Film Review: Rising from Ashes
Rising from Ashes is a documentary about a team of cyclists in post genocide Rwanda. It’s narrated by UNESCO goodwill ambassador Forest Whitaker.
History tradition and culture: Terakaft rocks music of the Tuareg people in Paris concert
Tuareg rockers Terakaft have been touring Europe for the past month. They played in Paris at the much-hyped Fête de la Musique on 21 June. Imagine a story that began a few centuries ago. Imagine a time when Timbuktu was so busy that it would make New York City blush. Imagine an age when the…
What next for Mali?
It has been three weeks since the beginning of French intervention in Mali. The largest northern towns have now been seized by the French Malian coalition. Today, a few questions emerge as to what happens next. In January 2012, the National Movement of Liberation of Azawad (MNLA), an independence Touareg movement, launched an attack against…
Pedro Kouyaté: review of new album ‘Live’
Pedro Kouyaté is not a typical griot artist. In West Africa, griots are the guardians of oral tradition. They can be historians, storytellers or musicians. Pedro was born of griot ancestors but he has grown tired of this world. His mind wanders elsewhere. When he was younger he rather enjoyed hanging out at Siby, his…
Book Review: Neoliberal Frontiers
Neoliberalism has had a central place in economic rationale for the past forty years. In Neoliberal Frontiers, Brenda Chalfin gives a great insight of what it means in specific interventions. She analyses how Ghana renegotiates its sovereignty in a seemingly economic laissez-faire context. Since the mid seventies, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World…
Music Review: Tassili by Tinariwen
Tinariwen have taken Saharan music to a whole new level over the past few decades. Their latest album Tassili slightly shifted towards a new direction. Here’s my verdict. How often do we listen to a song for the first time, either love it or hate at once, only to change our mind later on? Normally,…
Music Review: Kora Jazz Band in Paris
Building on the release of a recent album, Kora Jazz Band and their brand new line-up delivered a fiery performance at the New Morning in Paris. I obviously would not have missed it for anything. Here’s my verdict. As soon as I entered the jam-packed venue, I could not help but sensing a general impression…