes From The Creative Coast

Laduma Ngxokolo found business where many saw tragic headlines. Circumcision has long been a controversial business in South Africa where young initiates sometimes may never return from the rigorous stay in the hills and return alive.
Ngxokolo saw business in the celebration of the return of the young men. Having been to the hills himself, he knew that boys gave away their clothes before the mountains and were given new clothes on their return.
Hailing from the small kingdom of Pondoland, in South Africa’s Eastern Cape Province, Ngxokolo conceptualized MaXhosa – a business weaving the designs of the Xhosa culture into knitwear, using locally sourced textiles like mohair.
The Xhosa initiates are given new clothes, usually formal wear bought by their parents, which they have to wear for six months after their return from the mountains. Ngxokolo says many of these initiates do not like the clothes their parents buy for them finding them too westernized.
The cardigans are thickly knit with various patterns of triangles, stripes and zig-zags using dusty reds, oranges, yellows and blues, woven into brown wool. His inspiration stems from Xhosa beadwork patterns and the delicate tones of the Xhosa color palette. He started by only making jerseys and cardigans for men, but has now ventured into women’s wear, knitting skirts and dresses.
“This is why I decided to focus on knitwear, because the parents often go buy premium products for their sons,” says Ngxokolo.
By designing Xhosa-inspired knitwear, he would capture it in a way to preserve this heritage.
But his journey of becoming an entrepreneur was learned at his mother’s knees.
In his teenage years, it was inevitable that Ngxokolo’s mother Lindelwa, a knitwear designer in Port Elizabeth, would teach him how to knit using a hand-machine. Ngxokolo enjoyed doing craftwork and beadwork with his mother which influenced his designs. When he was 17 years old, his mother died, leaving Ngxokolo and three siblings to fend for themselves. It was a sad moment in his life, but his mother’s influence inspired him to turn a hobby into a business.
After finishing high school, Ngxokolo studied textile design and technology at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in the Eastern Cape. This was the turning point in his life. His flair for knitwear earned him a bursary from the Port Elizabeth-based Cape Wools SA as well as Mohair South Africa.
In 2010, Ngxokolo established his brand – MaXhosa. He also found inspiration exploring astonishing traditional beadwork, craft, patterns, symbolism and colors he found at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Art Museum in Port Elizabeth. This inspiration was incorporated into his modern knitwear range.
He entered his thesis, ‘Finding Innovative Designs For Xhosa Initiates To Wear’ into the South African leg of The Society of Dyers and Colourists competition which he won and went on to win the international leg of the competition. This prize resulted in Ngxokolo speaking at Design Indaba, one of the biggest conferences of its kind in Cape Town which is attended by many people from across the continent. The media coverage from the Indaba helped publicize MaXhosa.
“At the time, I wasn’t exposed to business and I didn’t have many customers,” he says.
A promoter forwarded Ngxokolo’s contact details to a magazine where he was given the opportunity to showcase at the Vauxhall Emerging Designers Scout which coincided with London Fashion Week in September the same year.
From here, he was given $14,000 seed capital to learn about business and which helped his business to hire five women from his community to work for him. Because his products were produced in Cape Town, Ngxokolo made the move to Vuya Fashions, a factory just outside the city, where his garments are made. The raw materials are sourced from Port Elizabeth.
Since then, Ngxokolo has showcased at numerous fashion weeks, including his first stand-alone show at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Joburg, and even had his own pop-up store in London.
This has propelled his brand to be known all over the world, from the streets of Cape Town to Paris.
“When I see people wearing my designs I feel overwhelmed,” he says.
Today, Ngxokolo says he focuses his time on creating custom-made designs ranging from cardigans, jerseys, dresses, skirts and throws that can sell at prices up to $500. Although he doesn’t have his own store, numerous retailers like Merchants on Long in Cape Town, and some from Namibia, England, France and Holland loved his products so much that they decided to stock the items in their shops.
In the future, he hopes to establish his own studio where his entire team would sit in one room and also keep his relationship with the manufacturers. Ngxokolo also wants to open up MaXhosa stores in fashion capitals across the world and also move into lifestyle designing like couches, and using mohair for rugs.
When he launched a collection in Paris called ‘My Heritage, My Inheritance’ in 2013, he says it was blessed because he dedicated it to his mother.
“My late mother’s dream as a knitwear designer in the eighties was to travel to Paris to see high-end fashion. Unfortunately circumstances denied her the opportunity to make her dream a reality. Twelve years after her passing, I had the privilege of being invited by the Labo Ethnik Fashion Week in Paris to showcase my knitwear collection,” he says.
One challenge that gives him pins and needles is that the demand in South Africa is quite small because the thick woolly mohair garments are not suitable for Africa’s warm weather.
“But for Europe and overseas it makes business sense,” he says.
“In future, I hope to sell more in Europe as the weather dictates, summer designs would be much thinner.”
For now, he sets his eyes on a master’s degree in textiles at Central Saint Martins in London. And this is how Ngxokolo will knit his way to the bank.

The Jersey That Says You Are A Man

You are a hard-hitting businesswoman or high-ranking female executive who has managed to avoid falling victim to poverty, res-trictive cultural attitudes, unfriendly workplace policies and biased education steering that generally stop most women on the second or third rung of the proverbial ladder of success.
Give yourself a pat on the back. Have some cake – eat it too
You certainly deserve it. It is no small feat in a world where women still make up roughly two-thirds of the population living below the poverty line. A world where yawning gender employment and wage gaps continue to prevail and top leadership and management roles are still held by men, even in typically women-dominated fields.
But the fact of the matter is, no matter what kind of corner-office view you have earned, you are still marooned in the big, bad sea of male majority. And you are still battling gender-based double-blinds.
A 2012 study commissioned by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) polled 60 Fortune 500 companies and found that executive committees were made up of just 14% women. In its 2012 census, the Business Women’s Association of South Africa found that the number of women in the working world has increased, but the number of women in senior leadership positions has decreased.
At the end of 2012, there were a measly 12 women CEOs/managing directors and 18 women chairpersons in the South Africa. Furthermore, women comprised only 21.4% of executive managerial positions and 17.1% of director roles in the country, the continent’s supposed economic pioneer. Depressing, yes? Even more shocking is that the same WSJ report discovered that only 18% of the women surveyed harbor CEO aspirations. It found that women were happy to adopt support roles fairly early in their careers and often exited the employment superhighway to fulfill family obligations. Often this happened before they had reached a point at which they could on-ramp again with ease, thus door-stopping their job prospects once and for all. In short, women are dreaming small and aiming low.
It is tempting to leave the business of change to someone else, perhaps understaffed, underfunded agents of women’s economic empowerment. But the fact of the matter is that the responsibility of elevating women into senior positions also lies with those already in senior leadership positions.
There is no time to sit around, waiting to see if a mass overhaul in company philosophy or government policy could lead to more widespread gender diversity in top management roles. Rather, the women who have fought tooth and nail to rise up through the ranks need to help revolutionize individual mindsets.
And how? Through mentorship.
The practice of sharing wisdom and inviting entrants into the workplace into personal networks has been shown to be instrumental in women’s career advancement. Such behavior instills confidence in and offers guidance to the intelligent, credible and bright women further downstream. Dr. Anita Bosch, the leader of the Women in the Workplace research pod at the University of Johannesburg in South Africa, explains: “Countless businesswomen battle with psychological hang-ups that can stymie their success. Mentorship helps budding professionals realize their value and chisel out their workplace identity, a point that’s especially important to females.”
Studies have also proven that mentorship allows the up-and-coming to make sense of business culture and set out a strategic career direction.
Take the case of Viola Manuel and her mentee, Simone Daniels. Manuel is the executive director of the Cape Chamber of Commerce, the former head of the Cape IT Initiative, an entrepreneur and founder of her own company, Afrivate. Like so many women before her, Manuel has had to claw her way up the ladder of success without a helping hand reaching down from a higher rung.
“When I was starting my career there were very few role models that were approachable and within reach, and I know that if I’d had someone to lean on I would have been even more successful, had an even more accelerated understating of my industry,” she explains.
It has prompted Manuel to partner with the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation as a mentor and take on a mentee in her personal capacity.
Simone Daniels was a final-year chemical engineering student at the University of Cape Town when she met Manuel. At the time, she was prepared to flush four painstaking years of organic chemistry, calculus and general physics down the drain even before she had experienced her first day of work.
“I was done. Dead set on giving it up,” she says emphatically.
After only a few mentorship sessions with Manuel, however, Daniels was not only prepared to continue her coursework, but was motivated to envision herself in a leadership position further down the road.
“She helped me work through what I wanted to do. From talking to her and bouncing ideas off of her, I realized that if I abandoned the degree, I’d likely never be able to go back to engineering, which would be heartbreaking. Now I think my end goal would be to be less of a process engineer and more of a manager,” Daniels explains.
Confident, passionate and not the least bit fazed by the prospect of having to prove herself in a male-dominated industry, Daniels may yet be jaded by the working world, but she is also pointedly aware of a trajectory.
It is a refreshing example of foresight. Although mentorship is not a technical skill, it is a perfect demonstration of the how it facilitates prof-essional and personal development.
Similarly, a relationship between a woman mentor and her mentee can be especially useful for tackling the conversation around how women manage time.
“There are different expectations for women, especially if you want to have a family. Learning how to address that and helping prepare people around you for that is key,” says Manuel.
And she would know. Manuel had three miscarriages before realizing that she needed to quit her job if she wanted to keep her baby. It is an int-ensely personal experience and her willingness to share it with others in similar situations is what makes her such an excellent mentor.
“Mentorship is about forming a connection and building up a relationship of support and trust. It’s about making yourself approachable, so mentees aren’t scared to ask questions,” Manuel explains.
At the end of the day, though, mentorship is a two-way street. Rebecca Pillay, the mentor manager at the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation, points out that mentors also benefit. “They get to leave a legacy behind, stay relevant and connected with a younger generation, and even easily expand their networks.”
Pillay also stresses that mentorship does not have to be viewed as an all-consuming task.
“There are no formal rules of engagement, but by setting out a contract during your first interaction, you can very clearly lay out the frequency of meetings, address the way you want to communicate with mentees and show commitment on the part of both parties,” she says.
This means that businesswomen who already feel like they have barely enough time to find two matching socks in the morning do not need to feel overburdened by the idea of mentorship.
Pillay recommends only eight- to 10-hour-long meetings throughout the year, which adds up to a single workday.
During that time, she explains, it is important to set out high-value goals, remain authentic by meeting the mentee on their level, and avoid imposing your own expectations on the person you are guiding.
The end goal is to help women in business remove obstacles, give them the confidence to break through glass ceilings and provide them with the courage to detach themselves from sticky floors.
And the greater benefit, aside from the personal gains for both mentor and mentee?
For starters, the World Economic Forum points out that higher levels of growth domestic product per capita when gender equality in the workplace is better realized. Secondly, as Manuel so aptly explains, women put their income back into the economy in a more valuable way than men. Women are more likely to save or, if they have children, invest in them. And a healthier economy often means healthier salaries.
Global investment bank Goldman Sachs has even concluded that by closing the employment gender gap in the Brics nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) and next-11 countries (three of which are African), per capita incomes could be pushed 14% higher than current projections by 2020 and 20% higher by 2030.
Of course, it goes without saying that the idea of affecting such macro-level change with a grassroots mentorship movement is a lofty aspiration. But then again, that’s exactly what women need to be doing: dreaming bigger and aiming higher. And as Viola sums up, “Whether we acknowledge it or not, it’s within the grasp of every woman in business to do something to elevate other women. That’s got to be our thinking. We have to find a way to contribute.”
So, ask yourself, are you doing your bit?

Mentorship: The missing link

Having lived in Nigeria for most of my humble life, I can comfortably say that there is at least one huge ‘all family and friends’ party going on everyday in this country. A couple of hedonistic folks have even suggested that the concept of African celebration was a Nigerian idea, complete with beer, wine, gourds of palm wine (a local brew), jollof rice and spicy chicken.
Consumer behavior such as this often becomes a trend. Very few folks, are therefore, totally surprised that, almost overnight, Nigerians have redefined the essence of celebration, and our affection for the eponymous produce of the Champagne region has become a sub-culture, a puzzling and dynamic social phenomenon with a deepening impact on the cultural and economic ethos of the land.
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To comprehend the contemporary culture of champagne consumption in Nigeria, you would have to recognize one simple fact: Nigerians are showy, ambitious, possibly more ambitious for their own pockets.
Anyone who disagrees with this view should simply go grab a magnum of the latest bubbly stuff available. And that would be ‘Taste of Diamonds’ by luxury champagne brand Goût de Diamants.
Designed by UK-based, Nigerian luxury designer Alexander Amosu, this one-off drink for ‘very private’ clients is reputed to be the most expensive champagne in the world; the asking price for one bottle and its liquid content is $1.9 million.
But why would a French vinery approach a Nigerian to help it project its expensive brew to its target markets? The answer is somewhere between personal recognition and social economics: Amosu has a track record of co-creating and helping to launch luxury goods. He once showcased the world’s most expensive suit to high society in Lagos and in London, UK. Secondly, it helps that Amosu identifies with his Nigerian roots. In a place like Nigeria, poverty and affluence could be twin brothers.
The United Nations says 63% of Nigeria’s 160 million people are technically poor, existing on less than $2 a day. The country also has some of the world’s wealthiest folks. For instance, Aliko Dangote and Mike Adenuga, two of Africa’s wealthiest moguls (worth $20 billion and $4.7 billion). Dangote and his ilk on the Forbes rich list can afford bodyguards, bullet-proof cars, private jets, luxury yachts, authentic designer goods, stadium-size parties, little islands, and several cases of ‘Taste of Diamonds’. But will the Dangote’s of Africa spend so much lucre on one bottle of liquid lust? Who knows?
The point here is that a ‘struggling giant’, Africa’s most populous economy, has become the destination of choice for the world’s champagne brands. Already acknowledged as big spenders in the retail zones of Europe, North America and the Middle East, Nigerians at home have now been recognized as one of the fastest adopters of champagne drinks globally.
Adeoye Omotayo of R&amp;B Public Relations Ltd in Lagos observes that the Nigerian environment is, without a doubt, easily part of the global champagne culture.
“Whilst a bit of pocket power may be required to constantly savor the exquisite experience of drinking champagne, one thing that can be said about Nigerians regardless of their socio-economic status is that they are largely appreciative of the fine things in life, one of which is certainly sparkling wine from the best champagne houses of Europe,” he said.
A recent report by Euromonitor, the research firm, identifies the West African nation as having the fastest growing rate of new champagne consumption in the world, second only to France, and ahead of rapidly growing economies like Brazil and China, and established markets such as the USA and Australia.
In 2011, in value terms Nigerians might have gulped as much as $50 million worth of the sparkling French liquor, and in volume terms they allegedly drank more champagne than Mexicans, Russians and South Africans, three nationalities well known for their contributions to global drinking culture. By 2017 champagne consumption in Nigeria is expected to reach the 1.1 million liter mark, competing favorably with annual beer and soft drinks purchases.
“I am not surprised by this piece of news. It is actually not a revelation to me. Nigerians have exquisite tastes, they are always willing to explore new drinks, trust me, I know what I am talking about,” says Roger Chedid, a Lagos-based Lebanese businessman who trades in wines, spirits and champagne. “Nigerians who really drink champagne don’t just take any brand; they always go for the particular brands they like. They are brand loyalists and image conscious.”
Chedid’s liquor store cum mini-bar, in the posh Lagos neighborhood of Ikoyi, reflects the avuncular character of champagne consumers; friendly talk and soft jazzy music often fills the air as patrons stroll in for a cup of cappuccino and friendly company; a few minutes later, they stroll out with their stash, business done. After 14 years of doing business in Nigeria, Chedid’s clientele come from all over the country. Increasingly, customers now order their cases of ‘sparkling wine’ via email and over the phone. Similar establishments are opening shop all over Nigeria’s urban centers.
My expedition into the local champagne ecosystem revealed the top 10 champagne brands consumed by Nigerians, as Moët &amp; Chandon, Don Pérignon, Veuve Clicquot, Lauren Perrier, Nicolas Feuillatte, Louis Roederer, Lanson, Taittinger, Ayala and Ruinart. The cheapest item on this list is about $100, for a pony sized bottle. That would buy you about 100 bottles of pop soda (soft drinks).
“We like to live the life, and our penchant for acquired taste is legendary,” says Ebi Atawodi, an events and sponsorship executive for a Nigerian cellular operator. “Increasingly, our social and private parties are like champagne and wine competitions.”
Omotayo, the PR executive whose firm also represents some of the leading champagne brands in Nigeria, agrees with her.
“Indeed, Nigerians can be somewhat ostentatious, but even champagne, like cars, has its various grades and quality brands will continue to dominate the liquor landscape,” he says.
Champagne cognoscenti believe that technology, education, global hip hop culture, the runaway success of the local music and movie scene, the coming of age of the ‘Facebook and YouTube’ generation and the expansion of the elite middle class have helped to grow the local champagne market. Clearly, the social arithmetic of champagne consumption reflects the ‘aspirational realities’ of the bold, wealthy and the adventurous.
“There are millions of Nigerians who are well traveled and have experienced the best of all worlds,” says Kayode Oguntayo, wine connoisseur, business man and owner of 1662, a ritzy wine bar in Lagos.
He reckons that, despite the waning popularity of a Nigerian music genre, the ‘Highlife Culture’ of enjoyment, has remained with us.

$1.9 Million a Pop

After 12 years on stage, fans worldwide still marvel at the performances of Africa Umoja, a colorful musical that took two old pals, Thembi Nyandeni and Todd Twala, 10 years to craft. These two performers came from the dusty streets of Soweto. Together, they created a world-class theater piece that showcases the African cultural renaissance through rhythm and dance and has visited more than 30 countries.
Young people idling in the streets motivated Nyandeni and her friend to create this production.
“Showbiz helped me to find myself. Now I want to protect others who are vulnerable,” says Nyandeni. Her father supported her throughout her dancing career by taking her to discos and parties. “My father would drop me and wait for me outside and I would dance through the night. At four in the morning, he would take me home with all my friends.”
Past members of the troupe have performed in big shows on Broadway in New York, like The Lion King. On average, dancers spend about five years with the troupe. Collen Mavundhla, aka “Mosquito”, is one of the oldest cast members. She’s been there since the group’s inception. “I’ve seen a lot of cast members being developed into professionals,” says Mavundhla.
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Umoja’s recent performance in Lagos attracted captains of industry, senior public sector officials and members of the diplomatic community. First Bank, Nigeria’s oldest bank and the show’s sponsor, was so impressed by the performance that it proposed to partner with the dance troupe. According to Folake Ani-Mumuney, head of marketing at First Bank: “The choice of Umoja is really based on the theme behind Umoja, which is the spirit of togetherness. This is something that transcends South Africa. It is something that finds a place across the globe and Nigeria.” Ani-Mumuney believes the proposed partnership will go a long way to bridging the gap between Nigerian and South African businesses and correct some of the negative perceptions that exist about the countries.
Relations between South Africa and Nigeria are strained after South Africa deported 125 Nigerians from O.R. Tambo airport. “When the political relationship hits a bad patch, South African companies bear the brunt of it as they are the face of the bilateral relationship in Nigeria. Business people suffered most from Nigeria’s retaliation on the visa issue and they formed the bulk of those turned back at the airport recently. The foreign minister had already threatened to ‘clamp down’ on SA’s companies if SA did not apologize for its immigration officials’ actions,” wrote Dianna Games of the South Africa Nigeria Chamber of Commerce.
For Africa Umoja, partnership with a Nigerian bank is an opportunity for them to be part of the solution. “Umoja is not just a South African story, it is for everybody African. So I would like to put together 12 South African and Nigerian singers and dancers to create a show that will be a symbol of unity between us. My vision is to bridge the divisions between Nigeria and South Africa,” says Nyandeni. She concedes that the road ahead is not going to be easy. In addressing tensions, cultural diplomacy will be an invaluable tool. There are prevailing negative stereotypes, she says, that need to be dispelled. Yet there are few neutral channels to nurture understanding.
Of course, to discourage stereotyping will require more than one show. But, says Ani-Mumuney,
“I always say one thing about the creative industry; it is only limited by the limits of our imagination, which
is limitless.”

Dancing Across The Divide

Here is a festival which is growing despite the unofficial cultural boycott called on Swaziland by the Swaziland Solidarity Network (SSN), a South African-based organization. The “cultural boycott” is called in support of political reform in the monarchy; and  has already kept South African musicians such as Ringo Madlingozi and newcomer Zahara from performing  in Swaziland.
<div id="attachment_894" style="width: 210px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-894" class="wp-image-894 size-medium" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/photobramlammers-0131-200x300.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="300" />SWAZILAND, MALKERNS &#8211; 20120525 &#8211; The Giant Puppets od Mozambique performs during the Bushfire Festival, Swaziland International Festival of the Arts. Photo: Bram Lammers</div>
Bushfire has grown from the initial 4,500 visitors to 17,000 with an impressive number of artists from all across the continent and Europe performing. The offering is great—from comedy to spoken word, reggae, house and theater, all on a small budget of R3.5-4 million ($476,000). It’s Swaziland’s biggest event and employs over 1,000 locals.
The MTN Bushfire festival took place during the last weekend of May. This idea which formed in Jiggs Thorne’s mind, has grown into a Swazi institution that has attracted many from across the globe and a major sponsor like MTN.
<div id="attachment_891" style="width: 484px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-891" class="size-large wp-image-891" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/jiggs1-1024x683.jpg" alt="" width="474" height="316" />SWAZILAND, MALKERNS &#8211; Jiggs Thorne Photo: Bram Lammers</div>
Jiggs Thorne (Jiggs) is a Swazi native who studied drama and politics in South Africa, two subjects he feels are pretty much the same thing. As a creative, whose passion was theater, Jiggs’ first job in Johannesburg was at the Market Theater, as a waiter, as well as at the adjoining jazz club. He opened up a shop selling African crafts from Swaziland and got the idea for ‘House on Fire’ where the festival took place.
Jiggs refers to ‘House on Fire’ as an “on-going creation&#8230; a fantasy scape” that started 10 years ago, and sits on what is now a family business complex on their farm in the Malkerns valley, in rural Swaziland. His idea was to create a space to nurture the local creative industry.
Bushfire is six years old and all the festival proceeds go to an NGO called ‘Young Heroes’, started by Steve Gallagher, a former member of the Peace Corps. Young Heroes tries to help the AIDS orphans in the country. It keeps the orphans with relatives and allows people to sponsor them, these 1,000 sponsored households receive monthly cash stipends to assist with food, clothing and education. When Gallagher and Jiggs came together they realised that they were both looking for the same thing and found a partnership that has worked for them both.
Jiggs says that the name Bushfire comes from “the flames from ‘House on Fire’ expanding and growing outwards”. Its primary focus is developing the local arts while its secondary focus is raising awareness and addressing Swaziland’s great social issues.
The festival receives funding from local partners and businesses and MTN has just signed a 3 year title sponsorship.
This is something that takes a year to plan and implement. Walking through the festival, you could see Jiggs carrying sculptures; running around approving requests; trying to find crew on the two-way radios and keeping an eye on things.
Keeping in line with sustainable growth and sharing, Bushfire participated in the AFRIFESTNET, an African Festival Network, launched in Accra, Ghana. The launch was attended by 37 festivals from 18 countries. The idea for Bushfire’s involvement is to be able to share artists and connect with other festivals— taking advantage of economies of scale by coordinating their efforts, dates and acts.
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Entering the festival, one gets a condom to spread the message of safe sex and responsible fun. Swaziland is said to have the highest HIV prevalence rate in the world, which was sitting at 26.9% in UNAIDS’2009 estimates.
Music was not the only entertainment on offer. There was a market with locals selling their wares and a great focus is placed on free trade and being eco-conscious. The food stalls had everything from pizza to Indian and Mozambican food. The two campsites were full of festival goers who braved the winter chill, all in the name of a good time. Walking along the campsites you heard distinct murmurs of siSwati, German, French and a mixture of accents.
It was a great success in anyone’s eyes and a lesson to all about using whatever means available to push your message across, by celebrating diversity and making a difference.
Africa, where’s your fire?
<h3>“Ayo, Marry My Brother!”</h3>
The crowd stood patiently under the stars on a clear, cool, night, as the band set up for the artist they’d all come to see. Then, there she was… cut-off denim shorts, long legs and Chuck Taylors.
She sings like only she can, drawing you in, then she stops.
<div id="attachment_895" style="width: 484px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-895" class="size-large wp-image-895" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/photobramlammers-0918-1024x703.jpg" alt="" width="474" height="325" />SWAZILAND, MALKERNS &#8211; 20120525 &#8211; Ayo performs and moves through the audience to dance and sing with the crowd during the Bushfire Festival, Swaziland International Festival of the Arts. Photo: Bram Lammers</div>
“The stage is too far. I don’t like it,” she says.
She makes her way to the edge of the stage. The crew and her manager look on stunned as they realize what she wants to do. Jump! Security rush to help her down. She says she hates distance and climbs onto the barrier to sing. The guard is standing there, holding onto her legs; the people are ecstatic; phones, cameras, tabs and ipads capture it all. In the blink of an eye she leaps from the barrier and is among the singing crowd. There’s a mad scramble by the crew to get to her, they jump the barrier, struggle with the gate. She doesn’t seem to notice or care very much… You may not see her but you can definitely hear her. What a voice. What a woman. It’s no wonder they wouldn’t let her end the set.
“We want more. We want more. Down on my knees… Down on my knees,” the crowd chanted for their favourite song.
“Ayo kissed me,” says one ecstatic fan as she screams out, “Ayo, marry my brother!”
If you haven’t guessed who was making waves, we are talking about singer, songwriter and mother—Joy Olasunmibo Ogunmakin, better known as Ayo. This 32-year-old German-Nigerian—who was born near Cologne, Germany—blew onto the music scene with her 2006 debut album “Joyful” and hasn’t looked back or stopped dancing.
She may be scared of flying, but after six years and three albums, she’s a true gypsy. In about a week Ayo flew from Guadeloupe to Paris, then into Swaziland for the MTN Bushfire festival. Then it was off to the Réunion Island, via South Africa, and then back to Paris—where her two children eagerly awaited her return.  Such is the life of one of the hardest working women in soul. Twenty-nine scheduled performances and an album recording between May, 11 and August, 3 alone. And she still has the energy to climb barriers.
It’s amazing to think how she manages to juggle her many roles with such grace and humility.
Her life has not been an easy one, with a mother who struggled with addiction and stints in foster homes. As a biracial child, fitting in was a challenge. Ayo points out that her middle name— Olasunmibo—means “the one who was born outside” and she doesn’t like the term “mixed” being used to describe her race.
“Mixed means 50/50, I think of myself as 100/100,” she says.
Ayo‘s music appeals to so many different people from so many different walks of life and transcends generations. She doesn’t know why this is but notes that we all share more than we think.
“My music is a therapy. Instead of going to the shrink, I’m playing music and writing music.”
‘I’m Gonna Dance’, ‘What Is Love’ and ‘Down On My Knees’ are only a few of her songs, which she calls antibiotics.
This mother of two, who’s all about connecting and sharing, is a true child of Africa, who feels she draws her strength from the continent.
“To me Africa stands for strength. I see strong people and people who have a lot of hope, who believe. People who know what it’s like to get up every day and fight.”
To her, it’s not about following the American and European industries but embracing the talent in the continent from whence it comes.
Not a fan of reality talent shows, she believes life is where you learn.
Heavens, I ran into her again the next day, waiting for the fight to Johannesburg and she looked just the same as she did on that stage; smiling, open and casual. We parted ways at O.R. International, in South Africa, with a promise that she’ll be back to perform in Africa.
It was off to Réunion Island with her straw hat in hand. I wonder whether she jumped the barrier there?
&nbsp;

Setting Fire To Swaziland

David Adjaye believes that African skylines are set for an explosion of growth as the continent’s resurgent economies look for new expressions of their increasing potency and self-confidence.
Speaking at his studio in North London, the architect says that the continent needs to define its own vision for urbanization and ensure that its architectural revolution reflects Africa’s cultural, geographical and climatic contexts.
Born in Tanzania to Ghanaian parents, Adjaye traveled extensively in his youth, following his father’s diplomatic career through Africa and the Middle East. It was that exposure that was to later inform his work when, after studying fine art, he found architecture and became fascinated by the relationship between buildings and their environment.
<div id="attachment_425" style="width: 484px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-425" class="size-large wp-image-425" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/js57_Peace-Centre0144_RT8-1024x682.jpg" alt="" width="474" height="316" />Nobel Peace Center, Oslo. The Canopy is a temporary installation by David Adjaye that serves as a gateway between Oslo City Hall, where the Peace Prize Ceremony takes place, and the Nobel Peace Center.</div>
“I realized that by having been brought up in very different contexts—cultural, religious and social contexts—I had somehow developed an appetite for learning more about how the built environment worked with that, and how it reflected that architecture in its human sense.”
Today, Adjaye is one of the world’s leading architects—in 2007 he received the Order of the British Empire for his services to architecture. His portfolio includes the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo and the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington DC, which is scheduled for completion in 2015.
For a 2010 exhibition at the Design Museum in London, Adjaye traveled to cities across Africa, photographing the buildings which, although in varying states of development or decay, show startling commonality.
Today Adjaye runs through his own potted history of African architecture: Colonial builders erased much of the pre-existing urban culture in Africa, replacing it with tropical versions of European architecture. Upon independence, new leaders embraced a vision of the future that was still largely European.
“I think the early leaders on the continent felt that modernity was the way to embrace or celebrate a sort of new world of empowerment for their nations. So you find a lot of modernist experiments, but modernist experiments that could not avoid the specificity of the geography and the climate. So you have what I call a kind of tropical modernism,” he says.
When the money and ambition began to wear thin, this modernism was replaced by economic pragmatism, driven by international donors who made their architectural choices based on their own financial imperative, and using their own approved contractors and designers.
<div id="attachment_426" style="width: 484px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-426" class="size-large wp-image-426" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/nma_b110127_f-1024x722.jpg" alt="" width="474" height="334" />National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington DC.</div>
“So you have very odd late ’70s early ’80s buildings that sort of appear, that have nothing to do with the context; they’re just blips,” Adjaye says.
With debt relief and the mineral-driven boom of the late 1990s, which gathered pace in the early years of the new century, African leaders began a new drive for modernity. With this financial independence and growing economic self-confidence has come a stronger sense of cultural identity across the continent, which is manifested in the creative arts.
“I think you see it in literature, fine arts, performing arts and architecture, they’re all in line. They all lead the image of what nations want to project of themselves.
“This image of most of the countries on the continent getting rid of their debt and suddenly discovering vast minerals and negotiating this, means that there is an opportunity to really explore the idea of modernity for these nations. And architecture comes to the forefront of that, because architecture is the image of the city and the future. Architecture is the image of the city as it sees itself. The story of the city is written in books, but it’s also written in buildings.”
The notion of buildings-as-ambassadors has gained currency in the past decade with the successful reinvention of the Emirates of Abu Dhabi, Dubai and the state of Qatar.
“It totally worked,” Adjaye says. “It gave the Emirates a skyline. For my father’s generation, the Emirates was a horrible desert and a place you never went to.”
Where the Emirates initially failed, he says, was specifying what its own version of modernity was. It is a trap he is keen for Africa to avoid. Buildings need to exist in their context, rather than just mimic the current, internationally dictated interpretation of Western modernity.
“I think if there is much more criticality about the way in which buildings are built to their climate, you get a much more unique skyline,” he says. “That doesn’t require more money, it just requires more desire on the part of the patrons to insist on a response that makes things specific, rather than insisting on an approach which is just novel.”
Africa’s modernity, Adjaye says, should be dictated by the same geographic features that defined its early cultures. This means ignoring the artificially imposed national boundaries and shaping regional identities from the unifying climates and cultures across the continent, but also avoiding the “colonial trap” of what he calls “Disney-fication” of culture.
For inspiration, Adjaye looks to New York.
“I love the Rockefeller Center. It’s not a cheap building, but it’s an efficient building. It’s a building that strove to understand the time that it was in, which was the ’30s… It talked about density in the city, it talked about networks, it talked about interconnectivity. It talked about living in the heart of the city. It gave a model which was not iconic in terms of imagery but iconic in terms of place, and it’s still a fundamental part of New York.”
That specificity of place and time has created a building that is more than functional—an artifact that helps to define the city it is in.
“There’s something compelling about coming over that bridge from Brooklyn or Newark, New Jersey, and seeing that skyline. It’s like… it’s so powerful. It’s original. That’s the vision we need in Africa. What is the model of living in Africa that nowhere else in the world you can have? The person who cracks that, cracks the game. Not the person who imports the model that we’ve seen before.
<div id="attachment_424" style="width: 610px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-424" class="size-full wp-image-424" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/iStock_000015967621Small.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="800" />New York City, Rockefeller Center, GE Building, viewed from 5th Avenue.</div>
“You’ve got to make a model that makes people say ‘I want to go to that city in Africa because it’s just so great. The life there is something I can’t have in London. It’s contemporary, I can have my life there, but it’s completely unique.’ That’s a hell of a thing.”

Tag: Culture

FORBES AFRICA SOCIAL MEDIA