News & Events

UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld was killed in September 1961 when his plane crashed in Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia). His period in office was marked by the challenges of the Cold War and the decolonization of Africa, in particular Congo. Initial investigations could not clarify the reasons for the crash. More than 50 years later further evidence emerged. Henning Melber (director emeritus Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation, Uppsala) will discuss Hammarskjöld’s approach to Congo and the efforts to establish the circumstances of the plane crash, during the seminar on 17 March.

This film is part of the Movies that Matter Festival. Both Fadimata 'Disco' Walet Oumar, one of the main characters, and film director Johanna Schwartz will be present. In 2012, extremist groups captured most of northern Mali. Sharia law banned all music. Forced into exile, singers Khaira Arby and Fadimata ‘Disco’ Walet Oumar join the resistance. The film follows the musicians up to their first public concert in Timbuktu since the music ban.

Excellent news from the research programme Society and Change in Northern Ghana: Dr Samuel Ntewusu, co-coordinator of the programme, has been appointed KNAW Visiting Professor for 2016-2017 by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. The position allows Samuel to travel to Leiden three times for the programme, and organise a conference and several workshops. Within the same programme, Dutch photographer Jan Banning will do a photo project on the chiefs of Gonja and Dagomba, in the form of ‘portraits in context’. 

The religious movement of the Ahmadiyya was founded by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, a 19th Century Indian Muslim scholar. It reached West Africa in the 1920s. The Ahmadis seek restoration of true Islam and disseminate their message discreetly via medical centres, schools and development projects. On 25 February visiting fellow Kathrin Langewiesche (Johannes Gutenberg-Universität) will situate the Ahmadiyya movement in the context of modern Islamic movements and examine the importance of active faith spreading in Islamic countries. 

President Zuma of South Africa and President Putin of Russia attended China’s victory parade in September 2015. Zuma’s visit reflected a broader shift in South Africa’s foreign policy in favour of China and Russia. The clear pivot towards China and Russia during Zuma’s presidency (2009-present) differs sharply from the more balanced multipolar approach under Nelson Mandela’s presidency (1994-1999), writes Heinrich Matthee in the latest ASC Infosheet.