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Vidéo :
Lianne La Havas
en concert au Trianon 19/02
Revivez le concert de Lianne La Havas donné au Trianon à Paris le 19 février dernier grâce à Arte Live Web. Découvrez également son dernier clip « Elusive » issu de son premier album Is Your Love Big Enough ?
GO HERE TO VIEW FULL 1-HOUR CONCERT
BREIS features Eska
on New Single ‘Strictly’
(Listen)
Strictly is the first single taken from BREIS’ ground breaking Hip Hop Audiobook, the audio version of his rap book entitled ‘Brilliant Rappers Educate Intelligent Students’. It is also the lead single from the Brilliant EP (songs from the audiobook but without the narration), which will be simultaneously released in March 2013. Produced by BREIS and Leroy Brown, this Afrobeat-flavoured single features the vocals of Eska Mtungwazi.
Strictly will be digitally released on March 18 and the audiobook/EP will follow on March 25.
“This one is for Africa and the Diaspora,” says BREIS. “It’s about the culture of our words and music and their importance to us as a people. It’s also an acknowledgement of the hard work of my parents’ generation that usually goes unseen or unheard in the UK.”
BREIS (breeze) is a dynamic Hip Hop lyricist based in London. His style is a fusion of the Hip Hop, Soul and Afro-beat he listened to growing up in both the UK and Nigeria. He describes his sound as BAM (British African Music). He is also an author and the Director of a Hip Hop educational company called Student of Life, which encourages young people in education to raise their aspirations through the vehicle of Hip Hop music.
Listen to Strictly below:
Arts & Letters Journal
of Contemporary Culture
Three prizes of $1,000 each and publication in Arts & Letters Journal of Contemporary Culture are given annually for a group of poems, a short story, and an essay. Alice Friman will judge in poetry, Jaimy Gordon will judge in fiction, and Sonja Livingston will judge in creative nonfiction. Submit up to 8 pages of poetry or 25 pages of prose with a $15 entry fee ($17 for an online submission), which includes a subscription to Arts & Letters Journal of Contemporary Culture, by March 18. Visit the website for complete guidelines.
Arts & Letters Journal of Contemporary Culture, Arts & Letters Prizes, Campus Box 89, Georgia College & State University, Milledgeville, GA 31061. (478) 445-1289. Martin Lammon, Editor.
Stringybark Erotic Short Fiction Award 2013
Stringybark Stories ran its first erotic fiction competition in 2011. That competition culminated in two books — the Heat Wave of ’76 (paperback sold out. E-book still available) and Between the Sheets. It’s now time for another.
The Stringybark Erotic Short Fiction Award 2013 is presented to the best short story of 1800 words or fewer that deals with an erotic theme. International entries are most welcome.
Human intimacy and sexual arousal are an intrinsic part of the lives of most adults and yet it is rarely written about in any meaningful way. Most writing about human sexuality is either prurient or ‘fumbling behind the bike shed’ titillation. Even some of the world’s best writers stumble when trying to write about sex. Have a look at this article from the BBC to see how some great writers struggle with erotica.
However, don’t let this get in the way of having a go!
The challenge for the short story writer is to capture the excitement, pleasure and meaning of human intimacy and sexual relationships in very few words. But writing erotica is not merely a descriptive exercise but an exercise that should also excite the reader.
Erotica remains a contentious area of writing. What is one person’s erotica is another person’s pornography. Some writers feel that they don’t want their name linked to erotic writing. That’s okay with us. On the entry cover sheet, there is room for you to use a pseudonym (a pen name) if you so wish.
To assist you in writing your erotic short story, here are some content guidelines from the judges (please read these as well as the Entry Conditions):
✦ Don’t involve any characters under the age of consent (16 in NSW, WA, QLD, Vic, ACT, NT and 17 in Tasmania & SA. International entries should use the age of consent in their country.);
✦ Avoid degrading and/or violent activities;
✦ Think sensual, imaginative and sexy;
✦ All the elements of a good short story should still be present. Don’t throw good writing technique out the window just to get to the climax!
If in doubt read our two published anthologies of erotic fiction. See The Bookshop for more information about these two books.
There is a total value of over $770 worth of prizes in cash and books available.
Award Winners receive:
First Prize - A$350 cash + publication + certificate + e-book + paperback (Value $368)
Second Prize - A$150 cash + publication + certificate + e-book + paperback (Value $168)
Third Prize - A$75 cash + publication + certificate + e-book + paperback (Value $93)
Authors of highly commended stories may also be invited to have their stories published and if so receive a free copy of the e-book (Value approximately $141)
Entry Fees:
One story - A$9.95
Two stories A$18.90
Three stories A$27.00
Stories must be sent via email. Closing date for entries is 31 March 2013. Winners will be notified by 15 June 2013.
More details can be found by clicking HERE.
NOTE: After you have submitted your entry you should receive a return email stating that your entry and payment has been received and registered. If you do not receive a confirmation email within seven days of submission, please contact us to check on your entry’s status. Occasionally the internet is not as reliable as everyone believes and emails do not arrive.
Florida Review • Editors’ Awards
Three prizes of $1,000 each and publication in Florida Review are given annually for a group of poems, a short story, and an essay. All entries are considered for publication. The editors will judge. Submit three to five poems or up to 6,000 words of prose with a $15 entry fee, which includes a subscription to Florida Review, by March 17. Send an SASE, e-mail, or visit the website for complete guidelines.
Florida Review, Editors’ Awards, English Department, MFA Program, P.O. Box 161346, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32816-1346. Jocelyn Bartkevicius, Editor.
Terance Nance • Director
THE TRIPTYCHFeaturing personalities& work ofWangechi Mutu,Sanford Biggersand Barron Claiborne
February 22nd, 2013 The Triptych is a journey of 3 artists – their work and personalities by brooklyn film maker Terence Nance. Here are the 3 trailers which include Kenyan / New Yorker Wangechi Mutu, LA performance artist Sanford Biggers and photographer Barron Clairbone. The documentary – short film was released last yr.
The Triptych Trailer • Sanford Biggers
The Triptych • Barron Claiborne
Barbara
Editor at African Digital Art NetworkOriginally from Nairobi, Barbara Muriungi is a motion designer & animator. After a brief stint working as a sound tech and producing roles in TV and radio, Barbara realised her passion for design and pursued her studies in Motion Graphics and Visual Effects. In between working clients like HBO, Nat Geo, Disney, Fuse, she works on collaborative projects and continues her interests in photography, illustration and travel.
'Terra Pesada'
Documents
The Heavy Metal Scene
In Mozambique
Ever wondered what the Heavy metal scene looks like in Mozambique? Check out the 'Terra Pesada' documentary.
From the project's website: “Terra Pesada” is the story of young heavy metal musicians in Mozambique, a former Portuguese slave colony, and their quest to make their voices heard. We follow them at home, at school, hanging out with their friends, talking about music, politics, HIV/AIDS, the wars, what their lives are like now, the difficulties they face, their hopes, dreams, ambitions, aspirations, and of course there are rehearsals and concerts."
Watch the trailers below! - L.
February 13th, 2013
LANDSCAPE PAINTINGS
by Philip Barlow
Philip Barlow, a South African native, creates these wonderful hyper-real blurry and hazy depictions and scenarios of landscapes of daily life.
“Although I work within a long tradition of landscape painting, my depiction of the ‘seen’ landscape is simply a vehicle through which I navigate territory of another nature. A landscape less ordinary; where the line between the physical and the spiritual realm has seemingly been removed. However, these scenarios are not intended to be of a surreal nature. Hopefully they will seem curiously familiar and convincingly real.
The figures in the landscape serve as carriers and reflectors of the light that falls upon them. Bathed in the luminosity, it is my hope that they would become more beautiful. To me, light is the ultimate subject because it embodies the pinnacle of all reality.”
jepchumba
Founder and Creative Director at African Digital Art NetworkJepchumba is an AFRICAN DIGITAL ARTIST and DIGITAL ENTHUSIAST who works hard to combine her two passions: Digital Media and Africa. Originally from Kenya, she has lived around the world developing her interest in philosophy, art and technology. An African digital artist, Jepchumba loves experimenting with motion, sound and various digital effects and techniques and has an extensive background in digital art, web design and development, audio/visual production and social media strategies.
History of The Black Pinup,
Black History Month Edition:
Nina Mae McKinney
'The Black Greta Garbo'
When reading about the history of starlets in the Hollywood of yore, we often learn about the meteoric rise of actresses like Marilyn Monroe, Jean Harlow, Elizabeth Taylor or Rita Hayworth. When charting the film careers of classic Black actresses, stories are often confined to Dorothy Dandridge, Lena Horne, Josephine Baker, and yes, even Hattie McDaniel, who broke barriers by becoming the first Black actress to be nominated for and win an academy award for her role as Mammy in “Gone with the Wind”; and who’s success wasn’t without some measure of controversy, as critics argued that many of her roles acceded to the sensibilities of white audiences and pandered to racial stereotypes and tropes about Black pathology, and took McDaniel to task for seeming to cow to being relegated to those roles.
For better or worse, the narratives we often hear about, very rarely include actress Nina Mae McKinney. Referred to as “The Black Greta Garbo”, McKinney is reportedly the first Black film actress to grace the silver screen in small but notable parts, and has the distinction of also being the first Black actress to appear on British television.
Born Nannie Mayme McKinney in Lancaster, South Carolina, Nina got her start as a 16-year-old dancer in the chorus line on Broadway, in Lew Leslie’s production Blackbirds of 1928; a performance that resulted in her snagging the part of ‘Chick’ in King Vidor’s first all-Black 1929 talking picture Hallelujah, as a last minute replacement for Ethel Waters or Honey Brown, who were both being considered for the role. While Hallelujah wasn't a massive commercial success, it still garnered enough attention to put Nina Mae McKinney on Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's (MGM) radar; the film studio signed her to a 5 year contract. But as was par for the course for most Black actresses, her career fell prey to the contentious racial politics in the U.S. during that time. Despite contracting McKinney, MGM was reluctant to cast the beautiful starlet in feature films, placing most of her scenes on the cutting room floor while using her singing voice to dub over Jean Harlowe’s.
Much to her dismay, the actress could only get roles in bit (stereotypical) parts through other studio productions, so moved to and toured throughout Europe, most notably to France and the UK, where she found success as a sought after cabaret singer and starred in the British based movie Sanders of the River, alongside Paul Robeson- (who later condemned the film after discovering it’d been re-edited during post-production, to the favor of white imperialism).
Nina Mae McKinney returned to the U.S. briefly, in 1939, to tour with Pancho Diggs and his orchestra, and married jazz musician Jimmy Monroe in 1940- they divorced a year later and Monroe married Billie Holiday. The actress still found difficulty navigating Hollywood’s racially biased film infrastructure, continuing to be overlooked for plum roles in favor of her white contemporaries. The rise of independently made race films provided Mckinney with the opportunities that seemed to elude her in Hollywood studio pictures, so she starred in several all-Black productions.
McKinney’s last known significant part was a supporting role in Elia Kazan’s 1949 film Pinky, where she played a prostitute named Rozelia. Little else is known about the actress’s later life, save for her reportedly expatriating to Greece for most of the 1950s and 1960s, before dying in New York to little or no fanfare in 1967, at the age of 54. According to the book “African American Actresses: The Struggle for Visbility 1900-1960”, McKinney’s death certificate listed her as having been ‘widowed’ and having worked as a ‘domestic’ for ‘private families’… the very image she tried to avoid inhabiting as an actress.
While one is loath to find her film career documented in the mainstream press, Nina Mae McKinney has been commemorated in her hometown of Lancaster, where her portrait hangs among other native notables. In 1978 the actress was also inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of fame, and was memorialized on a 2008 postage stamp honoring “vintage Black cinema”.
Nina’s career was largely unsung, but the stunning actress and singer still managed to carve out a niche for herself, while helping pave the way for those notable Black actresses who came shortly after her, enabling them to continue knocking down doors in an industry that often didn't (and doesn't ) value or consider Black film actresses palatable enough for mainstream audiences, or viable enough to be placed in starring roles.
