TwitterFacebookInstagram

Culture

Music, book and film reviews from the last 3 months

Ethiopia. The Circus, Art that Gives Dignity.

Through circus art, Kine Circus helps boys and girls in danger of exclusion to find themselves and have a life plan.  “Kine in Amharic has several meanings, including ‘secret’. With our art, we try to convey a message. We talk about the problems that surround us and how to solve them, using the language of…

Read more

Music. Stromae, the Master of pop.

A heart that beats to the rhythm of Africa Paul Van Haver was born in Etterbeek, a small town near Brussels, in 1985. Yet his story really begins only nine years later, in Rwanda, where his father, an architect of Tutsi ethnicity, was killed that year during one of the most terrible genocides of the…

Read more

Morocco. Rabat. Capital of Lights.

‘City of Lights’, as Rabat, the administrative capital of Morocco, is called. The name is not prosaic, but full of symbolism to describe a city undergoing a complete metamorphosis that tries to show its mastery while maintaining a balance between tradition and modernity. We visit the city. In recent years Rabat has made an effort…

Read more

The Birthplace of the Rainbow.

Victoria Falls is one of the best known and most spectacular sights in Africa. Its history is lost in the mists of time. We visited this majestic and mysterious birthplace of the rainbow A 1,737- meter-long crack in the ground blocks the way to the Zambezi, which falls with an impressive drop of up to…

Read more

Peru. The Asheninka Minga.

The Asheninka, are an indigenous ethnic group that lives in the centre of the forest in the district of Ucayali in the province of Atalaya in the northern part of Peru. Minga: not only communal work but also small informal tasks for the family. The term minga comes from the Quechua culture mink’a meaning ‘asking…

Read more

Music. Lido Pimienta. To the Rhythm of Cumbia.

Mention Colombia and one immediately thinks of cumbia: a rhythm, an atmosphere, a dance, a way of singing, a synthesis of the essence of a people. A people still struggling to find a balance and social pacification between modernist and traditionalist thrusts, between terrorist regurgitations, the ever-untamed violence of drug traffickers and a complex interracial…

Read more

DR Congo. Dancing to the Rumba Rhythm.

The rumba is a typically Congolese rhythm. This popular music, which crossed the Atlantic Ocean during the slave trade, spread to Latin America. Transformed, it returned home to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the Republic of Congo, from where it conquered the African continent and the whole world. Since 2021, it has been…

Read more

Peru. The Ayahuasca Ritual: the Gateway to the World of Plants and Natural Medicine.

The ancestral Andean Amazonian wisdom is transmitted through songs, mythological stories, and the narratives of the wise men and women, whose message is the importance of generating, preserving, and caring for life in its entirety. The Ayahuasca ritual in the Peruvian Amazon and the preparation process of the aspiring Amazonian shaman. The name ayahuasca is…

Read more

Herbs & Plants. Steganotaenia Araliacea. The Carrot Tree.

It is a multipurpose medicinal plant and can be used, in particular, to treat pneumonia, asthma, arthritis, chronic ulcer, sore throat, and fever.  An essential oil is obtained from the leaves which is used for various purposes. Steganotaenia araliacea (Family Apiaceae/Umbelliferae), commonly referred to as the carrot tree, is a small, aromatic, deciduous tree growing…

Read more

Africa. The Sound of Drums.

Drums play an important role in the life of African people. Traditionally, drums represent the soul of the community. They are used for celebrating ceremonial events and rituals within the community. Here are some popular African drums.   The Karyenda comes from Burundi and used to be the main symbol of the country. It also…

Read more

Music. Ustad Saami. The Fascination of an Ancient Mystery

“The world calls me Ustad, the teacher, but I personally feel I am a Shagird, a disciple of music”. This is how Naseeruddin Ustad Saami, one of the most significant personalities in Pakistan and musical Sufism, defined himself. His songs and his music are infinitely distant from what is heard in the West; so much…

Read more

Advocacy

Myanmar. Paul Sein Twa. Preserving Ancestral Territory.

“What we would like to achieve when we talk about peace. Peace means self-determination. Peace means biological conservation. Peace means revitalization of our culture and…

Read more

Baobab

Inca. The Island of the Sun.

At that time Viracocha, the creator God, looked down upon the earth. He saw it was bare, shrouded in impenetrable darkness, for daylight did not yet…

Read more

Youth & Mission

Celebrating African youth.

“Young Africans are playing an active role in bringing social change in the continent. They are contributing daily to the benefit of their communities and nations…

Read more