Ethiopian art and the Italian Renaissance

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-29064625

It's mostly pictures! This is an article about an art gallery in Ethiopia that sells the art of around seventy artists. One of the arguments from an outsider artist who felt his art didn't fit with the overall complexion of the gallery is that the gallery has a particular taste that alienates 'more authentic' artists that depict more 'Ethiopian' art, because the people it sells to foreigners and tourists and then some wealthy Ethiopians. They tend to depict scenes of market squares, women, churches, monks, etc.

So I had an art history class my first semester of college on the Renaissance and Baroque periods. And one of the things that stuck out from me in this article is that there's a growing market, people are making the effort to spend money on art. Patronage of the arts was one of the main causes of the Renaissance, the reason things shifted in Europe from the Middle Ages to the Age of Reason. It's just fascinating that this could be a new Renaissance in our midst.

Nigeria and Senegal Ebola Free

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-29685127

So Nigeria and Senegal have both been cleared, neither having new cases of Ebola for six weeks. Nigeria, in particular, is being applauded for responding quickly to the crisis.

In addition, the article discusses meetings of nations on pledging support to the remaining West African countries still stricken with the disease, mainly, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea.

The article's estimate of the death count is now over 4,500 and they believe 70% of those infected in those countries are dead from the viral disease.

The European Union has decided to send a lot of money to help with the over-stretched medical programs in the three West African countries.

I just thought some good news would be nice on a Monday.

Rebuilding the capital of Somalia

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-19112530

Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, is the focus this week. BBC.com has an article of photos of people rebuilding their homes, the Bakara market, and the skeletons of buildings destroyed from a twenty year period of violence.

The article shows a lot of strength. The people are focused on opening new shops, even if there is still fighting in the area. It's a great time to be in the construction business, with so many buildings the bare bones of themselves, but just as many are beyond rebuilding, such as the parliament. The photo article oscillates between the good and the bad, so the whole thing comes off as a mixed bag. On one hand, it's nice that they finally have the opportunity to rebuild, on the other, there is still a lot of violence, and it's impossible to notice the damage that's been done.

Orania - I'm not entirely sure what to make of it

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-29475977

Something incredibly trippy to read today. There is a town in South Africa named Orania. It was founded in 1991 by Afrikaners. The town only allows Afrikaners to live there. As in, only white people who speak the language and can prove themselves ethnic Afrikaner can live in this small town.

The town started up in response to the end of the apartheid. Something many of the people who live there find nothing wrong with. Now they claim they leave South Africa for Orania because of reverse racism.

""We can't get jobs. It's like we are being punished for the past," he says. They seem oblivious to the oppression of black South Africans during apartheid. For them it was a system that gave order. "It [apartheid] didn't affect me. So many people get aggravated now for things they didn't even witness. It's over, move on," says Yolandie Jonk, 29, a call centre agent."

We've been talking a lot about South Africa and the race relations there and I just thought this was something else. I really don't know how to react to it, it's just so strange and feels wrong. People are weird.