Art and Culture

Scientists discover early dinosaur relation

Thursday, 04 March 2010 15:20

Scientists have uncovered the bones of a dinosaur-like creature that roamed Earth at least 10 million years earlier than the oldest known dinosaur, according to a study published Thursday.

(3 Votes)

Tags: dinosaur - ancient - fossil - history - discovery - Tanzania

Egypt to receive stolen sarcophagus from US

Tuesday, 23 February 2010 15:50

The U.S. will return to Egypt a 3,000 year old wooden sarcophagus confiscated at the Miami airport after being shipped from Barcelona, the Culture Ministry announced Monday.

(1 Vote)

Tags: US - sarcophagus - Miami - Zahi Hawass - customs - Madrid - Spain - stolen - antiquities - Egypt

Music enthusiasts drawn to Mali desert for tenth annual festival

Friday, 08 January 2010 10:30

The tenth edition of Mali's popular Festival in the Desert kicked off Thursday evening on the outskirts of the legendary city of Timbuktu in the Sahara desert.

(2 Votes)

Tags: Festival in the Desert - Timbuktu - Sahara desert - Tuareg - Toumani Diabate - Tinariwen - Ishmael Lo - Mali

Tombs to lift lid on Egypt's ancient middle class

Wednesday, 06 January 2010 11:53

Two 2,500-year-old tombs discovered at a necropolis near Cairo promise to reveal more about ancient Egypt's middle class, Egypt's chief archaeologist said on Tuesday.

(3 Votes)

Tags: necropolis - Cairo - tombs - ancient - archaeologist - dynasty - Saqqara - middle class - Egypt

2,500-year-old tomb unearthed in Egypt

Tuesday, 05 January 2010 12:29

Archaeologists have unearthed a 2500-year-old tomb in the ancient necropolis of Saqqara, Egypt's Culture Ministry announced Monday.

(5 Votes)

Tags: archaeologist - tomb - Saqqara - Culture Ministry - Cairo - Memphis - Egypt

New dinosaur species discovered in South Africa

Thursday, 12 November 2009 12:11

A newly discovered dinosaur species that roamed the Earth about 200 million years ago may help explain how the creatures evolved into the largest animals on land, said scientists in South Africa.

(5 Votes)

Tags: dinosaur - evolution - Aardonyx celestae - paleontologist - Adam Yates - University of the Witwatersrand - South Africa

Oldest skeleton shines new light on human origins

Friday, 02 October 2009 14:08

Anthropologists took the wraps off the oldest known human ancestor - a 4.4-million-year-old Ethiopian skeleton named Ardi, which challenges many long-held assumptions about how humans and apes evolved.

(9 Votes)

Tags: oldest - human ancestor - humans - apes - evolution - Tim White - University of California-Berkeley - Ardipithecus ramidus - Ardi - Lucy - Afar Desert - Ethiopia

Largest library of African films launched

Wednesday, 30 September 2009 12:48

The African film industry received a boost with the launch of the African Film Library - the largest electronic library of feature films, shorts and documentaries from 50 years of African film production.

(4 Votes)

Tags: African Film Library - M-Net - Ousmane Sembene - Djibril Mambety - Yousef Chahine - Kwaw Ansah - Haile Gerima - film - VOD - archive - South Africa - Africa

Angola a fossil hotspot

Wednesday, 23 September 2009 11:29

After 27 years of civil war Angola is rising from the ashes and, with its vast, previously unexplored expanses, is becoming known as a treasure chest for palaeontologists.

(4 Votes)

Tags: fossils - Louis Jacobs - Southern Methodist University - Dallas - US - PaleoAngola - palaeontologists - Angola

African author Uwem Akpan humbled by Oprah pick

Monday, 21 September 2009 12:29

Nigerian author Uwem Akpan, who is a Jesuit priest, said he was "humbled" that his debut collection of short stories was chosen by influential U.S. talk show host Oprah Winfrey for her book club.

(2 Votes)

Tags: Oprah Winfrey - book club - US talk show - Jesuit priest - author - Say You're One Of Them - Uwem Akpan - Nigeria

Africa emerges as TV production locale

Thursday, 27 August 2009 11:06

Southern Africa is emerging as a destination for runaway TV production, as the 19 Primetime Emmy nominations for shows shot in the region prove. HBO's "Generation Kill" miniseries was filmed in South Africa, Namibia and Mozambique.

(2 Votes)

Tags: TV - production - Generation Kill - 24: Redemption - No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency - HBO - Fox - BBC - Out of Africa - Lance Samuels - location - South Africa - Mozambique - Namibia - Botswana

Pan-African Cultural Festival attracts thousands

Thursday, 16 July 2009 11:07

Thousands of artists and tourists, from a score of African nations, gathered in Algiers, Algeria, to attend the second Pan-African Cultural Festival. The event, which began on Saturday, is set to run through till the 20th of July.

(2 Votes)

Tags: Pan-African Cultural Festival - performers - artists - cultural diversity - Charter for African Cultural Renaissance - Algeria

UN nuclear agency unlocks secrets of Egyptian mummies

Wednesday, 08 July 2009 15:47

The United Nations nuclear agency is using its expertise to help archaeologists unearth millennia-old secrets, from the supposed murder of King Tutankhamun to the mysterious death of Great Pharaoh Ramesses II, from Egyptian mummies.

Tags: UN nuclear agency - archaeology - investigation - aid - King Tutankhamun - Ramesses II - mummies - Egypt

Hip-hop against political violence in Guinea-Bissau

Friday, 03 July 2009 14:46

As the nation awaits the results of presidential elections held June 28, a group of young hip-hop artists are speaking out in their native Kriol language against the political violence they say eclipses the real identity of Guinea-Bissau.

(5 Votes)

Tags: Big Up GB Hip Hop Movement - hip-hop - rap - artists - Kriol - against - political violence - Guinea-Bissau.

New boost for Nollywood film industry

Monday, 29 June 2009 16:33

Nigeria's film industry, the second largest in the world after Bollywood, is about to be taken to another level with the building of an ultra-modern film studio and entertainment complex with a Disneyland-style theme park.

(2 Votes)

Tags: Nigeria film industry - Nollywood - Abuja Film Village International (AFVI) - film village - studio - Nigeria

African music goes digital

Wednesday, 24 June 2009 16:40

The International Library of African Music (Ilam), based at Rhodes University in South Africa, is in the process of digitising the music, which Tracey recorded in the southern, eastern and central regions of Africa.

(1 Vote)

Tags: The International Library of African Music - Rhodes University - digital music - Africa - South Africa

Karnival comes to Kampala

Monday, 25 May 2009 17:01

Roaring bikes running behind a police bike, skaters holding onto the bikes and pimped trucks transcended Nakulabye, a Kampala suburb. Business came to a stand still and a jam began to build.

Tags: Uganda

Moroccan novel probes sources of alienation, terrorism

Friday, 22 May 2009 09:38

Casablanca_Phare_dEl_Hank_1 Secret Son, Moroccan-born author Laila Lalami's debut novel, is a work of fiction inspired by a reality - the social, political, religious and economic complexities of contemporary Morocco. The book examines how class differences and social injustice contribute to a sense of alienation and desperation among youth.

The novel's main character, Youssef Mekki, lives in a tin-roofed shack in Casablanca with his mother. He has always had a feeling that she was hiding something, but he didn't know what.

(1 Vote)

Bulletproof: Namibia’s first comic book

Thursday, 14 May 2009 12:33

The first Namibian comic book, Bulletproof, hits the shelves in Windhoek. Written by Erik Schnack, the graphic novel was first showcased at the Franco Namibian Cultural Centre.

(2 Votes)

Tags: Comic book - graphic novel - Erik Schnack - Franco Namibian Cultural Centre - Namibia

Caine Prize shortlist announced

Wednesday, 13 May 2009 15:17

The shortlist for the 2009 Caine Prize for African Writing has been announced. The Caine Prize, widely known as the ‘African Booker’ and regarded as Africa’s leading literary award, celebrates its tenth anniversary this year.

(1 Vote)

New book explores Saro-Wiwa's legacy

Thursday, 07 May 2009 16:56

“I had a surprising call this week,” the author Richard North Patterson told the audience that had gathered last weekend as part of the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature. It was former President Bill Clinton.

(1 Vote)

Tags: Saro-Wiwa - Nigeria