Burundi in pictures on BBC Afrique's website

Hello people,

my section at the BBC World Service, dedicated to French-speaking Africa, is celebrting Burundi's anniversary of independence with this beautiful slideshow of photographs:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/afrique/nos_emissions/2012/06/120625_burundi_gallery.shtml

It is pretty rare! Thanks to our correspondents in the Great Lakes region.

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En images: le Burundi en fête

Le Burundi est connu pour la division ethnique entre Hutus et Tutsis, après deux longues guerres civiles qui ont causé la mort de milliers de personnes. Aujourd’hui, une ère nouvelle s’ouvre pour le pays.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/afrique/nos_emissions/2012/06/120625_burundi_gallery.shtml

"Call Me Kuchu": Being gay in Uganda

Call Me Kuchu is a feature-length documentary film from Uganda about the lack of right for gay and lesbian people in the Central African country.

It has been directed by Katherine Fairfax Wright and Malika Zouhali-Worrall.

It deals with the every-day difficulties homosexuals encounter in Uganda, a country which unfortunately recognises no rights for LGBT - "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" - people.

The ocumentary is specifically about the life and death of one of Uganda’s first openly gay activists, David Kato.

It was recipient of diverse grants from numerous funders, including Chicken & Egg Pictures, Frameline and the Catapult Film Fund, as well as fellowships with the Garrett Scott Documentary Development Grant at Full Frame Documentary Film Festival 2011, the Film Independent Documentary Lab, and the Fast Track film financing market at L.A. Film Festival 2011.

David Kato was killed out of hatred in January 2011, just a few weeks before my first trip to Kampala, and I remember the shock in provoke in the gay community and among human rights activists in the whole East African region.  

More here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/27/ugandan-gay-rights-activist-murdered


More information about the film at www.callmekuchu.com :

"In an unmarked office at the end of a dirt track, veteran activist David Kato labors to repeal Uganda’s homophobic laws and liberate his fellow lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender men and women, or “kuchus.” But David’s formidable task just became much more difficult. A new “Anti-Homosexuality Bill” proposes death for HIV-positive gay men, and prison for anyone who fails to turn in a known homosexual. Inspired by American evangelicals who have christened Uganda ground zero in their war on the “homosexual agenda,” the Bill awaits debate in Uganda’s Parliament. Meanwhile, local newspapers have begun outing kuchus with vicious fervor under headlines such as: “HOMO TERROR! We Name and Shame Top Gays in the City.” "

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http://callmekuchu.com/

Four Ugandans fight for justice & freedom on the frontlines of Africa's gay rights movement:

http://facebook.com/CallMeKuchu

(Virtual) Summer in Algiers

A new web documentary dedicated to the contemporary Algiers has been lauched yesterday from Paris. It broadcasts documentaries filmed in the Algerian capital, from different points o you, by different filmmakers or just regular citizens, in norder to capture a bit of nowadays Algiers, far from stereotyopes or from the images of the past.

You can see them here, all day long, on this website:

http://www.un-ete-a-alger.com/#/accueil 

The website will show during six weeks different films depicting today's Algiers.


Presentation in French:

"UN ETE A ALGER" est un web documentaire imaginé par Aurélie Charon et Caroline Gillet, avec Yanis Koussim, Lamine Ammar-Khodja, Amina Zoubir, Hassen Ferhani. Narrative/Une chambre à soi / avec le soutien du CNC, dont le lancement a été donné hier, 24 juin 2012.

Co produit par Narrative et Une chambre à soi.

"Loin de l'Alger colonial, loin d'Alger la blanche vue d'ici, on est au coeur du nouvel Alger qui revit : les jeunes portent déjà la révolution dont ils rêvent dans leurs envies, leurs corps et leurs vies. Après le printemps arabe, l'été sera algérien. La parole est à eux", affirment les réalisatrices.

http://www.un-ete-a-alger.com/#/accueil 


More details on the Facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/uneteaalger/info 

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It all started with a radio documentary project created for France Inter:
http://www.franceinter.fr/emission-alger-nouvelle-generation

I must adnit it does bring back lost of memories of my two last trip to Algiers, which happened in 2001 and 1992, especially the views from the balconies like in the film "50 contre 1"...

Wherever you are, you can spend the Summer in Algiers, claim the producers... I really wanted to visit Algeria again this year myself, but I still have not been able to. That's a start. And a very beautiful one.

http://www.un-ete-a-alger.com/#/accueil 

One way ticket

It is Summer and as I mentioned here already, Summer will be the season for London.

I just book my one way ticket to the British capital and will be leaving Paris in a week. 2012 is the year of travels, so it's the way forward. Paris, we had a great time but it never seems to be enough to make me stay for good.

 London's Summer 2012 will be the summer of the Olympics and Parlympics, which I should cover for radio,  and will see my return at the BBC World Service's headquarter, in their new building in Central London.

I hope to see you there!

Kenya's port of Mombasa threatened according to the USA

U.S. warns of attack threat in Kenyan port city

The press agency reports that the US warns Kenya over terror attacks in Mombasa...

You can read the article from the link below:

(Reuters) - The U.S. embassy in Kenya has warned of an imminent threat of an attack on the Kenyan port city of Mombasa and asked all its government workers to leave the coastal town, which has been hit by a series of attacks.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/23/us-kenya-security-idUSBRE85M03O20120623

London calling: Summer of ARTS

Here is a list of my main choices of exhibitions not-to-miss my first weeks in London this summer. Theere are so many possible choices, but time is - by nature - limited!
Follow me... and feel free to add some more.


Damien Hirst
Until Sun Sep 9
Tate Modern, SE1


Out of Focus: Photography
Until Sun Jul 22
Saatchi Gallery, SW3


Summer Exhibition 2012

4 June—12 August 2012

Royal Academy

In the Main Galleries, Burlington House

http://www.royalacademy.org.uk/exhibitions/summer-exhibition-2012/


Bauhaus: Art as Life
Until Sun Aug 12
Barbican Centre, EC2


Picasso and Modern British Art
Until Sun Jul 15
Tate Britain, SW1


British Design 1948-2012: Innovation in the Modern Age
Until Sun Aug 12
V&A, SW7


The London Open
 Whitechapel Gallery
4 July-14 September 2012
Galleries 1, 8 & 9
This exhibition showcases the most dynamic work being made in London in 2012.
Admission free
http://www.whitechapelgallery.org/exhibitions/the-london-open

Afropolitans!

This event is a dream come true, a dream I did not even dare to have...

My favourite museum, the V&A in London aka the Victoria and Albert Museum in South Kensington, is organising a new monthly event in Paris.

It is called Friday Late Paris and the first one is next Friday, June the 29th, and branded Afropolitans.

It will take place at the Wanderlust, a new hot and trendy fashion and art place on Quai d'Austerlitz, Paris 13e, recently opened.

The evening will be focused on African fashion, photography, style, and aesthetic.

This will be on my last weekend in Paris before I move to London again and get to spend all my Friday evenings at the V&A.

So looking forward!

Here are the details:

"We're pleased to announce a monthly collaboration with Wanderlust - the new multi-disciplinary space set in the Docks-Cité de la Mode et du Design. On the last Friday of every month, we present Friday Late Paris.

Following it s success in London in 2011, join us for Afropolitans - an evening exploring African fashion, photography, and personal style, looking back to the image makers who captured the excitement and optimism of the 60s and 70s, and forward to the young Afropolitans who are creating a new urbane and cosmopolitan African aesthetic.

Visitors can have their portrait taken in our monochrome, Malick Sidibé-inspired photo studio, or join textile designer Emamoke Ukeleghe for a hands-on workshop, screen printing vintage-inspired designs onto Vlisco’s famous Dutch Wax fabric.

Rising British designer Adrien Sauvage will appear in conversation to discuss his Ghana-inspired A. Sauvage Black Volta collection, and we will be screening the documentaries Dolce Vita Africana and Sunday in Brazzaville. There will be a fun and interactive installation by Laurence Airline designer Laurence Chauvin-Buthaud and music from the Secousse Sound System DJs ".

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Links:

http://www.wanderlustparis.com/en.html

Africa Writes 2012 - London, SOAS, June 30 - July 1

The Royal African Society (RAS) in London organises every every year a brilliant event called Africa Writes - a literature and book festival celebrating contemporary African writing, and for 2012 it begins soon.

"Africa Writes aims to enhance coverage and discussion about African literature and writers in London - and the UK, by extension - showcasing established and emerging literary talent from Africa and the Diaspora during a weekend-long series of events, including book launches, readings, panel discussions, children's workshops and other activities:, RAS explains on its website.

The festival will also feature a two-day international book fair of publishers of African writing and an outdoor pan-African food market featuring dishes from all four corners of the continent.

This year Africa Writes will mark the 50^th anniversary of the African Writers Series and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - author of Half a Yellow Sun and winner of the Orange Prize for fiction - will be delivering the main lecture focusing on the legacy of the series. 

Other confirmed authors taking part in the festival include: Ellen Banda-Aaku, Nuruddin Farah, Kojo Laing, Lily Mabura, Jack Mapanje, Obi Okigbo, Noo Saro-Wiwa, E. E. Sule, Goretti Kyomuhendo and the five shortlisted Caine Prize writers for 2012, namely Rotimi Babatunde, Billy Kahora, Stanley Kenani, Melissa Tandiwe Myambo, and Constance Myburgh. 

Participating poets include: Modeste Hugues, Oxmo Pucion, Kety Nevyabandi Bikura, Shalija Patel, T.J. Dema, Paul Dakeyo, Bewketu Seyoum, Abdulahi Botaan Hassan 'Kurweyne', Warsan Shire, Sam Elmi, Elmi Ali, Inua Ellams,Yemisi Blake, Safia Elhillo, Mariama Khan, Togara Muzanenhamo, and Lemn Sissay.

On Sunday, 1st July, panel discussions will be held on the current publishing landscape for contemporary African writing and the phenomenon of "Writing Away from Home", which affects so many African writers living in the Diaspora. 

The festival's closing event will be Word from Africa, part of Poetry Parnassus at the Southbank Centre (Sunday, 1st July, 6-10pm).

All events are free and open to the public except for the Chimamanda lecture and Caine Prize event.

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Infos:

Africa Writes 2012

30 June, 2012 - 01 July, 2012 

 

          Where:

SOAS, Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square - London,WC1H 0XG 

 

http://www.royalafricansociety.org/events/details/1173-africa-writes-2012.html

 

Ethiopia, land and pastoralism

On those days of the Earth Summit in Rio, my thoughts goes especially to the future of food in Africa and especially Ethiopia where I was reporting on the topic about a month ago.

This week, the NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) published a report on the endangered balance between pastoralism and agriculture. Here it is:


http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/06/18/ethiopia-pastoralists-forced-their-land-sugar-plantations

Ethiopia: Pastoralists Forced off Their Land for Sugar Plantations

Government Should Consult, Compensate Indigenous Communities

June 18, 2012

 

It concerns the Omo region in the South of the country where the government intends to start state-run sugar plantations, according to HRW. 

 

"The 73-page report, “‘What Will Happen if Hunger Comes?’: Abuses against the Indigenous Peoples of Ethiopia’s Lower Omo Valley,”documents how government security forces are forcing communities to relocate from their traditional lands through violence and intimidation, threatening their entire way of life with no compensation or choice of alternative livelihoods," states the NGO's website.

 

Give it a read.

RIO+20: Views from Ethiopia

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I was in Ethiopia reporting on food security in East Africa, in the perspective of the UN Summit of Rio+20, in French 'Le Sommet de la Terre', organised 20 years after the 1992 UN summit in the very same city in Brazil.

Here is a link to my first report from Ethiopia on the issue for La Deutsche Welle in French:

http://www.dw.de/dw/article/0,,16028463,00.html

 "Le sommet de Rio+20 consacré à l’économie verte et à l’éradication de la pauvreté s’ouvre lundi. La question de la sécurité alimentaire dans les pays en développement comme l'Ethiopie s’annonce au centre des débats. On connaît les problèmes auxquels est confronté le Sahel, mais en Ethiopie, où la sécheresse a durement frappé en 2011, l’Etat est parvenu à supprimer les famines qui avaient accablé le pays jusqu'à la terrible crise de 1985. Cela dit, les difficultés perdurent."

Listen at the end of the page in: Audios et vidéos sur le sujet


Direct link to audio:

http://www.dw.de/popups/popup_single_mediaplayer/0,,16028478_type_audio_struct_0_contentId_16028463,00.html

More soon.

My main radio story will be on BBC Afrique this week, listen in BBC Matin here:


http://www.bbc.co.uk/afrique/