If you’re looking to expand your tastes in art, literature, and music…well, you’ve come to the right place.
Many of the stories the rest of the world hears about Africa focus on the needs and challenges facing the continent. What we don’t hear enough about are all the rich ideas and achievements communities across Africa have to offer all of us. Which is a shame, because Africa is bubbling with creativity and innovation.
Over the past week, we’ve been delving into some of that creativity and we’re OBSESSED with the artists that we’ve recently discovered for ourselves — and we think you should know about them, too. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the amazing creatives and masterpieces featured below:
Music
Sauti Sol
Sauti Sol is a Kenyan afro-pop band consisting of Willis Chimano, Savara Mudigi, Bien-Aimé Baraza, and Polycarp Otieno. In 2014, they won an MTV EMA award for Best African Act, and Best African Group in at African Muzik Magazine Awards in 2015. Warning: their songs are super catchy and you’ll probably be singing them for the rest of the day. #SorryNotSorry.
Check out: Live and Die in Afrika, Sura Yako, Nambee
Amadou & Mariam
This musical duo from Mali consists of Amadou Bagayoko and Mariam Doumbia, who are both blind, and met while attending the Mali Institute for the Young and Blind. Nominated for a Grammy in 2009, these two are unstoppable but still play benefit shows for the Institute that brought them together. Their songs are sung in a variety of languages, including English, French, Bambara, Dogon, Tuareg, Tamasheq, Senufo, Songhai, Soninke, Malinke, and Khassonke. Maybe we can’t always sing along, but that won’t stop us from trying.
Listen to: Dougou Badia, Sénégal Fast-Food
Photography
Zanele Muholi
‘A picture is worth a thousand words’ might be a cliché, but, when it comes to Zanele Muholi, it’s definitely true.
Source: @MuholiZanele (Twitter)
Zanele Muholi is a South African photographer who uses her talent as a visual activist focusing on black LGBTI identity in Africa and around the globe. Muholi won the Carnegie International Fine Prize in 2013, and has exhibited her work internationally.
Check out some more of her work in this article from the Huffington Post, and watch this interview with her and her colleague, Lerato Dumse, to learn more about the inspiration and meaning behind her work.
Art
Aboudia Abdoulaye Diarrassouba
Aboudia Abdoulaye Diarrassouba, simply known as Aboudia, is an artist from Côte d’Ivoire in West Africa. Aboudia has compared his art to journalism, and says that he uses his work to express the thoughts, ideas, and feelings of children he encounters in his home city of Abidjan. Explore more of Aboudia’s work here.
“Untitled” by Aboudia
Source: Jack Bell Gallery
Ana Taban
Ana Taban is an incredible group of young artists in South Sudan, who were recently highlighted in a post from the UN Peacekeeping Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS). The Ana Taban team is working to promote peace and reconciliation in their country by creating thought-provoking murals intended to start conversations about how to move forward and create change in their community. We’re so inspired by the movement these young artists have created; it’s truly a testament to the power of art to bring people together and change the world. Read more here.
Source: The Guardian
Literature
There so many excellent books by African writers, and so little time to read them all. We could make it simple and suggest you pick up A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah (spoiler: it’s a definite 12 out of 10 and if you haven’t already read it, you absolutely should) but we couldn’t just stop with one. With that, we present to you:
25 New Books by African Writers You Should Read from Literary Hub
and
a list of popular books by African writers on Goodreads.
So, no complaints about having an empty Fall reading list: go start reading. We’ll be doing the same.
Craving for new art satisfied? We hope this has at least been an appetizer to get you pumped on some great work coming out of Africa. Enjoy it, and let us know if you have your own recommendations by tweeting at us — we’re always looking to hear from you and learn more. Until then, happy jamming and happy reading.
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