Ian Angus looks at the various forces behind the food crisis in Haiti. During previous waves of food price inflation the poor often had at least some access to food they grew themselves, or to food that was grown locally and available at locally set prices. Today, in many countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, that is just not possible. Global markets now determine local prices, and often the only food available must be imported from far away. [Pambazuka]
In the case of request for restitution of stolen objects in the British Museum, the question of legal ownership - a question which is fundamental to all claims of property - is not even posed. The main question here is whether the British Museum can afford to dispense with the object in question i.e. whether it can and will de-accession the object. By Kwame Opoku. [Full Text Article, pdf]
The exhibition, Benin: Kings and Rituals Court Arts from Nigeria, which has generated debates about restitution of stolen art goes to the Art Institute of Chicago. It is to be noted that the exhibition will not be seen in Nigeria. Kwame Opoku reflects on what kind of institution the Art Institute of Chicago is? [Full Text Article, pdf]
In a recent article in a leading German newspaper, Die Welt (Welt On Line), with the title “Farewell to intellectual Colonialism”, Wolf Lepenies, holder of the Peace Price of the German Book Industry, reminded me once again of the enormous difficulties Europeans, even intellectuals, seem to experience when they deal with African problems. By Kwame Opoku. [Full Text Article, pdf]
Il n’est pas certain que l’extrême personnalisation du conflit et la diabolisation de l’un des principaux protagonistes - Robert Mugabe en l’occurrence - aient aidé en quoi que ce soit à clarifier les enjeux de la lutte sociale et politique en cours au Zimbabwe. Anylse d’Achille Mbembe publié par le quotidien Le Messager de Douala (Cameroun) et Africultures. [Africultures]
Youma Fall, membre de l’équipe de curateurs de la Biennale de l’Art Africain Contemporain Dak’ART, analyse dans le cadre du Forum de Dialogue d’AfricAvenir à Berlin la création africaine dans l’art contemporain et sa place dans les relations entre l’Afrique et l’Europe et le monde. (Introduction en allemand par Judith Strohm).
Vortrag von Dina Taiwé Kolyang im Rahmen des AfricAvenir Dialogforums am 19. September 2007 in der Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung. Welcher Zusammenhang besteht zwischen der Unterdrückung bzw. Befreiung eines Volkes und der implementierten Sprachpolitik? Kann eine Afrikanischen Renaissance ohne die Revitalisierung der afrikanischen Sprachen gelingen?
Should States and institutions holding stolen cultural property not voluntarily take action to return them? What then is the use of the repeated declarations on willingness to co-operate internationally when one is not even willing to consider restoring admittedly stolen items? In what will such States co-operate? By Kwame Opoku. [Full-Text-Aricle, pdf]
We have in previous articles raised the issue of copyright in stolen African cultural objects that are now in European and American museums and the profit the museums are making by the granting of permission to use images of these objects or to film them.
In the March 27th, 2008 Pambazuka issue, Firoze Manji argued that in comparison to Europe and the US, China in Africa is still a small player and that while keeping an eye out on China, Africans should not be distracted from paying attention to the West’s continued exploitation of the continent. In this essay, Paranjoy Guha Thakurta adds yet another layer by looking at India’s growing role in Africa. [Pambazuka]
