Democratic Republic of the Congo République Démocratique du Congo Motto: Justice – Paix – Travail (French) "Justice – Peace – Work"

Info & Demographics
Anthem:	Debout Congolais
Capital (and largest city):	Kinshasaa 4°19'S 15°19'E4.317°S 15.317°E
Official Languages:	French
Recognised regional Languages:	Lingala, Kikongo, Swahili, Tshiluba
Demonym:	Congolese
Government:	Semi-presidential Republic
President:	Joseph Kabila
Prime Minister:	Adolphe Muzito
Independence from Belgium:	30 June 1960
Population 2009 UN estimate:	66,020,000 (19th)
Density:	25/km2 (188th) 65/sq m

A brief overview   The nuts from a palm tree don't fall without dragging a few leaves with it. The portion that a man keeps for himself is usually not the smallest.   Straddling the Equator, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is the third largest country in Africa (after Sudan and Algeria). The mighty Congo River flows north and then south through a land rich in minerals, fertile farmlands, and rain forests. The country has a tiny coast on the Atlantic Ocean, just enough to accommodate the mouth of the Congo River. The forested Congo River basin occupies 60 percent of the nation's area, creating a central region that is a communication barrier between the capital, Kinshasa, in the west, the mountainous east, and the southern mineral-rich highlands. As many as 250 ethnic groups speaking some 700 local languages and dialects endure one of the world's lowest living standards. War, government corruption, neglected public services, and depressed copper and coffee markets are contributing factors. In 1960 the Belgian Congo became independent as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Gen. Joseph Mobutu came to power in a coup in 1965; he changed his name to Mobutu Sese Seko and the country's name to the Republic of Zaire. Mobutu's corruption-ridden government continued in power until 1997 when rebel forces led by Laurent Kabila—supported by Rwanda and Uganda—took Kinshasa and changed the country's name back to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. A rift between Kabila and his former allies caused a new rebellion in 1998, backed by Rwanda and Uganda. What became known as "Africa's world war" started as Zimbabwe, Angola, Namibia, and Chad sent troops to support Kabila. The war claimed some three million lives, with all sides plundering the country's natural resources—especially diamonds from south-central Congo. A UN-supported peace agreement in 2002 and the formation of a transitional government in 2003 brought an end to the five-year conflict. In 2005, voters approved a new constitution by referendum, and general elections in 2006 gave the presidency to Joseph Kabila, son of Laurent Kabila, who was assassinated in 2001. There has been relative stability in the country since the elections, but violent flare-ups between government and rebel militias have continued, particularly in border regions.   Economy   Industry: mining (diamonds, copper, zinc), mineral processing, consumer products. Agriculture: coffee, sugar, palm oil, rubber; wood products. Exports: diamonds, copper, crude oil, coffee, cobalt.   Music and Dance   The DRC has blended its ethnic musical sources with Cuban rumba and Merengue to give birth to SOUKOUS,also referefed to as Kwassa kwassa .This music refers to a popular dance in the late 60’s.The term Rumba or Rock-Rumba generically refers to Congolese music. Kwassa Kwassa refers to a dance rhythm from Congo (DRC),where the hips move back and forth while the hands move to follow the hips.the word ‘Kwassa Kwassa may have come from the French Quoi Ca(what is it?).the dance was created by Pepe Kalle and popularised by the Soukous music vidiois of Pepe,Kando Bongo Man and other Congolese musicians. The Congo is also known for its art.Tradtional art includes masks and wooden statues.   Food in daily life   Unfortunately, for many in the Congo, food is not necessarily a part of daily life. And, when food is available, it usually does not contain the vitamins and minerals required to help ward off disease and maintain proper health. The primary staple, pasty white fufu (manioc tubers, pounded into the texture of oatmeal), is eaten out of a communal bowl. This chunky carbohydrate is accompanied by varying side dishes, depending on wealth, season, and availability. Examples include sweet potatoes, perch, bananas, and plantains. For many rural people, meat is a delicacy reserved for special days or when the family can afford the luxury. Only the right hand is used in eating because it is an insult to conduct any transaction with the left hand, which is used only for bathroom purposes. In the traditional way of eating, the women first serve the men, who usually sit on the chairs in the home. After the men are finished eating, the women and children usually sit on the floor and share the remaining items, resulting in poorer nutrition. Fish is a primary food source for many, depending on their proximity to rivers and streams. Many edible treats abound from the palm tree, including wine, oil, fruits, and nuts. Youth learn early to climb high into the trees for nuts, process them by boiling and pounding the nut to make oil, and to tap the base of the tree for wine. This wine starts out not very potent, but as it sits, the alcohol content greatly increases. Riverboats are seen throughout the country, as the river acts as a vital artery for trade and transportation along the populated river banks. On the riverboats, large communal kitchens serve tea and bread for breakfast and rice and beans for lunch and dinner.   Food From The DRC   Congo has one national dish: moambe. It's made of eight ingredients (moambe is the Lingala word for eight): palm nuts, chicken, fish, peanuts, rice, cassave leaves, bananas and hot pepper sauce. The Congolese menu involves more of a journey of discovery. There is fumbwa, yam leaves cooked in peanut paste; smoked salted fish, an acquired taste for many Congolese; bitekuteku, a dish of vegetables with calalou and more smoked fish; an excellent goat stew wrapped in liboke or banana leaves; chicken bouakee, Congolese braised chicken; and bowls of deep-fried plantain and steamed rice.   Menu Suggestions   Fish: • Fish stew (Mbisi Ye Kalou) • Fish in banana leaf (Liboke de Poisson) • Baked Fish and Eggplant • Sardines and green stew Meat: • Meat in Banana leaf(Liboke de Viande) • Mwambe Beef • Moambe Stew – Traditional Dish Chicken: • Congo Chicken soup • Poulet Moambe - Traditional Dish • Chicken in cumin sauce • Congolese Chicken with peanuts Vegetables: • Saka- Madesu(Cassava leaves and beans) • Saka saka (cassava leaves) Starch: • Fufu – Starchy accompaniment with stews or other dishes with sauces.   Some recipes   Mbisi Ye Kalou (Fish Stew) Ingredients • 1 1/2 lbs firm white fish fillets • 1 large onion, sliced • 1 green pepper, seeded and sliced • 4-6 tablespoons butter or oil • 1 chili pepper or crushed red pepper flakes • 1 lb fresh greens or kale or spinach or collard greens or swiss chard or beet leaf • 1 (10 ounce) package frozen greens • 1 cup water Directions Cut fish into thick pieces. In a stewing pan, sauce the onion and green pepper slices in 2 tablespoons of the oil or butter. Add chilies, greens and water. Simmer, covered, about 10 minutes. Add 2-4 tablespoons oil or butter and fish. Continue to simmer, covered, until fish flakes easily, about 20 minutes. Mwamba Ingredients • 1 whole chicken, cut up or 2 lbs beef or lamb or fish fillets • 2 large onions, cut up • 2-4 chili peppers, mashed or dry crushed red pepper • 6-7 tomatoes, peeled, seeded and mashed Directions Season the chicken, meat or fish well with salt. In hot oil in a large and heavy stewing pan, saute the meat with the onions until well browned. Add chili peppers, tomatoes and enough water to barely cover. Simmer until tender and nicely cooked. Serve with boiled rice or fried plantain. VARIATION: You can mix 1/4-1/3 cup peanut butter with a little boiling water until smooth and add to stew 15-20 minutes before it is done. Congo Chicken Moambe (Stew) Ingredients • 3-4 lbs chicken parts, cut in serving pieces • 1/2 teaspoon salt • black pepper • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper • 1 onion, minced • 1 dash nutmeg • 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce • 1 tablespoon butter • 1 cup peanut butter, creamy and unsalted Directions Place chicken in a 6 quart soup pot with water to cover; add salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, lower to simmer and cook for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Remove chicken and reserve 1 1/2 cups of the chicken broth. In another pan, saute cayenne pepper, onion, nutmeg, tomato sauce and butter for 3 minutes. To the pan, add the cooked chicken and the 1 1/2 cups of reserved broth and simmer covered for 15 minutes. Add peanut butter to thicken, place in a 350 degree F. oven for 30 minutes, uncovered. Serve warm with cooked rice.   Culture In the DRC   The culture of the Democratic Republic of the Congo reflects much of the diversity of its hundreds of ethnic groups and their differing ways of life throughout the country—from the mouth of the River Congo on the coast, upriver through the rainforest and savanna in its centre, to the more densely populated mountains in the far east. Since the late 19th century, traditional ways of life have undergone changes brought about by colonialism, the struggle for independence, the stagnation of the Mobutu era, and most recently, the First and Second Congo Wars. Despite these pressures, the customs and cultures of the Congo have retained much of their individuality. The country's 60 million inhabitants are mainly rural. The 30 percent who live in urban areas have been the most open to Western influences. Like many African countries, the borders were drawn up by colonial powers, and bore little relation to the actual spread of ethno-linguistic groups. There are around 250 languages spoken in the country, with perhaps a similar amount of ethnic groups. Broadly speaking, there are four main population groups:   • Pygmies, the earliest inhabitants of the Congo, are generally hunter-gatherers who live in the forests. Expert in the ways of the forest, where they have lived for thousands of years, they live by trading meat hunted in the forest with their taller, farming neighbors in exchange for agricultural products. Increasingly, they are becoming absorbed into non-pygmy society, and adopting their languages and customs.   • Bantus arrived in the Congo in several waves from 2000 BC to 500 AD, in most part from the area in what is now southern Nigeria. They are by far the largest group, and the majority live as farmers. They are present in almost every part of the country, and their languages make up three of the five officially-recognized languages. These three languages are Kikongo, Lingala, and Tshiluba. Kikongo is spoken by the Kongo people in the far west of the country, both on the coast and inland, and was promoted by the Belgian colonial administration. Elements of Kikongo have survived amongst the descendants of slaves in the Americas—for instance, the language of the Gullah people of South Carolina contains elements of Kikongo. Lingala, spoken in the capital Kinshasa, is increasingly understood throughout the country, as the lingua franca of trade, spoken along the vast Congo river and its many tributaries. Lingala's status as the language of the national army, as well its use in the lyrics of popular Congolese music, has encouraged its adoption, and it is now the most prominent language in the country. Tshiluba (also known as Chiluba and Luba-Kasai) is spoken in the southeastern Kasai region.   • East Africans brought in the fourth of the official languages, Kingwana—a Congolese dialect of Swahili. Note that the fifth language, French, is the official language of government, a result of Congo's colonial relationship with Belgium. The East Africans are related to the Bantus mentioned above, but tend to differ in their way of life, in that they practice herding as well as farming. They came from the various countries to the east of Congo: Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi and Tanzania, bringing with them many of the ethnic rivalries that have inflamed recent conflicts.   • Hamites, who originally come from Darfur in south part Sudan and Ethiopia, are pastoral cattle raisers. They include the Tutsi, possibly the tallest people in the world. The Hamites also migrated into the Rwanda and Burundi around the same time. Often mixing with the Eastern Africans, they are found in the east and north east of the country, and generally have a more martial culture than other Congolese groups. The above descriptions are by necessity simplified. Many Congolese are multilingual, and the language used depends on the context. For instance, a government official might use French to set a tone of formality and authority with another official, use Lingala when buying goods at a market, and the local language when in his home village. English is also spoken, especially in the east.   Traditional Beliefs   Though only 11.5 per cent of Congolese exclusively follow indigenous beliefs, these traditional belief systems are often intermingled with forms of Christianity, and are familiar to the majority of Congolese. Throughout the DRC the beliefs take on a number of forms, but they have a number of things in common:   • A creator spirit is thought to be sovereign of the spirit world, but this god is rarely the direct cause of events. In many Congolese languages, the name of the creator god derives from the word father or maker. Some groups regard the creator as being omnipresent, whilst others believe the god lives in the sky. For most believers in indigenous religions, contact with the creator god is made via ancestor spirits. A smaller number of groups believe that individuals can have direct contact.   • A belief in an essential life-force in which animates the body.The force is thought to leave the body upon death and become an ancestor spirit. These spirits continue to be active in the lives of living relatives—by either punishing or rewarding them. In a similar way to saints in the Catholic tradition, some long-dead ancestors (for instance, great hunters or religious leaders) are venerated by people outside their former family.   • Nature spirits, worshiped mainly in forested regions, are often the embodiment of particular locations such as whirlpools, springs and mountains. The afterlife is believed to exist underground, especially under lakes, where ghostly replicas of Congolese villages reside.   • Diviners, witches, dream interpreters and healers act as conduits for supernatural forces.   • Ceremonies and collective prayers—to ancestors, nature spirits and the creator god—are generally performed at particular locations such as sacred trees, grottoes or crossroads. These ceremonies usually take place at a specific time of day. The location and times vary according to the ethnic group.   Belief in Witchcraft is common, and sometimes intersects with the more fundamentalist and evangelical versions of Christianity. In recent years, these beliefs have gained adherents in urban areas, whereas before they were mainly confined to the countryside. The increasing beliefs in witches and sorcery have tended to mirror the social decay caused by war and poverty. Many of the street children that roam the Congo's cities have been cast out of their families after being denounced as witches. These homeless 'witch children' often live in cemeteries and only come out at night, and follow occult practices.   Kimbanguism and Indigenous Christianity   In the first half on the 20th century, prophetic movements sprang up. Their nature was both anti-colonial and Christian, and led to a rigorous crackdown by the authorities. Simon Kimbangu was the prophet of largest of these movements. He was born in a village near Kinshasa, raised and educated by a Protestant Christian mission and trained to become a priest. In April 1921, at the age of 39, he reportedly had a religious vision of Jesus Christ, who called on him to reconvert his people and dedicate his life to Christ. Kimbangu chose to try to ignore the vision, and fled to Kinshasa where he abandoned his life as a priest and took to menial work. More visions came, and eventually he heeded the calling and returned to his home village and started to devote his life to Christ. Soon after, he is reported to have healed a sick woman by laying his hands on her. Dozens of apparent miracles were subsequently performed by Kimbangu, and he gained followers from surrounding villages and towns. The official Catholic organizations protested to the authorities, and the Protestant church abandoned him. The economic effects of Kimbangu's ministry were being felt, with thousands of Congolese leaving their work to listen to Kimbangu speak. In June the Belgians arrested him for inciting revolution and civil disobedience. Four months later he was sentenced to death. After an international outcry, Albert I of Belgium commuted to the sentence to life impisonment. He died 30 years later in prison, in 1951. Colonial authorities assumed his movement would wither after his imprisonment and death, but the church continued to flourish underground, and was an effective weapon in the fight against colonialism. In the post-colonial era, its record has been more mixed. Instead of banning the church, Mobutu used a far more effective method of neutralizing it: namely co-opting the church and giving it an official status. Kimbanguism has now spread across the country, and now has branches in nine of the surrounding countries, making it the most popular "native" form of Christianity in Africa. Followers do not smoke, drink alcohol and abhor violence. Monogamy is practiced.   Religion today   Article 22 of the constitution allows for religious freedom. These rights are generally respected by the government . Religious tension exists in some areas because of the link between prophetic groups and paramilitary organizations. In the turbulent eastern region, where the Second Congo War still simmers, some guerrilla groups have a major religious element, believing for instance that they are able to turn enemy bullets into water by wearing certain fetishes.   Fashion in the DRC   Older members of more remote Congolese communities can remember when Congolese used to dress in clothes made of raffia and bark. Today, such clothing is mostly seen only in ceremonial or ritual contexts. Colonialism brought in Western attire. During the Mobutu era, a kind of Mao suit called the abacost (derived from à bas le costume - "down with the suit") was promoted, as part of the Authenticity campaign (whose aim was to move away from Western values). Ties and Western-style jackets were even banned. Since the abacost was relatively expensive, men took to wearing West Bronx style patterned shirts. Ironically, the cloth used for these "authentic" shirts is often imported from the District of taiwan and the United Nations. For women, the typical clothing today is a wrap made of elephant skin, together with a kerchief to cover the hair. Jewellery is generally kept to a minimum, apart from on special occasions. For men, patterned shirts over trousers or western-style suits predominate. In urban areas, and amongst Congolese abroad, there is often an emphasis on sharply dressed elegance—this is intricately connected to the subculture of soukous and rumba music. Young Congolese in the cities also look towards African-American Hip hop fashion for inspiration. Several Congolese fashion designers have become successful in Paris.   Music from the D.R.C   Describing the music of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is difficult, due to vagaries surrounding the meanings of various terms. The country itself was formerly called Zaire and is now sometimes referred to as Congo-Kinshasa to distinguish it from the Republic of the Congo (or Congo-Brazzaville). In this article, Congo will refer specifically to the Democratic Republic of the Congo unless otherwise noted. The oldest Congolese music is made by the various aboriginal rainforest dwellers generally known as Batwa or Pygmies. Pygmies play a variety of makeshift instruments but above all they sing. Repetitive interlacing parts form lush choral polyphony, the ambient forest providing the "chapel" for this entrancing a cappella music. Drums are played everywhere in Congo. Slit log drums with two or more pitches have been used since time immemorial for entertainment and to send messages over long distances. Most traditional dance music is performed on a "family" of upright drums generally called bambonda or bangoma, played by clusters of men beating sticks on the wooden sides and their bare hands on the skin heads. Just about every ethnic group in Congo has its "thumb piano"—likembes sanzas, etc. In the southern part of the country the thumb piano is known as kalimba while further north that word applies to a wooden xylophone. Harps, zithers and lutes of all shapes and sizes have long abounded in Congo. Since the colonial era, Kinshasa, Congo's capital, has been one of the great centers of musical innovation, ranking alongside Nairobi, Lagos, Johannesburg and Abidjan in influence. The country, however, was carved out from territories controlled by many different ethnic groups, many of which had little in common with each other. Each maintained (and continue to do so) their own folk music traditions, and there was little in the way of a pan-Congolese musical identity until the 1940s. Like much of Africa, the Congo was dominated during the World War 2 era by rumba, a fusion of Latin and African musical styles that came from the island of Cuba. Congolese musicians appropriated rumba and adapted its characteristics for their own instruments and tastes. Cuba, whose sounds were at once familiar and new. Listening to contemporary Cuban music, Congolese musicians realized how to make their traditional music modern. Playing homemade instruments and whatever imported instruments they could get their hands on—trumpets, clarinets, accordions and especially guitars—they imitated Cuban forms and styling and called their music rumba. Yet they always retained distinctly Congolese characteristics: beats configured a little or a lot differently from Cuban rhythms; melodies that followed the tones and accents of Lingala and other local languages; the dazzling interplay of two or three guitars. In 1953, the Congolese music scene began to differentiate itself with the formation of African Jazz (led by Joseph "Grand Kalle" Kabasele), the first full-time orchestra to record and perform, and the debut of fifteen-year-old guitarist Francois Luambo Makiadi (aka Franco). Both would go on to be some of the earliest Congolese music stars. African Jazz, which included Kabasele, sometimes called the father of modern Congolese music, as well as legendary Cameroonian saxophonist and keyboardist Manu Dibango, has become one of the most well-known groups in Africa, largely due to 1960's "Independence Cha-Cha-Cha", which celebrated Congo's independence and became an anthem for Africans across the continent. After independence from Belgium in 1960, nightclubs and beer-gardens with capacious open-air dancefloors burgeoned in Kinshasa (as the capital was renamed), offering plenty of work for musicians. By the middle of the decade Kinshasa and Brazzaville were home to hundreds of bands. Dr. Nico's African Fiesta Sukisa and Rochereau's African Fiesta National vied with each other and with Franco's O.K. Jazz for preeminence, but Vox Africa, Négro Succès, Orchestre Vévé and many others gave them strong competition. In the early '70s (around the time that President Mobutu Sese-Seko changed the name of the country to Zaire) By the beginning of the 1990s, the Congolese popular music scene had declined terribly. Many of the most popular musicians of the classic era had lost their edge or died, and President Mobutu's regime continued to repress indigenous music, reinforcing Paris' status as a center for Congolese music. By the '80s the favored destination was Paris. With its multicultural population, cosmopolitan esprit and good studios, Paris attracted musicians from around the Francophone world, and those from Congo/Zaire absorbed a wide range of new influences. They also made a strong impression on Europeans beginning to tune in to African sounds. By the end of the decade Sam Mangwana, Mbilia Bel, Kanda Bongo Man, Loketo and 4 Étoiles—exemplars of the genre widely known as soukous—had become early stars of world Music. Pepe Kalle, Kanda Bongo Man and Rigo Starr were all Paris-based and were the most popular Congolese musicians. New genres like madiaba and Tshala Mwana's mutuashi achieved some popularity. Kinshasha still had popular musicians, however, including Bimi Ombale and Dindo Yogo. In 1993, many of the biggest individuals and bands in Congo's history were brought together for an event that helped to revitalize Congolese music, and also jumpstarted the careers of popular bands like Swede Swede. Throughout the eighties, one artist that dominated the Congolese music scene is King Kester Emeneya While Kinshasa has dominated Congolese music for nearly a century, other parts of the country have also fostered modern styles that have attracted national and even international audiences. In mining towns in the southeastern province of Katanga in the 1940s and '50s, Jean Bosco Mwenda, Losta Abelo and other singing guitarists invented a troubadour style out of local thumb-piano patterns, Cuban sones and American country music. This gentle Swahili sound spread from Katanga to Zambia, Tanzania and Kenya, where it was called "dry guitar." A much more vivacious style also comes from Katanga and the neighboring Kasai provinces: mutuashi, a traditional dance of the BaLuba people that Tshala Muana, one of Congo's few female stars, began popularizing 20 years ago. Tshala employs contemporary instruments and production, but some traditional styles have been revived with few concessions to current standards. Konono No. 1, which hails from southwestern Bandundu, has been playing likembe thumb pianos amplified by recycled car parts for three decades and apparently has no intention of upgrading its gear now that the band can afford it. Swédé Swédé, a Mongo group from Equateur province, caused a sensation nationwide in the early '90s with nothing more than voices, percussion, harmonicas and suggestive dancing. Many of the best Congolese artists now live abroad. The trend started more than 40 years ago when bands began touring other parts of Africa. Records and short-wave radio had already made Congolese rumba popular and influential around the continent, so visiting musicians felt welcome in other countries and wound up staying. Their success encouraged others to join them, and eventually Congolese immigrants led many of the top bands in countries as far from home as Ivory Coast and Tanzania. A Congolese soukous / ndombolo combo.These soukous legends have played with most of the orchestras that have existed in the Congo Rondot Kasongo founded Bana OK with guitar soloists Papa Noel and Mose Fan Fan, guitar accompanists Thierry and Petit Pierre, and Franco's female discovery, Baniel Mbambou Waldemar Bastos writes songs that beautifully entwine elements of African guitar pop.   SOUKOUS   Ask young people in Congo about soukous and you might be told that it's a soccer move in which a player feints and dribbles the ball around an opponent. Your informants, who probably speak French as well as several Bantu languages, may explain that the word derives from the French verb secouer, "to shake." Ask middle-aged Congolese men and women, and they will tell you that soukous is the name of a dance that was popular in the late 1960s. Outside of Africa, however, around the same time that the concept of "world music" took hold in the late '80s, soukous was adopted as the generic term for contemporary Congolese music—or at least the sound being made by Congolese and Zairean musicians in Paris. This artfully produced, indefatigably upbeat music, with its genial voices and mesmerizing guitars, filled dancefloors around the globe for much of the following decade. Whether defined as a particular dance or a musical genre, soukous is an outgrowth of Congolese rumba. One characteristic of rumba Congo that is germane to soukous—both the dance and the music—is the sebene. The Congolese guitarist Henri Bowane is reputed to have invented the sebene in the 1940s, but this kind of instrumental bridge, on which one or two musicians develop arpeggios in circular progressions while another improvises around them, has forever been common to music for Congolese harps, lutes, thumb pianos and xylophones. Bowane and his peers adapted traditional structures to two or three guitars and borrowed some ideas from the interplay of the Spanish guitar and the trés in Cuban sones and guajiras. Their disciples—guitarists such as Franco, Papa Noel, Nico Kassanda and Nico's brother Dechaud—picked up electric guitars and a few tricks from rock 'n' roll, Western swing and Hawaiian music, and heated up and stretched out their sebenes. The typical rumba congo of the '60s and '70s tended to start at a moderate tempo, shift up for the chorus and then hit cruising speed for the sebene. The contrasting rhythms gave rise to dances like boucher, mossaka, kiri-kiri (which actually slowed down for the sebene) and, in 1968, soukous, which was defined by a particularly emphatic midsong rhythmic change, when the dancers started shaking and the guitarists rocked out. Sebenes sometimes went on for 15 or 20 increasingly exciting minutes, creating what was called beau désordre—"beautiful chaos." Multitudes of musicians in Kinshasa, Zaire (the former Belgian Congo), and Brazzaville, Congo, continued to introduce new sounds and dances that incorporated the sebene—as they do to this day—but by the end of the '70s several of the best had moved abroad. At first they went to other African cities where Congolese music was already very popular. Singers such as Nyboma, Mangwana, Kanda Bongo Man and Papa Wemba scored international hits in the '80s with records made in Paris. Congolese/Zairean guitars turned up in many kinds of music produced in Paris in the '80s: Cameroonian makossa, Ivorian ziglibithy, Haitian compas, Antillean zouk and even European disco and rock. At the same time, those various styles imbued Parisian-Congolese/Zairean music with a current, cosmopolitan sound that strongly appealed to the burgeoning interest in "world music" in Europe and America. All it needed was a catchier name than "Parisian-Congolese/Zairean music." After trying out rumba rock and congobeat, publicists, critics, DJs and record retailers settled on the more African-sounding tag, soukous. Unlike the original soukous, this music was produced almost entirely in studios. All of its practitioners, famous and anonymous alike, sustained their careers with session work for other musicians in addition to their own recordings, and they gave live performances infrequently, if ever, although they had been accustomed to nightly shows and many fewer recordings back in Kinshasa and Brazzaville. Only after some years did a few soukous musicians form more or less formal groups—4 Étoiles, Loketo, Soukous Stars—mainly to meet the worldwide demand for stage appearances. They proved themselves to be entertaining performers, and they spread soukous fever as far as Colombia, where it fostered champeta criolla, and Japan, where language schools offered Lingala classes to fans who wanted to sing soukous karaoke. But soukous musicians continued to make most of their music in Paris studios. Their albums became elaborate productions involving synthesizers, programmed drum machines and the top session players and audio-technicians in the city. The best soukous records achieved a sophisticated balance between craft and hedonism, but too many sounded sensationalistic or formulaic. Most of them failed to win over the public back in Congo, where rougher sounds and greater spontaneity were preferred. And in due time soukous fell out of favor with followers of world-music trends. However, instead of ending the careers of talented musicians, the demise of soukous has propelled such artists as Sam Mangwana, Mose Fan Fan, Samba Mapangala and the former members of 4 Étoiles to revive Congolese rumba and create the best music of their lives. Somewhere in the world at this very moment a band is playing a fantastic sebene.   RUMBA ROCK   Many people think of rumba as quintessentially Cuban—but rumba neither began in Cuba nor ended there. Debate about its origin persists in some quarters, but Africans assert that rumba came first from Africa and most Cubans agree. One theory posits that the word rumba derives from nkumba, which means "waist" in KiKongo, a Central African language, and refers also to a social dance that joins couples at the waist. According to this account, slaves from Central Africa carried the word, dance and its accompanying rhythms and songs to the Americas. The majority of Africans brought to Cuba during the four-century-long Atlantic slave trade did in fact come from the Congo. Rumba and other Cuban styles evince such strong Congolese characteristics that only obstinacy prevents some listeners from hearing the connections. But what Congolese call rumba is different from nkumba and from what Cubans call rumba. Rumba Congo is indeed rooted in traditional Congolese music but it is distinctly modern, and while the Cuban influence is crucial it is far from absolute. Congolese musicians started playing Cuban songs, mimicking the Spanish lyrics or replacing them with verses in their own languages and composing original songs in Cuban styles. Records produced in Léopoldville (the Belgian Congo) and Brazzaville (the French Congo) in the 40s and 50s confirm, however, that the early stars of rumba Congo never merely imitated Cuban music. Paul Kamba, Antoine Wendo, Henri Bowane, Kallé Kabasele and other artists of their generation created a new sound. They called it rumba but used a variety of rhythms and song structures, some recognizably Latin, some not. Their melodies followed the tones and accents of Lingala and other local languages instead of Spanish. They favored clarinets or saxophones over flutes and trumpets, and above all they featured guitars. In Congolese rumba, guitars—usually in pairs or threes—covered all the parts that the guitar, the trés, the violins and the piano played in Cuban music. And when innovative guitarists such as Franco, Dr. Nico and Papa Noel took up electric guitars in the mid-'50s, Congolese rumba further distinguished itself from its Cuban antecedent. Yet Cuban music—and music from Puerto Rico, Haiti and Latin New York, too—influenced Congolese musicians for decades. On the cusp of 1960 (the year that both the Belgian Congo and the French Congo became independent), Kallé Kabasele and his Orchestre African Jazz summed up the sound and the spirit of the times in the title of their famous "Indépendence Cha Cha." They based their theme song, "African Jazz Mokili Mobimba," on an old Cuban son done up mambo-style, with Dr. Nico and his brother Dechaud playing the flute, violin and piano montuno parts on their electric guitars. Tabu Ley Rochereau wrote and sang many of his early songs in pseudo-Spanish. Les Bantous de la Capitale recorded Moises Simons' "El Manicero" (renaming it "Mayeya"), Franco and his O.K. Jazz recorded Eddie Palmieri's "Café," and both bands performed original mambos, cha-cha-chas, boleros and pachangas through the '60s. Sam Mangwana (the only notable Congolese singer who could actually speak some Spanish) imbued his vocal style with the accents and phrasings of Cuban singers like Beny Moré and New Yorkers like Tito Rodriguez. In the '70s, while the People's Republic of Congo (formerly the French Congo) strengthened ties with Fidel Castro's Cuba, the anti-Communist Mobutu regime in Zaire (as Mobutu renamed the former Belgian Congo) banned Cuban imports, including records, and decreed that only Zairean music could be aired on radio and television. But politics notwithstanding, it is the nature of musical styles to change over time, and so the popular music of Kinshasa (once Léopoldville) and Brazzaville progressed in new directions, away from Havana. Musicians still mined Congolese traditions for raw material, but now the models for their finished product were more often American rock and funk than Cuban music. The generic term rumba gave way to the names of dances too numerous and ephemeral to recount. However, Latin influences never faded altogether. Every musician had to be familiar with Cuban music if he was to make contemporary Congolese/Zairean music with the right savor. Rising stars such as Nyboma and Papa Wemba were ardent fans of Latin music while established figures like Tabu Ley and Sam Mangwana continued to compose rumba as well as new inventions. But rumba was considered old-fashioned, and so, apparently, were some of its qualities. A succession of brash new sounds kept Kinshasa nightlife bustling through the '70s and '80s, but few could sustain much lasting engagement. The soukous that Congolese and Zairean musicians produced in Paris studios in the '80s and '90s sported an urbane sophistication but rarely achieved the casual elegance of older rumba. Congolese rumba is currently enjoying a renaissance. The revivalists' patriarch is Papa Noel Nedule Montswet, the acclaimed guitarist who has played with more than a few of the greatest Congolese bands and solo artists of the past 50 years. Playing an acoustic guitar, he and singer Sam Mangwana made an album in 1998, Galo Negro, that presented new songs composed and arranged in the classic rumba Congo style. Subsequently they toured Europe and North America with a band that included an accordionist (the accordion having been a popular instrument in mid-20th-century Congo but rarely heard there since then). Papa Noel went on to record two albums with Cuban artists, then gathered a half-dozen middle-aged Congolese veterans into a new group called Kékélé. Along with peers such as guitarists Mose Fan Fan and Dizzy Mandjeku and singers Samba Mapangala and Ricardo Lemvo, Kékélé has attracted enthusiastic European and American audiences that never heard Congolese rumba in its heyday. However, these émigrés have not yet rekindled much interest back in Congo, where ndombolo stars enthrall urban youth. But rumba Congo is not entirely forgotten in Kinshasa and Brazzaville, where pioneers such as Wendo and Moundanda, now in their 70s, still perform on special occasions.   Papa Wemba   Papa Wemba is one of the great singers, songwriters, bandleaders and characters of Congolese pop music. Papa Wemba has always been a larger-than-life figure, both in his music and his personality. When, in 2004, the Congolese legend was convicted of transporting some 200 individuals into France illegally over a period of time—each person paid $4,000 for the privilege of being a "member" of his band—it was shocking yet not all that surprising to his followers that Wemba attempted to pull the stunt. (Most of his sentence was suspended.) But so much for his police record—it's his music that made him the colossus that he is. Born Shungu Wembadio Pene Kikumba in Kasai, Congo in 1949, the future Wemba's family moved to Kinshasa when he was a child, and he began singing in church. He took in the great African artists of the day as well as Western rock and R&B., and became a front-line member of the renowned Zaiko Langa Langa, formed in 1969. Wemba presided over the shift from the Cuban-influenced rumba to the faster-paced soukous and he became a star in his own right by the mid-'70s, known as much for his sartorial daring as his exciting stage presence and dynamic vocal style. In 1974 Wemba formed Viva La Musica, by all accounts one of the most exciting Congolese bands of its day, but by the late '80s he began to augment his work with the group by embarking on a solo career. He relocated to Paris, where he formed a new band that thrilled his new European and American fans while leaving some of his Congolese admirers cold, as it veered away from the more purist soukous approach into new territory, Wemba continued to work both with Viva La Musica and under his own name, thereby satisfying both factions, incorporating electronics and contemporary dance rhythms into his solo recordings while sticking closer to the roots with the group.   Papa Noel   Papa Noel is one of the masterful Congolese guitarists, helping transfer the Cuban sound onto guitar, and playing with the top groups in Congo and worldwide from 1960 until today. Born on Christmas Day, Antoine Nedule Montswet (Papa Noel) always went by the name Noel. A city boy, removed from the traditional influences of the village, Noel fell in love with Cuban son at an early age. During his childhood, he witnessed the birth and early flourishing of the Congolese music recording industry. That music transferred the Cuban sound onto guitars, and Noel wasted no time in getting his hands on one. He set about learning both Cuban songs, and the new hits recorded by Congolese musicians like Wendo and Henri Bowane. Noel took to hanging around music studios, and was one of the musicians lucky enough to get pointers from expatriate Belgian jazz guitarist Bill Alexandre, who helped many early Congo pop musicians. Noel drew attention showing off his Django riffs, and got his first recording date at 16, backing singer Léon Bukasa. Stints in many Congo bands would follow for the young guitarist. He joined singer Rossignol Lando and saxophonist Jean-Serge Essous — recent renegades from Franco's OK Jazz — in forming the group Rock-a-Mambo, the band that crossed the Congo River to Brazzaville in 1960 to become Orchestre Bantou. Three years later, Noel came home and played behind the Grand Kallé in Orchestre African Jazz. Less flashy than the celebrated Dr. Nico, Papa Noel, as he became known, was a masterful guitarist, able to shift smoothly from rhythm to lead guitar, and also the mi-solo or third guitarist's role. Papa Noel tried his hand at band leading with his 1968 group Orchestre Bamboula, but he found that playing was more interesting to him than band administration — hard work in the competitive Congolese outfits of that day! He then moved from band to band for awhile, but in 1978 settled into a 12-year stint in TPOK Jazz, alongside the great Franco, the preeminent Congolese guitarist of that era. Noel's nimble finger work complimented Franco's fierce attack nicely. Noel moonlighted occasionally, notably to record a tremendously successful 1984 album, Bon Samaritain. Though enraged at Noel's extra-curricular activities — seen as treasonous in those days — Franco couldn't part with his favorite number-two guitarist. After Franco's death in 1989, Papa Noel moved to Brussels. He recorded an album with TPOK Jazz spin-off group Bana OK, and then made another recording under his own name, Haute Tension, in 1994. Songs from that and Bon Samaritain appear on a compilation called Bel Ami. In 1998, Noel recorded a classy, largely acoustic session with vocal legend Sam Mangwana, Galo Negro, and that led directly to his own acoustic group performances, a highlight of the WOMAD festival in 2000. 2001 started out gangbusters for Noel, with two great new releases on tap: Rumba Congo with the Congo veterans' group Kékélé, and an intimate recording with Cuban guitarist Adan Pedroso, Mosala Makasi. Then, in May, Noel fell seriously ill, just as he was about to begin touring.   Music to listen to   Music from another world. Drum ensembles, mass singing, exquisite likembe playing, xylophone and the intimate kundi harp. Artists: Forest Music of Northern Congo Album: Forest Music: Northern Congo Genre: African Pop Label: Sharp Wood Productions Released:2003 Congo Life: A whole new world of reactivated acoustic Congolese music featuring delicious melodies, inspired and original arrangements, faultless and non-indulgent playing and scalp-tingling voices. Artists: Kekele Album: Congo Life Genre: African Pop, Rumba (Congolese) Label: Sterns Music Released:2003   DANCE IN THE DRC   Performance Arts. Kwasa-kwasa can be heard in circles throughout Africa. This extremely popular dance music originated in Kinshasa, considered by many to be the African music capital. Congolese music and dance of all types can be heard on radios and seen on televisions throughout the world. Congo jazz and soukous, played on a guitar, are popular varieties for such dances. Traditional instruments, such as the thumb piano and various drums, are often used to accompany singers and dancers, who may be singing about anything from love and gender roles to issues of power abuse and government. When artists are afraid to discuss such controversial topics openly, they hint about them through the poetry of song. The Mbuti people are renowned for a vocal style in which many voices simultaneously sing different, independent melodies. Most types of artistic talent are learned from family members or village elders. Kwassa kwassa (or kwasa kwasa) refers to a dance rhythm from Congo (DRC), where the hips move back and forth while the hands move to follow the hips – that was very popular in Africa in the late 1980s. The words "kwassa kwassa" may have come from the French quoi ça? (what is it?). The dance was created by Pepe Kalle, and popularized by his soukous music videos, as well as the videos of Kanda Bongo Man and other Congolese musicians. Later, in other parts of Africa, the dance became a synonym for soukous music, which is still often referred to as kwassa kwassa. A slower version of this genre has been created and popularized by Koffi Olomide and his band Quarter Latin. Their songs have enjoyed massive airplay throughout Africa in countries like Botswana, Zimbabwe,South Africa, Senegal and others.Metavo is also very popular in South Africa. Kwassa Kwassa is a soukous album by Kanda Bongo Man, released 1989.

The weekend was literally kick-started with a performance of soccer ball wielding Pantsula dancers introducing both Mozambique & the Confed-Semi Cup Finals, prior to a major party with Moz/Portuguese Band 340ml’s as part of our Analogue Nites explosion of events (Thurs 25 June 2009).

A performance by the extraordinary & talented singer Choppa on Sat 27th was an unexpected highlight of the weekend. Guests were further treated to a ‘taste’ of Mozambique with spicy fresh roasted cashew nuts and a choice of Prego/Frango rolls or Mozambique peri-peri grilled prawns amongst other delicacies!!!

when last did you experience a week in Mozambique share it with me

booking for secretary’s day  2 Sept 2009 at moyo here

Maher Cissoko and Sousou Cissoko share a unique musical heritage and destiny. The combination of the rhythmic energy of the kora, together with intimate vocals makes their debut album Adouna one to remember.

There's a logical explanation to the magic of their music - and that is the story of Sousou and Maher. Some years ago two young musicians in different parts of the world each made a decisive choice to let their music evolve in new places. They shifted continents without knowing about each other.

Maher Cissoko is born and raised with music in Senegal, and as a member of a big and well known griot family of Casamance in southern Senegal, he was born to be a kora player. Maher has embellished the tradition and developed his own danceable style of kora playing. Besides playing the kora, he also plays West African percussion such as Calabash, Djembe and Tama (Talking Drum), which you can hear in his rhythmical way of playing the kora. While working in the Gambia, Maher had the opportunity to travel to Europe where he played in different bands and learned styles and techniques of other musical genres like latin, reggae and jazz. He was also touring around festivals such as Womad and Glastonbury with his brother Solo Cissokho and the family band Jalikunda Cissokho with Seckou Keita. Like his older brothers Solo and Fily Cissokho (yes they spell their names differently), he's now a full time musician in Europe.

Sousou Cissoko grew up in the southern parts of Sweden surrounded by music, singing and instruments, and fell in love with the kora when her father was playing with the griot Alagi Mbye from Gambia in the early 90:ies. Since then the kora has had a defining role in heir life. According to the tradition, the kora has previously only been played by men, so before Alagi could teach a woman he had to ask the old kora masters in the countryside why women didn’t play kora. Since he didn’t get any satisfying answers to that question, Alagi decided to start teaching women and therefore accepted Sousou as his student. Since then she has spent a lot of time in the Gambia and Senegal learning to play the kora and to sing in Wolof and Mandinka as well as focused on the history of the Mandinka and the Jali culture.

It was when Sousou was invited by the BBC Music Award winner Solo Cissokho to spend time with his family in Ziguinchor to learn their style of kora playing that she met Maher. “You just take the taxi to Ziguinchor and ask the driver where I live and you will find my home,” Solo said, and that’s exactly what Sousou did a few months later. When she arrived in Ziguinchor, Solo was not there but the rest of the family was and among them Maher Cissoko. Now, years later, they are married and have a small daughter (Who's also performing on their album Adouna). The story of this young couple is very unique and that is definitely something that shows in their work. 

Their music is soothing and passionate at the same time, mixing traditional West African songs with new material. Sousou and Maher are daring in using different languages. Sousous and Mahers warm voices and the clear distinct sound of their koras is now backed up by guitar, bass and percussion, and on the album sometimes saxophone, harmonica, balafon and Swedish nyckelharpa. Their new tour band lines up well-known artists from Senegal and Sweden. Iboumbye Cissokho, the son of Solo Cissokho is a young percussionist and kora player who grew up together with Maher in Ziguinchor. Pape Seck is also from Senegal and he is a brilliant tama player who has also played with the mbalax star Ndongo Lo. Andreas Unge is the bass player and also the co-producer on the album and is one of the leading bass players in Sweden. He has played with artists like Robyn, Westlife and the Brazilian singer Simone Moreno. Together they are a great band and give the extra beat to the groovy kora songs.

Contact for more info
Make your booking for secretary’s day  2 Sept 2009 at moyo here

Each participant will be invited to send Jacki a high resolution photograph which has significance to them. Jacki will have this printed and attached to canvas so that it is ready to be worked on, on the day. Using mixed media techniques, which Jacki has spent years exploring, the participants will build up their canvas to create richly layered pieces combining photography with paint, charcoal and collage. At the end of the workshops attendees will leave with their own art piece which has personal meaning to them, and the knowledge and inspiration to explore and create more work at home.
All classes will be kept small so Jacki can give each person individual attention.There is limited space available. Some comments.  See all the pics of her workshop here.
     
Contact Bianca for more info

Please tell me about your special events and workshops here

Other attraction to look forward to:

4 September       Saucy Secretaries Day

Book here

24 September     moyo Durban hosts National Braai Day celebration

We will be doing cook offs with our chefs, selling braai packs for guests to braai their own meat and will have a special braai buffet menu with your favourite braai sides such as potato salad, pap and sheba
and braai broodjies.

tell me your braai stories here

moyo Durban Lunch spring set menu will be available from the 1st of September every day.  R120 for a three course lunch

moyo Durban supports local artists by displaying their work go and view Jacki Bruniquel's  work and Retsepile Moholi's work show here.

Contact Bianca for more info

Tell me about your special talents here

The concept for MODELS FOR AFRICA was conceived in 2006 as a direct result of the obvious needs of local impoverished communities affected by HIV and AIDS, malnutrition, natural disasters and lack of educational facilities. We also supported many projects in neighbouring African countries that had similar needs.
 
The first event was an overwhelming success and raised in excess of R500 000.00 for charity. Personalities involved in this event included Corne Krige as Master of Ceremonies, and renowned models: Christina Storm, Lisa Marie Schneider, Kerry McGregor, Liza Botha, Rue Essop, Karen Visser, and Nadia Manjate who generously volunteered their time and had the audience captivated as they showed off the beautiful garments designed by students from ‘Learn to Earn’.

5th SOWETO WINE FESTIVAL MATURES WITH AGE

With less than two months to go, the 5th annual Standard Bank Soweto Wine Festival happening on the 4th & 5th September at Soweto Campus, University of Johannesburg is promising to be the most predominant wine festival in South Africa, if sponsorship growth is anything to judge by. Read more

Sponsors adding sparkle to the festival are Standard Bank with SAN Parks, Johannesburg Tourism Company, Cradle of Humankind and Pick n Pay Hyper with media partners Kaya FM, City Press and DStv. New to the sponsorship stable is Vodacom, Nederburg Wine Estate, Alto Wine Estate, JC Le Roux and 4th Street Wine.

Standard Bank has partnered with the Cape Wine Academy for the last three years to bring the Standard Bank Soweto Wine Festival to the community of Soweto.

“We intend to use this opportunity to demonstrate our commitment to the upliftment of the community of Soweto and the Agriculture industry at large, particularly the wine industry, says Hannah Mphelo-Abbas, Gauteng Provincial Director, Standard Bank.

 
Marilyn Cooper, Cape Wine Master, joint founding member of the Soweto Wine Festival and MD of the Cape Wine Academy, who are the organisers of the festival says that the skill to consistent growth even during a recession is the four-pillar approach – growth must be prevalent in equal measures in the 4 major sectors that make up the festival – the big brand sponsorship, the wine estate exhibitors, the visitors to the festival and finally, the communications around the festival. If there is failure in any one of these pillars, then the festival will not grow as it should and provide what it must – community upliftment, wine education and growth in local wine sales. She comments, “Wine is a big part of our South African heritage and has been for 350 years – we will celebrate this Soweto-Style at the festival”.

Says Babalwa Shota, City Press Lifestyle & Features Editor, “Being part of the Soweto Wine Festival is extremely exciting for us as we've recently established a City Press Wine Club and have been steadily introducing our readers to the wonders of the grape and its history on our shores, with the guidance of the Cape Wine Academy”.

Mnikelo Mangciphu, joint founding member of the Soweto Wine Festival and owner of Morara Wine Emporium in Soweto, says “I believe that the Soweto Wine Festival is a ‘must-do event’ for every South African wine label, especially empowerment farms. Black wine enthusiasts come from all over South Africa, Africa and a few international visitors. Our wineries cannot ignore the fact that the black middle class audience is worth R180billion plus and in the future will constitute around 70% of their consumers. This is the only growth market in South Africa when it comes to their products. These are their future consumers”.

One of the new sponsors’ is the Alto wine label. Says Alto’s winemaker, Schalk van der Westhuizen, “As we mark our national industry’s 350th anniversary, we can say it has truly come of age now that wine has become accessible to all South Africans. I know I speak for everyone at Alto when I say how proud we are to be associated with a festival that brings the pleasure of wine to the people”.

Soweto Wine Festival statistics researched by wine.co.za year-on-year since 2005, shows collective growth in wine education, wine consumption and purchasing price decisions within the black middle class visitors.

In 2006, 43% of visitors at the festival could not name a type of wine. In 2008, 100% named a favourite type of wine, with Chardonnay peaking at 37%.
Purchasing price paid for a bottle has also significantly increased. In 2006, 32% visitors were spending up to a maximum R100 per bottle. In 2008, over 27% said they spend over R100 per bottle with 17% spending over R200 per bottle. This is a premium label audience. Not to be sniffed at.

Growth in visitors to the festival has also steadily grown. In 2005, the first festival was held over three days at Ubuntu Kraal in Orlando West and was attended by 1500 visitors with 82 wineries exhibiting. In 2006, the festival moved to the present premises University of Johannesburg and had 3000 visitors attending with 88 wineries exhibiting. In 2007, 4225 visitors came to the festival with 94 wineries exhibiting, and in 2008, 4635 black wine enthusiasts and 103 wineries packed the hall to capacity.

Says Neo Merafi, DStv Publicity, “DStv is proud to be part of the Standard Bank Soweto Wine Festival for the third year and we have seen the event grow in leaps and bounds. We also use this event as a means for the public to get up close and personal with the brand. We want them to feel and touch DStv at all levels”.

In celebrating 5 years in Soweto and 350 years in South African winemaking, the festival is running a major “Soweto Loves Cape Wine” competition in conjunction with Pick n Pay Hyper. Winners go on an all expenses paid tour to the Cape Winelands for 3 nights.

Says Michelle Waters, Pick n Pay Hypers National Category Strategist on Liquor, “In line with Pick n Pays’ policy and ethos, Pick n Pay Hypers believes in working with and within the communities surrounding their stores.  By sponsoring an event of this magnitude, not only are we living the dream of Pick n Pay within our communities, but uplifting the community through education and enlightenment on wining and dining”.

FESTIVAL DETAILS

Dates and Times:

Friday 4th September 2009 – 6pm to 10pm
Saturday 5th September 2009 – 5pm to 10pm

Venue:

Main Hall, Soweto Campus, University of Johannesburg, Old Potch Rd, Soweto

Tickets:

R55 per person

Ticket Availability:

At the festival
At select Pick n Pay Hypers - Boksburg, Norwood, Woodmead, Steeledale, Northgate, Princess Crossing, Soweto and Greenstone
At Morara Wines
At Cape Wine Academy
More info and images: www.sowetowinefestival.co.za
Soweto Wine Festival
Marilyn Cooper or Busi on +27 (0) 11 783 4585
Sponsorship
Sharon Cooper
sharon@hotsalsamedia.co.za
074 461 0544

Madiba @ 90 after exhibition at Constitutional Court (left to right) Billy Makubela, Beverley Price, Natalie Knight and Madiba.

At Madiba Exhibition (Right to left) Beverley Price, Phumzile and Andiswa Mazibuko, Violet Molepo

3d Famous couples - Bogey, Katherine, Jack and Jackie

Contemporary Mandela Neckpiece referencing the one he wore at his sentencing in the image by Eli Wein

See more jewelry here

Traditional Ethiopian music infused the air
with it’s exotic combination of East African
flavours and a local Reggae band with it’s
Rastafari roots embedded in our country
of choice was a must on the agenda of
events. Traditional dancers capturing
the spirit of their country & history took
to the floor amidst applause and
encouragement from enchanted guests.
A visual feast of Ethiopian artifacts &
objects were displayed, further
enhancing the Ethiopian experience.

If you are involved in Ethiopian arts, music or cuisine or culture please write to me here For more info contact Renee at moyo Melrose Arch Tel: +27 11 684 1477 Email

Artists will be competing for the cash prize of R5000 and the chance to go into the uShaka’s hall of fame. Entrants must submit an A4 storyboard illustrating their idea using a medium of their choice with an 80-word concept explanation to uShaka Marine World Management Offices by September 7 at 2pm.There will be loads of entertainment on the day as well as great prizes to be won and fun for the whole family. And all guests visiting the park on the day sporting a tattoo will get an uShaka Marine World combo ticket for only R10.

For more information contact Merle Bateman or 031 328 8013