The roots of our storytelling
Interview with Ainehi Edoro
What happens when we stop reading African fiction through European literary history and instead trace its worldmaking through indigenous cosmology?
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The Women Turning a Private Ritual Into a Public Business
The guardians of ukungwi—a practice that educates girls and women on sex, homemaking and marriage—are reimagining their approach to this East African tradition. Today, they face a dilemma: the risk of losing the cultural essence of ukungwi while seeking to monetize it for sustainability.
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Curating Change: Thaddeus Wamukoya on Art and Patronage in East Africa
Independent Curator Thaddeus Wamukoya on East Africa’s Evolving Art Scene, Tewasart Gallery and the Power of Patronage
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Binti, revisited
More than two decades after its release, Lady Jaydee’s debut album still resonates—offering a window into Tanzanian pop, gender politics, and the sound of a generation coming into its own.
Gadi Ramadhani’s “My Father’s Widow” Solo Exhibition Review
Tanzanian visual artist and curator Gadi Ramdhani’s month-long exhibition at the Alliance Française in Dar es Salaam, My Father’s Widow, is a meditation on death’s aftermath.
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Minna Salami Is Inventing New Language in “Can Feminism Be African?”
In this conversation, Minna Salami shares further insight into her approach as a non-dualist feminist thinker and writer as seen in her newly published book; her anxieties on criticisms of African feminism; and the many artists that have influenced her work.
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Maya Amolo: The Sweetest Girl from Nairobi
In the middle of December, Maya was in the throes of preparation for a Jagermeister Masterclass and acoustic performance. In between phone calls with her team where she decidedly gave directions and received some in return, the young Kenyan star and I chatted about her project “What a Feeling”, career hopes and anxieties, and her love for Nairobi.
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The Political Dilemmas of Tanzania’s Music Artists
Owing to stifled freedom of speech coupled with minimal structural support, Tanzanian music artists are finding themselves without any political space beyond praising the ruling government.
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Xenia Manasseh is Balancing The Scales
In Conversation with East African singer-songwriter Xenia Manasseh on the release of her sophomore album “Love/Hate Pt.2,” being a successful songwriter for other incredible artists, and the power of a magic white board.
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Filming the Prolonged Pain of Colonial Violence- Interview with Filmmaker Cece Mlay
For decades, families in Tanzania have been demanding the return of their ancestors’ human remains from Germany. These ancestors, executed leaders of resistance efforts against German colonial rule, were exhumed from their graves and taken to Germany. Cece Mlay discusses co-producing a new documentary on how their descendants are seeking justice and closure today.
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Abi Daré is back with “And So I Roar”
Abi Daré and I speak virtually shortly after the publishing of And So I Roar and she lets me into the thought and research that went into the choices she makes in the novel. She delves into what it was like to write a sequel, she unpacks the standout themes including motherhood and climate justice, and she reflects on loss and grief both in the novel and in her own life and the symbiosis between the two. Towards the end we speak briefly about her writing routine, what her favourite authors do really well and what books she is currently enjoying.
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Mkuki Bgoya: “Swahili writers should be mandatory reading in Tanzania, but there’s a deep trauma around books”
Abdulrazak Gurnah, the Zanzibari-born 2021 Nobel Literature laureate’s grand homecoming was punctuated by the translation of his masterpiece, Paradise, into Kiswahili. His publisher, Mkuki Bgoya, speaks about its significance in the Swahili canon.
Interview with Tanzanian artist Sabi John Kitaule
“There’s a lot of Tanzania’s history and culture that cannot be depicted through realism, like our true emotions about our history and culture. If you are only painting things that you can see, you miss out on a lot of our culture that can’t be physically seen” – Sabi John
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Amindi, the Luvr Girl
For her debut project, Nice, Amindi didn’t want to write about romantic love. “You know the Bechdel test? I wanted my project to pass the Bechdel test.” The Inglewood native had just gotten out of a relationship and she wanted to challenge herself to find another way to cope, outside of what she already knew would come easy for her. “I’m so inclined to writing love songs, I’m a libra,” she says matter of factly. So instead, Amindi wrote about all other kinds of love; love in friendship, love of self, even love of money, anything but love of men.
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Tanzania makes historic debut at the 60th Venice Art Biennale
Tanzania is for the first time participating in the 60th edition of the prestigious Venice Biennale, one of the longest-running and most renowned international art exhibitions. Running from April to November, this year’s edition is curated by Adriano Pedrosa under the theme, ‘Foreigners Everywhere.’ Tanzania’s pavilion, curated by Enrico Bittoto, explores the theme, “A Flight in Reverse Mirrors (The Discovery of the Other)” and delves into four significant eras of Tanzania’s history, from the 19th century to the early 21st century.
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