Audio slideshow: Mapping Africa

From one of the earliest depictions of the continent - to the colonial scramble for land - the maps of Africa reveal a great deal about the people who have lived there through the centuries.

To try to shed new light on the African archives held by the Royal Geographical Society, London-based African community groups were asked for their views on the documents.

They spoke to Cliff Pereira and Zagba Oyortey - both African-born - who explain here how the maps tell the story of a changing continent.

ver aqui

16.03.2011 | par martalanca | Africa, maps

Afropolis / last weekend (Cologne, Germany)

Friday, 11 March 2011 – 4 pm - 9 pm
“City, nights”
Film weekend - part one

Curated by Dr. Marie-Hélène Gutberlet, Frankfurt

The festival presents more recent films set in African cities at night, where special conditions govern the use of light, colour effects and density of movement. Marie-Hélène Gutberlet is a member of the academic staff at University of Frankfurt/Main.
4 pm - programme I “Macadam”
7 pm - programme II “Mood” 

 


 

Saturday, 12 March 2011 – 1 pm - 9 pm
“City, nights”
Film weekend - part two

Curated by Dr. Marie-Hélène Gutberlet, Frankfurt

The festival presents more recent films set in African cities at night, where special conditions govern the use of light, colour effects and density of movement. Marie-Hélène Gutberlet is a member of the academic staff at University of Frankfurt/Main.
1 pm -programme III “Candlelight”
4 pm -programme IV “Sonic Energy”
7 pm -programme V “Future”


 

Sunday, 13 March 2011 – 10 am -6 pm
Exhibition Closing Event
Project works from workshop participants and school classes will be presented on the last few days of the exhibition.

The dates for other public tours are listed both on the museum’s web pages (http://www.museenkoeln.de/rautenstrauch-joest-museum/) and in the quarterly program


 

 

 

10.03.2011 | par nadinesiegert | Africa, afropolis, cinema, museum, urban live

Europa-África. E vice-versa?

Excerto do texto “Europa-África. E vice-versa?” de António Pinto Ribeiro, publicado no Público a 08.12.2007 (durante a Cimeira Europa Africa)

”(…) Se considerarmos o que é hoje a actualidade africana na sua enorme diversidade, verificamos que não só oferece casos de estudo fascinantes, como recorda o africanista Alex Thomson, mas obriga, por imperioso dever de cidadania mundial, a rever a percepção deste continente. Apesar da corrupção em muitos dos países (com a cumplicidade do Ocidente), apesar da sida, apesar de 40 por cento da população viver com 1 dólar por dia, apesar do avanço do islamismo para o Sul, comparem-se os 30 anos de média destas independências com outros países independentes há dois séculos… Em 30 anos alteraram-se regimes e criaram-se democracias. Há hoje líderes africanos de relevância mundial fundamental, como Mandela, Mbeki, Mubarak e Abdoulaye Wade, que criaram como prova de outro desejo de desenvolvimento o New Partnership for African Developmente, cujos objectivos são a eliminação da pobreza, o combate à marginalização de África e acelerar o poder das mulheres. Há cidades que se desenvolvem a um ritmo impressionante; há Pedro Pires em Cabo Verde, há Ellen Johnson Sirleaf primeira mulher Presidente na Libéria. E há uma pulsão criativa e uma energia cultural únicas, que um calendário breve, de Novembro e Dezembro deste ano, confirma: quase 20 festivais de arte.
E podemos acrescentar nomes de artistas incontornáveis. Da África do Sul, um importante grupo de artistas plásticos, como William Kentridge, Robin Rhode e Kendell Geers, a produzirem do melhor que há depois do fim do apartheid, da literatura e do ensaísmo africano ou o teatro do mesmo país de que se pode destacar a Handspring Puppet Company, das melhores companhias de teatro do mundo, o poeta Breyten Breytenbach; do Uganda, o movimento dos DVJ das discotecas, produtores e difusores do que mais inovador há na simbiose da música com o vídeo e a poesia actuais; da Nigéria, a jovem literatura com nomes como Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, que ganhou o Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction (2007); do Sudão, Leila Abouulela, a autora de Minaret; de Angola, a nova música de dança que circula pela Europa, como Mc Kapa, Ikonoklasta e Nástio Mosquito; de Moçambique, fotógrafos como Ricardo Rangel, a quem o MoMa de Nova Iorque já dedicou uma retrospectiva, a cantora Lura de Cabo Verde, os fotógrafos Samuel Fosso (Camarões), Malick Sidibé (Mali), Nontsikelelo Veleko (África do Sul), os artistas plásticos Paulo Capela (Angola), Body Isek Kingelez e Chéri Samba (RDCongo), o novo movimento de videastas do Egipto, o teatro tunisino, os designers do Mali e do Senegal, etc.

Continuez à lire " Europa-África. E vice-versa?"

03.03.2011 | par martalanca | Africa, africa-europa, contemporaneidade, Cooperação, Europa

Andrew Mwenda dá-nos uma nova perspectiva de África

Nesta conferência polémica, o jornalista Andrew Mwenda pede-nos para reformular a “questão africana”, para olharmos para além dos media para as histórias de pobreza, guerra civil e de desamparo e para observarmos as oportunidades de criar riqueza e felicidade em todo o continente.

aqui 

24.02.2011 | par martalanca | Africa

In search of an African revolution International media is following protests across the 'Arab world' but ignoring those in Africa.

Must a revolt be filmed and photographed to succeed? [EPA]

Demonstrations are continuing across the Middle East, interrupted only by the call for prayer when protesters fall to their knees on cheap carpets and straw mats and the riot police take a tea break. Egypt, in particular, with its scenes of unrelenting protesters staying put in Tahrir Square, playing guitars, singing, treating the injured and generally making Gandhi’s famous salt march of the 1940s look like an act of terror, captured the imagination of an international media and audience more familiar with the stereotype of Muslim youth blowing themselves and others up. 
 
A non-violent revolution was turning the nation full circle, much to the admiration of the rest of the world.

“I think Egypt’s cultural significance and massive population were very important factors in ensuring media coverage,” says Ethan Zuckerman, the co-founder of Global Voices, an international community of online activists.

“International audiences know at least a few facts about Egypt, which makes it easier for them to connect to news there,” he says, drawing a comparison with Bahrain, a country Zuckerman says few Americans would be able to locate on a map.

Zuckerman also believes that media organisations were in part motivated by a “sense of guilt” over their failure to effectively cover the Tunisian revolution and were, therefore, playing “catch up” in Egypt.

“Popular revolutions make for great TV,” he adds. “The imagery from Tahrir square in particular was very powerful and led to a story that was easy for global media to cover closely.”

The African Egypt versus the Arab Egypt
 
Egypt was suddenly a sexy topic. But, despite the fact that the rich banks of the Nile are sourced from central Africa, the world looked upon the uprising in Egypt solely as a Middle Eastern issue and commentators scrambled to predict what it would mean for the rest of the Arab world and, of course, Israel. Few seemed to care that Egypt was also part of Africa, a continent with a billion people, most living under despotic regimes and suffering economic strife and political suppression just like their Egyptian neighbours.

“Egypt is in Africa. We should not fool about with the attempts of the North to segregate the countries of North Africa from the rest of the continent,” says Firoze Manji, the editor of Pambazuka Online, an advocacy website for social justice in Africa. “Their histories have been intertwined for millennia. Some Egyptians may not feel they are Africans, but that is neither here nor there. They are part of the heritage of the continent.”

And, just like much of the rest of the world, Africans watched events unfold in Cairo with great interest. “There is little doubt that people [in Africa] are watching with enthusiasm what is going on in the Middle East, and drawing inspiration from that for their own struggles,” says Manji.

He argues that globalisation and the accompanying economic liberalisation has created circumstances in which the people of the global South share very similar experiences: “Increasing pauperisation, growing unemployment, declining power to hold their governments to account, declining income from agricultural production, increasing accumulation by dispossession - something that is growing on a vast scale - and increasing willingness of governments to comply with the political and economic wishes of the North.

“In that sense, people in Africa recognise the experiences of citizens in the Middle East. There is enormous potential for solidarity to grow out from that. In any case, where does Africa end and the Middle East begin?”

Continuez à lire "In search of an African revolution International media is following protests across the 'Arab world' but ignoring those in Africa."

22.02.2011 | par martalanca | Africa, arab world, Revolution

SEMINÁRIOS CEsA 2011 (Centro de Estudos sobre África)

SEMINÁRIOS CEsA 2011 em colaboração com

MESTRADO EM DESENVOLVIMENTO E COOPERAÇÃO INTERNACIONALE DOUTORAMENTO EM ESTUDOS DE DESENVOLVIMENTO no ISEG, de  24 de Fevereiro a 26 de Maio, entrada livre.

O CEsA – Centro de Estudos sobre África e do Desenvolvimento convida-o a participar nos SEMINÁRIOS CEsA 2011, que terão lugar nas instalações do ISEG – Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestão de 24 de Fevereiro a 26 de Maio. A edição deste ano mobiliza um total de 18 investigadores convidados, de diversos países (Portugal, Moçambique, Mauritânia, Suíça, França e Reino Unido), abordando um vasto leque de temas sobre o Desenvolvimento e a Cooperação Internacional. Em anexo, pode consultar o programa desta iniciativa.

 CEsA- Centro de Estudos sobre África e do Desenvolvimento Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestão/UTL

Rua Miguel Lupi, 201249-078 Lisboa

16.02.2011 | par ritadamasio | Africa, cesa, Cooperação, desenvolvimento, iseg, seminarios

Africa Here; Africa There Conference- The Canadian Association of African Studies (deadline: 21 February 2011)

York University, Toronto, Canada

5-7 May, 2011

Plenary speakers:

 

 Achille MBEMBE, Wiser Institute for Social and Economic Research, University of the Witwatersrand, Exiting from the Long Night? Cultural Forms and Institutions in Africa- Sortir de la grande nuit? Formes culturelles et institutions  en Afrique ;

 

 Imed MELLITI, Institut Supérieur des Sciences Humaines, University of Tunis el-Manar: Jeunesses maghrébines : religiosité, enjeux identitaires et enjeux de reconnaissance- Maghrebine  Youth: Religiosity, Identity and Recognition ;

 

Donald SIMPSON, Innovation Expedition, Africa - Here and There in the Sixties: A Canadian Perspective. Afrique Ici et ailleurs dans les années 1960: Une perspective canadienne.

 

Official Conference Opening / Ouverture officielle de la conférence

Dr. Mamdouh SHOUKRI, President and Vice-Chancellor of York University/ Recteur et Vice-chancelier de l’Université York.

 

 The Canadian Association of African Studies (CAAS) extends a special invitation to scholars and professionals working on all aspects of African Studies for its next annual conference. The conference, to be held on May 5-7, 2011, at York University - Université York, Toronto, Canada, will be hosted by the Harriet Tubman Institute for Research on the Global Migrations of African Peoples, York University, with the support of various internal and external sponsors. Our aim is to attract an international group of specialists at all stages in their careers to facilitate discussion and  dialogue, in both of Canada’s official languages, across disciplines and between scholars and professionals based in both the North and South.

 

 In recognition of 2011 having been proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly as the International Year for People of African Descent, the central theme of the 2011 annual conference of the Canadian Association of African Studies (CAAS) is Africa Here; Africa There. Africans have long peopled the African continent, as well as other landscapes through external migrations. During the modern era, the movement of African peoples has taken place under three major contexts: various trades in human beings, economic hardship emanating from natural and non-natural factors, and political, ethnic, religious and other types of persecution.

 Whether internal or external, the displacement of African peoples has always led to greater complexities within the host societies. Africans and people of African descent, free, freed or enslaved, made up a sizeable proportion of the population of Évora and Lisbon during the late 1400s and early 1500s and performed much of the most menial manual work while speaking various West and West-Central African languages and supplying characters and speech patterns to the works of contemporaneous playwrights  like Gil Vicente. The same was true of London, not to mention other places in the United Kingdom, from at least the time of Shakespeare to the early 19th century. By the mid-1800s, their presence and influence was even more pervasive in Brazil, as well as Cuba. Similarly if Africans and the descendants of Africans attempted to recreate their homelands, imagined or not, amongst host societies, as was the case of the marooned  Zanj in Iraq (869-883 A.D.), the great Bantu state of Palmares in XVIIth century Brazil, or  later the Igbo in Maryland and Virginia, Jamaica, and Barbados, the process today is no less omnipresent as exemplified by the existence of Little Angola in Rio de Janeiro, Little Nigeria in Houston, or the current attempt  to establish a Little Ethiopia in Toronto.

In other words, Africa has long existed within the old continent and beyond as well. This reality, far from signifying solely an African presence, points to a series of new ways of moving across and exploiting space stemming from an evolving division of world labor, distribution of resources, and production of modes of living together. Africa Here; Africa There will explore, in English and in French, the multifaceted complexities generated by these phenomena within and outside of Africa over time from the perspective of various disciplines.

 

The Canadian Association of African Studies (CAAS) contributes expertise, research, and informed debate concerning a wide range of African “matter” related to sociocultural issues, the arts, political economy, the environment and transnationalism, among others. Since 1970,CAAS has demonstrated how African issues matter to a wider range of Canadian and international publics in academic, policy-making, programming, and many other circles. The expanding recognition of African contexts and initiatives to a growing range of transnational practices (from humanitarianism to peace building; markets to social movements; climate change to food security; religious dynamism to health and education policies; sports to music, theatre and cinema; truth and reconciliation processes, migration and diasporas to the forging of the world) has meant the continent is taking on a greater prominence in the attention, imagination, and actions of more and more publics. We also encourage the submission, whether in English or in French, of research papers in these and other areas.

 

In the last forty years, like many other Northern nations, Canada has had expanding and diverse relations with Africa.

African immigration to Canada has increased not only through the regular immigration of professionals and others, but also, importantly, through refugees fleeing from conflicts in areas such as Uganda (1972), Somalia (since 1991), and Algeria (since 1992). In turn, a growing number of Canadians have been to Africa through an expansion of humanitarian and international development activities by Canadian governmental and non-governmental organizations, business activities, particularly in natural resources sectors, university exchanges, and tourism. Solidarity work by Canadian individuals and groups also increased during this period, from working with national liberation groups to supporting human rights agendas, from advocating for women rights to addressing health and environmental conditions.

Canadian governments have been preoccupied with African matters through international bodies such the Commonwealth, la Francophonie, the United Nations, and G-8 summits playing a visible part during the anti-apartheid struggle, peacekeeping and peace building activities, and supporting NEPAD (New Partnership for Africa’s Development), to name but a few.

The growing number of Canadians of African birth and descent have not only played important roles in such exchanges and ties but also helped to introduce or expand new consumption patterns and artistic practices in Canada(in food, clothes, music, film, literature, and the like) and new forms of religiosity and congregations. At the same time, there have been some tensions emerging in Canada-African relations such as: the tightening of visas on African visitors coming to Canada in the name of security and to limit refugee claims; a reduction in the number of Canadian peacekeepers in Africa; a recent reduction in number of African priority countries for CIDA; protests over labor practices and engagement against corrupt practices; and, limited African beneficiaries of Canadian direct foreign investment in Africa.

 

The above issues help to highlight key concerns and demonstrate why there is growing interest in Africa in Canada. However, there is a vast array  of topics of interest in African Studies beyond these issues, as well, that would be welcomed to be presented at this conference. From examining wide-reaching events such as the slave-trades, the HIV/AIDS pandemic, and current conflicts to the minutia of everyday life such as schooling practices, religious invocations, and media consumption, Africa Here; Africa There will provide an opportunity for the sharing of research and debate concerning the study of these issues in both English and French.

 

CAAS, including its Canadian Journal of African Studies, have historically embodied extensive coverage of the continent and, in that spirit of attending to all African

matters, this conference welcomes papers on a wide range of topics concerning Africa and African peoples abroad from a variety of disciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches. In keeping with the bilingual nature of CAAS and the encouragement of bilingual study at York University, paper and panel proposals in French are particularly welcomed.

 

Africa Here; Africa There aims to continue the CAAS tradition that exemplifies why Africa matters to various publics in Canada and beyond. This Call for Papers intends to provide a forum for addressing and presenting academic  research and policy proposals that examine the histories, debates, policy issues, and current practices related to African matters.

 

The deadline for submitting paper, as well as panel, proposals has been extended to February 21, 2011. For information on submitting paper and panel abstracts, conference registration payment (on-line or by cheque), requests for funding for graduate students in Canada, and

accommodation possibilities please go to http://www.arts.ualberta.ca/~caas/en/2011conference.html

 

 

31.01.2011 | par ritadamasio | Africa, african studies, Canada, Conference

"Chinatown, Africa",

In “Chinatown, Africa”, Vanguard correspondent Mariana van Zeller travels to Angola to investigate China’s rapidly growing presence in Africa. While many welcome China’s investment, others see reason for concern. Chinatown, Africa is revealing look at a growing superpower’s adventures abroad.

veja aqui

15.01.2011 | par martalanca | Africa, China

Arte e África no Câmara Clara

No domingo, 07 de Novembro, o Câmara Clara, programa cultural da RTP2, trata o tema Arte e África.

CONVIDADOS: ISABEL CASTRO HENRIQUES E JOSÉ ANTÓNIO FERNANDES DIAS  

África está na moda também nas artes visuais. De Nova Iorque a Barcelona, de Londres a Paris sucedem-se as exposições com a palavra "África" no título. Em Lisboa, no Museu da Cidade, está patente Africa: See You, See Me!, uma mostra que "utiliza as práticas fotográficas africanas com o objectivo de chamar a atenção para a forma como os africanos se representam a si próprios." Como se representam a si próprios num momento convencionado como "pós-colonial". Mas, não seria melhor que os artistas africanos tivessem, por parte dos museus e das galerias, o mesmo tratamento que os artistas norte-americanos ou belgas? Ou seja, não seria melhor que o território de origem não fosse um tópico diferenciador no tratamento dos artistas africanos? O permanente risco de cair em atitudes neo-colonialistas, faz deste terreno – Arte e África – um terreno muito minado. E as questões que este universo (Arte & África) coloca dão a ver, exemplarmente, as armadilhas em que podem cair as relações dos povos do Norte com os povos do continente africano. A historiadora Isabel Castro Henriques e o antropólogo José António Fernandes Dias, ambos especialistas em questões africanas, vão desmontar, para nós, os principais equívocos destas relações. 
Haverá entre outras, uma peça sobre os sites Artafrica, Africa.cont e Buala.

Site

06.11.2010 | par martalanca | Africa