Culture

Libyan authorities recover revered colonial wolf statue sold as scrap

Published

9 months ago

August 2, 2023

Libyan Antiquities and Tourism authorities have recovered a large bronze colonial wolf statue that was stolen a decade ago from its position atop a pillar in central Benghazi.

Khaled al-Aqouri, Head of the Antiquities and Tourism department who announced the discovery of the revered statue, said it was found on a farm whose owner said he bought the sculpture as scrap.

“Authorities were alerted to the colonial-era statue after a tip off and discovered it in a farm near Benghazi belonging to Saied Mohammed Bourabida, who told them he had bought it from a metal yard because he liked the way it looked,” al-Aqouri said.

Bourabida reportedly told the police that he bought and kept the statue, a replica of the famous Capitoline Wolf sculpture that depicts a legendary scene of ancient Rome, in plain view under a spreading tree next to the terrace of his house, as he did not know it was stolen property.

“I remembered this statue in its position near the port from when I was young … I had a smelting workshop and when I saw it by chance at the scrap dealer’s, I liked its shape and the quality of work, so I bought it,” he said.

His position was corroborated by al-Aqouri who said he was confident that Bourabida had not known that the sculpture was still public property.

The Wolf statue was erected in the new Benghazi city centre by Italian colonial authorities in the 1930s when it ruled the North African country as part of its push to promote a connection between ancient Roman settlement of Libya and their modern colonial rule over the country.

In the colonial era, Libya was an important Roman province and was home to the great port cities of Sabratha and Leptis Magna whose imposing stone temples and theatres still stand on the Mediterranean shore.

However, after gaining independence, Libyan authorities removed the wolf from its pillar and it disappeared following Muammar Gaddafi’s seizure of power in 1969, a revolutionary period when relics of foreign colonial rule were banished from sight.

At some point, the statue lost its front legs as well as the figures of two human infants suckling underneath, representing Romulus and Remus the mythical founders of Rome who were said to have been raised by a wolf.

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Culture

Collabo with Burna Boy enabled me buy house for my mum— Mozambican DJ Tarico

Published

3 days ago

April 27, 2024

Akanimoh Etim

Mozambican disc jockey and sound-producer, DJ Tarico, has credited Nigeria’s Afrobeats sensation, Burna Boy, with his sudden wealth which enabled him buy a house for his mother.

DJ Tarico attributed a collaboration with the Grammy Awards winning “African Giant” as the turning point in his story and said he would forever be grateful to the Nigerian star.

Speaking with the BBC African Voice on Saturday, DH Tarico said when he came up
with a particularly energetic beat one day, he couldn’t have predicted how it would change his life and that of his two friends.

He said one of his friends, Nelson Tivane, a songwriter and vocalist, came up with the lyric “Yaba Buluku” which was “inspired by the sound of coins jangling in a pocket”, while the other friend, Preck, “belted out that lyric with his gravelly, powerful voice,” with the song becoming an instant hit in their country.

“After we concluded the song, we went to a rural zone and we put a car with a big sound there, and we connected the song on the car and we saw many people dancing and ask ‘who is the owner of this song?’ Then we knew this song was going to be big!” Tarico recalls.

He said he was surprised that
none other than Burna Boy, realised the strength of “Yaba Buluku” and jumped on the remix, a move which had a massive impact on Tarico, Tivane and Preck.

“We were travelling all over Africa. Too many big artists were asking us for features. People started to know our face outside of Mozambique. We became internationals.

“And money! I bought a car, land and a house for my mother.”

The trio who now call themselves “Yaba Buluku Boyz”, have dropped their debut album, “Donsa”, on Friday, and are hoping to ride on the success of the collaboration to reach greatet heights in Africa and globally.

“Donsa”, according to DJ Tarico, “is high-energy, danceable amapiano, and features big African names including Ghana’s dancehall King Shatta Wale, Timaya from Nigeria and Harmonize from Tanzania,” he said.

Culture

African men run away from single mothers— Joselyn Dumas

Published

3 days ago

April 26, 2024

Akanimoh Etim

Veteran Ghanaian actress and media personality, Joselyn Dumas, has lamented the fact that most African men shy away from getting married to single mothers due to the added responsibilities they will be saddled with.

The actress who made the assertion in her recent podcast, “Keeping it Real with Joselyn Dumas, The Perfect Picture”, opened up on the challenges of many single mothers who are struggling to find a partner because of societal biases.

In the podcast, Dumas who shared a personal story of a male friend whom she said refused to settle down with a lady because she had a child.

According to her, the friend named Anthony, firmly stated that it wasn’t his thing to be with a ‘born one’ or ‘born two’.

“He said B1, B2, I’m not in and I said to myself, ‘this is the reason why a lot of single mothers are single with their children.

“Now his reason was, why am I going to raise somebody’s child? That’s not my bloodline. He doesn’t have my DNA in him. Why am I now going to help someone’s bloodline grow? What about mine?” she said.

Dumas who is a single mother, noted that Anthony’s mindset is a “reflection of the views of a larger majority of people who don’t want to have meaningful relationship with single mothers.”

She also criticised what she termed as the double standard in society’s views on raising non-biological children, arguing that it should not be seen differently from adoption.

“I have a child but these men won’t even ask you, they don’t even care why you have a child. You’ve had seven miscarriages when you got married. You meet a guy, you were dating and you got pregnant, are you going to abort the baby because you aren’t married?

“He doesn’t want the child, are you going to throw the child away? No! You can raise the child. It takes a village to raise the child, so even if you don’t have a job, you will get support. This is part of the sacrifice you have to make regardless of what has happened,” she said.