Dive into Culture Africa 1st Issue – Non-Fiction and Art from six African countries

Where The Ghosts Hide

By Mariam Hassan

“The answer found me in a bucolic dream where the sun rose so high and bled red on my brown skin, I watched the palm trees wave between my fingers and listened to the wind blowing under my earlobes. The bits of myself I managed to salvage had been taken aback and replanted in a house by the water where every morning I was greeted in my mother tongue.”

Navigating “It is Well” as a Nigerian Immigrant

By Temitope Famakinwa

“The other time on a call, a close family friend was eating pounded yam, unwrapped from a banana leaf with egusi soup, seasoned mercilessly with monimoni, ponmo and large chunks of goat meat. I burst into tears as she swallowed a stew-dripping morsel. It wasn’t hunger. Those days were long behind me. But there was a longing that rose to my chest and clogged my throat as I watched her across my screen.”

The Struggle for a South Sudanese Literary Identity

By MK Kuol

“The most certain answers that avail themselves are nestled in the hold of our history. In the 1920s, the colonial powers that were, for purely colonial intentions (particularly to keep in check the aggressive Islamic advances in the South, a calculated take to thwart and/or frustrate coordinated efforts against colonialism) imposed the Closed District Ordinance Act that restricted movement between the well-placed North and the “backward” South.”

Featured Art

By Lebogang Moabi

Lebogang Moabi born 1989 in Klerksdorp (South Africa) is a multidisciplinary artist whose work bridges the spiritual and natural worlds, drawing inspiration from daily realities, nature and the Bantu tribe. Their artistic journey began with chalk sketches in high school, igniting a lifelong exploration of materials and storytelling.

Deeply influenced by explorations and experiences, African masks and methodologies as well as organic materials, Lebogang is committed to reimagining discarded natural elements into powerful artistic expressions. Through acrylic, charcoal and organic materials, Lebogang creates works that explore identity, survival and spiritual connection. Circular motifs, inspired by Bantu homestead designs, symbolize continuity and resilience, inviting viewers to engage with forgotten histories and cultural narratives.

Their work has been showcased at the B Gallery group shows, Spektra Gallery and SPH Art Fair 2024. Lebogang continues to push artistic boundaries, using their practice to challenge perceptions and foster dialogue about cultural heritage and sustainability.

The Significance of African Knife Fish in Yorùbá Weddings

By Winifred Òdúnóku

“In Yorùbá Culture, traditional marriage (now formally called engagement ceremony) is often a memorable occasion because it is symbolic, grandiose, and filled with gifts. These gifts are itemised in a list that the groom’s family must bring on the wedding day. The bride’s list varies from family to family across South-Western Nigeria, but there are a few items that are almost always constant across board e.g. Eja Osan, which is known as African Knife Fish in English.”

Argo: Moses Writes to a young Gertrude Stein

By Ema Babikwa

“Don’t forget. It all returns. The strife, the pain, the confusion, the rage, the unfairness, the love, the sensuality, the curiosity, the joy, the despair — the endlessness of it all. The discomfort, the discontent with the world is felt by the body the same way. No matter the gender, a cry is a cry. That is the rhythm to our world, embedded in us all. Where does it vibrate in you? To what? When? How often? No one can answer for you. Only you can fragment into pieces that make sense. To you first, then to others if you are lucky.”

Finding Ousmane Sembène’s Gold

By Doreen Masika

“The fact that he was Senegalese, from a francophone country, only made him more intriguing. His films weren’t concerned with spectacle or sermonizing; they were about shaking the table. If Nollywood had taught me how to anticipate drama, Sembène taught me how to question it. His films weren’t just stories; they were political and social commentaries wrapped in humor, heartbreak, and the occasional well-placed slap. A novelist at heart, his political and intellectual awakening came not in lecture halls but on the docks of 1950s France, where he worked as a laborer and union organizer.”

Meditations Through A Burning House

By Onyekachi Iloh

“Of the house, one could safely assume the occupant was a lecturer or someone else who worked in some capacity for the university. Perhaps a professor or a senior lecturer, but certainly not a gardener or a security officer. The ruins, charred but still legible on the blackened page of destruction, bore markers of middle class privilege — the remains of a tricycle, the scraps of what was once expensive hollandaise cloth, a carbonised bedroom trolley.”

Little Rot by Akwaeke Emezi Review: A Breathless Sprint Through New Lagos

By Kabubu Mutua

“Even though New Lagos is a West African City, Nairobi came to mind when I encountered Daddy O. Nairobi, like New Lagos, Kinshasa, Johannesburg and Harare, hosts mega-churches where masses flock for spiritual comfort. Little Rot’s Daddy O is a caricature of these mega-churches, a symbol of the countless mega-preachers who wield power like politicians, men and women with unexplained wealth, and unverifiable miracles.”

Get your copy