Arts – Page 10 – Ian Birrell

Record sales plummet but the music plays on

Published in The Times (October 22nd, 2010) The deeply wonderful Elvis Costello has a new record out. It is available as a download, on CD, on vinyl and […]

Arts / Books / Kashmir

Caught in the crossfire

Published in The Spectator (July 24th, 2010) Curfewed Night by Basharat Peer (Harper Press) Maqbool Sheikh dreaded hearing a knock at the door of his home. For he […]

Africa / Aid / Arts / Books / China / General / World

Wise men in Africa

Published in The Independent (January 1st, 2010) The Dragon’s Gift by Deborah Brautigam (OUP) The Chinese invasion of Africa is, for many people, a simple morality tale with […]

Africa / Arts / Books / General

Feet of the Chameleon: The Story of African Football

Published in The Independent (November 6th, 2009) Feet of the Chameleon by Ian Hawkey (Portico) In 1938, a young man from Morocco put on his finest djellaba and […]

Africa / Arts / Music / Nigeria

A wild shrine to music, history and the struggle for human rights

Published in The Independent (June 5th, 2009) We bumped our way down the ramshackle streets of Ikeja in the traffic-choked megacity of Lagos, and there it was: the […]

Arts / Immigration / Music / Policy

This outburst will strike a chord around the world

Published in The Independent (May 7th, 2009) Abbas Kiarostami’s outburst against British officialdom will strike a chord with artists all around the world. However famous, however inspirational, they […]

Arts / Music

A brave new world of music

Published in The Independent (May 1st, 2009) As she waited to go on, Souad Massi looked nervous for the first time that evening. The Algerian singer, who has […]

Africa / Arts / Congo / Music

Music from the heart of the Congo

Published in The Independent (February 29th, 2008) The tiny stage was packed as a heavy, dancehall rhythm rumbled out into the Kinshasa night. There was Damon Albarn on […]

Africa / Arts / Mali / Music

Journey into the beating heart of Africa

Published in The Independent (October 13th, 2006) We ducked into a covered alleyway, where two elderly men with grizzled beards, skullcaps and indigo robes lay on straw mats. […]

Africa / Arts / Mali / Music

Songs of freedom

Published in The Independent (January 18th, 2004) The full moon was bathing the Saharan dunes in light as a middle -aged blind woman with two-tone braided hair and […]