áirisi-Muse @airisi-muse - Tumblr Blog

- Fernando Moleres

Juveniles in Prison.

"Baba Ichanga" wearing traditional gelede mask and holding a baby, evoking the ancestors, his generation and the most recent one. Sanga Village, Ketou, Benin.

Photo and caption by David Paul Carr

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Check out more street style in Adabraka, a suburb of Accra, and our ACCRA [dot] ALT team’s take on life and dreams in the city.Continue reading on accradotalttours.wordpress.com

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An amazing series of portraits of Senegalese wrestlers. This form of wrestling, widely recognized as a martial art, is known as Laamb in Wolof and is Senegal’s national sport.

dynamicafrica

DYNAMIC AFRICANS: ‘2ManySiblings’ - Papa Petit & Velma Rossa.

Images of the stylish and highly creative Kenyan brother and sister team Papa Petit and Velma Rossa, who operate under the partnership title ‘2ManySiblings’, have been make frequent rounds on my tumblr dashboard for quite some time now - much to my delight.

As frequent submitters to Dynamic Africa, I’ve been intrigued about the personalities behind their breathtaking photographs since I first became aware of their blog a couple of months ago. Feeling inspired by their work, I recently chatted to the eclectic proudly Kenyan, proudly African duo and got to know more about them, their influences and how this project of theirs came about.

Briefly tell us a little about yourselves:

Velma Rossa: Hi, we are 2manysiblings, Papa Petit and I, brother & sister style and art enthusiasts from Kenya. I work for a styling management company which has also exposed me to an ethical fashion mission that helps poor communities be sustainable through international fashion projects.

Papa Petit: I am a personal wardrobe stylist & shopper. I have a Lux T-shirt design project on the side too.

You both come across as highly creative individuals, merging photography and fashion which you showcase wonderfully on your blog. What led you two to these artistic disciplines?

V.R: Be eccentric now,don’t wait for old age to wear Purple!

I can comfortably say that our youth and fashion curiosities pushed us to start this blog. It is a fun project, a visual space for us to document our style and daily lives, as well as a way to let people into our little African world and collaborate with various Kenyan photographers to showcase their talent.

How long have you each been involved in fashion, styling and photography? Do you plan on making this a profession (if it isn’t already)?

P.P: Velma has been involved in fashion longer than I have, about five years now. Heck she was my personal inspiration into this art form.

We only just started playing with the camera recently - there is so much beauty out there and we want to frame all of it!

Fashion and styling is already a profession for us we can only wait to see where photography will take us.

How is working with each other? Is this something that happened naturally or did you decide to collaborate for other/specific reasons?

V.R: We are very lucky to have similar ideas and ways of thinking when doing projects for our blog. It’s like we missed our calling to be TWINS, haha!

The work dynamic between us pretty much comes naturally as we both creatively come up with concepts for shoots and direction: though I tend to be the clown and my brother, he is more of a mentalist.

When creating your looks/styling yourselves & taking these images, how conscious of you of your heritage as Kenyans, and as Africans in the greater sphere of things? How would you each describe your aesthetics?

P.P: We each have a personal aesthetic when it comes to dressing. I am more of dandy punk and Velma, Hobo Afro-chic.

We are proud of our Kenyan heritage and we subtly show this through our choice of accessories which we source from local craftsmen from the Maasai Markets to support the crafts & artisan industry in Kenya.Their accessories are both contemporary and timeless.

Africa is so rich in culture and scenic landscapes.We try to share these aspects of Africa through locations we pick for shoots. Kenya is known for growing high grade tea which we export and in one of our favorite projects yet, we worked with photographer Sarah Marie at the Limuru tea plantations to capture that heritage.

Finally, who and/or what inspires you, creatively speaking?

P.P: Inspiration comes to us in all forms.We are influenced by 70’s Afrobeat music, art, architecture, culture and colours of food - not to mention our dad’s old photo albums. His clothes had English sensibilities.

All these together offer something that feeds our creative hunger.

Taking road trips across our country, stopping in little towns, seeing what’s happening there and discovering something new inspire more concepts for our blog projects.

All Africa, All the time.

prepaidafrica

440NG recently announced acceptance of 9 startups into its accelerator programme. These 9 startups were chosen after careful consideration and deliberation over a period of time and these startups in addition to funding, get to enjoy benefits like a working space at the Lagos Garage, monthly stipend and also world-class advice from world class mentors.

…

Young Soul

One of the two startups focused on education, Young Soul helps schools without an in-house training capacity to teach Computer Studies in secondary schools. According to a federal policy, in a bid to encourage computer literacy, all secondary schools in Nigeria must teach Computer Studies to its student irrespective of what class.

Sadly, this might not be possible in all schools due to various reasons, but “Young Soul” and its team of 8 hope they can solve this problem by introducing an electronic learning module that runs on a computer without the need of a physical teacher. I do think they need to develop an online presence as I could find anything on them so as to inform people about what they are doing.

Jara Mall

Jara Mall is an e-commerce start-up that wants to make groceries and other house items easy to buy and shop. Founded by Kunle Jinadu, a Covenant University Alumni who also founded Asoebi.com, an ecommerce website that allows you to shop for traditional apparels, Jara Mall has been around for a year and operating low key. Word around suggests that the start-up has got up to $250,000 in funding, but whether this funding would help to scale is uncertain although Supermart.ng had better watch out.

Jay Osbie

Jayosbie.com, an e-commerce start-up that focuses on the fashion needs of the young and social, was co-founded by Juwon Osobu, the same guy that founded 1500naira.com before it got acquired.

Prayer Box

Prayer Box is an online prayer box. Literally. The start-up, founded in 2011, allows its users to post prayer points online and also drop testimonies and also collect tithes and offerings. With the way religion is in Nigeria, I really don’t understand Prayer Box’s proposition. We are in times when people gather to pray in thousands and tens of thousands and people traveling to other countries just to see ministers physically and get prayed for. I don’t know really, but what’s that saying again? “What an adult sees sitting down, a child cannot see standing up”.

Ella Matthew

Ella Matthew is one of the four e-commerce start-ups and its an e-commerce website for women exclusively. Sorry, guys. Founded by Lola Olushola, Ella Matthew offers what other generalist e-commerce websites don’t offer, an exclusive offering of fashion, and all other needs for a woman.

Taja

Taja or Taja Plus is a startup that helps sellers manage their inventory and get notified when a stock is low, generate sales reports and users can also manage multiple stores. Tajaplus is available as Windows app or Android app, and is free for download but users get a 30-day trial to allow users take inventory of all their products and set stock notifications. Users can also use the platform to accept payments for goods or services with cash or credit card.

Click Right Consult

Click Right Consult is an I.T and consulting firm that specializes in Web Apps, software development and consultancy services. One of their products is jamb-cbt.com, an online and offline service that allows students to get past questions and study materials for the JAMB examination. The catch seems to be the ability to take JAMB Computer Based Test with no need for Internet access.

Fuel Voucher

It’s simple. You buy fuel online and collect in one of their designated filling stations. According to their website, Fuel Voucher allows you to buy fuel online and collect anywhere. I should note that ‘anywhere’ only includes some parts in Lagos (Ikeja, Ikoyi and V.I) and one filling station in Rivers. I guess with funding, they will be available in other areas and expand.

Obiwezy

A niche ecommerce store that deals exclusively with gadgets and electronics and also allows online swapping and trading of electronics and gadgets. The service has been around for some time now and with more money, they stand a chance of gaining more traction.

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https://www.etsy.com/shop/ThePrettyCaps?ref=l2-shopheader-name

dynamicafrica

Xhosa Names & Meanings: The “ABC’s of Xhosa Names” by Thandiwe Tshabalala.

South African Illustrator and incredibly talented young creative Thandiwe Tshabalala recently sent me these awesome gifs highlighting and celebrating beautiful names in her mother tongue of Xhosa.

Here’s what she had to say about her series:

"Way back, when apartheid was taking place in South Africa, parents used to give their kids English names so that white people wouldn’t have to struggle pronouncing African names. Most people born during the times of apartheid were given names like: Knowledge, Margaret, Mavis (which has negative connotations), Innocentia, Innocent, Jeffrey, Gloria…eek..Let me just stop there. However, when black folks got their ‘freedom’ back, they went back to naming their children African/South African names."

All Africa, All the time.

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Seun Kuti and Egypt 80 performing at the Highline Ballroom

Click here for more pictures.

Click here for an overview of the show.

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Capturing Nairobi’s Essence through Portraits, with @lafrohemien

To see more of Sarah’s portraits, follow @lafrohemien on Instagram.

“I tend to put my subjects against a backdrop that will not only tell a story about them, but also about the city,” explains Kenya Instagrammer Sarah Waiswa (@lafrohemien). “Nairobi is a diverse landscape and it is important for me to show that in my photos.”

Originally drawn to Instagram as a way to see the world through the lens of others, Sarah now shares her own photographs that reveal her city’s unique juxtapositions. She says, “Nairobi is one of the few places in the world where you can capture wildlife with the city skyline as an unexpected backdrop.”

For Sarah, sharing her city through photos of its inhabitants opens up new avenues for storytelling. She hopes her portraits reflect the nature of Nairobi: “It is alluring and mysterious at the same time.”

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So happy to have been featured on instagram!

micdotcom

This Kenyan teen has developed a brilliant way to stop elephant poachers

Kenya’s elephants are in trouble. Mercy Sigey has something that can help.

With the help of her classmates, the 19-year-old freshman at Strathmore University in Nairobi City, Kenya developed a sensor to let park rangers know when poachers have entered a wildlife preserve. The result was shown at the United Nations Social Good Summit last month.

"Monumental" loss that motivated Sigey | Follow micdotcom

dynamicafrica

The Brunel University African Poetry Prize

The Brunel University African Poetry Prize is a major new annual poetry prize of £3000 aimed at the development, celebration and promotion of poetry from Africa, sponsored by the university. The first winner of the prize was Somali-British poet Warsan Shire, in 2013, and in 2014 the prize was won by Liyou Libsekal of Ethiopia.

Entries are currently open for the 2015 edition until November 30th, 2014.

Eligibility:

The prize is open to poets who were born in Africa, or who are nationals of an African country, or whose parents are African.

Requirements

The prize is for ten poems exactly in order to encourage serious poets. These poems may, however, have been published. Only poets who have not yet had a full-length poetry book published are eligible.

Poets who have self-published poetry books or had chapbooks and pamphlets published are allowed to submit for this prize.

For more updates and additional information, stay tuned to this website. For press, media and other professional enquiries only, contact Bernardine Evaristo at [email protected]. (For the submission email address see Rules.)

nigerianostalgia

airisi-muse

This short video gives an account of massacres of civilians that happened in Asaba, Nigeria, 1967, in the early months of the Nigerian Civil War. It uses interviews with survivors and witnesses, and historical photos and documents to tell the story of an event that has largely been ignored for decades.

dynamicafrica

THE FEMALE CONDOM AND FEMINISM: LOVE OR CONTRADICTION? (PART I) by Eliana NZualo.

a country like Mozambique, where HIV prevalence in women is 13,1% versus 9,2% for men, a female condom would indubitably increase the negotiation power for women and offer a different option for safe sex that didn’t depend on the men.

As BBC stated recently, the biggest advantages are the fact that it can be inserted hours before sexual intercourse and that it gives the vulva more protection than a male condom and unlike the first generation of female condoms, the ones currently available don’t make a lot of noise nor have a flawed design.

In Maputo there are female condoms available and although not as much as male condoms, most women have heard about it and even tried it.

A local sales promoter tells me that her male clients are willing to try something new and take a few days off from the male condom. For them, it is an escape. Women, on the other hand, find it intriguing and usually buy it because of the packaging or prizes associated with promotional campaigns.

When talking about female condoms there is a focus on the liberation of women and their empowerment, almost ignoring the very basic nature of a condom: sex. A condom is supposed to be functional for both parties and if anything, add something to their users and not take it away.

The female condom however, is a one-size-fits-all tool. There hasn’t been a lot of investment in terms of different sizes, flavors, textures, materials or even colors.

The main concern seems to be the fact that foreplay won’t be interrupted and male sexual arousal will not be affected by the insertion of a condom. By doing this, men are only offered the fun parts of it, leaving women with all the worries.

On the BBC article, it reads “The female condom is not as tight for men” and theOrigami website says “[it can] accommodate a range of penis sizes”. These statements focus sexual pleasure for women, and on a broader level the health of women’s sex lives, on the satisfaction of the men.

Implicitly, if women want safe sex then they should take all the responsibility. Is that what feminism is really about?

There’s the insinuation that female condoms are just for women and male condoms are just for men, when in reality both parts can and should participate on the decision of using a condom and which one to use.

More so, the rhetoric is always about developing countries. Whether it is India orNigeria, female condoms seem to be good for third world women only. Western women are never the target for female condom use campaigns.

This exposes the reality of the aid industry and the power dynamics that play when it comes to strategic thinking and program designing for HIV prevention in poor/ rural areas. The decision makers, mostly western white middle-class women are unaware of the class differences, racial discrimination and even the fight for democratic governments that play a part in the lives of the women they so want to help, and often impose a feminism centered exclusively on gender inequality.

As bell hooks beautifully said “feminism is for everybody”, but everybody needs to be aware of the environment and people to which they want to direct feminist agenda to and the issues said feminism will tackle.

The relationship between our politics and our sexualities is not always peaceful. Emotionally and intellectually the female condom may appeal to most women – I love the idea of the female condom, but the practicality of it is another story.

(Part II)

[image via npr]

About the writer: Eliana NZualo is a “Poet. Dreamer. Human. Aspiring self-made woman” 22 year old writer from Mozambique, with interests in Feminism, Neo-Colonialism and Poetry. She’s also a lover of arts and culture, with hopes of co-founding a Social Enterprise in Mozambique and publish a variety of books.

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In Umdumbi, Kei

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Dedicated to the Cultural Preservation of the African Aesthetic

Love these photos!

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Apparently, the consumer markets craze sweeping through Africa as a result of rising disposable incomes has caught up with the Lagos State Government as Governor Babatunde Fashola has joined the likes of Shoprite to plan the development of more shopping malls and complexes in the state.

He hinted this at a meeting with Global CEO of Unilever, Paul Polman while also expressing his optimism that more shopping centres would spike demand for goods by manufacturing companies, eventually leading to job creation.

“We are supporting the development of more malls and shopping complexes. Apapa has just opened and in about 10 years we have had Ikeja, Lekki, and Adeniran Ogunsanya. We hope that it will represent a major demand pool that will stimulate you to give more supply and in that way employ more people,” he said.

Governor Fashola asserted that the “story of Unilever was the story of Nigeria,” reminiscing that all of the state’s shopping outlets during the decade after Nigeria’s independence heavily featured Unilever brands which, at the time, included Lifebuoy and Sunlight soaps.

In a related development, the governor gave assurances that his administration was doing everything within the limits of the rule of law to tackle the power menace that has impeded on further productivity from the state.

“Government is currently deploying a multiplicity of solutions. I have just signed an allocation of land for a company to generate about 125 megawatts of electricity in Ikorodu,” he said.

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Koforidua - The capital of the Eastern Region, Ghana

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