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Perched high up above the Thames in downtown London every month this past year a different writer has spent four days living in a replica of the Roi des Belges, the boat Marlow travels up the Congo in Joseph Conrad's The Heart of Darkness. Each author would write a short text during their stay "which explores London, rivers, the work of Joseph Conrad, or even all three." They would be visited on the last day by a journalist from The Guardian who recorded them reading their essay, poem or short story. Among the poets, historians and novelists were Adonis, Jeanette Winterson, Teju Cole, Michael Ondaatje and Kamila Shamsie. These recordings, each prefaced by a short interview, are all available on the Guardian website, to stream or download. Below the cut there is a link to each recording, with a short description. [more inside]
posted by Kattullus on Dec 31, 2012 - 7 comments

Emphas.is is a site where photojournalists can pitch ideas to be funded by many small donations, i.e. crowdfund them. So far nine projects have been pitched, covering a range of subjects, from the Uyghur in western China to life in Greenwood, Mississippi. Each project has a short introductory video and all are interesting in their own right. So are the descriptions and photographs that accompany the projects. The blog is worth checking out as well, especially the interviews with journalists, such as the four women who want to document a mass rape that happened last year in the Congo and a project about communism in Laos. The FAQ explains Emphas.is and how crowdfunding works in greater detail.
posted by Kattullus on Mar 24, 2011 - 3 comments

The Congolese Sape is a photoessay by Héctor Mediaville on Sapeurs, a male subculture in the Democratic Republic of the Congo which is defined by its haute couture clothes. Blogger Eccentric Yoruba wrote a post for steampunk blog Beyond Victoriana on Sapeurs which was crossposted to Racialicious detailing the history of the movement and linking it to dandyism in general and explaining its political significance in the 70s, when it was championed by music legend Papa Wemba (live footage from the 90s and 70s).
posted by Kattullus on Nov 14, 2010 - 24 comments