Journalist at RFI (ex-DW, BBC, CBC, F24...), writer (on art, music, culture...), I work in radio, podcasting, online, on films.
As a writer, I also contributed to the New Arab, Art UK, Byline Times, the i Paper...
Born in Paris, I was based in Prague, Miami, London, Nairobi (covering East Africa), Bangui, and in Bristol, UK. I also reported from Italy, Germany, Haiti, Tunisia, Liberia, Senegal, India, Mexico, Iraq, South Africa...
This blog is to share my work, news and cultural discoveries.
Serbia has become a key country for refugees aiming to seek asylum in Western Europe. 1.000.000 refugees travelled from Greece to Western Europe in 2015, coming mainly from the Middle East and Asia. About 4.360 refugees arrived in Serbia on average per day.
From mid-September, WAHA International has treated over 14.000 patients transiting through Serbia, especially in cities at the Hungarian border, and in the capital, Belgrade. Thanks to the common good will and efforts, WAHA International and the charity Pomozi.ba, based in Sarajevo, organised action to provide medical services in six crucial locations, along the borders.
For once, the month of January, which has been a bit tricky for me the past seven years, and last year for all fellow French citizens, is full of promises and prospects. I'll be in Bristol so to start, for, among other things, this fantastic event. See below and see you there.
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John Akomfrah’s Venice Biennale hit film to get UK premiere in January
Vertigo Sea will debut at the Arnolfini in Bristol before touring to Margate and Manchester
John Akomfrah’s acclaimed film, Vertigo Sea (2015), which was unveiled at the Venice Biennale this year, is due to be premiered in the UK in January. The three-screen installation ponders man’s relationship with the ocean through, among other things, the whaling industry, the history of slavery and the refugee crisis. It is due to go on show at the Arnolfini in Bristol on 16 January 2016 (until 10 April) before touring to Turner Contemporary in Margate and the Whitworth Art Gallery in Manchester as part of the Arts Council England strategic touring programme. More venues are expected to be confirmed.
Vertigo Sea fuses archival footage of the whaling industry with shots of ocean life—taken with the BBC natural history unit—off the coast of the Isle of Skye, the Faroe Islands and northern Norway. It also includes shots of African migrants crossing the ocean in journeys fraught with danger, echoing the current crisis.
The Arnolfini exhibition coincides with Akomfrah’s first show with Lisson Gallery, which will present new and recent work by the Ghanaian-born London-based artist (22 January-5 March 2016).
Next year also marks the 30th anniversary of Handsworth Songs, a film by the Black Audio Film Collective (of which Akomfrah is a member) that examined the 1985 riots in Birmingham and London.
A spokeswoman for Lisson says there are plans to show the seminal film, which drew crowds when it was shown at Tate Modern in the wake of the 2011 London riots. A venue and date have not been confirmed yet.
Tu es pressé d'écrire, Comme si tu étais en retard sur la vie. S'il en est ainsi fais cortège à tes sources. Hâte-toi. Hâte-toi de transmettre Ta part de merveilleux de rébellion de bienfaisance. Effectivement tu es en retard sur la vie, La vie inexprimable, La seule en fin de compte à laquelle tu acceptes de t'unir, Celle qui t'est refusée chaque jour par les êtres et par les choses, Dont tu obtiens péniblement de-ci de-là quelques fragments décharnés Au bout de combats sans merci. Hors d'elle, tout n'est qu'agonie soumise, fin grossière. Si tu rencontres la mort durant ton labeur, Reçois-là comme la nuque en sueur trouve bon le mouchoir aride, En t'inclinant. Si tu veux rire, Offre ta soumission, Jamais tes armes. Tu as été créé pour des moments peu communs. Modifie-toi, disparais sans regret Au gré de la rigueur suave. Quartier suivant quartier la liquidation du monde se poursuit Sans interruption, Sans égarement.
First published when the limited edition of 3D and the art of Massive Attack was released and now refreshed to mark the 300+ page hardback edition, we’ve collected Robert Del Naja’s 10 best Massive Attack sleeve designs.
In the twenty-five plus years since Massive Attack released their Smith & Mighty produced debut single ‘Any Love’, vocalist and artist Robert Del Naja aka 3D has come to define the Bristol band’s singular aesthetic, working with photographers (like Nick Knight on Mezzanine) and designers (like Tom Hingston on Heligoland) to create some of the most iconic record sleeves of the modern era.
Naturally then, it was always going to be difficult to pick a top 10, especially when so many of the major album covers were followed (or preceded) by a ream of EP variations. With that in mind, we’ve dodged to the left of Massive Attack’s most definitive (and well-known) sleeves – the 1991 debut LPBlue Lines, their 1998 masterpiece Mezzanine and most recent album Heligoland (2010) – all of which are represented by artwork from their EP’s and singles.
The list draws on sleeves for every major album release from Blues Lines to Heligoland, as well as the collaboration with Burial for the 2011 single “Four Walls / Paradise Circus”, showing the evolution of a visual style that has gone step for step with Massive Attack’s rise to one of the most influential acts in UK music history.
“Unfinished Sympathy” From Blue Lines Wild Bunch Records, (Feb 1991)
“Safe From Harm” From Blue Lines Wild Bunch Records, (May 1991)
“Massive Attack E.P.” From Blue Lines Wild Bunch Records, (Feb 1992)
“Sly” From Protection Wild Bunch Records, (Oct, 1994)
“Karmacoma” 7″ From Protection Wild Bunch Records, (May, 1995)
“Risingson” From Mezzanine Circa, (Jul, 1997)
“Tear Drop” From Mezzanine Circa, (Apr, 1998)
100th Window Virgin, (2003)
“Splitting The Atom E.P.” From Heligoland Virgin, (2009)
Massive Attack vs. Burial “Four Walls” / “Paradise Circus” Inhale Gold / The Vinyl Factory, (2011)
3D and the art of Massive Attack is available now from The Vinyl Factory online shop.
In February 2016, Lazarides will celebrate its 10th anniversary with a group exhibition from the gallery's most celebrated and pioneering artists. For the landmark exhibition, the gallery has invited back those artists who have helped shape the gallery's legacy to take over their flagship space in the heart of London's Fitzrovia.
We will be announcing full details of this special exhibition and the extended programme of events soon.
Exhibition dates
The exhibition runs from 12th February 2016 to 24th March 2016
Opening hours
Gallery: Tuesday by appointment, Wednesday–Saturday 11am–7pm. Admission is free
Le journal Afrique de TV5 d'hier soir : nouvelle rébellion au Burundi, réaction des autorités après les violences de lundi à Djibouti et portrait de l'Algérien Hocine Ait-Ahmed, fondateur du FFS, décédé à Lausanne : http://information.tv5monde.com/les-jt/afrique
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Mon plateau sur le Burundi : Burundi /// La rébellion s'organise /// Le lieutenant-colonel Edouard Nshimirimana, ancien officier de l'armée burundaise a proclamé mercredi 23 décembre la naissance officielle d'une rébellion, les Forces républicaines du Burundi, regroupant selon lui les principaux groupes armés opérant dans le pays. Leur objectif : chasser du pouvoir le président Pierre Nkurunziza. Qui est Edouard Nshimirimana, éléments de réponse... https://www.facebook.com/JTAfrique/videos/998003806928201/?theater
Weightless falls honeysuckle Strangers (strange this) Lights from pages Paper thin thing
Protected by the naked eye Pearly sunrise
Nearly worn Kneeling like a supplicant Darkened skin Afraid to see Radiate Open lips Keep smiling for me Darkened skin Afraid to see Radiate Open lips Keep smiling for me
Weightless cool honeysuckle Fair skin freckles Uncut teeth Tranquill eyes Bite my lips Bite my lips Shhh Under your feet
'Just Like Honey', live at Kraftzentrale, Duisburg, Germany
31.08.2013
Massive Attack cover The Jesus & Mary Chain; an excerpt from a unique audiovisual performance for the Ruhrtriennale at the Kraftzentrale, part of the Landschaftspark Nord in Duisburg.
Published today in the British press by Young Fathers:
"Elvis wasn’t the king of rock’n’roll. Kanye played Glastonbury. You can’t keep us in the uuuuurban stations, bestial hip-hop, token crazy militant black people cupboard, under the stairs, poor-doors entrance. We have keys to the front door. We are black and white.
The story is: the drum, the rhythm, from Africa to New Orleans; rape to create white value; proximity, black to white; sounds bleeding through clapboard walls; Rock’n’roll born from pain.
Bo Diddley is rock’n’roll.
Those fences erected are puny. To keep the blacks and the whites separate. We are black and white and we pull them down. They are dust.
Commerce demands packaging. We package ourselves. And some people get it. Paul Weller gets it. He knew some in his audience would have a hard time accepting it, but the man knows where his music comes from, he knows Stevie Marriott checked for soul and R&B, he knows the Beatles checked for Motown. He knows modern music and he ain’t afraid to show it.
Here, have some of this, it tastes modern.
It’s a culture collision but open your mind and it works. Young Fathers are supporting Paul Weller – predict that.
In the midst of this UK tour, while Britain First are trying to spawn all over the internet, while politicians and press fight to expectorate the most poisonous, anti-immigrant ignorance, we give you Old Rock’n’Roll, a journey across centuries, bringing it back to Africa, to Malawi, bringing the faces and sounds of humans, migrating, because they are captured or scared or hungry, as they always have done. And we’re saying, it’s alright. In the heart of the Congo, it’s alright.
In the heart of Essex, it’s alright. Don’t be afraid. This country can afford it. If we can afford bombs we can afford blankets and a welcome.
Old Rock’n’Roll. Not what you’ve been told.”
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A text to introduce this new video:
Young Fathers - Old Rock N Roll
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Taken from the YOUNG FATHERS album 'White Men Are Black Men Too' released 6 April 2015 on Big Dada.
Thank you to Alex Chilembwe, Marumbo Sichinga, Lake of Stars, 'chipoka boys' Antony & Bakali and the people of Chipoka Village, Mangochi, Malawi.
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LYRICS:
For fuck's sake
We living life like a bubble wrapped ape She came to mind when I treble that bass I’m tired of playing the good black I said I’m tired of playing the good black I’m tired of having to hold back I’m tired of wearing this hallmark for some evils that happened way back I’m tired of blaming the white man His indiscretion don’t betray him A black man can play him Some white men are black men too Niggah to them A gentleman to you
Some white men are black men too
Niggah, Ohwae Owhae Awake
Watch your body Wash itself Baptise baby I bath in blood Dare be told I seldom do surrender God forsaking no good do-good-er It’s all out Out in the open Looking for the wild one Boy I’m fragile Choke on bones while choking stone You knock me or your miss me Or you miss me
Niggah, Ohwae Owhae Awake
Old rock n roll Not what you’ve been sold Congo square is open for business I was there as god is my witness There you fucking go (So there you fucking go)
