Latest news with #Pan-Africanism
eNCA
a day ago
- eNCA
Female biker takes a journey from Nigeria to South Africa
LAGOS, NIGERIA - Solo female biker, Omolewa Adesuyi also known as Mama Spade has boldly challenged societal norms with her Ride for Unity through Africa. With her courageous journey, she hopes to empower women on the continent, and around the world, to pursue their dreams. And to foster Pan-Africanism. Adesuyi's journey began from Nigeria to South Africa. She has built a significant online following and the 'Ride for African Unity' which is one of her most ambitious projects. She took up this solo motorcycle journey spanning approximately 7,000 kilometers and took her across seven African countries. Mama Spade's journey went through Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Republic of Congo, Angola, Namibia and South Africa with the aim of promoting unity, collaboration and gender-focused inclusivity across Africa. ENCA managed to get an interview with Adesuyi after she finished her journey. She explained the importance of this trip and whether she maintained to achieve most, if not all the goals she had set for herself.
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Venice Art Biennale to honour late curator Koyo Kouoh with 2026 exhibition ‘In Minor Keys'
The curatorial vision for the 61st Venice Biennale, 'In Minor Keys', was revealed in Venice today in an emotional presentation at the Sala delle Colonne of Ca' Giustinian, the Biennale's historic headquarters. Originally set for announcement later this year, the theme was unveiled ahead of schedule following the sad and unexpected death of the exhibition's curator, Koyo Kouoh, on 10 May. A leading figure in promoting Pan-Africanism throughout the art world, Kouoh had served as executive director and chief curator at the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa in Cape Town, South Africa since 2019. She earned global acclaim for curating the 2022 exhibition When We See Us: A Century of Black Figuration in Painting, a monumental historical show inspired by Ava DuVernay's Netflix miniseries When They See Us, and became the first African woman invited to lead the Venice Art Biennale in December 2024. Related Koyo Kouoh, 2026 Venice Art Biennale curator, dies suddenly aged 58 Bahrain wins top prize at Venice Architecture Biennale with a pavilion tackling extreme heat With the support of Kouoh's family, La Biennale di Venezia confirmed it will proceed with the 2026 exhibition exactly as she conceived it, in what will now be a posthumous tribute to her life's work. As they noted, the edition will explore the spaces in which minor keys operate, to conceive "an exhibition that invites listening to the persistent signals of earth and life, connecting to soul frequencies. If in music, the minor keys are often associated with strangeness, melancholy, and sorrow, here their joy, solace, hope, and transcendence manifest as well." Scheduled to run from 9 May to 22 November 2026, 'In Minor Keys' will take place across the Giardini, the Arsenale, and various venues throughout Venice. The full list of participating artists, the exhibition's visual identity, and national pavilions will be officially announced at a press conference on 25 February 2026.
Euronews
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Euronews
Venice Biennale to honour late curator Koyo Kouoh with 2026 exhibition
The curatorial vision for the 61st Venice Biennale, 'In Minor Keys', was revealed in Venice today in an emotional presentation at the Sala delle Colonne of Ca' Giustinian, the Biennale's historic headquarters. Originally set for announcement later this year, the theme was unveiled ahead of schedule following the sad and unexpected death of the exhibition's curator, Koyo Kouoh, on 10 May. A leading figure in promoting Pan-Africanism throughout the art world, Kouoh had served as executive director and chief curator at the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa in Cape Town, South Africa since 2019. She earned global acclaim for curating the 2022 exhibition When We See Us: A Century of Black Figuration in Painting, a monumental historical show inspired by Ava DuVernay's Netflix miniseries When They See Us, and became the first African woman invited to lead the Venice Art Biennale in December 2024. With the support of Kouoh's family, La Biennale di Venezia confirmed it will proceed with the 2026 exhibition exactly as she conceived it, in what will now be a posthumous tribute to her life's work. As they noted, the edition will explore the spaces in which minor keys operate, to conceive "an exhibition that invites listening to the persistent signals of earth and life, connecting to soul frequencies. If in music, the minor keys are often associated with strangeness, melancholy, and sorrow, here their joy, solace, hope, and transcendence manifest as well." Scheduled to run from 9 May to 22 November 2026, 'In Minor Keys' will take place across the Giardini, the Arsenale, and various venues throughout Venice. The full list of participating artists, the exhibition's visual identity, and national pavilions will be officially announced at a press conference on 25 February 2026.
IOL News
16-05-2025
- Business
- IOL News
Africa Month: Pan-Africanism Doublespeak Retarding Continent's Progress
Ghana's founder and first President Kwame Nkrumah (left) and Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie (centre) at the formation of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on May 25, 1963. The formation of the OAU is celebrated as Africa Day. Dr. Reneva Fourie EVERY year on May 25, we celebrate Africa Day. It commemorates the founding of the Organisation of African Unity in 1963, a moment born from the fires of anti-colonial struggle and lit by a bold vision of a united, free and sovereign continent. In 2002, the organisation was reconstituted as the African Union, intended to carry the dream of Pan-Africanism into a new era. But over sixty years since the OAU's founding, the promise of liberation remains painfully unfulfilled. Africa is not yet free. Not in the way Patrice Lumumba imagined when he spoke of a Congo governed by its people. Not in the way Kwame Nkrumah envisioned when he declared that political independence was meaningless without economic emancipation. It is not yet Uhuru. Independence, in much of Africa, was cosmetic. The colonial flags came down, but a more insidious form of domination rose in their place. The colonisers changed uniforms, adopted new languages of diplomacy, development and aid, and returned through the back door of our treasuries, parliaments and boardrooms. Neocolonialism has become our daily reality. Despite African exports amounting to billions of US dollars, much of that wealth bypasses the continent. Mineral-rich countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo, which supplies over the vast majority of the world's cobalt, remain trapped in poverty while multinationals profit from electric vehicle revolutions elsewhere. Oil flows from Nigeria and Angola fuel foreign industries, while power cuts paralyse local economies. Coffee and cocoa leave African farms to be branded and sold at ten times the price abroad. The chains have not been broken. They have only been polished. Economic dependency is matched by political manipulation. The International Monetary Fund and World Bank, dominated by Western interests, continue to shape our economic policies through conditional lending. Countries are told what to privatise, which subsidies to cut, and how to manage their fiscal budgets. The so-called structural adjustment programmes of the 1980s and 1990s devastated social services, dismantled local industries, and deepened inequality. Today, neocolonial manifestations are more subtle, but the outcomes remain the same. Sovereignty is traded for survival. And when an African leader dares to walk a different path and to speak with independence, they are swiftly punished. Consider the case of Thomas Sankara of Burkina Faso, who was murdered in 1987 after nationalising land and rejecting foreign aid. Or Muammar Gaddafi, whose push for a gold-backed African currency threatened Western financial interests before he was toppled in a NATO-backed intervention. More recently, leaders who defy global consensus on trade or security are isolated, sanctioned or unseated. Africa is told who to trust, who to trade with, and who to elect. Democracy is praised when it aligns with foreign interests, and questioned when it produces inconvenient results. The role of foreign military presence in Africa cannot be ignored. The United States operates AFRICOM, a military command with operations in over 30 African countries. France maintains troops across the Sahel, even after public protests against its influence. The continent is courted, yes, but rarely as an equal. We are treated as territory to be won, not as a people to be respected. While China builds infrastructure, often with little skills transfer and compliance with local labour laws, and Russia assists African leaders with arms and mercenaries, their mutually beneficial interventions cannot be equated with neocolonialism.
The Star
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Star
Koyo Kouoh, 2026 Venice Art Biennale curator, dies suddenly at age 58
Koyo Kouoh, the head of the biggest contemporary art museum in Africa and who would have been the first African woman to lead the Venice Biennale, died on May 10, the Zeitz MOCAA museum said. Photo: AFP Koyo Kouoh, the curator of the 2026 Venice Art Biennale, has died at age 58, her home institution in South Africa said in an Instagram post on Saturday. The Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa in Cape Town in South Africa confirmed her passing overnight but gave no cause of death. The Biennale said on Saturday it was "deeply saddened and dismayed' to learn of her death. Kouoh was the first African woman tapped to helm the Venice Biennale. Born in Cameroon in 1967, she was tapped to curate the 2026 edition of the Biennale in December. A leading figure in promoting Pan-Africanism throughout the art world, Kouoh had been executive director and chief curator at Zeitz since 2019. Appointed in December 2024 by the board of directors of La Biennale, Kouoh worked "with passion, intellectual rigor and vision on the conception and development of the Biennale Arte 2026,' the Venice arts institution said. The presentation of the exhibition's title and theme was due to take place in Venice on May 20. "Her passing leaves an immense void in the world of contemporary art and in the international community of artists, curators, and scholars who had the privilege of knowing and admiring her extraordinary human and intellectual commitment,' the Biennale said. It extended "its deepest sympathies and affection' to Kouoh's family and friends, and "all those who shared with her a journey of research and critical thought on contemporary art.' In a statement, Italy's Premier Giorgia Meloni on Saturday expressed her "deepest condolences' for Kouoh's "premature and sudden passing,' noting it "leaves a void in the world of contemporary art.' - AP
