Not the continent. Just the blog. I am blogging here now.

Please bookmark my new site.

– Sean

I am going on vacation from Africa is a Country for a bit. It’s supposed to be summer in New York City–that’s if it can stop raining–so I am also taking a break from the site.

BTW, I changed my day job: If you read this site, you’ll know I have taught for the last four years at the University of Michigan in An Arbor. One of those years involving commuting between here in New York City and Michigan. So I applied and got hired as an assistant professor of International Affairs at the New School in Manhattan. My wife, who has been teaching at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, got a tenure track position (that’s academic jargon for full-time job) at Marymount Manhattan College.

So everybody is happy in my house.

* I am moving Africa is a Country over here and reverting to an old design here from August 1. Please adjust your bookmarks, RSS, and Links.

That’s essentially the conclusion of a long piece by Julie Flint and Alex de Waal in the most recent issue of World Affairs Journal about the first Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. They describe his controversial past in Argentina, his media-driven personality, his disastrous management of his office, how he miscalculated with his indictment of Sudanese President, Omar Al-Bashir (and fuels unhelpful perceptions of the Court in Africa), and other more controversial charges against him.

Here.

Clip of Shonibare from TV series, Art 21 (William Kentridge also stars). See also this profile of Shonibare in The New York Times.

A retrospective of his work opens at the Brooklyn Museum this week.

In his review of the film, David Poland of Hot Blog describes the film as “emotionally over-powering.” (He also speculates on what the Hollywood remake would look like.)

I really liked the film and hopes it gets a wider airing.

In the clips below, you can see the aunties at work.

The former Zambian President, who was a darling of the West and the Christian right, is in court for defrauding the state while in office. Details of his extravagant lifestyle include the following, are emerging in court: “Mr. Chiluba owned more than 100 pairs of size 6 shoes, many affixed with his initials in brass. He is just a little over five feet tall, and each pair has heels close to two inches high.

More from The New York Times

Sample here.

Retrospective of his art the Brooklyn Museum through September 20, 2009.

Senegalese-born N’Dour talks about his career and “I Bring What I Love“, the new documentary film about his music, on Canadian TV program, Studio Q.

(I went to see the film earlier tonight at the Brooklyn Academy of Music: the film is built around N’Dour’s recording of the album, “Egypt,” and the negative reaction to it within Senegal. Some Senegalese could not reconcile N’Dour status as a pop singer with his desire to sing (Senegalese) Sufi Islam devotional music. Though I was occasionally put off by the National Geographic feel of parts of the film and found it too long at times, I was drawn to the recordings of live music and the recounting of N’Dour’s early musical career (the film includes some grainy TV footage from 80s Senegalese TV, among others), his central role in cultural life in Senegal and N’Dour’s relation to his family (a number of whom work for him).

Photograph by (Canadian-Briton) Jonathan Hyams

“Xolile Wiseman is shown at the start of Anti Retroviral treatment for HIV/AIDS. He is photographed holding his ID booklet as a point of reference. Patients beginning treatment now, are likely to have contracted HIV during the mid to late 90s’ –The ID photographs, reissued in the post apartheid ID booklets, now serve as a poignant snapshot of the subjects before contracting the virus. The ID booklet as a symbol, of the marginalization of blacks under apartheid, resonates deeply as many victims of HIV/AIDS find themselves again marginalised, but perhaps more critically from within their own communities. HIV not only attacks the body it targets weaknesses in society. The stigma that still shrouds HIV in South Africa cripples efforts to tackle it. The sense of shame that people feel about the virus prevents them from being tested and telling the results to their friends and families. At this vital juncture between life and death he is shown to be a shadow of his former self. However, if the ARV treatment is successful, Wiseman may be able to reclaim his identity and lead a full and healthy life.”

Via VervePhoto.