Fashion icon and entrepreneur speaks to Agnes E Nantaba Sylvia Owori is very expressive and loud. The second born of a family of seven, her father passed on when she was only seven. But that did not stop Owori from pursuing a childhood dream – to be a fashion designer …
Read More »Zuckerberg streams live chat with men in space
San Francisco, United States | AFP | Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg took the leading social network on a new journey Wednesday, with a live-streamed chat with astronauts on the International Space Station. In a Facebook Live video broadcast shown at the NASA page of the social network, Zuckerberg praised the …
Read More »Jewels of the Jungle
By Nathan Kiwere When 19th century French Romanticism painter, Jean-Louis Andre Theodore Gericault and his ilk rebelled against Neo-Classical art in Europe, they were driven by the belief in the exaltation of the senses and emotions over reason and intellect. To this end, they were able to martial a small …
Read More »Art of rebellion
One painting depicts the recent controversial stripping by Makerere University don Stella Nyanzi, in protest against alleged unfair treatment by her supervisor. By Dominic Muwanguzi African identity, pride and beauty, and the politics around them are the subject of Samson Ssenkaaba aka Xenson’s exhibition at Afriart Gallery in Kampala. Dubbed …
Read More »Unsweet voices: A chaotic symphony erupts as Ugandans find voice
By Nathan Kiwere Going by the sheer number of artists, the Ugandan music industry appears to overflowwith talent. It is a contrast to a few years ago when the local scene was awash with ‘imported’ music. Congolese Lingala maestros monopolized the few radio stations and patronised Ugandan revelers with their …
Read More »Anne-Marie Nzie, ‘golden voice of Cameroon’, dies at 84
Yaoundé, Cameroon | AFP | Popular Cameroonian singer Anne-Marie Nzie has died at the age of 84 following a career spanning six decades, state media reported Wednesday. Nicknamed the “golden voice of Cameroon”, the singer died Tuesday evening in a hospital in the capital Yaounde where she had been admitted …
Read More »Oil riches help keep alive bedouin poetry
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates | AFP | The Middle East’s poetry equivalent of “Pop Idol” is helping to keep alive an age-old tradition using bedouin dialect, which is barely understood outside the Arabian Gulf. Apart from the glory, a Kuwaiti student took home five million dirhams ($1.36 million), the …
Read More »Cannes hotel deploys hawks to keep gulls away from rich and famous
Cannes, France | AFP | The last thing rich and famous visitors to Cannes want is a cheeky seagull swooping in to nibble their peanuts or steal their steak. So the Grand Hyatt Cannes Hotel Martinez has deployed a team of trained hawks to chase away opportunistic gulls who may …
Read More »‘Rumba king’ Papa Wemba posthumously decorated
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | Democratic Republic of Congo’s rumba king Papa Wemba was posthumously awarded one of his country’s highest honours on Monday, a week after he collapsed on stage and died aged 66. At a ceremony in the national parliament in Kinshasa, where Papa Wemba’s body lay …
Read More »‘Oh no, not again’: Why do stars keep dying in 2016?
Washington, United States | AFP | “Prince, surely not? Can we turn this year off and turn it back on when it stops being a giant exit for all the most talented people?” The actress Minnie Driver echoed the thoughts of many in tweeting her reaction to the sudden loss …
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