Journalism in Africa, FCAEA's view

OFF THE RECORD, TONIGHT THURSDAY, JUNE 7

Here is the words from the Foreign Correspondents Association in East Africa, FCAEA,
based in Nairobi, about journalism in Africa:


"The debate over journalism from Africa has heated up over the last few
weeks in the cybersphere, and we're taking it live this week at our
off the record briefing. Join your voice.

Our featured speaker for the night will be Howard W. French. He has
been an associate professor at Columbia University Graduate School of
Journalism since 2008. For many years, he was a senior writer for the
New York Times, where he spent most of his nearly 23-year career as a
foreign correspondent working and travelling to over 100 countries on
five continents including Africa.

We're also going to welcome representatives from non-governmental
organizations including Crisis Action as well as a few local
personalities in the journalism scene.

If you haven't been following the conversation here's some reading
material to catch you up!"

How Not to Write about Africa, Foreign Policy, Laura Seay, April 25
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/04/25/how_not_to_write_about_africa?page=full

How Do Journalist Write About Africa, Global Post, Tristan McConnell,
May 29
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/commentary/journalists-africa-reporters

Nine Signs that Journalism on Africa You've Just Encountered is Trash,
Huffington Post, Imran Garda, June 4
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/imran-garda/nine-signs-the-journalism_b_1566815.html

In the thoughts of others: Salman Rushdie

"I’ve gotten more interested in clarity as a virtue, less interested in the virtues of difficulty. And I suppose that means I do have a clearer sense of how people read, which is, I suppose, partly created by my knowledge of how people have read what I have written so far. I don’t like books that play to the gallery, but I’ve become more concerned with telling a story as clearly and engagingly as I can. Then again, that’s what I thought at the beginning, when I wrote Midnight’s Children. I thought it odd that storytelling and literature seemed to have come to a parting of the ways. It seemed unnecessary for the separation to have taken place.

A story doesn’t have to be simple, it doesn’t have to be one-dimensional but, especially if it’s multidimensional, you need to find the clearest, most engaging way of telling it".

Salman Rushdie, The Art of Fiction No. 186

Interviewed by Jack Livings

'El Campo', Argentinean movie by Hernán Belón

I will be at the press screening of Argentinean feature film 'El Campo' this Thursday at 1pm in Paris.

'In The Open' is the English title.
The movie is to be released in France on June 13.

Watch the trailer here:

http://www.bodegafilms.com/elcampo/

 Here is the plot summary:

Elisa, a thirty-eight-year old woman, leaves for a week with her husband and young daughter on a vacation to a house in the country.
Everything is going for her: she has a successful professional career, loves her family, has enough money for a comfortable life, and has plans for the future.
After arriving to the country, a strange feeling takes hold of her.
She starts feeling the presence of something that moves the treetops at night, makes the dogs howl, and wanders like the breath of a ghost across the infinite countryside.
A stinging feeling that kills all her certainties.

Argentinean director and screenwriter Hernán Belón co-wrote his feature film debut with Valeria Radivo. It is an Argentinean-French-Italian co-production which had it's world premiere at the International Film Critics Week in Venice 2011.

It tells the story about Elisa and Santiago and their little daughter Mathilda, who leaves their life in Buenos Aires and goes on vacation to a house they have rented in the countryside. The married couple are as happy as any couple in love could be, but already after the first night in their new temporary home, Elisa begins to feel uncomfortable about the place.

More here:

http://www.fipresci.org/festivals/archive/2011/venice/critics_week_pcasella.htm

Ahead of the UN Rio + 20 Summit

Hello folks,

this week I'm working on Ethiopia and food security issues ahead of Rio+20 UN Summit.

If you want to share thoughts, feel free!

I visited Bio Economy Africa's farms and projects in Addis Ababa and Assosa in May and met with lots of farmers who have been train to produce more, better and more scientifically and organically.

If you want to know more, get in touch.

Writing about Africa: More on the debate...

Another article reopening the debate about how badly Africa is covered in the media.

I am really interested in the topic, even if I have only lived in Africa for a year, working from Nairobi and reporting about Africa for three years. My idea is that we can only improve.

How not to write about Africa in 2012 – a beginner's guide

by Binyavanga Wainaina

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jun/03/how-not-to-write-about-africa

I could not agree more with the first sentence of the column:

"Nairobi is a good place to be an international correspondent. There are regular flights to the nearest genocide, and there are green lawns, tennis courts, good fawning service".

Binyavanga Wainaina is the author of memoir 'One Day I will Write About This Place' and a Kenyan satirist, as he calls himself on Twitter. He is also Director of The Chinua Achebe Center for African Writers and Artists at Bard College.  He is the founding editor of the literary magazine 'Kwani?' and won the Caine Prize for African Writing in 2002.

 This sentence is harsh for Western media and catchy but so true:

"There are five or six places that have not been fully pacified inside the vision of the world as run by the victors of the cold war: North Korea, Gaddafi (that has been dealt with), Somalia, Afghanistan, the women of Africa, and the poor poor people of China, slaving away under the most terrible conditions doing confusing things like refusing to evolve into Europe. Big places where history is still alive – like Russia, China, the Middle East – are to be feared and demonised. Why can't the Egyptians vote for a nice, safe, British-trained economist who once worked for the World Bank?"

Then he continues further:

"If there was a new map, Africa would be divided into three:

1) Tiny flares of horribleness – Mugabe, undemocratic, war, Somalia, Congo;

2) Tiny flares of wonderfulness. Mandela, World Cup, safari. Baby4Africa! A little NGO that does amazing things with black babies who squirm happily in white saviours' hands because they were saved from an African war. My favourites are clitoraid.com and Knickers 4 Africa – which collects used panties for African women;

3) The rest. Lets call this the "vast grassroots". This part of Africa is run by nameless warlords. When the warlords fall, these places are run by grassroots organisations that are funded by the EU and provide a good place to send gap year kids to help and see giraffes at the same time. Grassroots Africa is good for backpacking because it is the real Africa (no AK47s to bother you, no German package tourists). The vast grassroots exists to sit and wait for agents of sustainability (Europeans) to come and empower them".

Because he concludes and again, I so agree:

"What cannot be said is that history came surging to the present. Market capitalism is shaking, and all of a sudden the vast grassroots has oil and copper, and willing, driven and ambitious hands". 

Which consequently leads Binyavanga Wainaina to add:

"It is not a surprise that, in these days, there is a vast and growing new middle class across the continent: the British, American and European media houses have lost us. Our own are booming, and we are finding deals with CCTV (China) and al-Jazeera. We fly Emirates and Kenya Airways. We make deals with those who see a common and vibrant future being a platform for engagement".

A must read for anyone interested in today's Africa. 

Algeria, Argentina... Sin Fronteras (Cabaret Sauvage, Paris)

Paris is blooming... with arts and music!

Here is my favourite festival looming in July, a mix of musicians from Algeria, Argentina, Latine America and more:

http://www.cabaretsauvage.com/

or

http://www.facebook.com/pages/FESTIVAL-SIN-FRONTERAS-AU-CABARET-SAUVAGE/122617987771342

'Le Festival SIN FRONTERAS revient au Cabaret Sauvage pour sa 3e édition du 05 au 29 juillet 2012! La programmation sera dévoilée ds quelques jours'...

Sauvage productions présente
FESTIVAL SIN FRONTERAS #3
du 05 juin au29 juillet 2012

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Pendant 4 semaines, le Cabaret Sauvage met à l'honneur les musiques du monde. Un festival au reflet du monde actuel : voyageur et à l’écoute de l’air du temps. À proximité du canal, une terrasse conçue comme un lieu de vie, comprendra un espace détente et restauration en plus du chapiteau.

4 semaines pour 4 voyages musicaux :
• Du 05 au 08 juillet 2012 : ALGERIE
• Du 12 au 15 juillet 2012 : AMERIQUE LATINE
• Du 19 au 22 juillet 2012 : BERLIN
• Du 26 au 29 juillet 2012 : JAMAIQUE




• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
www.cabaretsauvage.com
infoline : 01 42 09 03 09
Parc de la Villette
Accès piéton par le 59 bd Mac Donald

On Turkey's conference about Somalia's future

A conference is currently taking place in Istanbul to support Somalia in a transition process calling for a new constitution and parliament, and the election of a president, by Aug. 20.

 (Villa Somalia, where the TFG stays, in Mogadishu)

I am not lucky enough to be in Turkey this week to cover the conference on Somalia, but here are a few interesting articles to read about it:

From AP:

'Istanbul conference seeks to help Somalia'

 

ISTANBUL (AP) — International forces cannot solve Somalia's security problems in the long term and the fragile country needs its own strong force to do the job, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Friday...

 

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iQnJPGysSWVeGtDncgyzvpgEUmNA?docId=dd429900380b4fa68cbe63990936dcd3

By Reuters:

'Turkey tells U.N. and aid donors to move to Somalia'

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/01/us-turkey-somalia-idUSBRE8500TG20120601

In The Guardian:

Somalia '90 days from the most momentous event in its recent history'

http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/2012/jun/01/somalia-90-days-momentous-history

On The BBC:

Somalia government money 'goes missing'

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-18293101

And from the UN news centre:

End of transition period represents ‘historic starting point’ for Somalia – Ban



http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=42134&Cr=Somalia&Cr1=

Tonight's read

It's 1 and something am in Paris. 

Tonight was all about writing talks. 

Here an article marvellously completing the discussion: http://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/4597/the-art-of-fiction-no-28-henry-miller#.T8TjFfwldrc.twitter

Good night.

News of Somalia

My recent trip in Mogadishu was one of the most interesting I had in years, with Somaliland, Dadaab, and Haiti (Kenya having a special place in my life, since I lived their a whole year).

I am still working about Somalia, preparing a longer article on the recent developments and above all following news from the Horn.

Here is the latest post from BBC Africa Facebook page: 

"Kenyan troops, supporting forces allied to the Somali government, have taken the strategically important town of Afmadow from the Islamist group, al-Shabaab. It says their fighters were pulled out without a fight. The Somali Prime Minister told the BBC the capture of Afmadow allows its troops to press on to the port of Kismayo, which would soon be in government hands".

As you may know, Somali leaders are currently in Turkey for a special summit on their future.

More details here on the BBC's website:

 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-18275703

And more background details on Think Africa Press:

http://thinkafricapress.com/somalia/turkey-somalia-21-year-itch-istanbul-conference

The two-day talks are hosted by the Turkish government, which has tried to raise its profile in Somalia since last year's drought in the Horn of Africa.

Let's see what it brings tomorrow for Somalis. 

Mon article sur la nouvelle expo reine de Metz en français le site pour Toute la Culture :

Lien :
http://toutelaculture.com/2012/05/le-centre-pompidou-metz-interroge-lannee-1917/

LE CENTRE POMPIDOU METZ INTERROGE L’ANNÉE 1917

30 mai 2012

On la surnomme souvent l’année « impossible ». Historiquement, 1917 a été marquée par la désastreuse bataille du Chemin des Dames et la Révolution russe, mais elle est également devenue un moment d’apogée artistique pour le siècle et le monde entier… Le Centre Pompidou-Metz lui consacre une exposition sans comparaison et foisonnante jusqu’au 24 septembre prochain. 

Il est des années historiquement inoubliables, d’autres culturellement exceptionnelles, d’autres encore socialement marquantes et définissant un tournant. 1917 est tout cela et bien plus encore, une rupture dans l’histoire occidentale, une plongée dans la mondialisation par le tragique, la guerre, l’horreur, que seul l’art est parvenu à sublimer.

La nouvelle exposition du Centre Pompidou Metz, inaugurée la semaine dernière et ouverte au public samedi 26 mai, célèbre et retrace les grands événements historiques et artistiques qui ont jalonné et défini cette année hors du commun de l’histoire européenne et même en partie mondiale à travers des œuvres inégalées mais aussi des objets du quotidien.

L’un des piliers de l’exposition est le concept, la réalité et les représentations de la guerre. La Grande Guerre. 1917 marque en effet l’amplification et la mondialisation du conflit de la première Guerre mondiale, qui voit se propager armes et instruments modernes – mais aussi tellement destructeurs qu’ils en bouleversent les mentalités. Artistiquement, 1917 est conséquemment traversée par des courants plus ou moins révolutionnaires : de l’impressionnisme tardif au dadaïsme, ces courants sont représentés à merveille à travers l’exposition du Centre Pompidou de Metz qui rassemble près de 1500 pièces, allant des toiles aux douilles d’obus sculptées, en passant par des prothèses militaires, sculptures, photographies, dessins, affiches de propagandes, morceaux d’armes ou d’avions, etc.
Y figure également en point d’orgue la présentation exceptionnelle du géant rideau de scène du ballet composé par Erik Satie, « Parade », œuvre monumentale de Pablo Picasso, qui n’a pas été exposée en France depuis plus de vingt ans. Et les plus grands noms de l’art du début du XXème siècle s’y côtoient : les Allemands Max Beckmann, Emil Nolde et Otto Dix, les russes Vassily Kandinsky et Marc Chagall, le Suisse Paul Klee, le Français Fernand Leger, l’Espagnol Picasso ou encore les britanniques – moins connus en France – William Orpen et les frères John et Paul Nash qui ont sillonné – embedded – les tranchées françaises.

L’exposition a été conçue sur deux niveaux, en deux parties, sur une surface d’environ 2 300 m². La scénographie de l’exposition a été conçue par Didier Blin, architecte muséographe, assisté d’Erol Gulgonen, sous la direction de Claire Garnier et Laurent Le Bon.

La première partie de l’exposition est présentée en Galerie 1, au premier étage du Centre, et entend interroger la notion de distance par rapport aux événements, distance « physique ou symbolique ».  Nombreux ont été directement confrontés à la mort en cette année de guerre, ainsi qu’aux blessures et à la violence des combats. D’autres ont adopté une attitude de repli par rapport à cette violence sans précédent, soit au sein de communautés artistiques, soit au moyen d’une évasion plus intérieure, plus poétique, tel Claude Monet qui pousse à bout sa recherche autour des nymphéas en cette année 1917 avec le but affiché de défier la morbidité et la peur. La dernière salle de la Grande Nef, au rez-de-chaussée du Centre, ou se développe la seconde partie de l’exposition, accueille ces tableaux inoubliables.

Cette seconde partie de l’exposition s’articule, elle, autour de la problématique de la destruction et de la reconstruction, « tant physique que psychique », annonce les commissaires de l’exposition. Corps, visages et paysages, mais aussi appareils militaires et éléments d’architecture y sont représentés, a travers des portraits, des tableaux mais aussi des éléments de vie quotidienne datant tous, une fois de plus, de l’année 1917. Portraits de gueules cassées, représentations de tranchées, stigmates d’explosion, ou éléments de barbelés et autres ouvrages de guerre s’amoncèlent autour des tableaux iconiques de Nolde et Matisse. Pluridimensionnelle et transdisciplinaire, l’exposition inclut également des œuvres africaines récoltées durant les expéditions coloniales de 1917 par la France et l’Allemagne, des témoignages de la Révolution russe, ainsi que des représentations de ruines sous diverses formes, photographies, dessins, huiles sur toile, une des obsessions artistiques et sociales de l’année 1917 en Europe.

Le parcours se développe au final par salles thématisées qui laissent encore apparaître d’autres nombreux thèmes guerriers, mais font aussi émerger la naissance du mouvement Dada, les motifs d’Arlequin ou encore les représentations théâtrales de la Guerre qui émergent lors de cette année, « vaste matrice dense et complexe » telle que la désigne le directeur du Centre, Laurent Le Bon, dans son introduction au catalogue, sublime, de l’exposition, « une date-écrin » permettant de réunir « des chefs-d’œuvre et des œuvres inconnues » durant une bonne partie de cette année 2012, déjà si proche des prochaines célébrations du centenaire du début de la Grande Guerre.

Melissa Chemam