The Fashion @ Spark Expo seeks to expose the public to a heritage-proud aesthetic with an emphasis on individuality. Nadine Botha takes a closer look.
The youth today have redefined South African culture, writes co-founder of Black Rage Productions Maria Mcloy.
Michael Jackson and his trial hold a mirror to modern Western civilisation and its blurring of fact and fiction, writes Terry Eagleton.
Margaret Waigumo cuddles her baby in a squalid house in the teeming "Soweto" slum, east of Nairobi, joining a growing number on the list of Kenya’s teen parents, victims of taboos that inhibit sex education. Waigumo became pregnant two years ago after being forced into prostitution to help her family when they were evicted from their hovel for non-payment of the monthly rent.
A resurrection is haunting the British media, the bizarre apparition of "benevolent empire". It takes the form of documentaries and discussions steered towards the conclusion that colonialism was not such a bad thing after all and that something of a celebration is in order. Trouble is, to get there, some creative reworking of the facts is needed.
During a recent visit to the supermarket to buy an emergency supply of tampons, I bumped into a friend. While checking out the range of products available we were astounded by the astronomical costs of these monthly requirements. A packet of 10 average quality pads costs about Z$500 000, while a well-known brand of tampons averages Z$1 200 000.
Media agencies are having a tough time trying to retain staff and transform, while still delivering quality service. But at the same time the industry has never been more interesting as new technologies emerge to provide ample opportunities for South Africa’s big spending advertisers. Stuart Graham reports.
It was inevitable. Long before the 2006 World Cup final, the Afro-pessimist brigade was already muttering dark warnings about 2010. Now comes the crescendo. We can almost feel the musty colonial breath in our faces, sputtering: "Crime! Disease! Civilisation! Give it to Australia!"
In an essay entitled The Dilemma of the Black Intellectual, Cornel West writes of black intellectuals: ”An intelligentsia without institutionalised critical consciousness is blind, and critical consciousness severed from collective insurgency is empty. The central task of … black intellectuals is to stimulate, hasten, and enable alternative perceptions.”
Christopher Nolan tells Andrew Pulver how his new film, Batman Begins, gets to the heart of the superhero.