Entertainment – Page 34 – L' Observateur Burundi

May 11, 2023

Kwame Baah: The young music entrepreneur making great strides with innovative platforms

Music business in Ghana continue to make steady progress, and Bismark Kwame Baah is one of the few young music entrepreneurs helping artistes benefit from their music.

He recently created the ‘Get the Artistes Platform,’ which is Ghana’s first online artiste booking platform for event organisers in the entertainment industry.

According to Kwame Baah, who is the Chief Executive Officer of Yve Digital, a music aggregation platform, his love for music started at a young age, and he gained recognition as a musician in Kumasi before making the move to Accra in 2018.

‘My dream initially was to be a musician, but as time went on, I felt I could do something else related to music. So I decided to venture into distributing and publishing music.

‘I have worked with the likes of Fameye, DBlack, Okyeame Kwame, Epixode, Amerado, Yaw TOG, Wendy Shay, Sista Afia, and many other musicians in the area of music distribution, and we have made great strides,’ he said in an interview.

Kwame Baah further revealed that the Yve Digital platform has helped many of these artistes to boost their presence on various streaming platforms, racking up impressive numbers.

He stated that Yve Digital, since its establishment, has racked up more than 300 million streams for various artistes signed onto the platforms, and he was poised to reach a billion streams in the next few years.

Kwame Baah, who is a former student of the University of Education, Winneba, previously worked with one of Ghana’s finest production houses, Farmhouse Productions.

Source: Ghana News Agency

May 9, 2023

Photo exhibition on Nakba victims

A photographic exhibition portraying the Nakba (catastrophe) victims of 1948 will be on display on 15-17 May at the Palestinian Embassy in Luanda, Angola.

This was confirmed by the Palestinian diplomat, Jubrael Al Shomali, while speaking to Angop on May 15, the date on which the conflict between Israel and Palestine began.

Jubrael Al Shomali said that “after 75 years of uprooting, displacement and exile, the number of Palestinian refugees reached about 8 million.

“Israeli brutal actions against the Palestinian people, who even today suffer the bitterness of a conflict, have lasted for decades”, he stressed.

He said that Israel has already settled in more than 85% of the historic areas of Palestine, of approximately 27,000 square kilometers, and 531 Palestinian towns and cities are destroyed.

Data released by Human Rights Organisations and the Palestinian Prisoners Club put at about 1 million the number of people detained by the Israeli occupation forces, since 1976 until today, between men and women.

The area of dispute between the two sides is located in the Middle East, more precisely in Palestine.

The main focus is the city of Jerusalem, a point of strong religious tourist potential and which is considered a sacred place for the three monotheistic religions of the planet: Christianity, Islam and Judaism.

Source: Angola Press News Agency (APNA)

May 7, 2023

Mize Koko reopens in Seychelles as island nation plans its first-ever coconut festival

Seychelles is stepping up its efforts to recognise and give due value to the coconut by reopening the “Mize Koko” – the coconut museum – dedicated to the nut’s significant importance and contribution to the islanders’ lives.

The island nation in the western Indian Ocean also has plans to host its first-ever coconut festival later this year.

The museum will also be used to give visitors a live experience, tasting the coconut and various delicacies made from it, as well as participating in different coconut-related physical activities part of the island’s culture and tradition.

The museum’s reopening on April 28 is an initiative of the Creative Seychelles Agency (CSA) and the Seychelles National Institute of Culture, Heritage and the Arts (SNICHA).

The Mize Koko is based at Domaine Val de Pres at Au Cap. (Seychelles Nation) Photo License: CC-BY

The director general of CSA, Emmanuel D’Offay, explained in an interview with the Seychelles Broadcasting Corporation (SBC) TV that the museum will not only offer visitors a new attraction, where they get information through an exhibition with features on coconut and the economy, the history of coconut amongst others, and view different artifacts made from the coconut but visitors will be sold an experience.

“So when they come, they will be able to drink coconut water, drink some toddy and eat some dry coconut,” explained D’Offay, adding that the area will eventually be turned into a coconut village.

“When we will have large groups for those who can, they can try to de-husk a coconut and grate a coconut,” said D’Offay, where there will be Seychellois who will demonstrate these activities as attractions of the museum.

The opening of the museum is one step in the agency’s plan to host a first coconut festival in Seychelles later in September.

The various products that are made from coconut. (Seychelles Nation) Photo License: CC-BY

“We would like to, on the International Day of the Coconut on September 2, have a festival, making Seychelles the third country in the world after India and the Philippines to do that. We will have several competitions, de-husking, coconuts, grating coconuts, who can climb a coconut tree and reach the highest as well as felling the most coconuts,” added D’Offay.

CSA hopes to host this festival as an international event where other countries can attend and compete.

The Mize Koko is based at Domaine Val de Pres at Au Cap on the east of the main island of Mahe. The museum is located in the same location as a similar museum which closed down some 20 years ago.

In the early 1960s, Seychelles was producing some 45,000 tonnes of coconut turned into copra and oil to export to Europe as well as some Asian countries including India.

But today most of the plantations have been cleared making way for many infrastructure developments, mainly houses and tourism establishments.

But the crucial and vital role that the plantation era played in the Seychelles, before tourism is not forgotten. In recent years there has been an effort to revive the plantation, for instance, on Coetivity island, where cold pressed coconut oil is the main product.

Source: Seychelles News Agency

May 7, 2023

24th VGMAs: Full list of winners

The 24th Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMAs) night was jam-packed with lots of musical and fashion thrills.

Excelling artistes and talents picked up honours for their hard work in the year under review.

Black Sherif, one of Ghana’s biggest music exports, won the coveted Artiste of the Year award, having also bagged three awards, including the Best Music Video, Vodafone Most Popular Song of the Year, and Best Hip-Hop Song.

Check out the full list of winners below:

Artiste of the Year

Black Sherif – winner

Stonebwoy

Sarkodie

King Promise

Camidoh

Kidi

Piesie Esther

Joe Mettle

University games: Athletes from 23 delegations begin competing in Ngaoundere

The 23rd edition of the University games in Ngaoundere kicked off on Saturday, April 29, with over 3000 athletes converging on the event ground.

The participants from 23 delegations representing the ten regions of Cameroon, will compete in 14 sports disciplines which will also feature cultural displays from fan clubs. The activities will run till May 6.

During the opening ceremony presided at by the Minister of Higher Education, accompanied by Minister Narcisse Mouelle Kombi of Sports and Physical Education, Jacques Fame Ndongo told the athletes that what has brought them together goes beyond winning a prize.

“Through this competition, we are celebrating friendship, fair play, performance, equity, sports ethic, and fraternity. It is therefore not just to win the trophy” the Higher Education Minister said.

The rector of the host University Prof. Uphie Chinje assured the population that all has been put in place to ensure a successful event.

This year’s edition of the games comes after a three-year break since 2019, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

April 17, 2023

National Arts and Cultural fund launched to preserve Seychelles’ heritage

The National Arts and Cultural Fund was launched at State House on Saturday to allow interested persons both in Seychelles and abroad to help in the protection and promotion of the Seychellois culture and heritage.

Philanthropists and prospective partners were present to make a contribution to the fund.

The money collected, of which the total has not been revealed yet, will help to create a national collection of Seychellois artworks and buy properties and artefacts of national cultural and heritage importance.

The secretary general of the Seychelles National Institute for Culture, Heritage and the Arts (SNICHA), David Andre, told reporters that since “culture belongs to everyone, therefore those who are able to do so should contribute to the fund, as this is our heritage, and we should all lend a hand to promote it.”

The fund will fall under the aegis of the Ministry of Finance as government entities are not allowed to have accounts in commercial banks.

A consultative committee at SNICHA will then decide on the priority of the various projects presented to the fund.

“This is when we will decide if we want to send money for example to the marine museum,” said Andre who explained that it would be a consultative effort.

Andre said that the fund is also expected to “support events, programmes and activities for the transfer of intangible cultural heritage that will benefit communities.”

The launching of the fund coincided with the 110th anniversary of the State House, a historical monument built in 1910, previously the Governor’s House during the British colonial era.

The building, which boasts a garden full of colourful flowers and shrubs, including the endemic coco de mer palms, and a pen with Aldabra giant tortoises – is also a cultural heritage site of Seychelles.

It includes a cemetery with the tombs and graves of some notable historical figures in the history of Seychelles.

The most prominent grave is that of Chevalier Jean-Baptiste Queau de Quincy, who was the French Commandant and Civil Agent of Seychelles from 1793 to 1811 when Britain took possession of the islands.

In his address, President Wavel Ramkalawan explained the reason for holding the launch at State House: “the building belongs to all Seychellois and is where culture should be encouraged.”

To entice the prospective contributors to the fund, various artists were present on State House grounds painting, crocheting and making vacoa bags.

The Vacoa tree, also known as the screw pine, bears fruits that look like pine cones with leaves spread out in a fan shape, that are used to make bags and ropes among others.

In addition to artefact being created on site, there were also paintings on display for those willing to buy art pieces.

Source: Seychelles News Agency