Liancheng, China | AFP | Dragons several hundred metres long snake their way down pastoral roads and through country hamlets, part of centuries-old Chinese folk celebrations for a mythical creature revered as a blessing. The visually striking festival is among a range of colourful traditional observances unique to eastern Fujian …
Read More »Why Ugandan celebrity chef Wanyama is no fan of rolex
Croque-monsieur? That is a grilled ham and cheese sandwich, sometimes topped with fried egg; a staple food in France. So why should you care about it in Uganda? Well, one of Uganda’s celebrity chefs, Henry Wanyama, thinks if the French, Chinese, and Italian have such signature cuisines, local foodies can …
Read More »Big dreams for Bayimba
Can the international festival push more creativity into Kampala? For cities, especially those aspiring for global recognition, to thrive in the 21st century; they need a culture of creativity – the capacity to think afresh. The creative city is a city that has a brand and reflects a personality. This attitude …
Read More »Obama opens new African American Museum amid national racial strife
Washington, United States | AFP | President Barack Obama heralded Saturday the opening of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, a long-awaited institution dedicated to the many threads of black suffering and triumph in the United States. The first black president of the United States cut the …
Read More »Talking Omweso
Leading Ugandan sculptor tackles the male chauvinism of an ancient board game “Why would anyone ask me why I chose to present omweso? It is simply part of our material cultural heritage!” That is how passionately Dr. Rose Namubiru Kirumira feels about the subject of her current exhibition of sculptural …
Read More »VIDEO: Imbalu festivities embrace modernity
NBS: The change in the health and social economic dynamics has forced cultural leaders in Bugisu to make some drastic adjustments in the conduct of their cultural practice of Imbalu (circumcision) for sustainability. Elders are now proposing the incorporation of health and social – economic development aspects in the cultural …
Read More »Ivory Coast seeks protected status for staple cassava dish
Abidjan, Ivory Coast | AFP | France has done it with Champagne, Italy with Parma ham and Japan with Kobe beef; now Ivory Coast wants to protect the status of one of its most popular foods. Attieke — pronounced atchekay — is a side dish made from fermented ground cassava. …
Read More »Bastille Day 2016: The ancient meets the new
The Ambassador of France to Uganda, Sophie Makame speaks to The Independent’s Ronald Musoke about the relevancy today of the 227th anniversary of Bastille Day – the day when, on July 14, 1789, an angry mob marched onto the Bastille prison and triggered the French Revolution. Why is the storming …
Read More »Art of Propaganda
By Nathan Kiwere Following the social and political mayhem that was engendered by the botched 2007 general elections in neighbouring Kenya, politicians and the public went into an unprecedented frenzy, outshouting each other to prove culpability in what turned out to be a national festival of hooliganism. As they say, …
Read More »Peep into Kadaga’s experience
What the uproar about her visit to a shrine tells us about the crisis of post-colonial Africa THE LAST WORD by Andrew Mwenda Rebecca Kadaga caused uproar when she visited a traditional shrine to thank the spirits of her ancestors for her election as Speaker of Parliament. Every pundit of …
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