Music
William Onyeabor: the reclusive Nigerian synth-funk pioneer the world found decades later
William Onyeabor recorded eight albums of strange, synthesiser-driven funk in Nigeria between the late 1970s and mid-1980s, then…
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Music
Celestine Ukwu: the philosopher of Igbo highlife
Celestine Ukwu was one of the most admired Igbo highlife musicians of the late 1960s and 1970s. With…
Music
Boomplay: the African music app that came preinstalled on millions of phones
Boomplay launched in 2015, backed by Transsion Holdings, the maker of Tecno, Itel and Infinix phones. Preinstalled on…
Arts + Culture
Shona sculpture: how Zimbabwe’s stone carvers won international acclaim
From the late 1950s, artists in Zimbabwe began carving serpentine and other stones into expressive sculptures that drew…
Arts + Culture
The Agadez cross: the Tuareg silver pendant handed from father to son
The Agadez cross is the best known of a family of Tuareg silver pendants, each linked to a…
Arts + Culture
Egungun: the Yoruba masquerade where the ancestors return to dance
Egungun masquerades bring Yoruba ancestors back among the living. Dancers in layered cloth costumes that cover the entire…
Arts + Culture
Gelede: the Yoruba masquerade that honours the power of mothers
Gelede is a masquerade of the Yoruba and Yoruba-Nago peoples of Benin, Nigeria and Togo that honours mothers,…
Music
Hamza El Din: the Nubian oud master who carried a drowned homeland’s music to the world
Hamza El Din, born in Nubia in 1929, became the best-known Nubian musician in the world. His oud…
Music
Remmy Ongala: the Dar es Salaam bandleader who sang for the poor
Remmy Ongala, born in Congo and based in Dar es Salaam, led Orchestre Super Matimila and became one…
Music
Dorothy Masuka: the Zimbabwean-born singer whose songs were banned by apartheid
Dorothy Masuka, born in Bulawayo in 1935, became a star in 1950s Johannesburg with songs in Zulu, Ndebele…