THE BEAT
STORIES FROM WE ARE AFRICA, THE AFRICAN CONTINENT & AROUND THE GLOBE
It’s time to introduce you all to three more new tribe members: allow us to introduce We Are Africa’s new, nature-loving exhibitors who allow their guests to unleash their wonderlust for the elements.
With a few exceptions, conservation has traditionally been seen as a man’s world. However, an emerging generation of determined African women are flipping the script and bringing new solutions to Africa’s conservation challenges. Diana Odero and Olivia Squire meet a few of these pioneers.
Fired up on a disdain for the establishment and a spirit of resilience, African creativity has embraced DIY ethics and trodden its own radical path. James Davidson dives into modern Africa’s punk rock rebellion.
Richard Holmes reports on the winners of 2017’s Eat Out Mercedes-Benz Restaurant Awards, which took place in Cape Town on 20 November. Get the low-down on the winners plus a list of the top 20 restaurants from the Awards… ¥ou’re welcome.
After years upon years of slow, non-sensical restrictions on air traffic in Africa, Mozambique has become the first to to loosen the reigns on their air policy –
and Fastjet was the first in line to cross over the border: a change which will, with luck, help pave the way towards a brighter, more convenient future for African travel.
High-end travel in Africa might be fabulous, but without venturing outside of their hotel, travellers can be left none-the-wiser to the cool happenings around and about in today’s contemporary Africa. For the real deal, get them to lace their boots and book their spot on one of these top-notch urban street tours across Africa.
New to the tribe are three secret hideaways that stand as proof that some of Africa’s coolest corners may still lie camouflaged under the surface.
Richard Holmes spoke to Mariëtte du Toit-Helmbold, a thought leader in destination marketing, about the importance – and impact – of millennial travellers in Africa.
We’ve covered the killing of elephants for their ivory and rhinos for their horn, but it seems there is a new animal under threat: the hippo, the unexpected victim of a most barbaric practice.
The evocative approach of multimedia-talented Angolan artist, Kiluanji Kia Henda, may well be the key to the moving Africa’s image away from the colonial and towards the contemporary: it’s all about spreading word of the past without letting it cloud the now.
Sommeliers have emerged as the new rock stars of the African F&B industry: Richard Holmes picks the brains of a few rising stars for their take on wine and the vital place it holds alongside meals at the dinner table.
From buzzing urban marketplaces and extreme sport destinations, to sanctuaries teeming with wildlife and deserted stretches of pearl-white sand, Emma Gregg explores Africa’s best beaches.
In the run-up to We Are Africa 2017, Katie Palmer introduced the latest inspiring projects to feature in the Untold Stories initiative: Township Art Tours and Sangha Lodge.
There’s more to Mozambique than its beautiful beaches: poignant, historic, audacious and awe-inspiring are all words that describe the contemporary art scene in this underrated creative hub that has been somewhat overlooked by the avid sun-bathers visiting these parts.
Presenting you with five African animals worthy of a mention to pay tribute to the undiscovered natural beauties frolicking around the continent.
Body-scarring, lip plates, mating dances and goat-value: Stanley Stewart finds that romance along the Omo River is a world away from overused chat-up lines…
The first plane flying to St Helena, promising to be the next worst-kept-secret in the middle of the Pacific, has officially landed. Richard Holmes reports on the exciting preparation taking place on the island to welcome the tourists waiting in line to take their first steps on the island’s shore.
African music is becoming a force to be reckoned with: with its reach no longer confined to the shores of the Motherland, get better acquainted with three up-and-coming contemporary African music genres that have the power to infiltrate the globe.
We Are Africa’s fellow pioneers at the Conservation Lab have released their Yearbook for 2017, which profiles each and every one of the innovators and visionaries who made the Conservation Lab happen; plus, find video links to the talks, DISCUSS concepts, reflections from participants and more.
Unexpected, unconventional and unfamiliar: Beyond Luxury Media’s Founder & CEO, Serge Dive, on why he’s betting on the ‘un-conference’ being the format of the future.
Our fellow pioneers at the 2017 Conservation Lab gathered a panel of leading thinkers in the African conservation sector to discuss the funding shortfall in conservation, identifying five areas worthy of exploration for conservationists, travel brands and the two working in tandem – read the full report here.
Addis Ababa has undergone a serious makeover overnight: the growth of its buildings, transport system, culture and tourism are off-the-chain. Find out how the Chinese government has contributed to Ethiopian capital’s economic breakthrough.
Art has linked arms with wine on the manicured estates of the Cape Winelands so that two of the greatest pleasures in life can be enjoyed side-by-side. Take a guided tour of the spellbinding collections to be found amongst the grapes.
Do old notions of ‘Africanness’ and ‘African authenticity’ do justice to the contemporary art forms brewing throughout the Motherland today? Discover the African artists who are challenging the status-quo.
Musa Nxumalo’s photography is raw and beautiful and free from geographical boundaries. But how are we to move beyond stereotypes and vilification if forward-thinking voices in his own country continue to resist the potency of youth culture?
Today the 100,000-square-foot Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa opens its doors to the public. As the biggest public art space to launch on the continent for more than a century, it looks set to change the contemporary art market as we know it.
The rolling hills and grasslands of the Agulhas Plain are new territory when it comes to South African winemaking, but there a handful of talented winemakers are quietly crafting award-winning cool-climate wines.
In order to embrace a new positive identity for Africa and its diaspora, it’s important not to sweep difficult conversations under the carpet. Multidisciplinary artist Larry Achiampong shows us all how conversation can promote worthwhile change.
After months of planning, construction and ‘curating’, Radisson RED Cape Town throws open its doors today. We chatted to Irish-born ‘curator’ Dale Simpson about what sets Cape Town’s newest hotel apart.
The continent’s top boutiques, hotel gift shops and department stores can swap their European and American lines for clothes by the plethora of talented local designers: African fashion is finally in the global spotlight.