Angolan Cultural Foundation in London

The Angolan Cultural Foundation in London (ACF) now has a website at http://www.acfangola.com

Lets Keep The Angolan Culture Alive in the Diaspora!”

 Good morning, Angolan Diaspora!  Life has taken us out of Angola, but it has not taken Angola out of us.

WHO ARE WE? We are the Angolan Cultural Foundation–an association created by people with Angolan roots.   We aim —through culture, unity and solidarity– to make the dreams of children and young people happen even though they are living in places far from Angola.

WHAT DO WE DO?

We provide a focal point to strengthen the Angolan community spirit. We seek support from companies, friendly people, governmental institutions and other organisations….

HOW DO WE DO IT?

With projects that are aligned with the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals, not grand projects,  but small things and small gestures that make a difference.

 

Wildlife, wild places and wild times in Angola 1970 to 2011

The Angola Field Group invites you to a presentation Thursday, December 15, at 8:00 PM at the Viking Club with renowned conservation scientist Dr. Brian Huntley, one of the fathers of Angolan ecology. He will present an illustrated talk on the rise, fall, and hopefully, resurrection of wildlife conservation in Angola. More…….

Festival Internacional de Cinema – Luanda

O Ministério da Cultura, através do IACAM, vai realizar na semana de 18 a 24 de Novembro de 2011, a IVª edição do Festival Internacional de Cinema – FIC Luanda, com o objectivo de promoção do Cinema Angolano e Internacional e para troca de experiências com cineastas estrangeiros.

Programação

Powell-Cotton Museum in the UK – Angola Project Open Day 17 September 2011

In 2012 the Powell-Cotton Museum will launch a new exhibiton of Angolan history and culture. After being shown in Kent the exhibition will then tour the UK.

The exhibition is based on material collected in Angola by two fascinating women – Diana and Antoinette Powell-Cotton. Both travelled to Angola between 1936 and 1937 and brought back over 3000 photos, 4 hours of film and more than 3000 artefacts.

To see a video of the museum and find out more about the project watch a recent ITV report at http://www.itv.com/meridian-east/hidden-snaps-on-display71648/

For further information please contact Catherine on 07956 276281 or email her on researchassociate@quexmuseum.org

or Carlos (in Portuguese) on 07904 065496 or email angolancf@yahoo.co.uk

Field Trip to Bengo Province

The Angola Field Group http://angolafieldgroup.com/ invites you on a day trip to the province of Bengo, Sunday, July 10.  We will leave Luanda at 6:30 AM and drive east to Catete via Viana and then head south, crossing the Kwanza River at Cabala and then onto Muxima, a town where thousands of pilgrims converge in September for the ceremony of Nossa Senhora da Conceicao or Mama Muxima. We will see her statue in the small Catholic church which is a year-round destination for Angolans to come and pray. Towering above the church is the fort, built by the Portuguese in 1599 to control boats heading into the interior on the Kwanza River.

From Muxima we will enter Quicama National Park and drive westwards across the park to Cabo Ledo.  The Muxima – Cabo Ledo drive  will essentially be a transect showing some of the natural areas in the park but also revealing some of the activities one does not expect to find in a national park including increased subsistence farming, small villages, expanded major road infrastructure, effects of past oil production & current oil exploration, and increased developments along the coast like large-scale quarrying for cement at The Angola Field Group invites you on a day trip to the province of Bengo, Sunday, July 10.  We will leave Luanda at 6:30 AM and drive east to Catete via Viana and then head south, crossing the Kwanza River at Cabala and then onto Muxima, a town where thousands of pilgrims converge in September for the ceremony of Nossa Senhora da Conceicao or Mama Muxima. We will see her statue in the small Catholic church which is a year-round destination for Angolans to come and pray. Towering above the church is the fort, built by the Portuguese in 1599 to control boats heading into the interior on the Kwanza River.

From Muxima we will enter Quicama National Park and drive westwards across the park to Cabo Ledo.  The Muxima – Cabo Ledo drive  will essentially be a transect showing some of the natural areas in the park but also revealing some of the activities one does not expect to find in a national park including increased subsistence farming, small villages, expanded major road infrastructure, effects of past oil production & current oil exploration, and increased developments along the coast like large-scale quarrying for cement at Cabo Ledo and the expanding beach/resort town of Zangano. Quicama still has a small undisturbed fenced-in part where game animals were re-introduced ten years ago but note, we will not be visiting that area. Before we leave the park we will meet Quicama Park Administrator, Miguel Savituma, who will give us a brief rundown on the park and be available to answer questions.Cabo Ledo and the expanding beach/resort town of Zangano. Quicama still has a small undisturbed fenced-in part where game animals were re-introduced ten years ago but note, we will not be visiting that area. Before we leave the park we will meet Quicama Park Administrator, Miguel Savituma, who will give us a brief rundown on the park and be available to answer questions.

Luanda International Jazz Festival 2011

É oficial… começou a contagem regressiva para uma das maiores festas do ano. De 29 à 31 de Julho, alguns dos melhores artistas do mundo vão participar numa autêntica festa musical para os amantes do jazz e da boa música na terceira edição do LIJF. O festival vai contar com dezanove artistas que vão tocar em dois palcos diferentes durante três dias.  Mais……

Angolan event in London tomorrow 20 May 2011

Dear Friends of ACF

I would like to invite you to a unique cultural event to be held in East London on the 20th of May 2011 (please see attached flyer).

The 20th will be a rich evening with music from Xeye, food, films from Angola in the 1930’s and exclusive access to some beautiful Angolan artefacts made 80 years ago. There is no charge for entry to the event and food and drink is free.

 The Powell-Cotton Museum holds one of the largest collections of Angolan artefacts, photographs and films in the UK. For too long it has been hidden from the Angolan community, but now there is the chance to make this hidden treasure available again.

Please feel free to forward this invitation to anyone who you think might be interested.

Kind Regards,

Catherine Moore
Research Associate – Powell-Cotton Museum

Golf tournament marks inauguration of Barra do Kwanza field

Luanda – A golf tournament is to be held on April 24, here with the participation of about 40 players, among national and foreigners, says a source of the organisation.

Among the foreign participants are representatives from oil companies and embassies, adds the source.The event will also mark the inauguration of the ecological-tourist complex of Barra do Kwanza locality, outskirts of Luanda city. The new infrastructure has an area of 210 hectares with three fields.

Angola: The Sounds of Liberation

On Thursday, February 24 the Angola Field Group invites you to step across the lintel, back to the late colonial period (roughly 1945–74) and hear a presentation about how Angolans in the musseques (shantytowns) used music to talk back to their colonial oppressors and what they, the urban poor, hoped to gain from independence. Our presenter, Dr. Marissa Moorman, is an assistant professor of African history at Indiana University, Bloomington USA and lived in Angola off and on from 1997 to 2002.

Muxima pilgrimage – hotels are full

There’s no room at the inn for those wishing to visit Muxima in Bengo province for the annual pilgrimage from 4 to 5 September.  The only two hotels are already full: The Ritz 80 rooms and the ZFA with 40 rooms.

 

The pilgrimage has taken place every year since 1833.

Unidades hoteleiras da Muxima sem espaço para mais hóspedes

 Kissama – As duas unidades hoteleiras da vila da Muxima, município da Kissama, província do Bengo, encontram-se lotadas com reservas de peregrinos que vão ao Santuário da Nossa Senhora da Muxima nos dias 04 e 05 de Setembro.

Segundo apurou a Angop, as duas únicas unidades hoteleiras da vila da Muxima possuem apenas 120 quartos (80 no Ritz e 40 no ZFA), estando o preço da diária a rondar o equivalente a 150 dólares americanos.  Mais……….

Kwanza Sul realiza domingo Rali/2009

Sumbe – Uma prova conjunta de automobilismo/motorizada, denominada Rali Kwanza Sul 2009, terá lugar domingo na cidade do Sumbe, nesta província, com mais de duas dezenas de participantes.

 

Para o efeito, pilotos de várias partes do país começaram a escalar quinta-feira a capital do Kwanza Sul, onde vão procurar ocupar os lugares cimeiros duma competição que volta a esta localidade 18 anos depois.

 

O largo defronte a sede do governo provincial é o ponto de partida e chegada, devendo os participantes percorrerem as localidades de karimba um e dois, salinas e arredores do aeroporto local.

Chatham House Conference on Angola

One of the UK’s leading think tanks “Chatham House” held a conference entitled  “Angola as a Global Player” in London in July. The conference drew attention to Angola’s growing importance in international relations. Details of the conference are now on the Chatham House website.