Projects tagged "Africa"

Mandela Danced
Practitioner:
Nelson Mandela
Date:
Jan 1 1980
Mandela's notion of manhood changed over time. In the early days, he evoked the image of toughness to deal with an enemy that would not respond to reason. When it became possible to secure peace through talking, Mandela adapted. After his release his image was one of warmth and inclusiveness, embracing those who feared majority rule and even his former enemies.
PAWA 254
Practitioner:
Boniface Mwangi
Date:
Feb 26 2013
Kenyan-based photographer Boniface Mwangi has captured his country's political and civic turmoil since the controversial presidential election in 2007. The violence and disorder he witnesses daily motivated him to take action, setting up a creative hub for activism called PAWA 254.
Tanzanian Cartoonist Has a Stick for Every Powerful Eye
Practitioner:
Gado
Date:
May 3 2020
Godfrey Mwampembwa, popularly known as Gado, has been holding politicians accountable for nearly 30 years. Now, his concern has shifted to the coronavirus. In a quiet office on the third floor of a building in Nairobi’s central business district, the cartoonist known by his pen name, Gado, was sketching a satire about the coronavirus.
The "marriage effect"
Practitioner:
Amnesty International
Date:
Mar 20 2014
Rights activists in Mozambique have marched through the capital Maputo to protest a colonial era law still included in new legislation that allows rapists to go unpunished if they marry their victims. The "marriage effect" clause sees convicted rapists given a five-year suspended sentence if they marry their victims and stipulates that the perpetrator should stay married to the victim for at least five years.
Photographer Stéphan Gladieu Documents the Congolese Street Children Turning Waste into Wonder
Practitioner:
Stéphan Gladieu and the artists in Kinshasa
Date:
Jun 15 2020
“So dramatic, so strong, so visual,” artist Stéphan Gladieu said of his first encounter with the revival of an ancestral folk art movement in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo. Kinshasa is the capital of Congo but also one of the many places American and European countries send their waste.
Reimagining Albus
Practitioner:
Athenkosi Kwinana
Date:
Jan 5 2022
Through her work, South African art activist Athenkosi Kwinana aspires to deepen the understanding of Albinism in her native country, where she has faced discrimination in most aspects of her life from childhood days on. Working with both drawing and printmaking, Kwinana creates large self-portraits that aim to constructively reimagine the representation of Albinism in the country’s black communities and African contemporary art as whole.
ECO Fashionable Collectibles- Made From Recycled Plastic
Practitioner:
Adeyemi Emmanuel
Date:
Nov 11 2019
In 2019, Adeyemi Emmanuel began collecting bits of discarded plastic and used them to make a backpack. Seeing a way to raise environmental awareness in fashion-conscious Nigeria, Emmanuel in November launched a line of bags, wallets and gift boxes made of 20% leather and around 80% plastic waste, called ECO. He collects chips of used plastic by hand, such as leftovers from picture frames, primarily from craft workshops.
The MoonGirls
Practitioner:
Drama Queens Ghana
Date:
Dec 27 2020
Drama Queens Ghana's “MoonGirls” is an Afrofuturistic graphic novel series. Through an Afrofuturistic lens, “MoonGirls follows the adventures of 4 African "supersheroes" with varying superpowers to save the world from a diverse range of forces; from patriarchy, rape culture to pollution and global warming.
Sudanese Activist Artist Breaks Down Borders
Practitioner:
Elshafei Dafalla Mohamed
Date:
Mar 29 2012
VOA NEWS  March 29, 2012  By Nico Colombant   WASHINGTON--A Sudanese artist from the restive Blue Nile region is using art and activism to promote the plight of people caught between borders and conflict. In an audio montage of memories from refugees, the sounds of gunfire and explosions mix with crying babies. Narrator Michelle Orecchio describes how to reverse war's grip on so much of humanity.
Women are Heroes Project
Practitioner:
JR
Date:
Jan 1 2008
In Women Are Heroes, JR introduces women who sometimes look death in the face, who go from laughter to tears, who are generous, have nothing and yet share, who have had a painful past and long to build a happy future.
Documentary ‘Softie’ and the bear pit of Kenyan politics
Practitioner:
Sam Soko, Boniface Mwangi
Date:
Nov 2 2020
Activist Boniface Mwangi on confronting corruption in his homeland, and director Sam Soko on recording his campaign Kenyan director Sam Soko’s debut documentary feature, Softie, opens with the film’s protagonist, Boniface Mwangi, sourcing 1,000 litres of pigs’ blood. “I’ve found a van for you. When do you want it? When are you getting the blood?” Mwangi asks.
Princess Diana’s 1997 landmine walk: ‘I come with my heart’
Practitioner:
Princess Diana, The American Red Cross
Date:
Jan 15 1997
It's an evocative image — and it was intended to be: Diana, Princess of Wales, wearing a protective visor and flak jacket, walking through a live minefield in Huambo, Angola. The image of the princess, at the time one of most famous women in the world, surrounded by danger, made headlines across the world.
In Brazzaville, Fashionistas Lift Spirits With Apparel And Activism
Practitioner:
La Sape
Date:
Apr 24 2014
When can fashion be considered an act of social activism — even subversion? The streets of Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo’s capital (Congo-Brazzaville), have seen plenty of violence and suffering over the years. But a group of local fashionistas known has “sapeurs” are lifting spirits and celebrating life by following a simple commandment: Dress to impress.
Unity, Democracy and Courage
Practitioner:
Medu Art Ensemble
Date:
Aug 7 1983
One of the most pressing questions before us in the United States now is how to resolve the tension between our personal visions and needs, on the one hand, and the demands of being a member of a community, on the other.
Pop Art as Social Commentary
Practitioner:
Kadarick
Date:
Mar 1 2018
A Côte d'Ivoire-based artist, known as Kadarick, draws on the fantastical powers of The Hulk, Spiderman and Wonder Woman to articulate today's fears. In a new pop-art series of 23 paintings titled Joker, the self-taught painter explores pop culture, politics, mass media and capitalism. The series was recently on display at the LouiSimone Guirandou Gallery in Abidjan.
Mada Underground
Practitioner:
Caylah, Naty Kaly, Totté, Temandrota
Date:
Oct 1 2017
As local rapper Naty says, a group of young people are intent on making their mark in Madagascar's cultural history. From gifted slam poet Caylah to inventive visual artist Temandrota and a crew of entrepreneurial skateboarders, a generation of young Madagascans are making space for creative projects.They are inspiring in their enthusiasm and hopeful for the future despite the poverty in their country and its colonial past.
Congo Man Sets Himself Ablaze for Peace
Practitioner:
Unidentified Man
Date:
Nov 8 2023
A video that was first posted on X (formerly Twitter) on November 8, of a Congolese man setting himself on fire has gone viral. The gruesome clip has started a discussion on whether a genocide is occurring in the DRC and is being ignored by both Africa and the rest of the world.
Woe Fie
Practitioner:
Angel Maxine
Date:
Jul 26 2021
Can you finish the lyric? “Your driver could be LGBTQ, Your Tailor could be LGBTQ,…” If you can’t, you may be a part of the majority who doesn’t know about the song Wo Fie. However, for those in the LGBTQIA+ community, and followers of Ghanaian musician Angel Maxine, the song has become a Pride month anthem.
The Hell of Copper
Practitioner:
Nyaba Leon Ouedraogo
Date:
Jun 6 2008
Artists Statement:
UCT Students Strip Down to Highlight Concerns Over Rape Culture
Practitioner:
UTC Students
Date:
May 10 2016
Students have accused university management of having a lack of concern about the issue. CAPE TOWN – University of Cape Town (UCT) students have stripped to their underwear to highlight their concerns over rape culture on campus. Dozens of students have gathered outside the Bremner Building to discuss sexual assault and sexual harassment at the university.
Congo La Sape
Practitioner:
Sapeurs
Date:
Apr 1 2014
Their name, Sapeurs, comes from the French slang se saper, meaning to dress with class, but also from the acronym of their social group : La Société des Ambianceurs et des Personnes Élégantes (the Society of Ambianceurs and Elegant Persons). La Sape can be traced back to the early years of colonialism.
Dr. Cruel and the Afro- Icelandic Liberation Front
Practitioner:
Teco Benson, Jakob Boeskob
Date:
Jan 1 2010
By 2010, the Nigerian film industry, also referred to as “Nollywood,” had become the second-largest film industry in the world. Today, the accessibility of digital video technology continues to enable prolific amateur filmmakers to produce wildly popular low-budget and direct-to-DVD films, which deal with timely issues of religion, poverty, and corruption.
World Art Day 2022: Ghanaian graffiti artists launch environmental protection campaign in Ada
Practitioner:
Tapioca Foundation, Imposters Art Collective
Date:
Apr 15 2022
As part of the commemoration of this year’s World Art Day (April 15), Ghanaian-based Tapioca Foundation and Imposters Art Collective have embarked on a campaign to educate the public about environmental sustainability. The project, which was launched in Ada in the Greater Accra Region, is intended to use art pieces to highlight issues relating to environmental protection and climate action to boost awareness in local communities.
Maboneng Township Arts Experience
Practitioner:
Palesa & Siphiwe Ngwenya
Date:
Jan 1 2001
At the age of just 30, Palesa Ngwenya is helping transform these areas through her position as development coordinator of Maboneng Township Arts Experience. “We turn homes in the townships into art galleries,” says the young South African woman, who grew up during apartheid. “It’s about showing people that you can use what you have to do things that can change your life."
Protest Posters for Fees Must Fall
Practitioner:
Burning Museum and Faith47
Date:
Oct 3 2015
Daniel Hewson describes the use of protest posters and the work of collective, Burning Museum, and artist, Faith47, in the Fees Must Fall movement taking place in South Africa:

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