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Nuria Book Store – Customers First! Behind the scenes of one of Africa’s biggest Online Bookstores_ english/deutsch
A success story from Kenya: Nuria bookstore is the biggest online book store in East Africa. From its headquarter in Nairobi, Abdullahi Bulle manages the distribution and customer service of Nuria. A clever customer orientated online surface makes it easy for sellers and buyers. And the big threat Amazon ist still far away. The online market can be an advantage for native companies like Nuria. We have a talk with founder Abdullahi Bulle.
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African Book Festival in Berlin – Three Days of Literature and Pleasure – deutsch-english
Once again, the large number of visitors to the ABF, most of them young people, gives one hope that African literature can be very much alive. Whoever gets involved in this festival for three days can get very close to African literature. All authors are present for the whole three days, they are not flown in for a short time but spend the days at the festival. And if you want, you can get very close to them. You can sit down with them and talk.
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The House of Rust and Swahili Culture – Interview with Mombasa writer Khadija Abdalla Bajaber -engl
Khadija Bajaber had written a successful book last year, The House of Rust, which was recognized very well in african countries and abroad (see also the review of Lorna Likiza on this site). Raised and living in Mombasa, Kenya, she is strongly influenced with Swahili Culture and its long and rich history. This year, Khadija Bajaber is an invited guest at the African Book Festival in Berlin. I took the chance to talk to her before she left for Europe. And, yes, the answers are longer than in usual interviews. But its published here in full lenght version. For the first issue, only in english this time.
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African Book Festival Berlin 2023: Boost for African Literature in Germany. Interview mit/with Co-Organizer Venice Trommer
This year, the African Book Festival in Berlin will take place for the fifth time. In recent years, it has developed into one of the most important festivals for African literature in Germany and Europe. It is a public festival in the classical sense. And it has successfully survived the restrictions of the pandemic years. The appetite for African literature is greater than ever. One feature of the ABF is that the program is designed by African curators. The organizer, InterKontinental e.V., selects a literary personality each year. This curatorial principle, which has characterized the last editions, was cancelled this year with a bang. Shortly after the announcement of this year's curator, Mohamedou Ould Slahi, a storm of indignation briefly broke out in the German media. The past of the well-known author , who was innocently imprisoned in Guanánamo for years, was again publicly…
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An Uncomfortable Truth: Howard W. French: Born in Blackness – Afrika und die Entstehung der modernen Welt_deutsch_englisch
Africa and the Making of the Modern World, now published in German by Klett-Cotta, is to be seen as an important contribution in the reinterpretation of historical facts and contexts. The striking thing is not only the many facts that French presents. It becomes clear relatively early in the reading that it is above all the concealment or negation of facts and contexts that have made possible a revelation of one of the darkest chapters of Western history. A central thesis of the book is that Africa with its resources of gold and forced laborers, over twelve million slaves and the market for textiles, made an unheard-of rise of the European seafaring nations such as Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands, France and England, later also the slave-holding nation USA, possible. Afrika und die Entstehung der modernen Welt, auf deutsch jetzt bei Klett-Cotta erschienen, ist als…
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Maud Martha von Gwendolyn Brooks – A literary jewel is now available in German – deutsch/englisch
It is a small miracle that this book exists. Seventy years after its first publication in the U.S., Maud Martha has now been published in Germany by the classic publisher Manesse. It is the only novel by author Gwendolyn Brooks. Brooks became famous for her poetry; she was also the first black author to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1950.
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Africa’s most successful YouTubers – Top10 Ranking deutsch_english
Who are the most successful YouTubers in Africa, apart from the big music video kings? The answers to this question can be found in the current ranking by cultureafrica.net. Subscribers are the most important indicator in the ranking. But total views and estimated value also play a role. Find it out!
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Is there Anybody Out There? Nairobi Space Station – Kairos Futura Artist Project Starts this March_deutsch/englisch
They look like the futuristic Space Guerilla. From 18 March, they will make Kanairo unsafe. That is the Sheng name for Kenya's capital Nairobi. The venerable MacMillian Library in the centre will kick off the launch. It becomes a space station. They have camels with them with Massai blankets. The olive overalls are well tailored, the steel masks make them look martial. With this project, the Kairos Futura artists' group puts a big exclamation mark on Nairobi's Design Week. But it is not only about spectacle. The artists' collective, consisting of artists, designers, scientists and environmentalists, wants more: visions and proposals for an environmentally friendly Nairobi. It is about reclaiming urban space, about the "rewilding" of inner-city areas. They are also supported by famous Wajuuku Arts collective, Nairobi based and worldwide recognized.
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Uganda’s Queen of Afrosoul: An Interview with Music Star Lilian Mbabazi_english/german
Lilian Mbabazi is a Ugandan artiste of Rwandan descent best remembered for her time in the girl group Blu*3. Now a fully fledged solo artiste, with a new EP out, she recently sat down with Culture Africa Founder, Hans Hofele, with additional questions from Staff Writer, Lorna Likiza, for an interview on her music, style and future plans.
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Bringing Art to the Masses – Interview with Patrick Mukabi – engl_ger
Patrick Mukabi is a Kenyan Visual Artist, Graphic Designer, Dad and Mentor, best known for his appreciation of the African female form. In this interview with Lorna Likiza and Hans Hofele, he talks about his journey as an artist and why the middle class in Kenya are yet to fully appreciate art.
