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At "Travel Through Africa" in Lilongwe, Malawi, we explore how creativity can open doors. From film and sport to art and food, Africans are making culture, opportunity and experiences more accessible to all.
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00:06They told me I could host tonight if I didn't steal the runway.
00:09But look at this fit.
00:11I'm here in Nelongwe for travel through Africa where creativity is opening new doors.
00:15And across the continent, film, art, food and adventure are proving that the best ideas
00:20are the ones that everybody gets to experience.
00:23But first, here's what's coming up.
00:25Think kite surfing is just for international tourists?
00:28Think again.
00:29One Kenyan writer is flipping the script on Diani Beach.
00:33We meet artist Bonolo Kavula who's proving that a familiar fabric can tell extraordinary stories.
00:40Then, Melin Baloo discovers that Mauritius is also a vegan paradise.
00:44I'm Zaheer and you're watching AfriMax.
01:00From one runway to another, here in Nelongwe, it's all about red carpets and fashion.
01:05But in Rwanda, filmmakers are rethinking who gets access to the carpet and who has been left out.
01:11What if the lead actor in your film couldn't see it?
01:15Rwanda's filmmakers are changing that.
01:18I like the movie so much.
01:20I'm really curious about what they are watching.
01:24For many blind audiences, exclusion doesn't always mean being absent.
01:29Sometimes it means being in the room while the story is being told in a medium that is not accessible
01:34to them.
01:38One day I said, let me join others as they watch a football match.
01:43Unfortunately, they turned off the sounds.
01:46And I was surprised by their scream, go!
01:57In Kigali, a group of young filmmakers made a film about blind massage therapists.
02:03But of course, the people at the heart of the story were not able to see it.
02:09For the director of the film, this led to an important realization.
02:15In Rwanda, specifically, the majority doesn't know about the audio description.
02:22They just think that those who are visually impaired are just people who are aside.
02:29To me, it felt like it's something that needs to be corrected.
02:35Since then, Danny has trained intensively in audio description with support from the Rwanda Media Project.
02:41Through the Breaking Barriers Inclusion Initiative, he's now sharing that skill with other creators,
02:47exploring how to make movies accessible for the sight impaired.
02:52That's the trick.
02:53The hardest part is to figure out the world that you use to describe what's happening.
03:02So every little time you get it, you can make something out of it.
03:07It's thought that tens of thousands of people live with visual impairment in Rwanda.
03:12But most screen content produced in this country is only for the sighted.
03:17As filmmakers explore greater inclusion, they're discovering audio description as a new creative language.
03:26The biggest challenge is timing, knowing where and when to describe so that they can truly feel the film.
03:36Like any creative activity, audio description is a skill that needs to be learned.
03:41Trainees watch, listen, write, revise and record.
03:44The process is repeated again and again.
03:47Through blindfold exercises, they also sharpen their hearing and get a sense of how much sound can reveal.
03:53What does this journey feel like?
03:58When I was blindfolded, that was terrible.
04:01We are used to so much.
04:03And our other senses are not very developed.
04:05For example, my ears are not very developed.
04:07And we were taken out of our comfort zone.
04:11To assist filmmakers in the process, visually impaired participants are invited in to test the descriptions.
04:19Their feedback helps reveal what's clear, what's missing, and what truly makes the film accessible.
04:28I'm curious about what the environment looks like.
04:32I wish they would just tell me what I don't see.
04:37Tell us the most important thing that makes you know a person has a mental problem.
04:43What makes you know that?
04:47Accessibility is only made possible with the help of those who need it.
04:51For many filmmakers, cinema often begins with the perfect frame, the right lens, and the most cinematic light.
05:00But breaking barriers is challenging them to think beyond the image.
05:04So how is this initiative changing the way they see their role as creators?
05:09It's a breakthrough, honestly, because thinking that there is a big, good audience that we had
05:15and did not know how to engage with them.
05:19Those who have disabilities, they are also people who need to enjoy what other people also are enjoying in their
05:29life.
05:30So the barrier should be broken.
05:34Barriers to the on-screen world are gradually coming down.
05:37What does this mean to those who have been excluded for so long?
05:44It's so great that they are thinking of people like us.
05:48I'm truly excited.
05:49This is the beginning.
05:51And if it continues at this pace without giving up, all will keep getting better.
05:57A workshop that began with one film, one man, and a small group of trainees.
06:02Could this become part of a larger African movement for accessible media?
06:09If you compare the whole budget of a film, audio description, it's such a small part.
06:16We can help and we will do further training workshops in this field so that you have really many people
06:25who can do this audio description so that you can have all these people included.
06:32What if your lead actor can't see your film?
06:35For these young Rwandan filmmakers, that question is no longer something to fix at the end.
06:40It's where the story begins.
06:42From one workshop in Kigali to a wider African audience, they're breaking down barriers and learning how cinema can speak
06:50to everyone through images, sound, and inclusion.
06:56She started Afro Fashion in 2008 in Nulongwe.
06:59And since then, the continent called Ghana, Ivory Coast, Mali, and Tunisia.
07:04Memuna Schumann has built a parent African brand and is bringing all of that back here to Malawi.
07:10Memuna, what is the one thing that Africa taught you that has changed your work forever?
07:15We are so creative and we can do anything.
07:18And sustainable fashion for me is very important.
07:20I focus mainly on promoting hand-woven fabrics, hand-painted fabrics, reciting them with already existing clothes.
07:28So the one thing that it's taught me is that fashion is everywhere.
07:31We inspire everybody, but we never promote ourselves.
07:36Which countries did you find most unique?
07:38I would say West Africa, Mali, because I was there the longest.
07:43And that's where I actually learned about cotton and learned about the fabric painting.
07:47I learned so much about Mali.
07:49Thank you so much.
07:51Thank you for being so fashionable.
07:55Good Luck, Shamala is changing the narrative of kite surfing off the Kenyan coast by turning this tourist luxury pastime
08:02into a local extreme sport revolution.
08:06For years, kite surfing on Kenya's coast was seen as something for tourists, not for locals.
08:13That's starting to change.
08:14At the beginning, you know, I didn't know how to swim very well.
08:17Then from there also, then I was thinking too much about how to acquire the equipment.
08:20Equipment was very expensive.
08:22And how to start everything, like, you know, from scratch was not easy.
08:25And that's when also the, you know, the slogan came in from zero to zero.
08:29So that's what gave me motivation, like, you know, without starting from scratch, then you cannot reach where you want
08:34to reach.
08:35At the center of that shift is Good Luck, Shamala, founder of Kenya Kitesurfing School.
08:40A man who started at the edge of the sport, but now he's bringing locals into the center of it.
08:46I want to be the first Kenyan to now to kitesurf.
08:49So that's what has been giving me motivation.
08:51Then kitesurfing, then being instructor.
08:54Then from there, those levels, you know, when you have goals and ambitions, then they make everything much more easier
08:59now.
08:59In 2004, Good Luck was just a beach assistant carrying gear for visitors on Diani Beach.
09:05Over time, he studied the sport, mastered it, and eventually turned that knowledge into a school of his own.
09:11That change is becoming visible in unexpected ways.
09:15I started kitesurfing after my high school in 2003, and I was already familiar with the ocean.
09:20Came here in 2004, started working with one of the guys.
09:23The guy who started kitesurfing here was called Boris Polo.
09:26So I was supposed to be a diver, but once I came in, then I saw kitesurfing.
09:29So something which was new.
09:31Everything was just from scratch.
09:33So we have been here from 2013 up to now.
09:35We have been living well with the community, and I was so happy to join the community, because that was
09:39my target.
09:39That was my dream, because that's where the Kenyan locals are best.
09:43And where the locals are best, because this sport is expensive.
09:46So I said, okay, the place I have, it will be much easier for me to get the youth who
09:51are there.
09:51At least, you know, I don't want them to go through many problems like me.
09:55So it will be much easier at least to make them, you know, pick up this sport very quick.
09:58By making lessons more accessible, Goodluck is opening the sport up, helping young people learn, teach, and earn from it.
10:06You know the ocean works, so that's why you love the sport.
10:09So when I came to the kitesurfing school, I found that most of the instructors are male.
10:16Then I asked, why not female?
10:19Then I got the encouragement of trying it, so that later on I can also be an instructor for the
10:26women.
10:26Family supported me on this, and the sport, it's not something that you need a lot of power on it.
10:34Just relaxing and feeling it.
10:37Kiting is about feeling the power.
10:40It's about playing with the wind.
10:41They were not sure if I'll do it, but to myself, I was sure that I would do it.
10:48And I'm going to succeed in this.
10:50And also I want to push more women, society, that what a man can do, a woman can do also.
10:58If you want to resist on the ground, pulling, resisting, swinging more down.
11:10What is happening here is bigger than the sport.
11:14Kitesurfing is becoming part of the new coastal lifestyle
11:17and part of how young people here see themselves and what they believe is possible.
11:22So it's like if you want to go more to the right, more like, more tension on the right,
11:25and a little bit of break, like holding it back.
11:28More tension on the right, a little bit of, it's like when you're landing.
11:30And for the locals, also tourists, they're also proud of us,
11:33because when they see us, they're like, okay, this sport is not for only foreigners.
11:37It's also for the, you know, for the Kenyans, for the locals also,
11:40because we give them more motivation.
11:42So when they see us now, that confidence, comfortability comes.
11:45For a long time, spots like this were built around visitors.
11:49Now, locals are building something of their own.
11:52So when you see young people that we have brought up now, we have trained,
11:54we are so much proud of them because we see the changes now.
11:58And these changes are the ones which are making us happy
12:00because we can see them like, you know, they're self-employed now.
12:04Some, they're opening up their own kind of school.
12:07On this Kenya's coast, the wind is no longer carrying only tourists and adventure.
12:13The wind here is changing direction.
12:15And this time, it's carrying local and even female talent
12:18into a space that once felt out of reach.
12:37Custom suits, red carpet gowns, one-of-a-kind, tailor-made pieces
12:42just for your measurements.
12:43MB Brownlee has been building one of Linongue's most bespoke studios.
12:48And now he's putting that on Linongue's runway
12:50and the continent is starting to take notice.
12:55In a country where people prefer fast fashion,
12:58why does bespoke still matter?
13:10The difference is that when you order an outfit from me,
13:14I make clothes that are customized to your fashion preference.
13:17You can choose the design you like and I will make that outfit
13:20while fast fashion is already made clothes.
13:28My shop is dominated by women looking for dresses and blouses.
13:33Men also come through for tailor-made shirts and jackets.
13:36I say the degree that I'm cooking.
13:38I say the degree that I'm cooking.
13:38Yeah, yeah.
13:39Thank you so much, Natal.
13:40What's the one being here?
13:41It's a cool.
13:50Treasurer has been part of the Southern African culture for generations.
13:54But Bonoro Kavula sees more than just fabric.
13:57She transforms it into artwork that is shown through identity,
14:01memory and the stories we inherit.
14:05Every dot she punches carries a memory.
14:07Every string she threads holds a story.
14:10But before the world knew her name,
14:12what did Bonoro Kavula see in Shwe Shwe that no one else did?
14:20I like art that is abstract, minimal and conceptual.
14:23When you look at it,
14:24one would think that you're seeing like a coded language,
14:27a coded visual language.
14:28It resonates with people because it is familiar.
14:32It holds the memory of our ancestors,
14:34the memory of our mothers and our grandmothers.
14:36There's a lot of messaging,
14:37but it's coded in past, present and future.
14:42Bonoro's geometric language began as a rebellion.
14:44As a student at Michaelis,
14:46she pushed against old and new stereotypes
14:49and that fight shaped the technique she's known for now.
14:53If you look at art during apartheid,
14:57you'll find that while black male artists were making prints,
15:03you'll find that most of the time,
15:04women were taught weaving and craft, you know.
15:09In post-apartheid South Africa, new stereotypes emerged.
15:13Let's say 12 years ago or so,
15:15the black artists superstars,
15:16a lot of their work touched on identity politics
15:20and our history.
15:22And I was inspired by that,
15:24but I also in a way thought that
15:27one can make art that is liberating
15:29and not necessarily touching on,
15:32you know, those identifiers.
15:34And I also understood that also not making art that is political
15:39is a political statement.
15:41Using printmaking as her point of departure,
15:44Bonoro set about developing her own technique.
15:47My peers were studying medicine, accounting,
15:50and so I decided to approach my art as a creative science.
15:54I did a lot of experimenting.
15:56When I did my investigation with paper,
15:58I looked at the office punch, the stapler,
16:01and so I got this visual language with the confetti
16:05that you get when you open the office punch.
16:06So the circle and the line became like a constant in my work.
16:11So how did Shoe Shoe become more than just a familiar fabric for Bonoro?
16:15For the first six, seven years after I graduated,
16:18I worked only with paper and canvas.
16:20So those are the materials that I would punch
16:23and deconstruct and reconstruct.
16:25And then came the moment that changed everything.
16:29And I was invited to have my first solo exhibition.
16:34And while I was busy making my work,
16:36it felt like a very flat process
16:38because the material that I was using had no meaning.
16:42So I was really searching again like I did
16:45when I was a student investigating all sorts of material.
16:48Until one day, you know,
16:50I saw my mother's red Shoe Shoe Dress sticking out of my cupboard
16:54and I thought,
16:54oh, that is actually an interesting material.
16:57I punched the fabric,
16:58put the Shoe Shoe Dress together,
17:00and it was like magic.
17:03It felt like I literally hit the jackpot.
17:05The work carried all that meaning
17:09that I was searching all this time.
17:12Culture, history, ancestor, memory, identity,
17:16even politics, all in this one fabric
17:19that is specific to South Africa
17:21but specific to my own personal history.
17:25A single fabric holding heritage, tradition,
17:29and the loss of her mother at the age of five.
17:32So in my culture,
17:33when somebody passes away after the funeral,
17:36we lay their clothes out
17:37and the family members get to choose a piece of clothing.
17:40And when my mother passed away,
17:42obviously I was too young to participate in that.
17:45And my great-grandmother chose
17:48my mother's red Shoe Shoe Dress
17:50and when I started Varsity in 2011,
17:53she called me aside and said,
17:55listen, I want you to have this dress.
17:59Apart from her giving me something
18:00that belonged to my mum,
18:01I also feel like she gave me my idea
18:04long before I even knew it.
18:05And that's why I call my work ancestral work.
18:09Benola's distinctive use of Shoe Shoe
18:11is celebrated and sought after
18:13by galleries, museums, and art fairs locally and abroad.
18:17And all that exposure presented a new opportunity.
18:21So I've been invited to participate in a group exhibition,
18:24the Town Hall in London.
18:26The name of the show is Her Stories Untold.
18:29I'm busy basically sketching out
18:31what I will be showing there.
18:35Next step is to choose the fabric
18:37which I think will be best for this artwork.
18:41Shoe Shoe's long journey to Africa
18:43means a lot to Benolo,
18:44a textile reinvented many times,
18:46now part of her own artistic evolution.
18:49So when people think about Shoe Shoe fabric,
18:54they're thinking brown, blue, red,
18:58because traditionally those were the colours.
19:01But now there's a variety,
19:04so the colours have expanded,
19:06the designs have expanded over the years.
19:11Traditionally worn for ceremonies and celebrations,
19:14Shoe Shoe has travelled far,
19:16from Asian origins
19:17to European blau-draig printmakers,
19:19to colonial trade
19:21and a get for Lesotho's king, Mo Shoe Shoe,
19:23to white women wearing it
19:24as a quiet resistance against apartheid.
19:30Every pattern carries traces of migration,
19:33colonialisation, and reclamation,
19:35a history Benolo now weaves into her work.
19:39When you grow up and learn about art,
19:44it's paintings,
19:45it's your traditional sculptures,
19:46but all European.
19:47And for me to go overseas
19:49and to take my Shoe Shoe work
19:51into those spaces,
19:52it's like the perfect intervention
19:56for writing yourself in history,
19:59within art,
20:01or even correcting some narratives.
20:06Benolo's voice and Shoe Shoe now speaks for itself
20:09as a deeply personal honouring of her ancestors
20:12and Botswana heritage,
20:14and a demonstration of African art
20:16setting the record straight.
20:22Next up,
20:24Mauritius vegan vlogger Chris Litschmeyer
20:26takes Malin Blue
20:27on a vegan food adventure across Mauritius.
20:38Mauritius might secretly be
20:40one of the best vegan destinations in the world,
20:43and nobody talks about it.
20:45But let's be honest,
20:46when you think about Mauritius,
20:48you're not thinking vegan paradise,
20:50but that's exactly why you should.
20:54Because at number one,
20:57Mauritian food is naturally plant-based.
21:00Number two,
21:01it's vegan delights on next level.
21:04At number three,
21:05our vegan chefs have perfected Calbone.
21:08So what you're about to see today
21:10isn't a new movement,
21:12it's a story
21:13that's been cooking for generations.
21:15And to explore it,
21:17I'm about to bring someone
21:19that knows the flavours inside out.
21:21Just Chris,
21:22vegan foodie flavoured Chaser,
21:24and today,
21:24not just our videographer,
21:26but Mike Copilot.
21:28Let's go.
21:32At number one.
21:34So what a lot of people don't know,
21:35Mauritian food,
21:36a lot of it's naturally plant-based,
21:38such as dalpuri,
21:40roti,
21:41even gato pima.
21:42A lot of the street food
21:43is naturally vegan,
21:44and it's very easy
21:45to get plant-based food here.
21:47We also have vegan beer.
21:49Cheers.
21:58So we're starting here in Mayburg,
22:00and I'm taking to this lovely little spot
22:01called Café de Fleur.
22:03It's a really Instagrammable spot,
22:04you're going to love it.
22:05You'll be surprised
22:06the amount of vegan foods
22:07you can get here.
22:08Woo!
22:10So cheers to hazelnut latte
22:12with almond milk.
22:13Wow,
22:13so we've just got our tofu rice bowl,
22:16which comes with a fragrant fluffy rice.
22:19It smells absolutely gorgeous.
22:21And we've got some sauteed tofu as well,
22:23with green beans,
22:25red peppers,
22:25and a nice little garden salad on the side,
22:28and a sweet mustard dressing.
22:30Can't wait to begin.
22:31So some panini,
22:33fresh pesto,
22:34also some tofu,
22:35and seasonal vegetables.
22:37Tofu is culturally significant
22:39across the island
22:41and found in most restaurants.
22:43So tofu is actually soybean curd.
22:45They get it
22:46from when they make soy milk.
22:48They scrape the curd off the top
22:49and they make it into blocks like this,
22:51and it's full of protein
22:54and delicious.
22:55Mm.
22:56Absolutely gorgeous.
22:58And at number two,
22:59our vegan delights are next level.
23:02So now we're on our way
23:03to market for some plant-based ice creams.
23:05A lot of people usually ask,
23:06what's the difference between
23:07vegetarians and vegans?
23:09Well, vegetarians,
23:10some eat eggs and dairy,
23:11whereas vegans exclude meat,
23:13dairy, eggs and honey
23:15from the diet,
23:16as well as any products
23:18made from animals.
23:25If this is vegan,
23:27we've all been lied to.
23:29This is where skeptics
23:31become believers.
23:32And to get the texture
23:35as if it was like a creamy gelato
23:38based on milk,
23:39we have vegetable fibers
23:41which are replacing actually
23:43the cream and the milk.
23:46It's not about replacing dairy.
23:47It's about elevating
23:48what's already there.
23:49That's the difference.
23:50Ice cream is different
23:51in this heat.
23:55And now we're stepping
23:56into something
23:57completely different.
23:58Isn't it, Chris?
23:59Yes, right.
24:00At number three,
24:01our vegan chefs
24:02have perfected barbecue cal bone
24:03found here in the north
24:05at Shlomo.
24:06Now, cal bone
24:06is a wheat gluten
24:07meat substitute.
24:09Absolutely delicious.
24:10Then we're getting
24:11a burrito shawarma,
24:12a Shlomo bowl,
24:13a pizza with cal bone
24:15and a pizza with tofu.
24:17Just look at each dish.
24:19You wouldn't even know
24:20it's vegan.
24:22You're not just eating vegan.
24:24You're experiencing
24:25Mauritius through a new lens
24:28and on a plate.
24:30Gosh, I'm in vegan heaven, really.
24:33But if you really want
24:35to understand
24:36Mauritian vegan food,
24:37you don't start in restaurants.
24:39You start here.
24:42Fresh turmeric, curry leaves,
24:44coconut,
24:45these are the foundations.
24:47Veganism is not just
24:49a lifestyle choice.
24:50but a spiritual imperative
24:53for some Mauritians.
24:55That's why you can find
24:57so many varieties
24:58of vegan food
24:59across the islands.
25:01Dried mangoes.
25:02There's vegan Nutella.
25:04I don't know why.
25:04Let's check that out.
25:05It'll look nice.
25:07And from here,
25:08we train all the way
25:09down to the west
25:10for our sunset beach picnic.
25:16Gorgeous.
25:18Mauritius doesn't announce
25:19itself as a vegan destination.
25:21It is a secret vegan paradise.
25:24And that's exactly
25:25why it surprises you.
25:26You just need to know
25:27where to look.
25:28Cheers.
25:28Cheers.
25:30Today's stories have proved
25:32that the best ideas
25:33make sure that nobody
25:34gets left behind.
25:36And with true creativity,
25:37has the power
25:38to bring us all in.
25:39Don't forget to go to
25:40dw.com forward slash
25:42AfriMax for more.
25:43And until next time
25:44from this fabulous
25:45fashion show,
25:47ta.
25:47Bye-bye.
25:47Bye-bye.
25:52Bye-bye.
26:02Bye-bye.
26:06Bye-bye.
26:07Bye-bye.
26:08Bye-bye.
26:08Bye-bye.