Music
Oriental Brothers International: the Igbo highlife band that ruled the 1970s
Formed in the early 1970s after the Nigerian civil war, Oriental Brothers International became one of the biggest…
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Philly Bongoley Lutaaya: the Ugandan singer who told the world he had AIDS
In 1989, the Ugandan singer Philly Bongoley Lutaaya became one of the first well-known Africans to announce publicly…
Music
Cheb Mami and Desert Rose: the Algerian rai voice that reached global audiences with Sting
Cheb Mami, the Algerian rai singer known as the Prince of Rai, reached a worldwide audience in 1999…
Music
Wulomei: the Ga cultural group that brought Accra’s traditional sounds to the stage
Wulomei, formed in Accra in the early 1970s by Nii Ashitey, revived Ga traditional music, drumming and dress…
Music
Mango Groove: the mixed-race South African band that defied apartheid with kwela pop
Formed in Johannesburg in the mid-1980s, Mango Groove brought together Black and white musicians at a time when…
News
Congolese rumba on the UNESCO list: the 2021 recognition of a shared heritage
In December 2021, UNESCO added Congolese rumba to its list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, following…
Arts + Culture
The golden rhinoceros of Mapungubwe: a small treasure from a lost African kingdom
The golden rhinoceros, found in a royal grave on Mapungubwe Hill in South Africa in 1933, is a…
Arts + Culture
Korhogo cloth: the painted Senufo textiles of northern Côte d’Ivoire
Korhogo cloth comes from the Senufo region of northern Côte d'Ivoire. Hand-woven cotton strips are sewn together and…
Arts + Culture
Gerard Sekoto: the South African painter of township life who died in Paris
Gerard Sekoto, born in 1913, painted vivid scenes of township life in Sophiatown and District Six in the…
Arts + Culture
Ibrahim El-Salahi: the Sudanese modernist who wove Arabic script into African art
Ibrahim El-Salahi, born in Sudan in 1930, became a pioneer of African modernism, combining Arabic calligraphy, Islamic and…