AFRIKAN WORLDVIEW NEWS ROUND-UP
~ THE MENA CRISIS
One year on from the so-called ‘Arab Spring’ the results are clear for all to see and in most cases it is the chaos we had predicted all those months ago. In Libya we are still seeing the arrest, torture, beatings, rape and murder of ‘enemies’ and even former friends. As for the Benghazi ‘Boys Brigade’ we have no idea what they stand for apart from the fact they don’t like or trust anybody who is not from Benghazi unless they are anti-Afrikan Europeans such as the French President Nicolas ‘Napoleon’ Sarkozy who must be salivating at the chance to make political capital out of the chaos.
Libya’s former ambassador to France, Omar Brebesh, was killed less than 24 hours after being arrested by the Tripoli-based al-Shuhada Ashura militia. Mr Brebesh was detained on 19 Jan after being ‘called in for questioning’. A day later his family heard his body was at a hospital in Zintan southwest of Tripoli. Marks on Omar Brebesh’s body show he died as a result of torture under detention. Mr Brebesh had served in the Libyan embassy to France from 2004 to 2008 as cultural attache and then acting ambassador. He later moved to the Foreign Ministry where he had been working as a lawyer.
One of the sons of the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, Saadi Gaddafi has threatened to lead an uprising against the country’s transitional government. He said he still had many followers in Libya, including within the ruling National Transitional Council (NTC).
Unbelievably, Afrikans from neighbouring countries to the south and east are still trying to transit through Libya to get to Europe as economic migrants and finding themselves locked up and abused by the pro-western government and militias accused of being mercenaries for pro-Gaddafi forces intent on staging a counter-coup.
Meanwhile, the trouble has spread out across the Sahel. Many Tuaregs, from the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad who had been living in Libya under the patronage of Col Gaddafi, have returned to Mali with their weapons and there has been fighting across the north of the country between themselves and the Malian government forces with scores of people killed and over 100,000 displaced both internally and into neighbouring countries
Weapons and training supplied by NATO and Qatar to the NTC and militia forces last year have been sold to Salafists and other militias across the Sahel such as Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. It is no coincidence that the most devastating attacks by Boko Haram across Nigeria have come in the last year directly as a result of the arms, training and bomb making equipment that has flooded into the region from the Libyan conflict. Most recently they attacked a prison in Kogi state releasing 119 prisoners.
As if the western Sahel region didn’t have enough problems there has been a drought alert put out for Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Senegal. If it is in anyway like the famine devastating parts of the eastern Sahel and Horn of Afrika then there could be a drastic loss of life and even more problems. Those who think there is a north Afrika unconnected from some ‘sub-Saharan Afrika’ should get their heads in gear
~ EGYPT’S PEOPLE’S ASSEMBLY ELECTION RESULTS
Freedom and Justice Party - 235 seats (47.2%); Nour Party - 121 seats (24.3%); New Wafd Party - 38 seats (7.6%); Egyptian Bloc - 34 seats (6.8%); Al-Wasat Party - 10 seats (2%); Reform and Development Party - 9 seats (1.8%); Revolution Continues - 7 seats (1.4%); Other parties and independents - 42 seats (8.4%); and 10 seats also appointed by president / ruling military council
Egypt’s new parliament elected the Muslim Brotherhood’ Mohammed Saad al-Katatni as speaker from, the Islamist movement whose Freedom and Justice Party won recent elections. Liberal and secular parties polled badly, with the New Wafd securing 38 seats, the Egyptian bloc 34 and the Reform and Development Party nine. The Revolution Continues, a group formed by youth activists behind the uprising that ousted Mubarak, won only seven seats.
Nearly 80 people were killed and at least 1,000 injured in the violence following Al-Masry’s victory over Cairo-based Al-Ahly at the Port Said stadium at the start of February. Many feel it was a revenge attack by the state for the political role Al-Ahly’s supporters have played in the Tahrir Square protests that led to the downfall of the Mubarak regime and their ongoing opposition to the SCAF. It has emerged the steel doors were bolted shut resulting in dozens of fans being crushed to death. Tickets weren’t being checked and there was no real searching of fans as they entered the stadium. For the first time in the history of Al-Masry the Governor and Chief of Police did not attend this game. More than 600 people hired from outside Port Said entered the game. They had taken money from one of the sacked National Democratic party members who told them to kill and cause havoc in the stadium.
~ NIGERIA
“The number of Nigerians living on $1 a day has risen to 100 million.” – BBC World Service, Feb 14, 2012.
The $1 a day figure reflects the extreme wealth-poverty differences that exists in Nigeria with a population of 150 million people. Nigeria mistakenly contracted all other aspects of its economy such as services, industrial production and agriculture to focus on oil revenue. When its oil production is at full strength it is Afrika’s largest producer. However, as it has little refining capacity the raw crude is exported and then the refined product expensively reimported with Nigeria gaining nothing in added value. The recent lifting of the subsidy on oil has impoverished Nigerians further in a country dependent on generators due to decades of intermittent electricity supply caused by incompetence and c********n.
~ SUDAN
South Sudan has stopped all oil production in its ongoing dispute with Sudan from which it gained independence last year. South Sudan found that Khartoum was secretly selling oil - which was part of South Sudan allocation - to companies such as Trafigura and keeping the revenues. This highlights the problems that arise when newly-independent countries base their economic model on resources and income derived from good relations with their neighbours who don’t want to play ball.
~ HONDURAS PRISON FIRE
A massive fire has swept through Comayagua jail in Honduras, killing 355 prisoners. Many victims were burned or suffocated to death in their cells at the jail in central Honduras. The prison warders claim they couldn’t find the guards who had the keys to open the cells. Lucy Marder, head of the forensic services in Comayagua, said that 356 people on the prison roster were unaccounted for either missing or presumed dead out of the 853 in the prison. Relatives of suspected victims tried to force their way into the prison, desperate for news. Police responded by firing shots into the air and tear gas. An inquiry is under way whether the blaze was caused by rioting or an electrical fault. Honduran prisons in Honduras are seriously overcrowded with dire conditions.
~ PAPUA NEW GUINEA FERRY SINKING
Papua New Guinea authorities have released a list of 183 people still missing from the ferry which sank off the island’s north coast two weeks ago. The MV Rabaul Queen sank 10 miles from shore in rough water east of Lae, the country’s second-largest city. Many of those who perished were schoolchildren returning from holiday while 246 people were rescued. The ferry, operated by Star Ships, was travelling between Kimbe and Lae when it sent out a distress signal. Papua New Guinea PM Peter O’Neill has asked the Australian Maritime Authority to investigate the disaster and will turn to the Japanese for help in bringing the sunk ferry to the surface.
~ JAMAICA TO PUT MARCUS GARVEY ON THE NATIONAL CURRICULUM
After five decades the Jamaican government has finally seen sense and agreed to make the teaching of the ‘Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus Garvey’ compulsory for all primary and secondary school pupils. Given the scope of Garvey’s concerns across racial pride, political organisation, economics, relationships, arts and culture it will be one of the best groundings for the youth of Jamaica. This will be a great legacy to the memory of Moses Emanuel Henriques, the recently departed President of the Marcus Garvey Peoples Political Party. Rupert Lewis will be involved in drawing up the curriculum. Civics will also be reinstated.
~ AFRICAN-AMERICAN ACTOR AND DIRECTOR TIM REID LAUNCHES INAUGURAL BLACK BRITISH FILMMAKER WORKSHOP
www.legacymediainstitute.org
Multi-award winning and acclaimed Actor, Director and Producer Tim Reid will present a 2 week intensive filmmakers workshop in partnership with the BFI Southbank. Reid, best known for his roles in the television series the ‘Frank’s Place’, ‘Sister Sister’, and more recently ‘Treme’, will host the workshop between March 5 – 17, 2012 through his initiative the Legacy Media Institute (LMI).
The workshop, unparalleled amongst the black British filmmaking community, will create a unique exchange where participants will collaborate with top Hollywood and UK industry professionals to refine their filmmaking skills. The participants will culminate the programme by producing their own short narrative film to be screened at the end of the workshop in front of a UK audience.
Under the guidance of Director / Producer, Tim Reid, the participants will be exposed to the expert advice of other established industry professionals such as: award-winning cinematographer John Simmons, ASC, Joan Whitehead Evans, an industry Senior VP of Business and Legal Affairs, Miko Simmons, a graphic design artist, and Ken Roy, a producer and post-production supervisor. Various UK industry professionals will also join the group.
Tim Reid aims to bring about more interaction amongst filmmakers of African descent globally. Commenting on the first international collaborative effort for the US-based Legacy Media Institute he said; ‘I am excited by the opportunity to expand our mission of promoting excellence and accountability in the industry of media creation for a diverse global society’.
David Somerset, Curator of Adult and Community Education at the BFI also stated: ‘I welcome this partnership with the Legacy Media Institute as a model for promoting genuine diversity within the media. It’s a perfect accompaniment to BFI Southbank’s African Odysseys which aims to deliver films by and about the peoples of Africa and its diaspora. Such films if they are fortunate enough to have been made, and often through sheer determination and self-financing, regularly fail to reach an audience despite their artistic excellence and potential to extend the knowledge and experience of all humanity’.
Press Enquiries: Nadia Denton nadia_denton@hotmail.com / 07930 941 080
Notes to Editors
1. Filmmakers of a BME background are eligible to apply. The 2 week LMI Workshop will cost £250 before 17th Feb and £300 thereafter.
2. To apply applicants must submit a CV and examples of their work to Nadia Denton at nadia_denton@hotmail.com stating their suitability for the scheme. Deadline 28th Feb 2012.
3. The Legacy Media Institute (LMI) is based in Virginia, USA. Built on the same model as Robert Redford’s Sundance, the LMI is a support system for diverse, independent film artists with a state-of-the-art facility providing training in filmmaking, business and media production.
4. Previous black British Filmmakers who have benefited from the LMI scholarship programme include Noda Nedion and Louis Buckley. Full length interviews with Tim Reid and the filmmakers talking about the scheme can be found in The Black British Filmmaker’s Guide To Success at www.blackfilmmakersguide.com
5. The BFI Southbank’s African Odysseys is a series of films by and about the people of Africa and its diaspora. BFI teamed up with cultural leaders and activists and set up an ongoing series of films that would educate and raise the audience understanding not only about ‘film’ but also the subject of the film. The programme reaches out beyond regular film-goers and promotes all events through grass roots organisations keeping the ticket price at a minimum to prevent exclusion.
OBITUARY
WHITNEY ELIZABETH HOUSTON. Recording artist, actress, model, TV and film producer (Aug 9, 1963 – Feb 11, 2012) Whitney Houston was the third and youngest child of gospel singer Cissy Houston. Her cousins were the singers Dionne and Dee Dee Warwick, and her godmother was Aretha Franklin. She was the most successful female recording artist across pop, soul, R’n’B, gospel (and we can’t forget the dubplate specials for Wyclef Jean and The Refugee Camp). Whitney sold over 170 million albums, singles and videos worldwide. Her awards include two Emmy Awards, six Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards and 22 American Music Awards among a total of 415 career awards in her lifetime.
In 1978, at age 15, Whitney sang backing vocals on Chaka Khan’s ‘I’m Every Woman’, a song she would later turn into a larger hit for herself on ‘The Bodyguard’ soundtrack. She also sang backing vocals on albums by Lou Rawls and Jermaine Jackson. Her debut album ‘Whitney Houston’ was released early in 1985 with production from Michael Masser, Kashif, Jermaine Jackson and Narada Michael Walden. With her follow-up ‘Whitney’ she became the first female artist to debut at number one on the Billboard 200 albums chart, and the first artist to enter the albums chart at number one in both the US and UK. She had a total of seven consecutive number one hits, breaking the record previously shared by The Beatles and The Bee Gees
Her first acting role was in the ‘The Bodyguard’. The film’s original soundtrack won the 1994 Grammy Award for Album of the Year. It was named the Top-selling Soundtrack Album of the Century by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It is the only album by a female in the world’s Top 10 best-selling albums. Houston won three Grammys for the album in 1994, became the first artist to sell more than a million copies of an album in a week and she is the only female act in the top 10 of the best-selling albums of all time. The single ‘I Will Always Love You’, became the best-selling single by a female artist in music history.
Despite repeated accusations of blandness and being apolitical Whitney Houston was a strong supporter of educational and positive image organisations and the anti-apartheid movement. During her modelling days she refused to work with any agencies which did business with apartheid South Africa. On June 11, 1988, she performed at Wembley Stadium to celebrate the then-imprisoned Nelson Mandela’s 70th birthday. In October 1994, Houston attended and performed at a state dinner in the White House honouring Nelson Mandela as president. At the end of that world tour she performed three concerts in South Africa playing to over 200,000 people. The concert was broadcast live on HBO with funds being donated to charities in the country.
There were many emotional ups and downs in Whitney Houston’s life which can be read about and discussed elsewhere. But with her it was really about the voice that spanned three octaves and could hold the most intricate of vocal phrasings in a style that many wannabes and nevergonnabes in the music business tried hard to imitate but could never match. At the time of her passing she had finished shooting the forthcoming remake of the 1976 film ‘Sparkle’. Whitney Houston is survived by her daughter, Bobbi Kristina Houston Brown, and her family of musicians and singers.
My Love Is Your Love
Verse 1
If tomorrow is Judgement Day (Sing Mommy) / And I’m standing on the front line, mmm... / And the Lord asks me what I did with my life, / I will say, I spent it with you.
If I wake up in World War III, / I see destruction and poverty. / And I feel like I wanna to go home, / It’s ok, / If you’re comin’ with me.
Chorus:
Your love is my love, / And my love is your love. / It would take an eternity to break us, / And chains of Amistad couldn’t hold us. / (repeat 2x)
Verse 2
If I lose my fame and fortune (really don’t matter) / And I’m homeless on the street (on the street, oh lord) / And I’m sleepin’ in Grand Central Station (ok) / It’s ok, / If you’re sleepin’ with me.
As the years they pass us by (years, the years, the years) / We stay young through each others eyes (each others eyes) / And no matter how old we get, / It’s ok (ok) / As long as I got you babe.
Chorus:
Your love is my love, / And my love is your love. / It would take an eternity to break us, / And chains of Amistad couldn’t hold us. / (repeat 2x)
Break
If I should die this very day (very, very, very day) / Don’t cry, ‘cause on earth we wasn’t meant to stay. / And no matter what the people say (really don’t matter) / I’ll be waiting for you after the Judgement Day.
Chorus until end:
Your love is my love, / And my love is your love. / It would take an eternity to break us, / And chains of Amistad couldn’t hold us.
FORTHCOMING NUBIART PROFILES
NUBIART: Focus on arts, business, education, health, political developments and the media.
~ ‘DEBADEMBA’ - Debademba [Chapa Blues - Out Now] In the Bambara language of West Afrika, Debademba means big family and this album reflects the musical family that spans across the Sahel and into the diaspora in Europe. In 2008 Burkinabé guitarist Abdoulaye Traoré started playing with Mohamed Diaby, the son of Ivoirian griot Koumba Kouyaté, and the result is a blend of griot styles, Afro-Rock, jazz-funk and desert blues. ‘Agnakamina’ is a song against the civil war that had been wracking Ivory Coast for the last decade and was only resolved with the swearing in of Alassane Ouattara as President and the transfer of Laurent Gbagbo to the ICC at The Hague. Fatoumata Diawara, highly-acclaimed for her records and gigs last year, appears on ‘Tribu Sissoko’ and the Wassoulou-style ‘Miridjougou’. Another powerful collaboration is with the gravel-voiced Awa, who sounds as old as time itself on ‘Africa Blues’ which is dedicated to musical greats such as Ali Farka Toure, Fode Kouyate and Bembeya Jazz’s Aboubakar Demba. ‘Ma’ is an homage to Abdoulaye’s mother and then there is the desert blues of ‘Loundotemena’. The Ethiopian-tinged ‘Takama (aventure) Pts 1&2’ is about the joys of meeting people. The flute-led instrumental ‘Ma Cherie’ invokes the love of a man for a woman, their people and humanity. ‘Kiefali (Guerrier)’, is in praise of warriors for justice and those who take the migrant’s journey across and out of Afrika, many never to return. The album ends with ‘Thomas Sankara’, a poignant tribute to the former President of Burkina Faso who was executed in a coup which brought the current leader Blaise Compaore to power. It features a rousing pan-Afrikan speech that makes you realise just how much we have lost in our thinkers and activists over the past three decades.
NUBIART LIBRARY – FEB MEDIA
We will only review books we have read and DVDs we have seen and that are available at reasonable prices online or in shops or libraries. However, given the nature and current state of Afrikan publishing and production there may be books and films on this list that are worth the extra effort to track down.
~ ‘THE BLACK POWER MIXTAPE’. Dir: Göran Olsson [SODA Pictures] Produced by actor-director Danny Glover from powerful documentary footage recorded between 1967 and 1975 ‘The Black Power Mixtape’, chronicles the story of the Afrikan-American community with a slightly different eye by Swedish journalists as oppose to the usual American slant. It features rare interviews and archive footage only recently discovered, with activists such as Angela Davis, Bobby Seale and kicks off with Stokely Carmichael revealingly interviewing his own mother about their racist experiences in America after she and her husband came from Trinidad. There is an up-to-date interview with Angela Davis. Music comes from The Roots, Michael Jackson and Erykah Badu. The extra, ‘This Film Is Meant To Be About Stokely Carmichael’, tells of the search by the London-based daughter of Stokely Carmichael’s cousin to find her Afrikan identity as she has been acting more-European than many Europeans. We found it cringe-worthy in places but it does truly reflect some of the issues facing the increasing number of Afrikans across Europe who identify themselves with the majority population or as ‘urban’.
NUBIART DIARY
~ ‘THE STORY OF LOVERS ROCK’. Dir: Menelik Shabazz. Dur: 96 mins. Lovers Rock, often dubbed ‘romantic reggae’ is a uniquely Afrikan British sound that developed in the late 70s and 80s against a backdrop of riots, racial tension and sound systems. Live performance, comedy sketches, dance, interviews and archive shed light on the music and the generation that embraced it. Lovers Rock allowed young people to experience intimacy and healing through dance at parties and clubs. It developed into a successful sound with national UK hits and was influential to British bands. These influences underline the impact the music was making in bridging the multi-cultural gap that polarized the times. The film sheds light on a forgotten period of British music, social and political history. For venues across Britain check: http://www.loversrockthefilm.com
~ NUBIAN JAK PLAQUE CEREMONY. On 21st February 2012, exactly 47 years to the day of his passing, Malcolm X will be honoured with a blue heritage plaque on Marshall Road in Smethwick. The idea for the plaque was organised by the Nubian Jak Community Trust, and is supported by the Birmingham based education group Recognize, the Indian Workers Association GB (who invited Malcolm X to Smethwick), the African Caribbean Self Help Organisation, and Sandwell Council. The plaque will be unveiled by Sandwell Mayor Councillor Joyce Underhill, Jak Beula chair of the Nubian Jak Community Trust, and Avtar Joahl, former secretary general of the IWA (GB) who marched with Malcolm X on that famous day in February 1965. On Tues 21 Feb at 1.30pm-2.30pm at Corner of Marshall St and West Park Rd, Smethwick, B67, West Midlands. Reception: 3–7pm at R.A.C.E Advice and Support Network, Garvey House 127 Soho Hill, Handsworth, Birmingham, B19 1AT. Contact: Event and Marketing: 0800 093 0400. Reception: R.A.C.E Commercial – 0121 551 6333. Sandwell Council - 0121 569 3029. Plaque & Sculpture Scheme: Nu Jak Media – 020 7692 4880.
~ THE CENTRE OF AFRICAN STUDIES PRESENT ‘URBAN GOVERNANCE AND PARTICIPATION’. Dr Barbara Lipietz (UCL) has worked extensively on issues of urban governance and participation in relation Africa, and in particular South Africa. On Thurs 23 Feb at 5-7pm at Rm B102, Brunei Gallery, SOAS, Thornhaugh St, London, WC2E. For more details e-mail: cas@soas.ac.uk Web: www.soas.ac.uk/cas/events
~ NATIONAL BLACK PEOPLES DAY OF ACTION FRIDAY 2 MARCH 2012. The 31st anniversary of the national march in 1981 which took place to demonstrate against state, media and police indifference and racism after the deaths of 13 young people in the New Cross Fire. The day will feature a march and conference on current issues facing the community. E-mail info@afrikanpeoplesparliament.org phone 020 8539 2154 or 07908 814 152.
~ “WE’RE INDIAN AND AFRICAN”: SIDIS OF INDIA LECTURE AND FILMS. With Dr Shihan de Silva (Senior Fellow, Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London and Member of the Scientific Committee of the UNESCO Slave Route Project). Chair: Dr David Taylor (SOAS & Institute of Commonwealth Studies). The Lecture will be followed by the screening of two documentaries produced by Beheroze Shroff (University of California, Irvine, USA).
“We’re Indian and African”: Voices of the Sidis (22 mins). This film explores the lives of the Sidis in Gujarat. Sidi men and women speak about the challenges they face as caretakers of the shrine of their ancestral saint Bava Gor. The Sidis also discuss their sacred Goma-Dhammal dance performed for devotees and spectators. The film also gives a glimpse into the spiritual legacy of the Sidis through the Parsi devotees of Bava Gor in Bombay.
And ‘Voices of the Sidis: Ancestral Links (26 mins). In this engaging portrait of an urban Sidi family in Bombay (Maharashtra), Babubhai traces his ancestry to Zanzibar. He also reminisces about his work as a stuntman in Bollywood films. Babubhai’s wife, Fatimaben, narrates her grandmother’s work in a Hindu royal court. Their daughter, Heena, speaks about issues of identity in contemporary India.
On Fri 9 Mar at 5.30-7.30pm at College Buildings, Khalili Lecture Theatre, SOAS, Thornhaugh St, London, WC2E. Tel: 020 7898 4892 / 3. E-mail: centres@soas.ac.uk
~ CARDBOARD CITIZENS PRESENT ‘A FEW MAN FRIDAYS’. Written and directed by Adrian Jackson, designed by Fred Meller, music and soundtrack by David Baird. ‘A Few Man Fridays’ is about the expulsion of the entire population of the Chagos Archipelago. It is seen through the eyes of Prosper in Crawley, Stu in the US State Department, Conservationist Teddy, and the recently deceased Chagossian Madame Lisette Talate. The play reveals the shocking chronicle of who lied, who believed them, who colluded and who suffered in the expulsion from their homes of a people described by the Foreign Office in 1966 as ‘a few Tarzans and Man Fridays’. Until 10 Mar at the Riverside Studios, Crisp Road, Hammersmith, London, SW6. Booking: 020 8237 1000. Web: www.riversidestudios.co.uk/
~ BLACK DOLLY DAY. Exhibition, lectures & Workshop - Bring Your Dolly! On Sun 11 Mar at 2-7pm at Navarino Mansions Community Hall, Dalston Lane, London, E8 8LZ. Adm: £5 / £1 (U-16). Tel: 07956 134 370 / 07947 838 729.
~ PECKHAM SPACE PRESENTS THE SOUTH LONDON BLACK MUSIC ARCHIVE. An exhibition by Barby Asante that aims to celebrate and preserve South Londoners’ personal relationships with seminal moments in music history. Peckham Space will be transformed into an ‘open archive’ and will include books, magazines, concert tickets, posters, stories, records and CDs gathered and displayed with the reverence of museum pieces. One of the founding items of the South London Black Music Archive will be a ‘limited edition’ vinyl specially produced for the project as a result of the artist’s collaboration with young people from the Leaders of Tomorrow (LOT) mentoring programme with an exclusive record sleeve by graphic design collective Åbäke. Copies will be available from record shops across South London and at Peckham Space for the duration of the exhibition. Until March 24 at Peckham Space, Peckham High Street, London, SE15. Visit www.peckhamspace.com.
~ ‘THIN BLACK LINE(S): THE LEGACY OF BLACK WOMEN ARTISTS’
Put together by Tate curator Paul Goodwin and artist Lubaina Himid, MBE, ‘Thin Black Line(s)’ presents a selection of pieces drawn from three major exhibitions of Afrikan and Asian women artists curated by Himid in the early 1980s: ‘Five Black Women’ at the Africa Centre (1983); ‘Black Women Time Now’ at the Battersea Arts Centre (1983-84); and ‘The Thin Black Line’ at the Institute for Contemporary Art (1985). The display includes works by Sutapa Biswas, Sonia Boyce, Lubaina Himid, Claudette Johnson, Ingrid Pollard, Veronica Ryan and Maud Sulter. Drawings, paintings, sculptures and photographs are showcased alongside a video documentary on the ‘Black Art’ scene and archival documents comprising of exhibition posters, invitations, letters, etc. In Britain, the Caribbean Artists Movement (1966-72) and the Black Art (1980s) have enabled Afrikan artists and intellectuals to retain ownership of the discourse on their arts and cultures. Until 18 Mar 2012 at Tate Britain, Millbank, London, SW1P 4RG. Adm: Free. Tel: 020 7887 8888.
~ REEL TRINI fortnightly screenings. The new rendezvous for local film aficionados on Sundays at 5pm at Trevor’s Edge in St Augustine, Trinidad. Tel: 744-4956. E-mail: caribbeinginc@gmail.com
Contact Details
Kubara Zamani, Afrikan Quest International, PO Box 35165, London, SE5 8WU. Tel: 07811 494 969. E-mail: afrikanquest@hotmail.com Web: www.southwark.tv/quest/aqhome.asp
External Links
Afrikan Quest International
~ THE MENA CRISIS
One year on from the so-called ‘Arab Spring’ the results are clear for all to see and in most cases it is the chaos we had predicted all those months ago. In Libya we are still seeing the arrest, torture, beatings, rape and murder of ‘enemies’ and even former friends. As for the Benghazi ‘Boys Brigade’ we have no idea what they stand for apart from the fact they don’t like or trust anybody who is not from Benghazi unless they are anti-Afrikan Europeans such as the French President Nicolas ‘Napoleon’ Sarkozy who must be salivating at the chance to make political capital out of the chaos.
Libya’s former ambassador to France, Omar Brebesh, was killed less than 24 hours after being arrested by the Tripoli-based al-Shuhada Ashura militia. Mr Brebesh was detained on 19 Jan after being ‘called in for questioning’. A day later his family heard his body was at a hospital in Zintan southwest of Tripoli. Marks on Omar Brebesh’s body show he died as a result of torture under detention. Mr Brebesh had served in the Libyan embassy to France from 2004 to 2008 as cultural attache and then acting ambassador. He later moved to the Foreign Ministry where he had been working as a lawyer.
One of the sons of the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, Saadi Gaddafi has threatened to lead an uprising against the country’s transitional government. He said he still had many followers in Libya, including within the ruling National Transitional Council (NTC).
Unbelievably, Afrikans from neighbouring countries to the south and east are still trying to transit through Libya to get to Europe as economic migrants and finding themselves locked up and abused by the pro-western government and militias accused of being mercenaries for pro-Gaddafi forces intent on staging a counter-coup.
Meanwhile, the trouble has spread out across the Sahel. Many Tuaregs, from the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad who had been living in Libya under the patronage of Col Gaddafi, have returned to Mali with their weapons and there has been fighting across the north of the country between themselves and the Malian government forces with scores of people killed and over 100,000 displaced both internally and into neighbouring countries
Weapons and training supplied by NATO and Qatar to the NTC and militia forces last year have been sold to Salafists and other militias across the Sahel such as Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. It is no coincidence that the most devastating attacks by Boko Haram across Nigeria have come in the last year directly as a result of the arms, training and bomb making equipment that has flooded into the region from the Libyan conflict. Most recently they attacked a prison in Kogi state releasing 119 prisoners.
As if the western Sahel region didn’t have enough problems there has been a drought alert put out for Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Senegal. If it is in anyway like the famine devastating parts of the eastern Sahel and Horn of Afrika then there could be a drastic loss of life and even more problems. Those who think there is a north Afrika unconnected from some ‘sub-Saharan Afrika’ should get their heads in gear
~ EGYPT’S PEOPLE’S ASSEMBLY ELECTION RESULTS
Freedom and Justice Party - 235 seats (47.2%); Nour Party - 121 seats (24.3%); New Wafd Party - 38 seats (7.6%); Egyptian Bloc - 34 seats (6.8%); Al-Wasat Party - 10 seats (2%); Reform and Development Party - 9 seats (1.8%); Revolution Continues - 7 seats (1.4%); Other parties and independents - 42 seats (8.4%); and 10 seats also appointed by president / ruling military council
Egypt’s new parliament elected the Muslim Brotherhood’ Mohammed Saad al-Katatni as speaker from, the Islamist movement whose Freedom and Justice Party won recent elections. Liberal and secular parties polled badly, with the New Wafd securing 38 seats, the Egyptian bloc 34 and the Reform and Development Party nine. The Revolution Continues, a group formed by youth activists behind the uprising that ousted Mubarak, won only seven seats.
Nearly 80 people were killed and at least 1,000 injured in the violence following Al-Masry’s victory over Cairo-based Al-Ahly at the Port Said stadium at the start of February. Many feel it was a revenge attack by the state for the political role Al-Ahly’s supporters have played in the Tahrir Square protests that led to the downfall of the Mubarak regime and their ongoing opposition to the SCAF. It has emerged the steel doors were bolted shut resulting in dozens of fans being crushed to death. Tickets weren’t being checked and there was no real searching of fans as they entered the stadium. For the first time in the history of Al-Masry the Governor and Chief of Police did not attend this game. More than 600 people hired from outside Port Said entered the game. They had taken money from one of the sacked National Democratic party members who told them to kill and cause havoc in the stadium.
~ NIGERIA
“The number of Nigerians living on $1 a day has risen to 100 million.” – BBC World Service, Feb 14, 2012.
The $1 a day figure reflects the extreme wealth-poverty differences that exists in Nigeria with a population of 150 million people. Nigeria mistakenly contracted all other aspects of its economy such as services, industrial production and agriculture to focus on oil revenue. When its oil production is at full strength it is Afrika’s largest producer. However, as it has little refining capacity the raw crude is exported and then the refined product expensively reimported with Nigeria gaining nothing in added value. The recent lifting of the subsidy on oil has impoverished Nigerians further in a country dependent on generators due to decades of intermittent electricity supply caused by incompetence and c********n.
~ SUDAN
South Sudan has stopped all oil production in its ongoing dispute with Sudan from which it gained independence last year. South Sudan found that Khartoum was secretly selling oil - which was part of South Sudan allocation - to companies such as Trafigura and keeping the revenues. This highlights the problems that arise when newly-independent countries base their economic model on resources and income derived from good relations with their neighbours who don’t want to play ball.
~ HONDURAS PRISON FIRE
A massive fire has swept through Comayagua jail in Honduras, killing 355 prisoners. Many victims were burned or suffocated to death in their cells at the jail in central Honduras. The prison warders claim they couldn’t find the guards who had the keys to open the cells. Lucy Marder, head of the forensic services in Comayagua, said that 356 people on the prison roster were unaccounted for either missing or presumed dead out of the 853 in the prison. Relatives of suspected victims tried to force their way into the prison, desperate for news. Police responded by firing shots into the air and tear gas. An inquiry is under way whether the blaze was caused by rioting or an electrical fault. Honduran prisons in Honduras are seriously overcrowded with dire conditions.
~ PAPUA NEW GUINEA FERRY SINKING
Papua New Guinea authorities have released a list of 183 people still missing from the ferry which sank off the island’s north coast two weeks ago. The MV Rabaul Queen sank 10 miles from shore in rough water east of Lae, the country’s second-largest city. Many of those who perished were schoolchildren returning from holiday while 246 people were rescued. The ferry, operated by Star Ships, was travelling between Kimbe and Lae when it sent out a distress signal. Papua New Guinea PM Peter O’Neill has asked the Australian Maritime Authority to investigate the disaster and will turn to the Japanese for help in bringing the sunk ferry to the surface.
~ JAMAICA TO PUT MARCUS GARVEY ON THE NATIONAL CURRICULUM
After five decades the Jamaican government has finally seen sense and agreed to make the teaching of the ‘Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus Garvey’ compulsory for all primary and secondary school pupils. Given the scope of Garvey’s concerns across racial pride, political organisation, economics, relationships, arts and culture it will be one of the best groundings for the youth of Jamaica. This will be a great legacy to the memory of Moses Emanuel Henriques, the recently departed President of the Marcus Garvey Peoples Political Party. Rupert Lewis will be involved in drawing up the curriculum. Civics will also be reinstated.
~ AFRICAN-AMERICAN ACTOR AND DIRECTOR TIM REID LAUNCHES INAUGURAL BLACK BRITISH FILMMAKER WORKSHOP
www.legacymediainstitute.org
Multi-award winning and acclaimed Actor, Director and Producer Tim Reid will present a 2 week intensive filmmakers workshop in partnership with the BFI Southbank. Reid, best known for his roles in the television series the ‘Frank’s Place’, ‘Sister Sister’, and more recently ‘Treme’, will host the workshop between March 5 – 17, 2012 through his initiative the Legacy Media Institute (LMI).
The workshop, unparalleled amongst the black British filmmaking community, will create a unique exchange where participants will collaborate with top Hollywood and UK industry professionals to refine their filmmaking skills. The participants will culminate the programme by producing their own short narrative film to be screened at the end of the workshop in front of a UK audience.
Under the guidance of Director / Producer, Tim Reid, the participants will be exposed to the expert advice of other established industry professionals such as: award-winning cinematographer John Simmons, ASC, Joan Whitehead Evans, an industry Senior VP of Business and Legal Affairs, Miko Simmons, a graphic design artist, and Ken Roy, a producer and post-production supervisor. Various UK industry professionals will also join the group.
Tim Reid aims to bring about more interaction amongst filmmakers of African descent globally. Commenting on the first international collaborative effort for the US-based Legacy Media Institute he said; ‘I am excited by the opportunity to expand our mission of promoting excellence and accountability in the industry of media creation for a diverse global society’.
David Somerset, Curator of Adult and Community Education at the BFI also stated: ‘I welcome this partnership with the Legacy Media Institute as a model for promoting genuine diversity within the media. It’s a perfect accompaniment to BFI Southbank’s African Odysseys which aims to deliver films by and about the peoples of Africa and its diaspora. Such films if they are fortunate enough to have been made, and often through sheer determination and self-financing, regularly fail to reach an audience despite their artistic excellence and potential to extend the knowledge and experience of all humanity’.
Press Enquiries: Nadia Denton nadia_denton@hotmail.com / 07930 941 080
Notes to Editors
1. Filmmakers of a BME background are eligible to apply. The 2 week LMI Workshop will cost £250 before 17th Feb and £300 thereafter.
2. To apply applicants must submit a CV and examples of their work to Nadia Denton at nadia_denton@hotmail.com stating their suitability for the scheme. Deadline 28th Feb 2012.
3. The Legacy Media Institute (LMI) is based in Virginia, USA. Built on the same model as Robert Redford’s Sundance, the LMI is a support system for diverse, independent film artists with a state-of-the-art facility providing training in filmmaking, business and media production.
4. Previous black British Filmmakers who have benefited from the LMI scholarship programme include Noda Nedion and Louis Buckley. Full length interviews with Tim Reid and the filmmakers talking about the scheme can be found in The Black British Filmmaker’s Guide To Success at www.blackfilmmakersguide.com
5. The BFI Southbank’s African Odysseys is a series of films by and about the people of Africa and its diaspora. BFI teamed up with cultural leaders and activists and set up an ongoing series of films that would educate and raise the audience understanding not only about ‘film’ but also the subject of the film. The programme reaches out beyond regular film-goers and promotes all events through grass roots organisations keeping the ticket price at a minimum to prevent exclusion.
OBITUARY
WHITNEY ELIZABETH HOUSTON. Recording artist, actress, model, TV and film producer (Aug 9, 1963 – Feb 11, 2012) Whitney Houston was the third and youngest child of gospel singer Cissy Houston. Her cousins were the singers Dionne and Dee Dee Warwick, and her godmother was Aretha Franklin. She was the most successful female recording artist across pop, soul, R’n’B, gospel (and we can’t forget the dubplate specials for Wyclef Jean and The Refugee Camp). Whitney sold over 170 million albums, singles and videos worldwide. Her awards include two Emmy Awards, six Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards and 22 American Music Awards among a total of 415 career awards in her lifetime.
In 1978, at age 15, Whitney sang backing vocals on Chaka Khan’s ‘I’m Every Woman’, a song she would later turn into a larger hit for herself on ‘The Bodyguard’ soundtrack. She also sang backing vocals on albums by Lou Rawls and Jermaine Jackson. Her debut album ‘Whitney Houston’ was released early in 1985 with production from Michael Masser, Kashif, Jermaine Jackson and Narada Michael Walden. With her follow-up ‘Whitney’ she became the first female artist to debut at number one on the Billboard 200 albums chart, and the first artist to enter the albums chart at number one in both the US and UK. She had a total of seven consecutive number one hits, breaking the record previously shared by The Beatles and The Bee Gees
Her first acting role was in the ‘The Bodyguard’. The film’s original soundtrack won the 1994 Grammy Award for Album of the Year. It was named the Top-selling Soundtrack Album of the Century by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It is the only album by a female in the world’s Top 10 best-selling albums. Houston won three Grammys for the album in 1994, became the first artist to sell more than a million copies of an album in a week and she is the only female act in the top 10 of the best-selling albums of all time. The single ‘I Will Always Love You’, became the best-selling single by a female artist in music history.
Despite repeated accusations of blandness and being apolitical Whitney Houston was a strong supporter of educational and positive image organisations and the anti-apartheid movement. During her modelling days she refused to work with any agencies which did business with apartheid South Africa. On June 11, 1988, she performed at Wembley Stadium to celebrate the then-imprisoned Nelson Mandela’s 70th birthday. In October 1994, Houston attended and performed at a state dinner in the White House honouring Nelson Mandela as president. At the end of that world tour she performed three concerts in South Africa playing to over 200,000 people. The concert was broadcast live on HBO with funds being donated to charities in the country.
There were many emotional ups and downs in Whitney Houston’s life which can be read about and discussed elsewhere. But with her it was really about the voice that spanned three octaves and could hold the most intricate of vocal phrasings in a style that many wannabes and nevergonnabes in the music business tried hard to imitate but could never match. At the time of her passing she had finished shooting the forthcoming remake of the 1976 film ‘Sparkle’. Whitney Houston is survived by her daughter, Bobbi Kristina Houston Brown, and her family of musicians and singers.
My Love Is Your Love
Verse 1
If tomorrow is Judgement Day (Sing Mommy) / And I’m standing on the front line, mmm... / And the Lord asks me what I did with my life, / I will say, I spent it with you.
If I wake up in World War III, / I see destruction and poverty. / And I feel like I wanna to go home, / It’s ok, / If you’re comin’ with me.
Chorus:
Your love is my love, / And my love is your love. / It would take an eternity to break us, / And chains of Amistad couldn’t hold us. / (repeat 2x)
Verse 2
If I lose my fame and fortune (really don’t matter) / And I’m homeless on the street (on the street, oh lord) / And I’m sleepin’ in Grand Central Station (ok) / It’s ok, / If you’re sleepin’ with me.
As the years they pass us by (years, the years, the years) / We stay young through each others eyes (each others eyes) / And no matter how old we get, / It’s ok (ok) / As long as I got you babe.
Chorus:
Your love is my love, / And my love is your love. / It would take an eternity to break us, / And chains of Amistad couldn’t hold us. / (repeat 2x)
Break
If I should die this very day (very, very, very day) / Don’t cry, ‘cause on earth we wasn’t meant to stay. / And no matter what the people say (really don’t matter) / I’ll be waiting for you after the Judgement Day.
Chorus until end:
Your love is my love, / And my love is your love. / It would take an eternity to break us, / And chains of Amistad couldn’t hold us.
Debademba
FEB PROMO
FORTHCOMING NUBIART PROFILESNUBIART: Focus on arts, business, education, health, political developments and the media.
~ ‘DEBADEMBA’ - Debademba [Chapa Blues - Out Now] In the Bambara language of West Afrika, Debademba means big family and this album reflects the musical family that spans across the Sahel and into the diaspora in Europe. In 2008 Burkinabé guitarist Abdoulaye Traoré started playing with Mohamed Diaby, the son of Ivoirian griot Koumba Kouyaté, and the result is a blend of griot styles, Afro-Rock, jazz-funk and desert blues. ‘Agnakamina’ is a song against the civil war that had been wracking Ivory Coast for the last decade and was only resolved with the swearing in of Alassane Ouattara as President and the transfer of Laurent Gbagbo to the ICC at The Hague. Fatoumata Diawara, highly-acclaimed for her records and gigs last year, appears on ‘Tribu Sissoko’ and the Wassoulou-style ‘Miridjougou’. Another powerful collaboration is with the gravel-voiced Awa, who sounds as old as time itself on ‘Africa Blues’ which is dedicated to musical greats such as Ali Farka Toure, Fode Kouyate and Bembeya Jazz’s Aboubakar Demba. ‘Ma’ is an homage to Abdoulaye’s mother and then there is the desert blues of ‘Loundotemena’. The Ethiopian-tinged ‘Takama (aventure) Pts 1&2’ is about the joys of meeting people. The flute-led instrumental ‘Ma Cherie’ invokes the love of a man for a woman, their people and humanity. ‘Kiefali (Guerrier)’, is in praise of warriors for justice and those who take the migrant’s journey across and out of Afrika, many never to return. The album ends with ‘Thomas Sankara’, a poignant tribute to the former President of Burkina Faso who was executed in a coup which brought the current leader Blaise Compaore to power. It features a rousing pan-Afrikan speech that makes you realise just how much we have lost in our thinkers and activists over the past three decades.
NUBIART LIBRARY – FEB MEDIA
We will only review books we have read and DVDs we have seen and that are available at reasonable prices online or in shops or libraries. However, given the nature and current state of Afrikan publishing and production there may be books and films on this list that are worth the extra effort to track down.
~ ‘THE BLACK POWER MIXTAPE’. Dir: Göran Olsson [SODA Pictures] Produced by actor-director Danny Glover from powerful documentary footage recorded between 1967 and 1975 ‘The Black Power Mixtape’, chronicles the story of the Afrikan-American community with a slightly different eye by Swedish journalists as oppose to the usual American slant. It features rare interviews and archive footage only recently discovered, with activists such as Angela Davis, Bobby Seale and kicks off with Stokely Carmichael revealingly interviewing his own mother about their racist experiences in America after she and her husband came from Trinidad. There is an up-to-date interview with Angela Davis. Music comes from The Roots, Michael Jackson and Erykah Badu. The extra, ‘This Film Is Meant To Be About Stokely Carmichael’, tells of the search by the London-based daughter of Stokely Carmichael’s cousin to find her Afrikan identity as she has been acting more-European than many Europeans. We found it cringe-worthy in places but it does truly reflect some of the issues facing the increasing number of Afrikans across Europe who identify themselves with the majority population or as ‘urban’.
NUBIART DIARY
~ ‘THE STORY OF LOVERS ROCK’. Dir: Menelik Shabazz. Dur: 96 mins. Lovers Rock, often dubbed ‘romantic reggae’ is a uniquely Afrikan British sound that developed in the late 70s and 80s against a backdrop of riots, racial tension and sound systems. Live performance, comedy sketches, dance, interviews and archive shed light on the music and the generation that embraced it. Lovers Rock allowed young people to experience intimacy and healing through dance at parties and clubs. It developed into a successful sound with national UK hits and was influential to British bands. These influences underline the impact the music was making in bridging the multi-cultural gap that polarized the times. The film sheds light on a forgotten period of British music, social and political history. For venues across Britain check: http://www.loversrockthefilm.com
~ NUBIAN JAK PLAQUE CEREMONY. On 21st February 2012, exactly 47 years to the day of his passing, Malcolm X will be honoured with a blue heritage plaque on Marshall Road in Smethwick. The idea for the plaque was organised by the Nubian Jak Community Trust, and is supported by the Birmingham based education group Recognize, the Indian Workers Association GB (who invited Malcolm X to Smethwick), the African Caribbean Self Help Organisation, and Sandwell Council. The plaque will be unveiled by Sandwell Mayor Councillor Joyce Underhill, Jak Beula chair of the Nubian Jak Community Trust, and Avtar Joahl, former secretary general of the IWA (GB) who marched with Malcolm X on that famous day in February 1965. On Tues 21 Feb at 1.30pm-2.30pm at Corner of Marshall St and West Park Rd, Smethwick, B67, West Midlands. Reception: 3–7pm at R.A.C.E Advice and Support Network, Garvey House 127 Soho Hill, Handsworth, Birmingham, B19 1AT. Contact: Event and Marketing: 0800 093 0400. Reception: R.A.C.E Commercial – 0121 551 6333. Sandwell Council - 0121 569 3029. Plaque & Sculpture Scheme: Nu Jak Media – 020 7692 4880.
~ THE CENTRE OF AFRICAN STUDIES PRESENT ‘URBAN GOVERNANCE AND PARTICIPATION’. Dr Barbara Lipietz (UCL) has worked extensively on issues of urban governance and participation in relation Africa, and in particular South Africa. On Thurs 23 Feb at 5-7pm at Rm B102, Brunei Gallery, SOAS, Thornhaugh St, London, WC2E. For more details e-mail: cas@soas.ac.uk Web: www.soas.ac.uk/cas/events
~ NATIONAL BLACK PEOPLES DAY OF ACTION FRIDAY 2 MARCH 2012. The 31st anniversary of the national march in 1981 which took place to demonstrate against state, media and police indifference and racism after the deaths of 13 young people in the New Cross Fire. The day will feature a march and conference on current issues facing the community. E-mail info@afrikanpeoplesparliament.org phone 020 8539 2154 or 07908 814 152.
~ “WE’RE INDIAN AND AFRICAN”: SIDIS OF INDIA LECTURE AND FILMS. With Dr Shihan de Silva (Senior Fellow, Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London and Member of the Scientific Committee of the UNESCO Slave Route Project). Chair: Dr David Taylor (SOAS & Institute of Commonwealth Studies). The Lecture will be followed by the screening of two documentaries produced by Beheroze Shroff (University of California, Irvine, USA).
“We’re Indian and African”: Voices of the Sidis (22 mins). This film explores the lives of the Sidis in Gujarat. Sidi men and women speak about the challenges they face as caretakers of the shrine of their ancestral saint Bava Gor. The Sidis also discuss their sacred Goma-Dhammal dance performed for devotees and spectators. The film also gives a glimpse into the spiritual legacy of the Sidis through the Parsi devotees of Bava Gor in Bombay.
And ‘Voices of the Sidis: Ancestral Links (26 mins). In this engaging portrait of an urban Sidi family in Bombay (Maharashtra), Babubhai traces his ancestry to Zanzibar. He also reminisces about his work as a stuntman in Bollywood films. Babubhai’s wife, Fatimaben, narrates her grandmother’s work in a Hindu royal court. Their daughter, Heena, speaks about issues of identity in contemporary India.
On Fri 9 Mar at 5.30-7.30pm at College Buildings, Khalili Lecture Theatre, SOAS, Thornhaugh St, London, WC2E. Tel: 020 7898 4892 / 3. E-mail: centres@soas.ac.uk
~ CARDBOARD CITIZENS PRESENT ‘A FEW MAN FRIDAYS’. Written and directed by Adrian Jackson, designed by Fred Meller, music and soundtrack by David Baird. ‘A Few Man Fridays’ is about the expulsion of the entire population of the Chagos Archipelago. It is seen through the eyes of Prosper in Crawley, Stu in the US State Department, Conservationist Teddy, and the recently deceased Chagossian Madame Lisette Talate. The play reveals the shocking chronicle of who lied, who believed them, who colluded and who suffered in the expulsion from their homes of a people described by the Foreign Office in 1966 as ‘a few Tarzans and Man Fridays’. Until 10 Mar at the Riverside Studios, Crisp Road, Hammersmith, London, SW6. Booking: 020 8237 1000. Web: www.riversidestudios.co.uk/
~ BLACK DOLLY DAY. Exhibition, lectures & Workshop - Bring Your Dolly! On Sun 11 Mar at 2-7pm at Navarino Mansions Community Hall, Dalston Lane, London, E8 8LZ. Adm: £5 / £1 (U-16). Tel: 07956 134 370 / 07947 838 729.
~ PECKHAM SPACE PRESENTS THE SOUTH LONDON BLACK MUSIC ARCHIVE. An exhibition by Barby Asante that aims to celebrate and preserve South Londoners’ personal relationships with seminal moments in music history. Peckham Space will be transformed into an ‘open archive’ and will include books, magazines, concert tickets, posters, stories, records and CDs gathered and displayed with the reverence of museum pieces. One of the founding items of the South London Black Music Archive will be a ‘limited edition’ vinyl specially produced for the project as a result of the artist’s collaboration with young people from the Leaders of Tomorrow (LOT) mentoring programme with an exclusive record sleeve by graphic design collective Åbäke. Copies will be available from record shops across South London and at Peckham Space for the duration of the exhibition. Until March 24 at Peckham Space, Peckham High Street, London, SE15. Visit www.peckhamspace.com.
~ ‘THIN BLACK LINE(S): THE LEGACY OF BLACK WOMEN ARTISTS’
Put together by Tate curator Paul Goodwin and artist Lubaina Himid, MBE, ‘Thin Black Line(s)’ presents a selection of pieces drawn from three major exhibitions of Afrikan and Asian women artists curated by Himid in the early 1980s: ‘Five Black Women’ at the Africa Centre (1983); ‘Black Women Time Now’ at the Battersea Arts Centre (1983-84); and ‘The Thin Black Line’ at the Institute for Contemporary Art (1985). The display includes works by Sutapa Biswas, Sonia Boyce, Lubaina Himid, Claudette Johnson, Ingrid Pollard, Veronica Ryan and Maud Sulter. Drawings, paintings, sculptures and photographs are showcased alongside a video documentary on the ‘Black Art’ scene and archival documents comprising of exhibition posters, invitations, letters, etc. In Britain, the Caribbean Artists Movement (1966-72) and the Black Art (1980s) have enabled Afrikan artists and intellectuals to retain ownership of the discourse on their arts and cultures. Until 18 Mar 2012 at Tate Britain, Millbank, London, SW1P 4RG. Adm: Free. Tel: 020 7887 8888.
~ REEL TRINI fortnightly screenings. The new rendezvous for local film aficionados on Sundays at 5pm at Trevor’s Edge in St Augustine, Trinidad. Tel: 744-4956. E-mail: caribbeinginc@gmail.com
Contact Details
Kubara Zamani, Afrikan Quest International, PO Box 35165, London, SE5 8WU. Tel: 07811 494 969. E-mail: afrikanquest@hotmail.com Web: www.southwark.tv/quest/aqhome.asp
Afrikan Quest
External Links
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