Your favorite group of African musicians not only has a new sound but is branching out into fashion this week.
The Pan Africana Cultural Troupe has been performing in Taiwan for the past four years and has built up a steady following with its frequent gigs and occasional TV appearances.
Led by the enterprising Ben Stobite Sampson and the musically challenging Rankin' Kim Douglas the ever-evolving group has a more Caribbean lilt these days.
PHOTO: JULES QUARTLY, TAIPEI TIMES
A steel drum, xylophone and trumpet have been added to the base sound of African drums and the result is a tighter and more melodic sound that will attract new fans.
Outside the band's studio in Shida, Taipei, Sampson reaches into his suitcase and pulls out some men's shirts and women's dresses, all in brilliant colors and patterned with animal prints.
A leather bag made of bush goat is deep brown and has white leather stitching and innovative tooling. Sandal uppers are fashioned from goat hide and the soles are made from car tires.
There are also dried-wood African pendants, bracelets constructed out of colored electrical wire and big round nteh seeds formed into necklaces.
Sampson has just started importing textiles and jewelry from Takoradi in his native Ghana and plans to expand his business to China and other Asian nations.
“I want to open up the market to African goods,” Sampson said.
“Europeans and Americans know about these things but here people are still learning.”
Pan Africana will be showcasing its new sound and putting on a fashion show this tomorrow, at Sappho, starting at 10pm. The lounge bar is located at B1, 1, Ln 102, Anhe Rd, Sec 1, Taipei (台北市安和路1巷1號B1). Entrance is NT$200.
For more information visit www.panafricana.blogspot.com.
Taiwanese chip-making giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) plans to invest a whopping US$100 billion in the US, after US President Donald Trump threatened to slap tariffs on overseas-made chips. TSMC is the world’s biggest maker of the critical technology that has become the lifeblood of the global economy. This week’s announcement takes the total amount TSMC has pledged to invest in the US to US$165 billion, which the company says is the “largest single foreign direct investment in US history.” It follows Trump’s accusations that Taiwan stole the US chip industry and his threats to impose tariffs of up to 100 percent
On a hillside overlooking Taichung are the remains of a village that never was. Half-formed houses abandoned by investors are slowly succumbing to the elements. Empty, save for the occasional explorer. Taiwan is full of these places. Factories, malls, hospitals, amusement parks, breweries, housing — all facing an unplanned but inevitable obsolescence. Urbex, short for urban exploration, is the practice of exploring and often photographing abandoned and derelict buildings. Many urban explorers choose not to disclose the locations of the sites, as a way of preserving the structures and preventing vandalism or looting. For artist and professor at NTNU and Taipei
March 10 to March 16 Although it failed to become popular, March of the Black Cats (烏貓進行曲) was the first Taiwanese record to have “pop song” printed on the label. Released in March 1929 under Eagle Records, a subsidiary of the Japanese-owned Columbia Records, the Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese) lyrics followed the traditional seven characters per verse of Taiwanese opera, but the instrumentation was Western, performed by Eagle’s in-house orchestra. The singer was entertainer Chiu-chan (秋蟾). In fact, a cover of a Xiamen folk song by Chiu-chan released around the same time, Plum Widow Missing Her Husband (雪梅思君), enjoyed more
Last week Elbridge Colby, US President Donald Trump’s nominee for under secretary of defense for policy, a key advisory position, said in his Senate confirmation hearing that Taiwan defense spending should be 10 percent of GDP “at least something in that ballpark, really focused on their defense.” He added: “So we need to properly incentivize them.” Much commentary focused on the 10 percent figure, and rightly so. Colby is not wrong in one respect — Taiwan does need to spend more. But the steady escalation in the proportion of GDP from 3 percent to 5 percent to 10 percent that advocates
RSS