The Culture Caravan in Ghana features Reggie Rockstone, Kwaw Kese, King Ayisoba, Wanlov the Kubolor, DJ Black, and Master Drummer Okyerema Yaw
Culture Caravan (Ghana)
Anita attended a musical program in a contemporary context called "The Culture Caravan". A DJ, a band, traditional musicians, hip-life, afro beat, dancers, artistes and actors taking audiences through popular Ghanaian fables, daily drama, current news and issues. This includes spin offs on some Anansi stories, and themes concerning environmental degradation among others. Hiplife, Afrobeat, traditional drums, theatre and dancing were all there during a two-week odyssey through Ghana's most popular urban settings. artistic director Panji Anoff to revamp the concept of the Concert Party, an itinerant mix of music and theatre that
is part of the cultural fabric of this West African nation
The programme stars Hip-life Grandpapa Reggie Rockstone, Kwaw Kese, King
Ayisoba, Wanlov the Kubolor, DJ Black, Master Drummer Okyerema Yaw
Kontor and all his female drummers and theatre starlets, amongst others.

Organized by the Cultural Affairs Services of the French Embassy and in
partnership with Vodafone, 'The Culture Caravan' is an initiative
designed to challenge artists to develop entertainment by creating new
ideas and material which will help the local industry grow. Arnaud
Dornon, Head of Cooperation and Cultural Affairs at the French Embassy
spent months developing the concept with Panji Anoff of Pidgen Music,
who revamped the concept of the Concert Party, an itinerant mix of music
and theatre that is part of the cultural fabric of this West African
nation. The help of renowned Director Michel Crespin (nicknamed the
"Pope of Street Art" in France) was enlisted to assist with the project.

Acoustic Africa

Studio 53 and Grace attended the Acoustic Africa, which featured Habib
Koite of Mali, Vusi Mahlasela from South Africa and Dobet Gnahore of the
Ivory Coast. This show was launched on CD by Putumayo World Music in
2006 before they embarked on a mammoth 40-city US and European tour
-eventually to return home to Mother Africa to enthrall us with their
rhythms. Mamelodi-born guitarist, poet, percussionist, composer and
multi-octave singer, Vusi Mahlasela - 'The Voice' , as he is known - is
revered as a creative force in South Africa's freedom struggle, and his
powerful lyrics and beautiful melodies have made him a leading figure in
contemporary South African music too. This acoustic revolution is in
stark contrast to the studio-based, synthesized dance music that became
the standard for African pop-stars of the 80's and 90's - and Dobet
Gnahore has brought it all back with her thrilling vocals and stage
charisma. In Africa we have a lot of languages, which can make
communicating tricky! But as with most music - a common language -
'Acoustic Africa' is a chance to meet and discover."

GI Premiere

We attended the GI Joe movie Premier, which was held at the Andrews
airforce base, Maryland. We got to speak to the cast of GI Joe, some of
them being Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje starring as heavy Duty , Marlon
Wayans as Ripcord and Channing Tatum as Duke. GI Joe is a movie Directed
by Stephen Sommers <http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0814085/> , screenplay by
both Stuart Beattie <http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0064181/> and David
Elliot <http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0254213/> . G.I. JOE is a highly
trained, classified special operations unit composed of men and women
from around the globe. Officially, these warriors don't even exist. Few
know the truth - that G.I. JOE fights a secret war, as the first and
last line of defense against forces that seek to plunge our world into
chaos. Wherever there's trouble, G.I. JOE is there. This is definitely a
movie to watch.

Oriental/Eastern cuisine in Lagos IK

IK and studio 53 visited three Nigerian Asian Restaurants. Although many
traditional eastern ingredients aren't readily available in Nigeria,
there are restaurants in town that have no problem in making sure the
taste of their oriental cuisine is as good as 'back home' Japanese
cuisine is full of different textures that are new to the African
tongue. As with most things in life though, it's probably best to leave
it to the professionals. But there's no reason that one can't enjoy all
the fruits of ones labours. IK firstly visited Mongolian Restaurant,
where he got a chance to sit one on one with the manager, he then chose
his favorite foods and watched as the chef grilled everything for him.
He then moved on to Prime Chinese Restaurant, where he had a chance to
witness Asian cooking on fire. Lastly he visited Bungalows Restaurant,
where he got the real deal on lobsters.

Soweto Drift Movie

Soweto Drift will take everyone to the wonderland and ignite the already
existing love for the box shape BMW 325is when it's dragging. Studio 53
and Ndaka visited one of the biggest townships in the continent if not
the world, Soweto, where the movie Soweto Drift is being shot. Soweto
may sound like an African name, but the word was originally an acronym
for "South Western Townships". We sneaked our cameras into the behind
the scenes of the movie. The speeding cars and the crowds takes the
energy of this movie to another level. The film is written by two young
talented writers, Tumelo Phali who has written a lots of scripts and
under his quests there is When We Were Black and many others under the
mentorship of Clarence Hamilton, Alby James, Mtutuzeli Matshoba, and
Fezile Nyeki who has written most of Emzini Wezinsiswa's Series under
the mentorship of Prexly Shabangu and the acclaimed Director Nyembezi
Kunene. The film is Directed by Pule M, a talented young film director
who got most of his creativity experience on the job after shadowing the
likes of Khalo Matabane, Vincent Moloi and many others and the formal
training he got at Big Fish School of Digital Filmmaking after attending
a Protege course that was running for 4 months and graduated with his
student film "Thesis Of Love".

Battlezone Zambia

Grace and Studio 53 joined three American hip-hop dancers at Zambia for
a 10-day cultural exchange program and a series of workshops around the
country. These professional young American dancers recognize that
dancing is a healthy activity which can help discourage impoverished
youth from joining gangs and pursuing lives of crime - and are getting
down with spreading the message. Originally popular in the streets of
South Central LA, the hip hop origins of Clown dancing have some
cultural similarities with traditional African dance. Dancing is
emotional. Once need only look to the history of Zambian dance and its
importance in Zambian ceremonies to realize how migration has influenced
dance and music around the world.

African Mosaic Ethiopia(Arise Fashion week.)

According to many, the most exciting of Africa's new fashion arrivals
has to be the African Mosaique label, headed up by the stunning beauty,
Anna Getaneh. This Ethiopian pioneer is paving the catwalks of the world
for the continents couture contingent, while acting as a platform for,
and raising funds for, disadvantaged children. She now has a shop in
South Africa and exports to the United States of America. Anna is a
fashion-cultural enthusiast, humanitarian, and an acclaimed former
international model. From her base in Paris and New York City , her
modeling career spanned close to 10 years, working with renowned
designers such as Christian Lacroix, Ungaro, Yves St. Laurent, Ralph
Lauren, Escada, and Donna Karan. She has featured in numerous fashion
magazines such as Vogue, Elle, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire and Amina ,
and has hosted various events, such as the Soul Train music show, the
BBC documentary "African Footsteps", the KORA All Africa Music Awards
and the Miss Malaika Beauty Pageant in South Africa.