Music & Dance
Coupé-Décalé: Côte d'Ivoire's Party Music Born in Hard Times
Flashy clothes, dance crazes and banknotes thrown in the air: coupé-décalé began among young Ivorians in Paris and became the soundtrack of a country at war.
Stories — page 13
Heritage & History
Abu Simbel: The Temples That Were Cut Apart and Moved Uphill
Ramesses II carved two great temples into a Nubian cliff. When a dam threatened to drown them, engineers sliced them into blocks and rebuilt them higher up.
Languages & People
Yoruba: A Language of Tones, Proverbs and a Global Diaspora
Spoken by tens of millions in Nigeria, Benin and Togo, and kept alive in Cuba and Brazil, Yoruba is one of Africa's great languages. Here is what makes it special.
Arts & Craft
Ethiopian Icon Painting: Saints With Wide Eyes and Bright Colours
Large almond-shaped eyes, flat bright colours and bold outlines: Ethiopian church art has its own unmistakable style, developed over more than a thousand years.
Food & Ceremony
Eid al-Fitr Sweets: From Egypt's Kahk to Morocco's Ghriba
As Ramadan ends, kitchens across North and West Africa fill with the smell of butter, sugar and dates. Here is a tour of the sweets that mark Eid al-Fitr.
Music & Dance
Marrabenta: Mozambique's Dance Music Born in the Suburbs of Maputo
Fast guitars, hip-swinging dance and lyrics full of double meanings: marrabenta grew in colonial Lourenço Marques and became the national music of Mozambique.
Heritage & History
Mapungubwe: South Africa's Lost Kingdom and the Golden Rhino
Before Great Zimbabwe, a kingdom flourished on a sandstone hill above the Limpopo River. Its royal graves held a small rhinoceros made of gold. Here is its story.
Languages & People
The San: Southern Africa's First Peoples, Their Art and Their Struggle
Descendants of some of humanity's oldest lineages, the San of southern Africa left tens of thousands of rock paintings and still fight for their land. Here is their story.
Ideas & Philosophy
Ma'at: Ancient Egypt's Idea of Truth, Justice and Cosmic Order
For ancient Egyptians, ma'at was the balance that held the universe together, and the measure by which every heart was judged after death. Here is what it meant.
Festivals & Celebrations
Mwaka Kogwa: Zanzibar's New Year of Mock Fights and Burning Huts
Each July in the village of Makunduchi, Zanzibaris welcome a "Shirazi" new year by settling the past year's grudges with banana stems and burning a thatched hut.
Arts & Craft
Akan Gold Weights: Tiny Brass Sculptures That Spoke in Proverbs
For centuries, the Akan of Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire weighed gold dust with small brass figures of people, animals and symbols. Many carry proverbs. Here is their story.
Food & Ceremony
Egusi Soup: The Melon-Seed Stew That Feeds West Africa
Ground melon seeds, palm oil, leafy greens and smoked fish come together in egusi, one of Nigeria's best-loved soups. Here is what it is and how it is made.